Its easy to write about what the government or other people should do with our/their money. It’s harder to come up with a course of action that I can undertake on my own that possibly, somehow could make a difference. My first inclination is always to try to look “for the next big thing”. But the next big thing is just that, next. Its not now. Its Venture Capital. Its not self funding, renewal capital.
Rather than trying to be a Venture Capitalist, I was looking for an idea that hopefully could inspire people to create businesses that could quickly become self funding. Businesses that just needed a jump start to get the ball rolling and create jobs. Im a big believer that entrepreneurs will lead us out of this mess. I just needed a way to help.
So here it is. Some people will love it, some will hate it. It is what it is.
You must post your business plan here on my blog where I expect other people can and will comment on it. I also expect that other people will steal the idea and use it elsewhere. That is the idea. Call this an open source funding environment.
If its a good idea and worth funding, we want it replicated elsewhere. The idea is not just to help you, but to figure out how to help the economy through hard work and ingenuity. If you come up with the idea and get funding, you have a head start. If you execute better than others, you could possibly make money at it. As you will see from the rules below, these are going to be businesses that are mostly driven by sweat equity.
I will invest money in businesses presented here on this blog. No minimum, no maximum, but a very specific set of rules. Here they are:
1. It can be an existing business or a start up.
2. It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. Why ? Because I want this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. Thats the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time.
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops
6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered
7. Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else
8. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com , scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont.
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows.
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money.
13. No mult-level marketing programs (added 2/10/09 1pm)
Im sure I will come up with more rules as I see what comes along, if anything.
As I find businesses I like, I will use the email address you provide before you post to get in contact with you. There will be a standard agreement, you can take it or leave it. Once I have done the standard agreement, I will post it here for all to see. This will definitely be a work in progress. Maybe it leads to great things, maybe it leads to nothing. We will find out. Im not going to claim a minimum or maximum amount or total I will invest. Im not promising I will definitely invest anything. If nothing comes along that I think is viable, thats the way it goes.
Hopefully I will invest in quite a few businesses that will lead to something more
I have the architectural design copyright with the Library of Congress for the Capstone Vortex Design.(March 22, 1994)The Design amplifies the Healing & Regeneration process(architectural healing) so can be applied to spas, healing centers and hospitals. It also enhances Memory & Concentration so can be applied to all Educational Environments.It also has Imax like Entertainment applications.
I would like to build a small Prototype for $250,000.Once it is up and running I can return funding in 90 days.I have Dr. Norm Shealy PhD ready to do an NIH Clinical Study.LOOK AT THE WEB SITE.
Regards, Ted Munda, Chairman
Comment by TED MUNDA -
Start a vineyard/winery in Newberg/Dundee Oregon. I know your rules state that the business must break even in 60 days, profit in 90….but these guys are making a killing!
Initial investments are going to be around $1M and you wont see return for 4-5 years, but when you do….$$$JACKPOT$$$….there is plenty of land waiting to be bought, and plenty of rich yuppies waiting to buy your wine for outrageous amounts of money.
The owners of a few of the SMALLER vineyards take there Ferrari’s (5 of them) and Lambo’s (total of 2) for joy rides every friday afternoon right past my dorm room, while i sit here and try to figure out how I can someday join their little club lol…..
Comment by Alex Overton -
Dear Mr. Cuban:
I came across your stimulous plan on the internet and was intrigued by it as I have longed believed that the basic premise/concept upon which it is based could serve as the foundation for a ‘venue’ that has the potential to change the world if you believe as I do in the following premise: the singularly largest,and yet,for the most part,virtually untapped source of human potential existing in the world today(as well as the source for the potential solutions to almost every problem facing society today)is in the form of the limitless supply of GOOD IDEAS IN EVERY REALM IMAGINABLE that exists in the hearts,minds,souls and imaginations of millions of normal,average,’everyday’ people in this country(and indeed, in the whole world)–a valuable human resource whose full potential will never be realized without the proper ‘venue’ in place to help them bring these ideas to fruition.
I am a 67 year old man who has tried his entire adult life to become a successful entrepreneur but haven’t as yet received that success. One of the biggest reasons that I haven’t succeeded as yet is in no small part due to the fact that I am a ‘member’ of a sizeable but unrecognized segment of the entrepreneurial community that possess the entrepreneurial spirit/mindset,but who,like myself,for LEGITIMATE REASONS beyond their control,lack many of the other key entrepreneurial traits/characteristics needed for success,AND/OR are possibly being forced to face,encounter or endure any number of possible negative situations,circumstances or obstacles that may hinder their entrepreneurial endeavors. There are many people who will say that these ‘reasons’ are simply excuses for failure,but the SUCCESS LIMITING power/influence of these LEGITIMATE REASONS can definitively be proven to be an absolute fact of life to anybody with an open mind.
Although I have many business ‘ideas’ that I believe have great potential(including one whose virtually unlimited benefits to every segment of society I have been trying to extol to the world for over 3 decades,but which,unfortunately has fallen upon unseeing eyes,unhearing ears and unthinking minds),most of them won’t fit the criteria that you have set forth for this stimulous plan. I do have one business ‘idea’however,that I believe might fit all of your criteria,and upon whose worth I will stake the worth of all of my other ‘ideas’,as well as the worth of everything else that I’ve ever believed in my life–which will include the validity of several dozen truths,principles,values and observations that I have painstakingly culled over my lifetime from the thousands of them that have come down through antiquity,and are timeless and eternal in the messages that they impart.
The following then is an ‘executive summary’ type of business plan for my proposed business venture. A more detailed explanation of it as well as a little bit more about myself and my proposed involvement in it can be seen at my simple,’no-frills’ websitse at http://www.geocities.com/freddyentre65/nobles_stores.html
As for your equity share or percentage of this venture should you care to invest,I’ll leave that up to you to decide what is a fair share depending on how much time,effort &/or money,if any,that you decide that you may want to invest in this venture. I’ll split whatever my share of this venture may turn out to be with my friend and the guy who conceived and ‘pioneered’ this concept (even though he didn’t want any part in it).. If you decide to invest you can be assured that I am ready ,willing and able to work 18 hours a day,7 days a week for minimum wage for however long it takes to get this venture on a solid course to success.
Even if it turns out that I don’t benefit from this venture in any way whatsoever, I would still like to see it reach maximum success for the knowledge,satisfaction and vindication that it will provide me with, AS WELL AS,possibly being the key to opening up the door to endless new &/or unexplored entrepreneurial worlds for me to conquer and to win those entrepreneurial victories for mankind that I honestly feel that I was destined to win.
NOBLES NEIGHBORHOOD DISCOUNT CONVENIENCE STORES
A very wise proverb from antiquity succinctly says: “NO POWER ON EARTH CAN STOP AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME”. Without exception,all of the current revelant economic indicators point to the fact that our society is on the verge of ushering in the birth of a new GLOBAL ECONOMIC MODEL,whose direct,indirect and ‘ripple-down’ effects,ramification,.manifestations,repurcussions,consequences and implications,will,by necessity,mandate that the American people will have to make certain changes in their current lifestyles,as well as make other concessions in areas of their lives that, up till now,they have simply taken for granted.
Every once in a while,FATE-as fickle and unpredictable as it can be at times-will sometimes crack a smile and bring to the attention of those who have the wisdom and insight to see it for the ground floor investment opportunity that it is,a business venture whose potentially possible magnitude puts it in the exclusive catagory of being one of those ‘proverbial’ EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE as far as it possibly being well worth spending a little extra time,effort and money to carefully discern whether or not any possible obstacles or other negative aspects related too or associated with it,can be feasibly resolved or overcome in order to succcessfully pave the way for it to reach maximum success in the marketplace.
Having said that, never in modern history have the TIME,OPPORTUNITY AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ever concurrently come together in such perfect alignment as to VIRTUALLY GUARANTEE THE SUCCESS OF STARTING UP A WORLDWIDE CHAIN OF RETAIL STORES based on the concept/premise of a single retail store located in Rockford, Illinois. Dispite mediocre management and providing only 70% of the total amount of possible products and services that it could, this store, which goes by the name of NOBLES, has been so successful in the last 7 years selling NAME BRAND convenience store type products and services at prices 10-50% cheaper than they can be purchased anywhere else, that they can’t seem to have a slow/bad day EVEN BY ACCIDENT, thereby, not only proving beyond the shadow of any reasonable doubt that it is an idea whose time has definitely come, but also one that well may be THE BIGGEST NO-BRAINER BUSINESS INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY in the entire history of modern low-tech retailing!!!!
Although NOBLES, which is offering easily providable products and services, is the kind of store that, obviously, almost anybody in the world would welcome, the concept/premise upon which it is based has appearently eluded the best corporate minds in the world, as an extensive search of the internet has conclusively shown that there are NO OTHER STORES LIKE IN ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH!!! The complete abscence of a retail chain of stores like this one leaves a big empty void in this segment of the retail market that can be successfully exploited by someone with the wisdom and foresight to see it for the virtually unlimited ground floor opportunity that it is. Conservatively,there is a potential market worldwide to support 30-50 thousand stores of this kind with each doing in the vacinity of 2 million dollars a year in gross sales,thereby making this a potentially 50-100 billion dollar a year business!!!
Along with all of the other positive points/reasons for this being the right business concept at the exact perfect moment in time,there is a surge in a segment of the population possibly wanting to own/operate one of these stores in the thousands of people who have been offered ‘buy-outs’ in return for retiring early. Most of these people are too young to retire and are going to be looking for other avenues of employment until they get to retirement age–with their ‘buy-out’ money they could buy one of these stores and have a family owned business without the worries of being layed-off from a regular job.
Many new business ventures that are funded by outside investors(many of which are based on new&/or unproven ideas/concepts)can, in the end, for a host of different reasons, end up costing millions of dollars in funding in order for them to have a reasonable chance to become successful. I project that this one(taking into consideration the fact that the 7 YEAR SUCCESS of NOBLES proves beyond the the shadow of a reasonable doubt it’s viability as a profitable enterprise)will cost in the vacinity of a relatively modest $300,000 to give it that same realistic/reasonable chance to become successful!!!!
Because I don’t have all of the necessary business expertise to be the one in charge of taking these stores to a national/international level,some of this money will have to be used to acquire someone who is qualified,while another portion of this investment money will go toward setting up the required ‘infrastructure’ necessary to be able to franchise these stores nationally/internationally(although these stores could be ‘company-owned’,franchising them would be a much better,quicker and more efficient method in order to get a ‘jump’ on any competition that might enter the market when they see how successful we are). The rest of the money will go toward building(remodeling), equipping and stocking a single ‘model store’ on which all of the other units in the chain will be modeled after(the cost of remodeling these stores could cost an extra 50 thousand or more dollars per unit,depending on how modern,efficient and high tech you want this chain of stores to be). Having this ‘model store’ is an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY in order for perspective franchisees to be able to come from all over the country(and,indeed,from all over the world)to observe an actual existing store in operation in order to be able to properly decide/ascertain for themselves whether or not this might be the kind of business that they would like to become a part of. This is the relatively inexpensive,BUT VERY EFFECTIVE, route/approach that Ray Kroc took way back in the mid 1950’s when he was just in the beginning stages of getting the McDonalds Corporation off the ground
Having said the above, with,once again, the number of people at an all time high who are getting a ‘buy-out’ package of some kind from their former employers, but are still too young to quit working and still need a way to support their families, I believe in my heart, mind, body and soul, that, with the PROPER LEADERSHIP, NOBLES, VIA THE FRANCHISE METHOD,can achieve, in less than a decade, the same kind of phenomenal success in their sector of the retail market, as it has taken WAL-MART 40 years to achieve in theirs –which in the light of our new GLOBAL ECONOMY will be a store that the public WON’T BE ABLE TO AFFORD NOT TO SHOP AT!!!!
If you think that this investment opportunity might be something that you &/or you company might be interested in, you can get a bettter idea of it, as well as just exactly what my involvement in it is at:
http://www.geocities.com/freddyentre65/nobles_stores.html
Thank you.
Comment by fred scanlin -
I was just wondering are you still looking at business plans for funding. If you are I am willing to put my idea on your blog for possible funding. I have a great idea and can meet your deadlines. Hopefully you will respond back soon. Thank You.
Comment by Courtney Hunt -
Mark,
We have come along way since our first post on this blog a month or so ago. We are in full gear and now filling orders and received one this wekk from the U of Fl who has done community studies and such on our product it is also proven that we reduce particulate inhalation and reduce sneezing while filtering the air and contain sneezing droplets which is crucial in containing the Swine Flu. Take a second look I think you will be glad you did. We no longer need big money only fifty to a couple of hundred k to buy more media time. We would like to advt in New York and also increase our stock for shipping to delay lead time as we are talking to the airlines and several fast food chains for employees and customers.
http://www.slideshare.net/secret/D9mX4zi4Jia7XO
Comment by Joseph K Moore -
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/technology/19patient.html
A small operation could help bring electronic health records to small doctor’s operations much more effectively than a company like IBM or one of the other big companies could. All it would take is creating a secure server, providing doctors with tablet PCs with a program that would allow them to quickly jot notes and save them to the corresponding record, and then providing training so that they can do so. Once the initial set up is created, it’ll take no time to implement and really help streamline the US health care system.
Comment by Joe Jensen -
AHFIS is seeking an equity partner. We offer 50% of the net profits after seed capital is recouped by investor.
To address the current economic crisis, we must start at ground zero – The Housing Market.
The financial trends we start today will shape the economic realities of tomorrow.
AHFIS will revolutionize the Real Estate industry. Please click on our link! http://www.ahfis.com/AHFISventures.pdf
Comment by Aaron Woods -
Hi,
No SMU yet but here is the basics of what we are looking to do:
SnuggleBall – The Ultimate Security Blanket for the little sports fan!
Product Description:
SnuggleBall is a plush sports ball with an attached satin edged security blank in your team’s favorite color. The blanket is 18 in. by 14 in., the ball is 4.5 in. by 7 in. for football, and about 5 in. in diameter for baseball, basketball, hockey puck and the soccer ball.
Demographics:
There are roughly 11,000 children born in the US everyday to families that are sports fans or have relatives that are sports fan.
Company History:
Started in 2001 by my wife and me on a day our car broke down and we started thinking there must be a better way to succeed.
We have five US patents; one for each sport and a registered trademark on the name SnuggleBall.
We currently own 100% of the company.
In 2002, we started selling generic footballs and soccer balls to local stores and had sales of about 1,000 units a year.
Spring 2005 we were granted access to use licensed sport teams
Wrote up in Earnshaws Magazine in May 2005
Made it into the 2007 LTD Christmas catalog
Sales History:
We have sold about 30,000 units a year with our current distributor for the last 4 years without any marketing.
Current situation:
We and our distributor are parting ways.
Looking for investor or loan to help us:
Purchase remaining inventory from distributor
Reorder teams that have sold-out
Implement a real marketing plan
Funding needed:
We need about $120,000 to start the transition process and we are looking for someone to work with us to make this product the big success that everyone tells us and we know it can be.
For more information, please email steve@snuggleball.com or call 603-686-0156.
Sincerely,
Stephen and Jean Long
Long Time Toys LLC
Comment by Stephen Long -
**MC, if you want to contribute to a more direct stimulus plan to inject some life into a lifeless economy, I cannot think of a better way to do it – this is it!**
National Equipment Finance for the Golf Industry (fleets of cars, utility vehicles and course turf equipment; leases/loans)
Upfront funding needed – $18-$30 million
Financial opportunity – Golf car and utility vehicle manufacturing industry total revenue was about $1.7 billion in 2008. Anticipate loan volume over the next few years is significant: $30-$40 million. Performance of loans in this industry has historically been outperforming the entire equipment finance industry (low default risk). ROE for the financing companies on these loans is generally in the 10-15% range.
Business opportunity – Supply financing for the customers of 3 major golf car manufactures. The largest financing provider to this market has exited the business completely due to funding issues. The second largest provider of financing to this market is nearing exit. These developments have led to only 3 to 4 players in the market, so barrier to entry is low.
Differentiation – customer service, faster response time. The market is not responding well to service levels of existing lenders. Slow application turnarounds that have taken weeks for decisions, often with no response at all.
Staff – 3 owners, all with substantial business contacts, golf course owner relationships, and golf industry experience. Will need an accountant to run the books while 2 bring in business and one processes credit.
Issue: Obviously cannot be profitable in 60-90 days. Needs a stronger capital commitment, with breakeven by 36th month with the remarketing of equipment coming off of leases.
MC’s Return: 13% return on invested capital ($3.9 million). Ownership percentage if required. There is long-term potential for a huge gain on sale to a major player (10%-20% premium over a $100+ million portfolio).
Comment by golfindustryexperts -
Hello Mr. Cuban,
I love your terms and think what I have fits perfectly. If you believe as I do that at some point ordering items such as groceries online will be commonplace read on. I’m sure you’ve heard of famed companies that attempted Internet grocery delivery before with great failure like Webvan and Kozmo. They made many mistakes indeed. I once heard you say that you become more motivated if someone says you can’t do a thing, and that’s what I’m reminded of with this, because it’s a tough problem. However, I believe I have the solution and right model. Please see my proposal at the link below.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhrhn3qh_0fbhr25dm
Comment by Gerome -
I want to start off by saying thanks Inc. Magazine http://www.inc.com (April issue page 20) and Mark Cuban who I like to refer to as Mr. Maverick for the opportunity. Allow me to tell you a little about our business. Private Video Network LLC is a startup Video Conferencing business located in Suwanee, GA. We are targeting a specific portion of the Healthcare Industry. We have been in the research phase since 2003 and started the company in January of 2009. Private video Network is currently operating by way of its two founders, Benjamin Carr of http://www.UnoGlobalSolutions.Com and Christopher Bettis of http://www.BettisConsulting.Com . We are in search of $500k in startup business funding so that we can grow our new Technology and deliver it to our targeted industries. Right now, Private Video Network currently has no annual revenue due to us being in a start up phase but project our annual gross sales in the amount of above $250k + after second year with a 10-12% growth each year after up to the fifth year. Here are some additional details below relating to what we will provide the U.S jobs and green energy saving and self assurance of well being.
In the U.S, we plan to hire 1-3 new account representatives per county, with over 3.007 counties being estimated by U.S. Geological Survey “USGS” http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/124 we can then estimate anywhere from 3000 to 9000 new AMERICAN jobs. Our product will be sustained by a subscription base with revenue sharing. If you would like to know more about our investment opportunity, please follow the link.
http://aboutpvn.homestead.com/index.html .
Comment by Benjamin Carr -
Greetings Mr.Cuban,
I am a proud member of the first American Minority Owned Energy Company. The company’s named is Mur Energy,Inc., established 2009, registered with the SOS of North Carolina. Our headquarters is located in Charlotte, NC.
Our Purpose is to utilize Natural Resources more efficiently to produce maximum power and energy through Alternative means. Our Mission is to provide clean and efficient energy now and into the future, for the good of the human race. Our Vision is to operate and grow the largest most productive Minority Owned Energy Company in the World. Nearly everything in our lives is made from oil, including machinery and systems dependent on oil, and transported by Oil as either Gas or Diesel fuel. Some of these products include Artificial Turf, Aspirin,Auto Parts, Ballpoint pens, Bandages, Candles, Carpets, Credit Cards, Disposable Diapers, Shaving cream, Shoes, Shampoo and the list goes on. With the oil consumption being at an all time high, it is safe to say that investing in the Energy/Oil industry is a smart way to go. Wouldn’t you agree Mr. Cuban?
We are currently offering Limited Partnership opportunities for anyone who is interested in high guaranteed returns. If interested and want more details please send email to: murenergy@gmail.com. Thank you for time in advance.
Regards,
Brian
Comment by Brian Brazzil -
Water conservation is a serious issue. Over 60% of residential water use is on lawns. Synthetic lawns are the future of America’s outdoor living spaces.
We are building the biggest brand in the synthetic lawn industry NewGrass, we are already cash flow positive and we have a gross margin of 30%.
We would be willing to offer up to 25% of the company.
The funding would be used to expand the distribution network and continue brand development in key markets.
Comment by Trevor Brooks -
CLEAN BREAK – SERVICE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO HAVE A HASSLE FREE BREAK-UP
Have you ever been in a relationship where you are dating a girl, she spends the night with you often, then as girls do, she starts leaving things there for convenience? First it starts with a toothbrush, pajamas or a change of clothes to leave there, make-up and before you know it, she’s halfway moved in and you’re feeling stuck. And if she hasn’t begun to pressure you to move in, it’s only a matter of time, trust me. Maybe she’s not the only one you are dating so now it’s a real inconvenience because you have to hide all of that stuff when you bring another girl over, or maybe you just don’t want her moving her things in because you don’t want this to go any further. You don’t want to say anything because you don’t want to deal with that hassle, but at the same time, you want to get out of this situation without having to deal with the headache. Here’s your solution: Clean Break.
Clean Break is somewhat of a courier service catering to guys (and girls) who want to get out of the relationship as painlessly as possible. What you do is gather all of his or her things and call us. We’ll come pick it up from you, and deliver all of their belongings to them for you so that you never have to face them. With their belongings, we will also deliver a hand written note from you saying whatever you like. It can be an explanation of why you no longer want to see them, or it could be as simple as a note that says “don’t ever call me again”. If you don’t want to hand write a note, you also have the option of sending an email to them through our email account, we can send them a text for you, or you can request the driver to record a video message or audio message which will be burned onto a DVD and delivered with their things. The driver can also personally deliver a verbal message to the recipient. For those of you who have given their house keys out, we can also arrange to have a locksmith come and change your locks at the same time we pick up the package, so that your ex-lover can’t get into your place after they get the notice.
The price for a box is $125, up to 18″x18″x30″. Price is the same whether a shoe box or the full size and there is a 50 lbs. limit. Pick up and delivery have to be within 25 miles from pickup, $1.50 for each additional mile. Each additional box is $25, and it has to be during the same delivery/trip. If your box weighs more than 50 lbs. you have to pay for an additional box. Larger/oversized items such as skis or surfboard or small animals are have custom pricing per basis. You can schedule pickup online, and payment is through Paypal only, for both our services and to our couriers.
None of the revenue is generated through advertising, but I’d like a small part of the budget to provide for a website and for us to be able to do some low budget online and guerrilla advertising. You’d get a 25% equity in exchange for $20,000, which breaks out to $6,000 for website/advertising, and $14,000 total for 2 months salary for myself and a full-time web guru. Everyday we will spend the day building a web presence on website and targeting people we know, friends and friends of friends. We will also have stickers made and pepper public places with them, and we will do the deliveries here, and in other cities, we will do all of the scheduling, coordination and verification. Your money is recouped on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis and it is 25% of the business’ profits paid in the form of a check or wire transfer, however you want it. Obviously, the books are always open to you.
Let me know what you think. There are a LOT of people out there who are more than happy to pay for the convenience of not dealing with this headache and we can do it for them.
Thanks for the consideration, Mark.
Comment by Edward -
That is a personal website above. I had a dream of running a concierge service in a tourist town in Tennessee. It is a very faminly oriented town with over 25000 hotel rooms within a ten mile radius. The number 2 place to get married in the world behind vegas. I tried to start the business a few years ago with mixed results I just didnt have enough capital to continue while working 2 full time jobs to support it and a family. I offered discount tickets to shows and attractions, restaurant reservations, hotel reservations, flower deliver, food delivery (more then just pizza), vacation planning, phone rental, and bicycle rentals. Working in the area I always knew the best places and when someone comes into town after a long drive they stop at the first place with a vacancy sign sometimes good but mostly bad. Dont make your vacation suck because you just dont know where to go thats where I came in. I knew where you can get the best service, rooms, flowers, attractions, and everything else so you didnt have to make that mistake. Forget flowers for your anniversary one call to me and I can have them delivered. Never miss that occasion again. I had it all worked out I just didnt have the cash or time really to make it happen. Anyone want to help????
Comment by Jason -
All right Mark, I don’t know if you are still reading ideas, as I see you haven’t commented in a while, but here we go just in case:
The Supertanker Defense Corporation. The name says it all, but it’s not just a bunch of guys from Blackwater positioned on a ship with guns and it’s all doable. Before you tell me to piss off because the idea won’t work, just read with an open mind and know that I used to work for the Department of Defense.
This company relies primarily on remote and wireless components and technology to protect supertakers from pirates. The first set of components used for protection is autonomous remote surveillance aircraft that are small (often hand held) and can be easily operated off of the deck of the ship. These small aircraft that weigh less than 40 pounds but can carry payloads of more than 50 pounds. They can be equipped with surveillance and infrared cameras that remotely transmit video back to the home base (the ship). They can be set to take off, fly patterns and return completely autonomously. So there are two of these flying patterns around a ship 15-20 miles out either 24/7 or when a ship detects an approaching vessel within 30 miles. Once the video is relayed back, if it is in fact pirates, a small unmanned surface vessel (USV) is then deployed to intercept the ship and warn it to turn around or change course. These USV are also available through a number of domestic and foreign defense and robotics corporations that also sell then for commercial use. On these USVs, they are armed with speakers to verbally warn incoming vessels, mics so they can relay audio, warning stop/lights, cameras, and can be outfitted with weapons (remote controlled machine guns, though you may not want to go there just yet). If the USV’s fail to deter the pirates, then you deploy second set of remote aircraft which are armed with machine guns or a much less explosive but equally as lethal set of shot guns that shoot round of 90 small balls (similar to BBs) each shot. They can puncture rubber inflatable boats, blow holes in the side of metal and fiberglass boats, and netrualize human targets.
Obviously it can be somewhat of a legal slippery slope if engaging with pirates and there are casualties, but operation is in international waters that aren’t governed and everything you do would be documented electronically with via your video footage.
Price and ROI structure:
The first company to hire us pays for all of the equipment up front (they own the equipment). All of costs are done on a cost + 10% basis, which is paid every two weeks – salaries, travel expenses, cell phone bills, everything business related. In order to get immediately cash flow positive and profitable and stay that way, they give us a $100k retainer to start the job. We never put out more than we take in and stay ahead of the curve that way, so we are always cash CF+ and profitable.
The remote aircraft with complete systems are about $150,000 per unit. I would suggest 3 surveillance and 3 armed (2 and 2 for regular use and on backup each). I’d suggest a crew of 4 on each tanker to handle the system, both flying and maintenance. They each get paid $75,000 per trip, with a $25,000 at the end for successful travel (there are plenty of mechanically proficient young guys who grew up playing video games who would be great at this and willing to do it for the pay). The boats equipped are $500,000 each, and I’d suggest 2, one for regular use and one for backup. To set up everything, I’d start out pay myself and my other partner at the same pay as the system operators ($75,000 salary with $25k bonus upon mission completion). Again, we charge 10% on top of everything so for salaries the company pays $75k but receives $82.5 per. We pay $25k bonuses, but receive $27.5 etc.
We make a profit, though not a lot on the first, perhaps even second or third go around, but it allows us to to R&D and develop a system that works.
For the first company or two that hire us, they will have our rate of cost+10% locked in exchange for helping us get off the ground. Other companies will have to pay a much higher premium, which we can figure out as we work the system out, but we will be making money figuring out the system in the meantime.
From you, most valuable would be your name and involvement, as it would give the venture credibility. I’d ask you for $30K…that would give $500 a day for exactly 60 days to scramble, put together the info I need, convince a shipping company on the idea and get them to make the deposit for our first trial run so that we’d be cash flow positive within your time line.
Comment by Clay -
This is fantastic. My husband and I own several businesses and still owe on several businesses that no longer exist. Our 17 yr old son just opened a paintball field. Our guidelines for him before we would “invest” were almost identical to yours. Our most successful ideas and most solid business did not need hundreds of thousands to start up and create profit. The paintball field will meet your criteria and it doesn’t need you, a bank, or even much more mom money. It’s amusing that anyone has pitched anything to you. Even more amusing is the people that whine about publicly posting their ideas. DOING takes more effort than most people are willing to give. We are transparent about how we run our business, anyone could duplicate what we do. It never happens.
Kudos to you, Mark. The most interesting stories are the ones that will never be on this blog – the people you inspired to start moving and making it happen.
Comment by Traci -
I don’t think my link went through, so here it is http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dfdrwsvm_1gms2kvpv
I hope it works.
Kim
Comment by Kimberly Roy -
Yes, I do have reservations posting an idea open to the public with the thought someone will steal it. However, the reality is I work hard and have little time to devote to the things in which I would really dream of doing. I have two daughters, one in college and another in kindergarten. It should never be this hard to send a child to school. Yet, my oldest just got a fellowship to Yale, taking some or the pressure off. At least that answers your question as to if I would really work. Yes! I will work. So posting an idea on line in the hopes that someone will take notice doesn’t really count- at least in my thoughts. So here it is. I hope you like it.
On another topic, “Thank You!” for at least giving some of us out there in the world a little hope in our daily lives.
Comment by Kimberly Roy -
I love the idea Mark. However, I can`t possibly look through all of the comments as there are too many. This limitation prevents the true nature of the open source aspect to succeed. Which made me think…..
I propose that someone develop a more efficient platform for reading, ranking/rating, collaborating and ultimately funding these ideas. This way the best ideas will surface as “most read” or “highest ranked” and you can facilitate threads of suggestions to develop these ideas further. Then, the ideas that surface to the top can be funded by you, or even others who may find ideas that suit their interests. In essence, an open-source funding web community.
Comment by Matt Walton -
Mark,
Here are the details of my business, which I launched in January 2009:
Business Concept:
By June 2008, the number of Internet users in the United States had reached over 220 million (approximately 72.5% of the nation’s population), and the user growth rate had increased by nearly 131% since the year 2000. As of December 2008, the number of mobile phone users in the United States had surpassed 270 million, which represented an increase of nearly 15 million subscribers since the previous year.
As the use of the Internet and mobile phones continues to rise among Americans, it has become necessary for small business owners to establish a presence online and incorporate Internet and/or mobile marketing strategies into their marketing efforts in order to find new customers and sell more products or services to current ones. Many small business owners, however, simply do not understand how to properly utilize the power of the Internet and/or mobile phones to market their products or services.
The Small Business MBA is a marketing consultancy that implements customized Internet and mobile marketing solutions for small business owners in order to help them grow their businesses. Through the implementation of these powerful marketing strategies, The Small Business MBA will help its clients gain more exposure to a wider audience, brand themselves, generate targeted leads, collect lead information, communicate more effectively with leads and customers, and increase sales.
The Small Business MBA securing its first client, a custom framing shop owner in Los Angeles, CA, and providing multiple Internet marketing solutions for the client, validates this business concept.
Target Customers:
Small business owners (more specifically, high-end professionals like doctors, lawyers, accountants, photographers, etc.) who either have no online presence whatsoever, need help in optimizing their website (SEO, long-tail keywords, etc.), and/or require assistance in the development and implementation of their Internet and mobile marketing plans. These target customers also waste thousands of dollars a month on ineffective advertising methods, such as placing ads in newspapers or mailing out coupons, that do not allow them to track advertising ROI.
Business Model:
The Small Business MBA generates revenue from the following sources:
• Internet Marketing Solutions. Clients will be charged for each of the Internet marketing services that The Small Business MBA provides for them.
• Mobile Marketing Solutions. Mobile marketing solutions consist of mobile site development and design as well as short message service (SMS) marketing.
• Joint Venture Opportunities. Joint venture revenues will be split in half between The Small Business MBA and the other party.
• Affiliate Products. The Small Business MBA will sell affiliate products that can help small businesses.
Competitive Advantages:
• Offers its clients both Internet and mobile marketing solutions.
• Creates joint ventures with its clients to produce new products.
• Provides its clients with individual attention and outstanding customer service.
• Provides potential clients with two free consultations and a customized Internet and mobile marketing blueprint prior to establishing any official business relationships with them.
Financial Projections:
Just to give you a quick overview of the financials (I have detailed Pro Forma statements if you would like to see them), our projected revenues for Years 1-3 are:
Year 1: $354,900
Year 2: $1, 241,060
Year 3: $2,772,420
Founding Team Experience:
The founding team (consists of my brother and me) has experience in building a start-up company, consulting for a variety of clients, offline marketing, sales, and financial analysis. Specifically relating to the services that The Small Business MBA provide, the founding team has experience in building web properties, e-mail marketing, article marketing, social media, information product creation, traffic generation, and selling affiliate products online.
Your Requirements:
As far as your requirements go, the business should be profitable as soon as I secure 4-5 clients because my start-up costs are so low (roughly $2500) — which can definitely occur within the next 60 days.
Regarding costs, I plan to offer customized solutions for each of my clients, but let’s just say that a client just wants a simple website and a monthly e-mail marketing campaign. I will outsource the website development and content writing for the e-mail campaign, and I will charge the client roughly 2-3 times the amount I will pay the outsourcers.
I will be the one that is managing the client projects, but I plan on establishing a strong network of people who I can outsource to based on their specific skill sets.
For your investment, I am willing to give you 20-30% of the company’s equity. Your investment would mostly go towards helping me establish a strong team of people for marketing, sales, and project implementation.
I hope this overview gives you a good idea of what I’m looking to do. I have already written an entire business plan for this business and can forward it along to you if you like. Please feel free to contact me with any questions and/or comments. Definitely looking forward to your feedback.
Thanks!
Justin
Comment by Justin Hong -
Hello Mr. Cuban,
I am a resident of Atlanta, Ga and am trying to open up an entertainment facility in a VERY profitable and UPCOMING area. It actually has one of the fastest growth rates in population for the last couple of years. I have shopped my plan around to the limited sources I do have. Moreover, I am still pushing forward. The owner of the property is even working with me as he thinks my idea is phenomenal (his words). Nevertheless, GOD willing, I look forward to working with you!
Comment by Che' -
Mr. Cuban,
We are a small group of guys with highly developed and specialized skills each supporting and building on each other. We have located an existing hydraulic repair shop for sale at a bargain price. This shop current produces between 90,000 and 120,000 gross per year as a husband and wife team with no employees. We intend to start expanding on the current revenue by hiring an office administrator to organize the work load. We paln to use 2 well qualified Mechanics and 3 helpers. Each mechanic will have 1 helper at all times, and the remaining helper will be roving between the 2. We will have one mechanic that specializes in farm and heavy equipement, and one mechanic that specializes in trucks. Our helpers will spend time in each side of the business in order to cross train our next generation of mechanics.
The farm and heavy equipment side of the business is supported by the existing hydraulic repair shop. This business is the only hydraulic repair shop within a 150 mile radius in the heart of farming and ranching country. It is also on the outskirts of the barnett shale. I understand drilling has slowed down, but maintenance will have to continue for the next 20 years. They use heavy equipment and big trucks for those operations. We will be aggressive in marketing this business to local business in the farming, ranching, trucking, dairy, and industrial businesses. We are also going implement a preventive maintance program for big businesses. We will put them on a schedule and change filters, fluids, belts, and hoses on equipement at their location. This is a revolutionary concept. We intend to educate these people on the value of PM in extending the life, function, and performance of their equipment. It seems fundamental, but it is rarely done. These machines are expensive, as are repairs on these machines.
The Diesel repair and performance shop will build upon this because there are many other trucks within these communities. They are used both within these businesses, and many of the employees of these businesses drive diesel pick-ups. We will also target the rodeo and college communities also. We have the best diesel mechanic in the area on our team. He currently works on trucks that go to pulling shows. He has extensive knowledge on how to get trucks performing better than new, and is also able to get these vehicles to get better fuel mileage. This appeals to everyone these days. We have also located a CNC machine that is a great value. We intend to use the Machine to manufacture some of our own parts, and repair some of the parts that come in. This service is currently not available in the area.
In short, we will be a one stop shop for farmers and ranchers in the area. Our Texas climate is hard on this equipment, and these businesses are under supported to begin with. We will complete repairs on time with great focus on quality in repairs. We will also be fair in our pricing. Our basic philosophy in business is we will be authorities in our market place and value integrity above all else. Our country was founded on integrity and business dynasties that grew after the Great Depression used those values, and if companies are going to survive today’s enviroment they should try getting back to basics.
Comment by Derrick Cooke -
Hi Cuban,
I own a startup software outsource service company located in China. We also want to extend new business of SaaS.
I know that there are many company provide SaaS such as salesforce and zoho. However, I think that startuping a similar company in China is best due to there are many talent and cost-effictive engineers that other countries.
Look forward to your reply.
Chengtao Du
Comment by Chengtao Du -
My plan is to open up a craft store where people can buy craft supplies as well as share crafting tips, host crafting workshops, do an annual craft show, and have an area to relax and work on crafts.
I am highly familar with crafting, having over 14 years of crafting experience. I research on the latest in the crafting industry and since my hometown does not have a local craft store, I thought it would be a good business idea to bring to my hometown.
Comment by Tabi Cooper -
My plan is to open up a craft store where people can buy craft supplies as well as share crafting tips, host crafting workshops, do an annual craft show, and have an area to relax and work on crafts.
I am highly familar with crafting, having over 14 years of crafting experience. I research on the latest in the crafting industry and since my hometown does not have a local craft store, I thought it would be a good business idea to bring to my hometown.
Comment by Tabi Cooper -
I guess I missed the winners post. Who / what won?
Comment by Scott Haley -
I live in Ashland Oregon, it’s right by Medford Oregon in Southern Oregon. Our economy relies on our world renown shakespeare festival, great dining and Marijuana. Medical laws have been passed and I’ve hear number like 1 out 5 houses our growing for personal medical reasons. I just moved home from southern california, I ran and massaged at two massage clinics with 30 employees. Obviously now is not the time for me to start a new practice. So my mind is grinding away for something I can do for a business that helps people and my community.
A garden supply store with indoor and outdoor growing supplies. The Valley here could easily have 5-10 more of these types of stores. I’d call it Stimuli Garden supply. Fitting seeing the economic shit hole were in!
I’d have everything one needs to grow food all summer long. As well as lighting and equipment for indoor growth for the winter. I’d also have classes and places people can come and learn how to do it right! Have pre made packages costing around $1000.00 ready to go to your land/home and produce at least $2000.00 in food! This would easily provide hundreds of jobs in our valley and help feed people nutritious food. There’s a hole lot more I’ve thought of but it falls into place after a couple years.
I’ve been in business since I was in High school. Everything from importing exotic butterfly’s to massage therapy for the Olympic athletes. To working with Autistic children as a contractor. I love to work hard and have that work affect people in positive ways. I’m ready to help my community in major ways. I just need that financial back to make it happen.
Kind regards,
Emile G.
Comment by Emile Garcia -
Mr. Cuban,
My first posting did not paste the full document. Here is a free typed document for your endeavor.
My partners and I have formed a company, Advanced Food Safety International (AFSI), to provide an answer to the multitude of food borne illness and contamination of produce, nuts and meat products. We have developed patented equipment and a patent pending process utilizing Ozone that will eliminate all bacteria, pathogens, virus’ and pesticides from food products. This process also extends the shelf life of the food products by an additional 8 to 40 days. Considering that over 25 to 35% of a grower’s fresh fruits, vegetables and produce never reach an end-user, the extension of the life cycle of a perishable product is extremely beneficial and profitable to all parties, including the consumer or any end-user. The Company’s food-safe programs and systems will provide multiple, value-added services superior to its current competitors.
The value of providing a safe food source to the consumer will drive the retail grocery chains to demand that their products be certified as Food Safe and uncontaminated. We have that ability and have already begun conversations with numerous small to medium grocery chains. The level of interest is very high.
Due to the credit crunch, the availability of Venture Funding is almost non-existent. Therefore, we have down scoped our initial objective and now have a business plan that will require substantially less capital ($90K) to get started and will rapidly maximize our profits without any fixed overhead.
At the present time there are numerous food distribution centers in California that have very large areas of unutilized space. With our new business model we will enter into a joint use agreement with an existing distribution center to use approximately 20,000 sq, ft. of this unused space as well as their employees on a “per unit” basis. Using this format the distribution center owner will receive income for the unused portion of the center as well as for his current employees that will provide the service. This provides a positive benefit to the center owner and without any investment, which is what makes the arrangement attractive. This means we have no fixed overhead. When a truck comes into the facility, the distribution center will provide an employee to use one of our Ozone Air units to sanitize/disinfect the products as they are unloaded. These products are then provided with a Certificate that they have been disinfected/sanitize and are certified as “Food Safe” and reloaded onto other trucks for delivery to the retail stores. The distribution center will receive a negotiated rate “per unit” (box, crate, bag, etc) that their employee sanitized with our process and equipment. This will be approximately $0.25 to $0.50 per unit. We will charge the vendor that owns the load a “per unit” fee based on the current market value as a “Value-Added” item, approximately $1.00 to $2.50 per unit. This cost is passed on to the consumer at the retail level as the “price” for a completely Food-Safe product. The cost increase will be less than 3% to 5% of non-food safe products.
The average truck load consists of approximately 2,000 “units”. This means that each truck load serviced provides a revenue stream of $1,000 to $5,000 depending on the market price for that day. This income is divided between the facility owner and AFSI according to the prearranged agreement. Using the lower end of the scale this would translate into $500 for the facility and $1,500 for AFSI. At this scale if the facility processes 3 trucks per week, AFSI would realize $18,000 per month. Our breakeven point is 2.5 trucks per week. Based on our ongoing talks with potential customers, we have projected a minimum of 3 trucks per day for the first week (based on a 7 day work week); 5 trucks per day for the second week; 10 trucks per day for the third week, and 15+ trucks per day for the fourth week. This translates to 231 trucks per month. Using an average of 2,000 units per truck at $0.75 per unit; this will produce $346,500 in gross income for the month.
Even using a minimum number of 5 trucks per week our gross income would be $39,925 per month. Our fixed overhead is projected at $15,500 per month, leaving a net profit before taxes of $24,425. This will be sufficient to generate the self sustained growth necessary to implement our long range plan of opening our own distribution centers. It also will allow sufficient income to provide a fair ROI to our investor and/or investors. We anticipate providing a full ROI on the initial investment after 6 months.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
Advanced Food Safety International
Start Up Expenses
Initial Monthly
Office Expenses: $ 3,600 $ 1,475
Marketing: $ 3,000 $ 2,000
IT Services: $ 2,650 $ 1,075
Equipment: $30,200
Payroll: $11,000
Operating Capital: $35,000
Totals: $74,450 $15,550
TOTAL NEED: $90,000
Since the President has stated that food safety is a very high priority in his administration and the consumer is demanding food safe products, Advanced Food Safety International, with its programs, systems and equipment, considers itself at the forefront and well prepared to meet and capitalize on these expected demands and governmental pressures and has positioned itself by offering several value-added services not present in the marketplace today.
PRINCIPALS:
The Management Team is comprised of seasoned, entrepreneurial professionals with experience in the food and produce industries as well as experience in the food-safety and food distribution industries. The Team has the conceptual expertise capable of expanding the company, as well as the operational skills necessary to produce exceptional profit levels.
The development and expansion of the company requires expertise in many different areas. Due to the scope of the concept, many specialized companies and talented individuals will be sub-contracted in the beginning stages by the management team of the company. This will be done to maximize the results, as well as reduce start-up costs and overhead of the company in its initial phases.
Development team members include specialists in real estate selection, value engineering, construction and project management, marketing, advertising and public relations, legal and accounting services. They have been selected on the basis of their experience and long-term importance and business model.
I would appreciate your reviewing our plan and welcome your comments and feed-back.
David
Comment by David Denton -
SMU Would be a good candidate.
Comment by BIG BIRD -
How about a “Segway” rental business in Universities?
SMU & TCU would be good candidates.
I know you don’t want adverting revenue but I’m sure
that sticking some kind of local ad on those vehicles
Would work.
Comment by Ricardo -
Mr. Cuban,
I saw that someone already posted something similar to my proposal, but my team has over a decade experience in indoor cultivation of medical marijuana and his numbers are nowhere near the truth. This is the business plan I am working on and I am in the process of updating it and adding more content. As far as numbers, our initial start-up cost and total operating capital needed for the first 90 days is just $20,000. Most of this is needed up front. I mention this because you said the money will be dispersed in monthly increments and if goals are not met, funding will cease. We will not generate any revenue until sometime in month 2 of operation, but revenue generated in that month will be at least $30,000 and will we instantly become profitable, meeting your deadline of profitable with 90 days. After we have established ourselves, we will designate a generous percentage of our crop to be donated to terminally ill patients who cannot afford to pay for their medication.
After we have several productions sites operating and significant income is being generated, we will buy warehouses and setup up large indoor growing centers where patients who want to grow their own can. It will be like a large indoor community garden that is just for medical marijuana. For terminally ill patients who wish to grow themselves, we will donate a percentage of the rooms in our warehouses for them.
For your return, you could either choose a return of $50,000 in 6 months, or we could work out an equity stake if you were more interested in that. We haven’t discussed equity stakes with potential investors as of now but it is something that we are open to.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this business plan is to seek the start up capital to setup and operate a facility to cultivate and produce medicinal marijuana & its products year round without the use of pesticides and other harmful agents. The facility will house state of the art cultivation pods that are built to be the perfect controlled environment to cultivate the maximum amount of product utilizing the minimum amount of space, power and other resources. Tests have proven that cultivating within these pods produces 160% more product than those of other cultivation methods, while also being of better quality. With the increase in production, we will be able to offer products at a discounted price compared to other suppliers, while possibly offering products to terminally ill patients for free. Many states are now passing new medicinal marijuana laws, greatly increasing the demand. These states however will experience similar issues with finding a trustworthy and steady supply for which we believe the answer will be to petition each city to build facilities such as these to keep production under control. In March, President Obama spoke in support of medical marijuana stating that the DEA will no longer persecute medicinal marijuana businesses so long as they are functioning within state laws. The attorney general backed up this statement by stating that this is now American policy. Launching just one production site with a start up cost of $20,000 will generate revenue of $930,000 its first year and $1.5 million in its second. We will begin with one grow room and after each harvest, we will slowly add more rooms. We plan to have 10 rooms built and operating by the end of our first year. This does not include revenue made from the recycled waste, such as extracts and edibles. Profits will continue to rise considerably as we develop new methods of cultivation and in turn increase our yields even further.
THE PRODUCT
Cannabis is versatile medication that treats hundreds of illnesses and is recommended by a multitude of patient groups. It is a miracle treatment for people suffering from MRSA, cancer, AIDS, nausea, migraines, anxiety, chronic pain, inflammation and other illnesses that continue to be added as more research is done. Recent studies have verified that it will fight sick cancer cells while protecting healthy ones and even safely ease the pains of pregnancy as long as it is administered without harmful smoke.
THE MARKET
The United States of America has the largest percentage of marijuana use by country and it has become our #1 cash crop. There is currently a shortage of high quality marijuana products in California and other medicinal states. The California marijuana market is estimated to be $3-5 billion a year, with about a third of that being sold as medical marijuana and the demand keeps growing as more patients are seeking treatment. The Office of National Drug Control Policy estimated that the total marijuana market for the US is $113 billion a year. The price of medicinal marijuana has risen far beyond that of its street value and it is causing problems for seriously ill patients that cannot afford the extremely high prices.
PRODUCTION
Our research is directed toward the efficiency of our cultivation methods, utilizing the least amount of power, space, & other valuable resources while producing the largest possible harvest. Our state of the art pods are strictly controlled environments that mimic mother nature at its best producing the highest quality marijuana. These pods can grow even the most difficult of agricultural products with ease, such as fresh fruits and vegetables that are never exposed to the dangers that would come of growing outdoors. Finding the perfect balance requires many more years of research but with every milestone, profits and production efficiency have increased. In the future, we hope to cut our costs further by automating feeding schedules and monitoring our revolutionary vertical rooms remotely from a central system. This will give us the ability to control numerous production sites located anywhere. This will also give us an almost unlimited profit potential by being able to set up production sites anywhere and having to physically visit the sites very rarely. After harvesting, buds are then dried and cured to perfect the taste, smell and quality of smoke. The remaining leaves can be stripped of their medicinal content by many methods to create hash, oils and edibles, just as cookies or brownies.
THE FUTURE
The next phase in our plan is to build larger facilities that will be used to grow food for surrounding areas, produce will be of much higher quality and possibly for lower prices then today. These self sustaining facilities will purify rain water and generate electricity so that they may be built in 3rd world countries to provide food and work to very needy people, bringing the world closer to ending world hunger. It is also known that we will one day deplete our farm lands of nutrients and be in need of new methods of producing crops. These facilities will make it possible to grow local fresh produce that will be of higher quality and for lower prices then the produce of today. Specialty supermarkets will be located on the first floor to sell the produce that is grown in the above floors. Once again providing more food and work to surrounding areas.
Comment by Alex Cantwell -
Mr Cuban,
26,000 teachers in California received lay off notices for the coming school year. Detroit has laid off 600. I believe this is the tip of the iceburg and far more will follow.
I am a writer and teacher. I’ve developed the files for an online education website that will make learning math, 2nd grade to algebra 2, far simpler and more effective.
I am asking for $20,000. Half of this will pay for the website to be developed in Dallas and the other half will pay to edit, extend and develop the product. I hope to have calculus done by the end of October.
Currently, I live in Cleveland as I finish all the teaching files, but all my stuff sits in Austin in a storage unit.
Why does it work?
I took the current math curriculum and I concentrated on the most basic concepts. I put them into highly memorable form and wrote story problems that really make sense. This is very important in algebra, as most of the textbook problems seem very abstract.
How it is marketed
August is the key in the school year. News and talk shows are looking for stories to fill their human interest angle. This is free advertising for me. I’ve worked almost 6 years on this, 13,000 hours, and I’ve created a very smooth product that can find student weaknesses and bolster their skills.
I approach math like a coach approaches a sport. It is not enough to get a C on a test. I expect you to know the concept and be able to use it with a high level of proficiency.
What do logarithms do? How does the quadratic formula use the axis of symmetry? How do you use percent of a multiple?
All my students knew a 1 line answer that showed how each of these concepts works and could answer a problem without using a calculator. My product has high standards.
How the money works
I want to keep these prices low. I have 8 products, from add/subtract to algebra 2 topics. I’m thinking $5 a course. This is adjustable, but I want it to be affordable for anyone or any school system. When I have an entire curriculum of science, history, etc, a parent can spend $25 for all the courses for a quarter. There are add ons, such as online tutoring, workbooks, etc.
Once the website goes public in August, you will receive 25% of all revenue until the $20,000 is paid off. After that, you’ll receive 10% of revenue. I realize this is just past your 90 day rule, but it will take several months to make this happen.
There are 4 to 5 million home school students. I have talked to parents and teachers and the online school sites are often no more than a textbook online. Could this product be huge? A product that is so simple, it takes the place of a tutor.
Think in terms of public schools with finance problems. My product can be used in whole class environments.
I hosted a pilot project this past summer where the product taught 8th to 11th graders to logarithms without calculators. Half of them had never had algebra 2 before, so it was their first taste of higher math. It lasted an hour a day for 2 days. They learned base 10 logs, adding, power logs, and subtraction.
All the students received a B or above.
One 11th grader missed a problem, not because she didn’t know the logs, but because she hadn’t multiplied without a calculator since 5th grade. She couldn’t multiply 6 x 8 without punching buttons.
I’ve contacted several website designers in Dallas and there is alot of interest in creating it. If you want your representative to see the product before you fund it, I’ll be glad to travel to Dallas. I need to pick up my stuff. The monthly fees are starting to stack up.
Mr David Eastwood
Whole Brain Education
Comment by dave eastwood -
Live Now in BETA:
DontFart.com – Search Tool – Don’t Fart Around – Find It Fast!
GamesGamesGames.com – 3200+ Online Games
Concepts:
JustFart.com – Entertainment / Fun links (Time to just fart Around!)
isSINGLE.com – Personalize Dating Site as people can set-up their name within the domain name (MarkC.isSingle.com)
SELLitPRIVATE.com – Real Estate site and automotive site sales
MyNetPass.com – Secured login system
MEcircle.com – Personalized internet experience. With the main idea to serve local products and services with the intergration of personalized information.
BeCasted.com – Contest site for actors/singers/models
iLOVE2Shop.com – Shopping portal site
ShoppingPilot.com – Shopping Service
Click4Jobs.com – Career site
NetPostings – General Classifieds Ads
CrazyGiveaways.com & Crazy4Money.com – Contest sites
BecauseIsaid.com – Feedback / Review Blog
247Friends – Friends Network
AmazingAds.com – Ad Network – selling ads
Contact me for a detailed business plan.
Andrew
Comment by Andrew M -
Mr. Cuban,
My partners and I have formed a company, Advanced Food Safety International, to provide an answer to the multitude of food borne illness and contamination of produce, nuts and meat products. We have developed patented equipment and a patent pending process that will eliminate all bacteria, pathogens, virus’ and pesticides from food products. This process also extends the shelf life of the food products by an additional 8 to 40 days. Considering that over 25 to 35% of a grower’s fresh fruits, vegetables and produce never reach an end-user, the extension of the life cycle of a perishable product is extremely beneficial and profitable to all parties, including the consumer or any end-user. The Company’s food-safe programs and systems will provide multiple, value-added services superior to its current competitors.
The value of a safe food source to the consumer will drive the retail grocery chains to demand that their products be certified as Food Safe and uncontaminated. We have that ability and have already begun conversations with numerous small to medium grocery chains. The level of interest is very high.
Due to the credit crunch, the availability of Venture Funding is almost non-existent. Therefore, we have down scoped our initial objective and now have a business plan that will require substantially less capital ($90K) to get started and will rapidly maximize our profits without any fixed overhead.
At the present time there are numerous food distribution centers in California that have very large areas of unutilized space. With our new business model we will enter into a joint use agreement with an existing distribution center to use approximately 20,000 sq, ft. of this unused space as well as their employees on a “per unit” basis. This means we have no fixed overhead. When a truck comes into the facility, the distribution center will provide an employee to use one of our Ozone Air units to sanitize/disinfect the products as they are unloaded. These products are then provided with a Certificate that they have been disinfected/sanitize and are certified as “Food Safe” and reloaded onto other trucks for delivery to the retail stores. The distribution center will receive a negotiated rate “per unit” (box, crate, bag, etc) that their employee sanitized with our process and equipment. This will be approximately $0.25 to $0.50 per unit. We will charge the vendor that owns the load a “per unit” fee based on the current market value as a “Value-Added” item, approximately $1.00 to $2.50 per unit. This cost is passed on to the consumer at the retail level as the “price” for a completely Food-Safe product. The cost increase will be less that 3% to 5% of non-food safe products.
Since the President has stated that safe food is a priority in his administration and the consumer is demanding food safe products, Advanced Food Safety International, with its programs, systems and equipment, considers itself at the forefront and well prepared to meet and capitalize on these expected demands and governmental pressures and has positioned itself by offering several value-added services not present in the marketplace today.
I would appreciate your reviewing our plan and welcome your comments and feed-back.
David
Comment by David Denton -
Ok here’s an idea the will show near instant profit:
Monetizing Spam and Comments in webpages/blogs. You realize you could be making money right now, by charging people a few cents each to post a comment. That’s small potatoes for a single page with 2,100 posts, but it has two benefits: 1) very scalable service, 2) weeds out comment spam and only allows those who are confident in their content to post.
http://ideaclearinghouse.blogspot.com/2009/04/monetizing-spam-with-my-2-cents.html
Comment by Wayne Smith -
MC,
Here it is the One you’ve been waiting for. Anybody can do this, and the best thing is you only need $1 and time. A few years ago I stumbled across a way to make money from stuff. Understand this The difference between rich people and poor people is how they spend the money they have. On payday poor people buy “stuff”. They convince themselves they deserve it. So the go scouting at yard sales, flea markets, swap meets, bargain centers etc. Until they find “stuff”. It can be anything, they don’t care. Have you ever went over to someones house, and the entire house is loaded with stuff, figurines,and trinkets. This might even be you. Well you can change you just have to be aware of your habits. Middle class people are too busy trying to appear rich. On payday the purchase Liabilities. That new bimmer, which is going to cost them more with insurance and up keep so they can never break free to wealth. Rich people will invest in assets. This means anything that will bring income back to them. Not just a house or property, something that adds to there bottom line. If you can grasp what I am saying you can be wealth in you life. I took a simple method and made money now I am ready to take it to the next level. You can go to your local Self storage Auctions and buy forfeited property for penny s on the dollar. Get a flea market space, post on craigslist, sell on eBay,or host a yard sale and make $1000 per week. I’ve done it and it works. The only draw back is: it is work. Don’t be greedy work on doubling your investment and you won’t accumulate a lot of stuff. Storage can be a problem and generally, if you aren’t willing to pay a certain amount for stuff neither will I. The future will be bright for all those who use this. I have more money making ideas I will post that will make billions of dollars, I just need more time to perfect them. Good luck, happy hunting! Make some money this week and lets jump start this economy.
Sincerely,
Bargainhunterbh@Yahoo
Comment by Aaron McKinney -
Mark,
I have a question before I submit a business plan. Do you invest in a business that is already successful in on area but wants to duplicate that to another area of the country, say Dallas?
My son and I have access to expand a shooting basketball camp to the Dallas area and we’re looking for help and investers to get it started down here. Would you be interesting in hearing more?
Thanks, Cathy
Comment by Cathy Hauptstueck -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
Here is the poop. Literally. My business is called The Backyard Butler. I started it about 3 years ago. My main purpose is to pick up and remove dog waste form residential yards. Currently I am a sole proprietor and am the only employee.
With the world being so environmentally conscience these days it is important to find new ways to produce energy. With the amount of dog waste I collect each year and properly dispose of. it would make better sense to actually use it for energy and recycle it for fertilizer or compost.
Rather than have dog waste contaminating our ground water and being a health hazard, it is my goal to create a system where the waste is put into methane tanks and use its gases as energy similar to leaves and grass clippings.
I feel this would be a tremendous opportunity and would appreciate hearing back from you.
Comment by David Taylor -
Mark,
I came up with an idea to have a short run, quick turn around box making business. My daughter married a guy who’s father sold box making equipment. He sold to companies that would then make there own boxes. I had been in the office equipment business and thought that this could be much like a quick printer (Minuteman,Kinko’s,etc.)concept but with boxes. I did research to find that you can buy standard boxes most anywhere. However, if you want a specific size or uncommon type box you would have to order large quantities to make it cost effective for a large box maker. I also found that this concept has been done in England on a wide scale. They have small box sheet plants all over the country. I also found a person in Phoenix who has done the same concept for years that has been successful. I felt confident this would work.
I then approached some investors, one of which I had known for years. I put together a business plan which you can see at http://www.slideshare.net/spshepherd/box-werkz-business-plan. They gave me funding, we found a site and bought the equipment. After many struggles we opened on November 3, 2008. We had issues with power requirements, electricians and equipment that was damaged in shipment that delayed us. November started out okay but as the holidays neared, our business dropped off to a crawl. In January things started to pick up again.
Toward the end of January we had a meeting to see how much longer before BoxWerkz would be able to stand on it’s own and not require any more money. We started it with 75K and then added funds to bring it to a total of 140K. With this we bought the box making equipment, truck, forklift, etc. and we self funded these purchases. At that time, I thought we would need another 6 months.
Our original plan was to sell BoxWerkz franchises, or joint ventures. We would take the deposit money from the franchises and use that money to pay down the debit with the investors. One of the investors I have known for years desided he wanted to be our outside rep to sell the franchise concept. He traveled all over and found many people who had a big interest in our concept.
Another investor found someone in Fort Worth that was interested in starting a BoxWerkz right away. It was a husband and wife that had a long background in the box making business. I thought things were going great.
It was decided in the January investors meeting that they would form a new corporation called BoxWerkz International. This company would be totally dedicated to selling the franchises and
leasing box making equipment. I was not made part of this corporation. They also informed me that they would not be funding me anymore. As a matter of fact, they expected me to shut down and sent me a bill for all the moneys they had given to BoxWerkz. In all the agreements that were signed between BoxWerkz and the investment group we were given until September of 09 to start making payments. I told them I was going to stick to the original agreement. What they were doing was getting me out with my 48% of BoxWerkz and wanted me to pay them off even though they were planning to lease my equipment to the people in Fort Worth who wanted to open. They would become a lease company and be out of the box making business. They could use the Fort Worth franchise as their proof of concept and all they would have to do is sit back and collect lease payments and franchise fees. They would give the startups a form of my business plan as the playbook. They only problem they had was that I am too hard headed just to give up. I decided to keep going.
I have been now open until April of 09 on my own. I have tried many new things like advertizing on the Ticket Radio station, exploring new vendors, finding new opportunities on the web and re-thinking the original plan. I have also just added box brokers (sales people) who work on straight comission. I would do many things the same as the the first time if I were to do this all over again. I would also learn much from my mistakes and change many things. I also now know that I need some form of printing equipment to print on boxes. There is new technology out that would do this with a low startup investment and give good results.
I have talked to several financial people who have told me that they would not be able to help me because of the current situation with the investors. I am only 48% of BoxWerkz and they are 52% (and I don’t have any stock certificates to back this up). They have told me that even if I agree to pay them off that chances are that they would not want to give up the stock. Why should they? I could sue them but they have many more resources than I do. I think the best thing is to start over and walk away from BoxWerkz. I have no compete agreement and I wrote the plan.
I would like to start over with this concept, new and improved. I would like to help others to do the same thing in other parts of the country. I have talked with the Pheonix business like BoxWerkz and he will help me and support me. He will also join with me to help and support anyone else who would join us to start a box making business. I have posted the original BoxWerkz plan on Slideshare for anyone to see for free. BoxWerkz International will try to sell this for thousands of dollars and try to take a percentage of the gross profit. We also have sources for equipment, new and used.
The most rewarding part of this box making experince had been to meet all the people in the area that are now starting new businesses. There is a new Vodka maker starting up in Lewisville that will be made with all Texas companies as suppliers. There is a company in central Texas that is coming up with a new way to insulate your home and we will be making corrugated trays to use as molds for this process. There is a man who will be importing toys from Japan that he will re-package and sell here. There is a company with small portable storage units made of plastic that needs boxes made that fit exactly into the containers. The list goes on and on. Businesses don’t design a product to fit a box. They want a box designed to fit the product. This business helps people who want to start and run a new business. There are thousands of opportunities out there waiting. They just have to know we are here.
Comment by Stephen Shepherd -
Hi Mr. Cuban,
I’m hoping you could give your opinion about my product.
Please visit snuggleball.com
Sincerely,
SVL
Comment by Stephen Long -
Hey Mark – I actually met you a few years back at my buddies frat house at Pitt… very cool of you to swing by.
Here is my business:
I invested in a franchise called Moe’s Southwest Grill (www.moes.com), with the intention of bringing quick-fresh Mexican cuisine to the Greater Philadelphia region (the idea of a fresh burrito joint is still an up-and-coming market segment in much of the north-eastern part of the country). We have secured a great first location and have invested nearly $100K to this point on the project. However, we have been getting jerked around by the SBA for nearly 9 months now and we are at a point where we may have to cut our losses if we cannot secure the remainder of necessary funding in the very near future. My 2 partners and I do not have the necessary assets for a conventional business loan, but we are all committed to working full-time at the location once open and are currently all committed full-time to seeing this project through.
We need an additional $500K for equipment, build-out costs, and some working cap. I have very detailed financial projections in my business plan for the first 4 years, based on historical data collected from other franchise owners.
Mark- If you agreed to make an appearance at the store location at any point in our first month of business, we would be in an excellent position to be very profitable almost immediately.
The payback period for the loan would be about 2 years, and we would be willing to negotiate with you to become an equity partner in the company. The ultimate goal of the company is to own and operate multiple franchise locations over the next 5-7 years, and sell the locations at the appropriate stage of its business life cycle.
Please shoot me an email for our actual business plan, which is much to long to post here.
Thanks!
Comment by Eddie -
Mark
I have a small subcontractor business in the fire alarm/security trade.Been in business for myself for 4 years.Also have 15 years in the electrical trade.I want to provide service and installs for commercial buildings in the dfw area.We have 4 employees and including myself have over 35 years experiance installing all differant types of alarm/security/electrical systems.What I want to do is provide service,inspections,installs for fire alarm,security,monitor,electrical,telephone,network, systems. Currenty have been doing around 16000.00 per month as a sub. I know i have the contacts and knowledge to make this work.We have all the proper insurance and licence in place.Just need some funding to take this thing to another level.Also looking into providing fire watch at arena and high buildings. Have TX fire license and electrical license.Just thought since you are doing this would run it by you.thank you for your time and consideration
steve
GO MAVS
Comment by stanner -
Good Afternoon Mr. Cuban,
Thanks for taking a look at our products’ incredible potential, I will go
over the many uses and the biggest positive is the cost which will drop
significantly when compared to the many products companies and the consumer
are using now. There is not another product on the market that claims it
simplifies the cleaning process, Poly’s does just that.
This product makes cleaning a vehicle easier with each use. It owns the
North American auto show circuit – meaning every vehicle is cleaned with
Poly’s (by far it’s the best dry wash product on the market) which leaves
the vehicles looking better than wax with a simple wash. Poly’s CTS
replaced Meguiars in the auto show circuit due to the results, the
cost savings came with it. GM actually won an award for their vehicles in
the auto shows which were detailed with the product at a time when the other
vehicles were waxed.
This is a Product you can really get behind because it works! It is 100%
Biodegradable and it saves water. It is a one-product-does-all, eliminating
multiple other products (soap, wheel cleaner, window cleaner, degreasor,
upholstery cleaner/shampoo safe on every material, wax, clay glide, super
concentrate towel soap). I can furnish you many contacts who are presently
using Poly’s that do not have the need for the other products mentioned
above – which translates into huge savings!
We have spent years improving our product, to the point it almost cleans
without agitation. A bucket wash with one cap full of this product per gallon
leaves the vehicle detailed (no wax is needed) – this is the way the Chinese
consumers wash their vehicles. Our product adheres itself to the clear coat
leaving a protective coat with each wash. When used in a pressure washer it
leaves even a thicker coat due to the heating of the product (again very
high dilution even 8K to 1 you see the same mind blowing results), this is
really the future of car washing when you see the results in person not to
mention the cost is pennies. I have spent 7 years doing Logistics for auto
shows and special events, every person or company I’ve introduced it
to is figuring a way to get it into their system because they’ve never
used anything like it. The company I presently am a contractor for has
saved huge percentages not buying wax for special events or auto shows! My
previous company I worked for totally eliminated wax from their operation
due to a couple reasons, we received a better finished product easier for
less money. Some car wash owners have told me it’s too good, which brings
me to something those owners don’t want to get out (the fact the chemicals
being used are not good on a finish and cause reclaim issues), can you
imagine if that news got out?
When you High Speed polish a vehicle with the product its a one step process
(clean, fast and very impressive), there is no wiping wax off the clear coat
or cracks/molding. Porter Cable or Orbital is much cleaner and faster as
well, all leave a thick glossy protective coat. In these tough economic
times we all need to look into the best possible ways to save money
especially if it could produce better, easier results. We have very low
overhead, this product will go crazy with a marketing push and or a big name
person endorsing!
Can’t wait to Demo in person! THANKS FOR YOUR TIME/I can send you a DVD of
the auto show cleaning and the pressure washing but seeing in person is Huge
Dallas Trippy
949-309-7525
dallas.trippy@gmail.com
Comment by Dallas Trippy -
Mr. Cuban
I am an internet marketer that has a great idea I am starting to implement right now and this idea meets all of your requirements. I am taking online marketing offline. What I mean is I am going to offer internet marketing services to local offline businesses. It’s a fact that more and more people are using search engines for local search.
There are several business models included in this offline idea and all of them can be systemized and scalable easily.
1) Offer lawyers, cosmetic dentist, used car dealers and other highly profitable businesses an internet marketing package that will make them the authority in their local market and as a result create many more leads for them.
We will do this with an advanced SEO strategy that allows me to get local businesses several (5-8) first page listings on the google SERP’s for their main local keywords like Dallas dentist for example. This will easily sell for 1k-5k per month depending on market size and search volume. The best part is the other web properties besides their own site will only be licensed and if they fail to pay these web properties can easily be transfered to their competition within a few hours. They will be signed up for reaccuring billing from the begining until they cancel.
We will make them the authority in their market by dominating the online conversation in their market with their site, videos, press releases, and web 2.0 properties all on the first page for their keyword.
Note: I can do this for non local search phrases also – at a higher cost of course.
2) I am going to offer a free workshop at the SBA to show business owners how to make the sites that they have, that they paid good money for, actually work for them instead of just sitting there doing nothing like most do.
And as you know most people are too lazy or too busy running their business to implement these great new effective ideas. So they will pay me, the authority, to do it for them instead after they are educated on what needs to be done and why. A lot of them will want to implement these strategies but will be to overwhelmed with all the information to do it themselves and they have no clue who to go to, to actually get theses services done as most web designers have no knowledge of effective internet marketing tactics.
3) I will hold paid seminars/workshops for $997 per person for local business owners and the result will be the same as the free SBA workshops where I have shown that I am the authority and they will line up to buy my services after they are educated on what needs to be done and why to make their site work for them to generate revenue.
4) Run ads offline offering FREE websites that are totally custom to their wants and charge a $297 a month management fee for a 12 month contract and a $497 per month upsell option. The initial $297 will cover the cost of the site and the rest will be profit. They will receive a monthly newsletter(so will all of the people in the other business models) that educates them on internet marketing with the purpose of educating them enough to want to buy internet marketing services from me. The best part is that their free site will be hosted and managed by me so if they fail to pay their site will disappear.
I have several more tricks and more details on these business plans worked out. I just need to see if you have any interest in knowing more before I spend more time on the business plan for you because I’m actually working on the business models and systems right now.
email me at adam41143@yahoo.com
Comment by Adam -
Mark I have a couple of web sites for your and anyone else reading this they’re miraclefield .com and miracleleague.com I also was at a planning commission meeting tonight at a prominent city here in north texas the ordance on solar is such you couldn’t put it on or near your house or business I was going to buy a house in this town to put solar on it and sell and advertise my product well I couldn’t get a permit to put it on the house I was going to purchase so I didn’t buy the house now how many other people are going to have the same problem and not buy they’re solar dream home I found two other cities that have no problem writing permits and will work with you on the coding since every system is different anyways thats my delema I still out here trying to educate as many people as I can on solar thermal water heating and wind turbines have to educate before I can sell my product that’s the fun part when people relize how this product works and how easy it is they light up so its a good feeling go mavs
Comment by David Hughes -
Idea 2
Traffic lights have been proiven to be less effective than roundabouts. Most of Europe has switched from the use of traffic lights to widespread use of roundabouts. This is because they:
– increase traffic flow
– reduce speed at intersections and therefore are less dangerous
– prevent drivers from having to waste time at a red light when there is no traffice passing on green
– do not involve vehicles crossing each other’s paths and therefore reduce accidents and the resulting blocks and delays
– do not fail as traffic lights do causing chaos
– do not require electrical energy and the associated costs
– do not need ot be maintained
Roundabouts increase traffic flow and reduce travel times will therefore benefit the economy by reducing delivery times and wasted human hours on the road.
The massive project that would entail gradually transforming the United States’ traffic lights into roundabouts would provide work for thousands of people. It would also boost the heavy duty vehicle industry and those associated with the supply of the raw materials needed.
What do you think?
ed_vickery@hotmail.com
Comment by Edward Vickery -
Hi Mark,
If you continue to read past the next few paragraphs, you will see that this opportunity does not conform to all of your rules. However, it is the kind of deal that you might like anyway, it is the beginning of a trend that will become the new standard in the future. If we get the right financial partner and do our job, the ROI will be remarkable. Our patented technologies control hard water scale and bacteria in process water (HVAC, boilers, etc) better than chemicals and other Physical Water Treatment (non-chemical) methods.
If installed on every cooling tower (not including boilers and other process water systems) in North America, our technology has the potential to reduce energy consumption by 57 billion kilowatt hours, water consumption by 160 billion gallons, water treatment chemical use by 60 million gallons and prevent millions of metric tons of emissions (C02) from going in to the environment, annually.
The company has sold several million dollars of its patented products into a $3.5 billion annual sales industry without having a sales or marketing person on staff. However, in spite of that, we have managed to get our products to be the standard water treatment method at customer’s like United States Postal Service (district level), New York City Housing Authority, Washington DC Metro System and many other large accounts that buy our products because they work and are better than the competition.
We received conformation this week that a very large new customer will install our water treatment equipment in all of their 20 worldwide plants to treat process water and HVAC system water. They installed the first system in one of their plants 2 months ago and are so pleased with its performance that they have already committed to making our Physical Water Treatment system the standard for their entire international company. The point is, with USPS, NYCHA and Wash DC Metro a 2 year test of our product was necessary to become the standard…this decision was made in 60 days from the first installation. This could turn into a $500,000 account.
As far as representation / distribution goes, Johnson Controls (the largest cooling tower / chiller supplier in the world) has been successfully using 2 of our systems in their plants for 2 years and has just recently ordered the first system for one of their customers. We are in discussions with Johnson Controls and Trane about being part of our distribution network.
Mark, if you got this far thanks for your time and I hope this has sparked enough interest that we get a chance to tell the rest of the story…there is a lot more to tell.
Our office is in Plano. I would be happy to meet with you in person if you are interested in knowing more about what we are doing.
Respectfully,
Jerry
Additional technical info and installation and product pictures here
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dfg684zt_0cgpmm4hh&hl=en
__________________________________________________________________
I will invest money in businesses presented here on this blog. No minimum, no maximum, but a very specific set of rules. Here they are:
1. It can be an existing business or a start up.
Existing
2. It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. Why ? Because I want this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. Thats the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time.
No revenue from advertising…we make and sell patented products
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
Break even can’t happen that fast
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
Profitability can’t happen that fast, the sale cycle is too long
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops
We would have to have more than a month at a time commitment. Although we have minimal sales now, it will take some sustained effort and financing to reach the point where additional financing is not needed…you will understand why if you get all of the details.
6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered
Profit margins are good, typically from 30% to 200% +
7. Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else
Everyone does work…we will need to hire additional employees soon after funding
8. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com, scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download
If you are interested after this phase, I will be happy to share our business plan and any and all other information that you desire. One of our competiters was just purchased for an estimated $50 million by a major chemical company, I’m not interested in showing the competition our plans
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own
Understood. When we become profitable, additional growth funds will be much easier to get from conventional sources
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont.
Understood
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows.
No problem as long as we have agreed to a budget that will be funded while we build sales/profits
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money.
This is negotiable depending on your commitment i.e. full funding or partial funding, etc.
13. No mult-level marketing programs (added 2/10/09 1pm)
None
Comment by Jerry Reeves -
Mark,
Full document of project on scribd:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/14111492/Greatest-Las-Vegas-Project?secret_password=4v9j7225caewhyonrhw
Comment by Paul-Felix Montez -
Mark,
Being a sports owner, sports fanatic, and now movie entertainment company owner, you might be interested in a new sports project that could use your support and energy proposed for the city of Las Vegas. The ‘GREATEST” project. It is already receiving backing form major “fighting sports figures” as it is for “All fighters. all champions, for all time in all fighting sports”.
THE GREATEST LAS VEGAS PROJECT:
“All fighters, all champions, for all time” in Las Vegas. The Greatest Las Vegas project is five major global elements, which will bring together al fighting sports disciplines, from Boxing to martial arts, from fencing to karate under one organization, covering all in great detail.
The Greatest is first made up of the world’s largest sports monument, “The Statue of Liberty of sports”, standing 80 feet tall, cast in bronze and stainless, two boxing gloves face to face, would rise vertically in the desert sky. Thus the a major sculptural iconographic monument for the 21st century would be born.
Coupled with the monument is a “living” memorial “Championship Fighters Wall” emblazoned with cast stainless plaques, each baring “imprints of championship fighters fist, signature, weight class and championship years”.
Next a digital archive interactive museum, using the latest animation technology, thus enabling it, to present life size interactive viewer experiences in all fighting forms and disciplines. Along with these digital worlds, all information, background, champions in all fight sports would be available at the touch of a finger to a touch screen pad. Thus, every facet of any fighting sport, hero, pro fighter could be explored down to the ring men, trainers, doctors, and even the very sciences of sports fighting. Considering and drawing on the vast film and TV recordings of most major fighting sports, this archive could present thousands of hours of past, present and future fighters, with added insightful commentary, newspaper articles and more.
Next would come the retail operations, and on-line museum, capable of delivering custom merchandising on demand for any fighter or champion, sponsoring on line live interviews with fans weekly, thus building on our internet success on myspace reaching over 300,000 plus fighting sports fans in all disciplines.
The Greatest Las Vegas song will reach millions, as the entire iconographic project goes global. “All fighters, all champions, for all time”.
I’d love to send over the full illustrated package, which shows the entire range of merchandising, museum development, architectural designs, sculpture monument and living memorial wall project.
The greatest would be a “living” past present and future five part project, a theme entertainment and attraction center.
Hope you enjoy our site, and the song you hear on the site will be on local radio in Las Vegas and Los Angeles by the end of this month, thus promoting the project to vast numbers.
Paul-Felix Montez
Las Vegas BIG Art LLC
Comment by Paul-Felix Montez -
How do we post documents and/or pics?
Comment by Brad Wilburn -
Mark,
First, thank you for the open proposal. I am sure you will receive lots of offers. I have an idea I would like to share. We all know about the real estate market right now. I am trying to start a Real Estate Investment Trust, that purchases troubled properties, and leases back to the current owners who just want out. There are specific rules related to REIT’s, which are flexible upfront, but I feel I can meet your specifications outlined here and return significant upside potential as the real estate market recovers. As well, my goal is to help viable troubled homeowners stay in their own homes and get troubled assets off the books of the banks. I am not a real estate agent or a broker, however, my wife and I own an advertising agency, a hosting company, and I have a full time job as an executive at a major phone company. I see the turmoil going on around us, and at the root of the problem is the real estate markets. I endeavor to simply be a small part of the solution based on sound real estate investment strategies. Your investment will be backed by the real estate itself.
Please review my basic powerpoint at:
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=d7pvc6d_68frz7j8zn
I have much more detail to share if there is further interest.
Thanks for consideration,
Ken Carter
Comment by Ken Carter -
Hello, my name is Kelly and this is my project. I have been working on this clothing line for close to a year now. I had another clothing line before and had moderate success. However, due to lack of funding, I wasn’t able to move forward. I know, whoopidy doo, another clothing line. But, I truly believe that this one could really catch fire and become another Hurley or Volcom. Even with our economy being in its negative state, consumers still want to be a part of the “next big thing”.
The name of the company is s.e.c.s. apparel. I have a trademark for the name and the logo. The website (www.secsshop.com) is up, but I have no actual product to sell. There are several designs on there for both men and women. Before the site is fully operational, the pictures will be updated and the options will be narrowed down significantly. To start, 6 – 10 designs for men and the same for women. The site will have a window which will preview future designs. It will be set up as an online poll, allowing the consumer to choose the next design(s).
Right now there are only t-shirts and tank tops. I will have embroidered hats for men and other silk-screened items for women right away. However, I don’t want to be pegged as just a t-shirt site. In the future I want to offer swimwear, casual clothing, and accessories.
For every t-shirt sold, there is a profit of 300%. In order to break even, 1,250 shirts would have to be sold. In 60 days, that’s an average of 21 shirts per day. More realistic numbers would be 14 shirts average for 90 days or 10 shirts average for 120 days. However, due to my location in Orange County, CA and the time of year, I could reach and surpass numbers meeting your terms just by hitting Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.
In order to drive traffic to the website, I will distribute flyers at colleges, concerts, sporting events and any other event that would hold a heavy percentage of my demographic. I have created a MySpace page for s.e.c.s. apparel and I hope that it will be a powerful means to spread the word about the site. There will also be t-shirts made specifically to be given away as another way to promote the website.
Thank you for taking the time to read through everything. Any feedback regarding this or comments about the designs on the website are encouraged and appreciated.
Contact information: KB@secsshop.com Below is my full business proposal.
1.0 Executive Summary
S.E.C.S. Apparel is a new clothing line that caters to anyone with a pulse between 15 and 45 living anywhere in the U.S. As our name is a simple play on words (or one in particular), we want to offer something that most people are already looking for. S.E.C.S. does not stand for anything x-rated nor is it affiliated with anything x-rated. S.E.C.S. Apparel will focus our attention on men and women between the ages of 18 and 30. We aim to position ourselves at the top of any retail store carrying our product.
We are a company whose products can be worn by men and women of any color, from any ethnic background, of any age, and with any sexual orientation. We don’t want to be another “surf” clothing line. We are going to be the casual apparel line everyone wants to wear, and one that is easily recognized by our logo and our clever play on words. Our intentions are to be the household name that is already a household name.
S.E.C.S. Apparel will be located in Costa Mesa, CA. This central location will allow us to become a fixture in Orange County. It also provides a convenient location to attend many promotional events from Los Angeles to San Diego, as well as Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
1.1 Objectives
1.To create an apparel line that anyone could wear and would want to wear.
2.To become completely self-sufficient within one to two years.
3.To sell a minimum of 500 units/month through the website.
4.To have a customer base of 7500 by the end of the first operating year.
5.To have our product in at least 15 “Ma & Pa” shops within 3 months.
6.To have our product in a nationwide chain within our first year.
7.To be a fun company where everyone loves their job.
1.2 Mission
S.E.C.S. Apparel’s mission is to offer quality, fun and comfortable clothing in an assortment of sizes and styles to accommodate our extremely wide demographic.
1.3 Keys to Success
In order to succeed in the casual apparel industry S.E.C.S. must:
1.Carry an assortment of designs and offer new products every three months to accommodate for season and style.
2.Provide customers and clients with top notch personalized customer service in an atmosphere of courtesy that doesn’t exist anymore.
3.Advertise and promote in areas that our target customer base will continue to grow at an alarming rate.
4.Continuously review our inventory and sales and adjust our inventory levels accordingly.
2.0 Company Summary
As of now, S.E.C.S. Apparel is a sole proprietorship, owned by Kelly Boyle. There are plans to incorporate in the near future. The licenses needed to establish a business in Costa Mesa have been obtained. The seller’s permit has been acquired through the California State Board of Equalization. Trademarks for the name and logo have been approved and awarded. We own the rights to both for eight years.
We own the domain and have paid for hosting of the website. It has been built and is ready for operation. The bank accounts and merchant accounts have been established and are connected to the website. We currently accept Visa, MasterCard, and have also created a PayPal account.
The hours of operation will be Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. All website purchases will be shipped the day of the order, as long as it is done within our business hours. Any order after 5pm Monday through Thursday will be shipped the following day. Any order made over the weekend will be shipped on Monday. We will honor all of our nation’s holidays.
2.1 Start-up Summary
The purpose of this business plan is to secure a $25,000 investment. S.E.C.S. Apparel’s start-up costs are listed below. The company will start with 1500 t-shirts. This supplemental financing is required to work on site preparation, inventory, and operational expenses. Other financing will include an owner’s investment of $10,000. Successful operation and building a loyal customer base will allow S.E.C.S. Apparel to be self-sufficient and profitable within the first year.
Start-up
Overhead $4,000
T-shirts and Screening $10,000
Embroidery $1,200
Business Insurance & Inc. $1,000
Advertising & Promotion $2,600
Custom Labels $1,500
Computer/Website $1,600
Photography $2,200
Business Supplies $1,000
TOTAL $25,100
3.0 Products
S.E.C.S. Apparel will open with 20 t-shirt designs; ten for men and ten for women. We will carry embroidered hats and other screened items yet to be determined. We will also be making promotional items such as t-shirts with special designs that will not be sold via the website or wholesaled to any future distributors. These promotional items will be given away and are covered within the Advertising and Promotion budget.
3.1 Product Description
S.E.C.S. Apparel will provide a variety of styles and designs to fulfill our mission statement. Our goal is to offer a selection of apparel that is ever growing. Starting out with t-shirts and other screened items allows us to make a name for ourselves. Our plan is to design our own beachwear, such as board shorts and bikinis. We’d also like to create casual clothing including, but not limited to, button-down shirts, shorts, pants, dresses, etc.
3.2 Competitive Comparison
S.E.C.S. Apparel has a number of advantages that will allow us to build our brand identity, add value to our merchandise, and build a loyal customer base while standing apart from our competitors. We will be using Gildan blank tees for men, and all of our women’s blank tees will be from American Apparel. We will offer clothing that can be worn by anyone from any area of our country. We will maintain a detailed record on each customer, logging addresses, their purchases, size, and brand for customer follow-up and in-house promotional purposes. We have a name that everybody already knows, a logo that is very recognizable, and designs that are fun and timeless.
3.3 Sales Literature
S.E.C.S. Apparel will use a targeted advertising and sales program to generate publicity and build a customer base. 7,500 full-color postcard flyers with a 10% coupon will be distributed throughout the Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, and Huntington Beach areas. 5,000 business cards with a special offer coupon on the reverse side, entitling the customer to a free promotional item with a purchase from the website, will also be handed out. Both postcard flyers and business cards will have detailed information on how to contact S.E.C.S. Apparel, as well as the special offers.
3.4 Future Products
As we achieve and exceed our sales and profitability goals, S.E.C.S. Apparel will add seasonally appropriate clothing for both men and women. For summer, we will offer women’s swimwear, board shorts, and casual shorts for men and women. For winter, we will offer hoodies, pants, and jackets. Accessories such as backpacks, handbags, belts, and wallets will be just a few of the items that will adorn our name and logo in the future. We see ourselves growing rapidly. There are already over 40 t-shirt designs ready to print and new ideas develop daily. We look forward to hiring a professional designer. We do not see ourselves being just a t-shirt line for very long.
4.0 Market Analysis Summary
The primary target customer of S.E.C.S. Apparel will be 18 to 30 year old males within Orange County. We conducted a small survey amongst friends and family, and our research determined that there was a 91% probability rate of purchase among men and a 70% probability rate of purchase among women. The women also added that they would be more likely to buy our product if they had heard of the name beforehand. Even though we are targeting our immediate area first, with word of mouth and proper advertising, we can reach consumers far beyond Orange County.
The secondary target customers are females between the ages of 18 and 30. As the aforementioned survey reflects, women like our designs almost as much as the men. To grow rapidly in this business we must satisfy both our male and female customers. We know that women will continue to buy a product they like or one that fits them well, as they are very loyal to particular brands.
The last target customers of S.E.C.S. are the ones that fall just out of our target; Men and women under 18 and those over 30. Even though we are not pushing to sell to the under 18 market, we know that they will contribute highly to sales. Those over 30 are definitely not excluded from our target; they are just not our primary focus. As popularity about the line increases we expect to see an assortment of curiosity seekers; curiosity seekers that will soon become customers. We naturally believe that sales will skyrocket during Christmas season.
4.1 Target Market Segment Strategy
A goal of S.E.C.S. Apparel is to serve the local community. They will be our closest and most consistent clients. However, we plan to give the same top notch service to a neighbor as to someone who lives across the country, or even further. Focusing on a local customer base will help to spread the word about our new company. It will also allow us to see it being worn in and around the surrounding communities. This will help guide us in the future so as to stay current with what our customers and clients want.
4.2 Market Needs
There are several important needs in the apparel business that are being either underserved or not met at all. Focus and attention to customer’s personal preferences and customer retention will be given high priority. Because of the high rate of employee turnover at major mass retailers, customer service and personal detail has been lost. S.E.C.S. Apparel plans to meet and exceed the expectations of service in these areas.
4.3 Market Trends
Millions of people around the world instantly recognize and identify with brand names and their logos. We believe that S.E.C.S. Apparel and its logo will receive the same recognition. As far as trends go, sex has never gone out of style. S.E.C.S. plans to parallel that trend. Many clothing lines don’t even get a chance to succeed because they never get off the ground. Many more fail because they only target a small window. S.E.C.S. Apparel has no window. There isn’t even a wall. Our demographic is wide open.
4.4 Market Growth
Market growth is in an upward motion, despite some of the latest economic downturns in the United States. According to an article recently in The Los Angeles Times, t-shirts with simple sayings on them are more popular now than ever. They gross in the billions every year.
4.5 Industry Analysis
Where you will find our products:
Small Specialty Stores: A large number of youthfully trendy apparel is sold through small family-run specialty stores that are located in or near neighborhood communities.
Large Corporate Retailers: These large, well known stores mass market and sell to hardcore enthusiasts as well as the local shopper.
Our Website: Naturally, consumers will be able to buy directly from the website. Without the internet, our road ahead would be very rough.
5.0 Marketing Strategy
Our marketing strategy will focus heavily on promotion, niche positioning in the market, and customer service with loyalty and retention in sales. Having customers wearing our product is like having walking billboards. Anyone that wears a shirt or puts a sticker on their car window expands our promotion without having to spend more on actual advertising.
5.1 Pricing Strategy
S.E.C.S. Apparel will maintain a flexible pricing strategy. We base our product line’s prices on those of our competitors. Our wholesale prices to retailers will be significantly lower than our retail price, allowing the retailer to make their own mark-ups. Women’s shirts will be sold at a higher price than men’s shirts to compensate for the higher piece price that we pay. This keeps the profit margin for men’s and women’s relatively the same.
5.2 Promotion Strategy
S.E.C.S. Apparel will follow an aggressive yet creative promotional plan. This will allow us to focus directly on our target customer while still being conservative with our advertising dollars.
5.3 Distribution Strategy
Our location will be the foundation of building our customer base. We will also manage a direct mail program that will focus on our top 50% customers spotlighting any in-house sales and promotions.
5.4 Marketing Programs
Social networks on the internet, i.e., MySpace and Facebook, can allow us to reach millions in a matter of days (all without spending a dime to do it). We will distribute 7,500 color flyers on college campuses and to local hot spots prior to our “grand opening.”
5.5 Sales Strategy
We will utilize tracking software with every sales transaction. With each purchase the software will record and maintain in its database the customer’s name, address, and purchases. This information will be used with our direct mailing program to focus on our most frequent customers. We will offer a 14 day return/exchange policy to build trust with our customers and maintain retention and loyalty.
5.6 Sales Forecast
It will take roughly thirty days to allow for lead time for our production. It is within that time that all screening and embroidery will be done. The photography, stickers and promotional flyers will also be made in this time frame. To meet our monthly overhead, we only need to sell 4 units per day. We expect sales to be between 10 to 20 units per day, right away. In order to break even in 2 months, 21 units per day would have to be sold. With proper advertising, promoting, and connections, we believe 30 to 40 units per day to be reasonable goals. The Christmas season looks to be even more promising and profitable.
5.7 Milestones
We know that the first milestone will happen when we are in production. The most important milestone after that is the first sale. Having our product carried in retail outlets is another milestone. Growing into a larger company and acquiring office and warehouse space to accommodate our growth is highly anticipated.
6.0 Management Summary
Employees will be encouraged to work within their creative, physical, and intellectual boundaries. All duties will be divided and delegated according to strengths and weaknesses. At S.E.C.S. we will expect a high degree of customer service skills and personality, as this is essential to our success.
6.1 Organizational Structure
S.E.C.S. Apparel is a small business for now, and therefore requires simple organizational structure. Kelly Boyle will act as general manager. All decisions are made in-line with the company objectives. Our Webmaster will be compensated but will work as an independent contractor. We will be hiring designers very soon. We will grow fast. It is exciting to be able to create jobs. We will be very selective on who comes to work for us. The pieces must fit; otherwise we will continue to look for the right match.
6.2 Personnel Plan
We are excited about growing quickly and equally excited about creating jobs in our community. Any full-time employee will be paid at a competitive rate for his or her position. Our part-time employees will be paid at a rate significantly higher than the minimum wage. All employees will benefit from a one day paid holiday on their respective birthdays, paid time for nationally observed holidays, and one week of paid vacation after twelve months of employment. At this time medical benefits will not be offered to employees. As profits increase in the future, medical benefits will be offered to all full-time employees.
7.0 Financial Plan
The growth of S.E.C.S. Apparel will be quick, and the cash balance will always be positive. Being a retail environment, we will not be selling on credit. We will accept all major credit cards. Marketing and advertising will remain at or below 5% of sales. We will continue to reinvest residual profits into company expansion and personnel.
7.1 Important Assumptions
S.E.C.S. Apparel does not sell on credit nor do we offer layaways at this time. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. All sales paid via credit cards will be deposited in our business checking account immediately. Our business checking account is with Union Bank of California.
7.3 Break-even Analysis
A break-even analysis has been completed on the basis of our sales forecast. Keeping in mind that profit must be returned back into the business to allow for inventory, payroll and expansion, we feel S.E.C.S. Apparel will break even between six months to one year and will have the ability to repay any and all debts, including interest, and become completely self sufficient.
7.4 Compensation
For the $25,000 I am seeking, I will give in return 10% of the business. Investments above $25,000 will receive a larger return. All terms for investment, return, percentages and/or profit sharing are all up for negotiation.
Comment by Kelly B -
Hi Mark,
I am a young hispanic woman living in San Antonio that decided that instead of working hard for others – I would work really hard for myself. I formed my company in September of ’08 – I love managing my own business and in this economy it is miraculously floating. It is a very small social web development company (sweb development) that began developing regular websites, graduated to CMS sites and have now began to develop mobile applications. I came up with and developed an application for a large “niche” market that I have sold to quite a few places. I am afraid to post openly at this time – but I would like to give you numbers without posting the idea:
1. I have already sold 5 applications in less than 3 weeks (with no one practically knowing who i am) – Each application costs $15k.
2. The market I am targeting has over 640,000 businesses all over the US.
3. If we were to reach at least 10% of the market – it would leave me at 64,000 apps at 15k each.
4. I have a licensing agreement with all clients charging $25 monthly licensing fee.
5. The company is already off the ground – all i need is a push to hire more people to fill my orders.
6. I would need 75k investment to float a larger staff and move into a larger space.
7. With 3 programmers I could produce 10 apps a month at least. 150k a month plus licensing fees.
8. I would definitely make your 3 month mark.
I hope you are interested! I really feel this is going to take off – but i am looking to be prepared!
Thank you for your consideration.
Magaly
Comment by Magaly Chocano -
Mr. Cuban
Just for the record, I never played for the Falcons and I love dogs. Now, could you answer a few questions for me before I submit a business proposal. First, would paper fliers printed up with information about the opening of a newly renovated shop posted on bulletin boards, utility poles, windows, etc. classify as “advertising”? Second, how much equity do you expect in return for your investment? You stated that we were to specify how much you were to receive, but it will be difficult to project an exact figure until the business is able to track profits made in the period the first three months. Maybe you have a certain percentage in mind. Along that line, how long would the business be required to pay you equity? As the business is continuing to make profits, are we looking at a span of time like one year? Two years? Or will it just be based on the amount of funds that was initially given?
Comment by Michael Vick -
Hey Mark I have an Idea for a website I dont have the funds or knowledge to put it together. Its a great idea born out of the worst time of my life. Would you be up to listen to it and help with something like that?
Thanks,
Ono
Comment by Ono -
STARTUP COMPANY: HEALTHCHIP DIAGNOSTICS COMMUNICATIONS (TM)
The Future HealthCare Diagnostic Platform Point-Of-Care BIOMEMS Lab-On-A-Chip Broadband Real-Time Proteomic Signature Disease Precursor Detection / Remediation using Cell Signal Transduction Pathways.
PRODUCT: An I-Pod Nano Sized Arm Velcro Mounted Sports Platform
that utilizes BIOMEMS Technology and Real-Time MicroAssay
Proteomic Signature Signal Acquisition to realize a new
paradigm in Wireless, Real-Time, Broadband Access
HealthCare/Wellness/Nutrition Provisioning.
Wireless Blood Test HealthCare Medical Device that
maps proteomic signatures to precursor proteomic
signatures of chronic disease formation and also
maps proteomic signatures to nutrition recommendations.
FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION:
An I-Pod Nano Sized Arm Velcro Mounted Sports Platform that utilizes BIOMEMS Technology and Real-Time MicroAssay Proteomic Signature Signal Acquisition to realize a new paradigm in Wireless, Real-Time, Broadband Access HealthCare / Wellness / Nutrition Provisioning by implementing a Wireless Blood Test HealthCare Medical Device that maps proteomic signatures to precursor proteomic signatures of chronic disease formation and also maps proteomic signatures to nutrition recommendations.
TECHNOLOGY: BIOMEMS, IN VITRO DIAGNOSTICS, PROTEOMICS, MICROFLUIDICS, MICROASSAYS, WIRELESS STANDARDS PROTOCOLS,
MOBILE DEVICE OS, MOBILE DEVICE PLATFORM, CELL SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION PATHWAYS, PROTEOMIC SIGNATURE ANALYSIS DSP,
FPGA PLATFORM, etc.
I study mathematics, Cell Signal Transduction Pathways, molecular motors, proteomics, and real-time microassay platform architectures, some of which are being defined here:
http://www.NANOBIOSYM.com
Sincerely,
Michael Hughes
April 9th, 2009
RESUME: http://www.devbistro.com/resumes/mwhres@hotmail.com
LINKEDIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/verilogfpga
BROADBAND ACCESS
MEDICAL DEVICE PLATFORM / ENTERPRISE ARCHITECT
MICHAEL HUGHES CEO, CTO, CFO, and FOUNDER
HEALTHCHIP DIAGNOSTICS COMMUNICATIONS (TM)
PLATFORM TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECTURES (TM)
REALIZING YOUR ENTERPRISE VISION (TM)
Comment by Michael Hughes -
You are going to get scooped by “big fishes” if you post everything on the open web. I have an idea to avoid this and a business plan but won’t work with rule #8 which is silly considering the backlog of good/crap ideas your staff will have to sort through while VCers are peeling off your great ideas in droves. I can monetize the VC search process for you instead of opening your blog to open suggestions which is insanely inefficient.
Comment by Wayne Smith -
Mr. Cuban I know my idea is not as grand as some of the other ideas posted on here, but I truly believe in the product and the long term potential. I would like to produce my own Hip-Hop album. The music will be a cross between LL, Rakim, and Jay-Z. The music will not be about selling drugs, violence, or going to jail. The music will be more inspirational, about not letting your past dictate your future and about what you can accomplish if you work hard and have a positive attitude. Growing up on the Eastside of Detroit Michigan has given me plenty to rap about!
For your investment you will receive 10% equity in the first two albums and 12% return on your initial investment. The process from start to finish will cost between $40,000 – $50,000 for a product that’s ready to be played to the radio and go on the shelf.
Step 1 – Build a winning team. Find a producer to take the tracks we have and make them better or make new tracks. We will also need an engineer with a recording studio, and a graphic artist.
Step 2 – Start recording.
Step 3 – Once we get all the songs for the album recorded we will start the copyright process.
Step 4 – Get the artwork for the album.
Step 5 – Get the album professional mixed & mastered.
Step 6 – Get the album duplicated for mass distribution.
Step 7 – Now we have a duplicated mixed and mastered album, complete with artwork and barcode. Now we have to do promotions. We will do promotions by contacting radio stations, internet, posters, flyers, MySpace page, billboards, bus benches, and trying to get on undercards. There are a lot of ways to promote and sell an album, but we will be very creative and very aggressive!
Comment by Terence Johnson -
Mark,
I NEED A MAVERICK,A VISIONARY TO HELP ME GET ACCESS TO THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION TO PRESENT THEM MY PLAN.
I DO HAVE THE NEXT BIG THING, THAT WILL FIX THE ECONOMY
I HAVE “THE MOTHER OF ALL PROJECTS”
NOTE:I DON’T NEED YOU TO INVEST MONEY IN THIS PROJECT
Mark, I sent you this message before but I don’t see it posted.
At the beginning of your Stimulus Plan you said the following:
“Its easy to write about what the government or other people should do with our/their money”. Mark, what you said is so true.
You also said:” It’s harder to come up with a course of action that I can undertake on my own that possibly, somehow could make a difference”. True again. But I have good news:
I HAVE THE PLAN THAT WILL FIX THE AMERICAN ECONOMY, AND THE WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS.
I have this idea for almost two decades, and with the way things are going lately, it became more and more clear to me that there is only one solution to this crisis: MY PLAN.
IT IS A MAJOR PLAN THAT WILL REPLACE ALL THE LOST MANUFACTURING AND INDUSTRIAL BASE WITH A NEW TYPE OF “INDUSTRY” OR “PROJECT”,(I apologize for not fully disclosing my plan here, but of course, that’s for obvious reasons) THAT IS LARGER AND MORE MODERN THAN WHAT WE LOST, AND THAT WILL RENDER ALL THE OTHER COUNTRIES’ ECONOMIES OBSOLETE.
Let me say it one more time, becouse this is essential:
BY IMPLEMENTING MY PLAN IN THE USA, THE AMERICAN ECONOMY WILL REPLACE ALL THE LOST INDUSTRIAL AND MANUFACTURING BASE WITH SOMETHING NEW, LARGER THAN THAT, LARGER THAN LIFE, THAT WILL RENDER ALL THE OTHER COUNTRIES’ ECONOMIES AS OBSOLETE. That will bring all the action back to the US, GUARANTEEING ANOTHER NEW CENTURY OF U.S. ECONOMIC SUPREMACY AROUND THE WORLD.
So Mark, if you get involved, we can start the most impressive venture ever started, that can turn into the largest and strongest corporation that has ever operated anywhere.
You also said: “My first inclination is always to try to look “for the next big thing”. But the next big thing is just that, next. Its not now”. Mark, good news again: THE NEXT BIG THING is FINALLY HERE and, it is NOW. And I’m begging you to get involved and contact me, so we can start THIS immediately.
As we speak, there are meetings going on, from Washington to London, to Paris, to Moscow, to Beijing, to Tokyo, trying to find the solution to the World Economic Crisis. Mark, join me please in my endeavor to let everybody know that THE SOLUTION TO THIS CRISIS IS NOT THERE, THOSE PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE THE ANSWER, I HAVE THE SOLUTION.
My only fear is that you are not going to pay enough attention to what I’m saying in here, and not take this seriously. That would be a disaster. But I strongly hope that that won’t happen.
Mark, I know you are a VISIONARY. From that perspective, I want you to know that my plan IS THE ONE PLAN EVERYBODY IS WAITING FOR. AND, INDEED, IT DOES TAKE A MAVERICK TO TRANSFORM MY PLAN INTO REALITY. So, YOU’D BE THE PERFECT MAN FOR THE JOB.
YOU’LL BECOME LARGER THAN LIFE,(and richer than BILL GATES) FOR HAVING THE VISION TO GET ASSOCIATED AND IMPLEMENT THE ONE PLAN THAT WILL FIX THE WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS.
NOTE:YOU DON’T NEED TO INVEST YOUR OWN MONEY IN THIS PLAN, EVEN THOUGH IT WILL BE THE MOST RECOMMENDED INVESTMENT FOR THE DECADES TO COME. ALL YOU NEED TO INVEST IS YOUR NAME AND INFLUENCE.
INVESTMENTS WILL COME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, FROM THE LARGEST INVESTMENT HOUSES, BECAUSE MY PROJECT, ONCE REVEALED, WILL BE THE LARGEST PROJECT EVER IMPLEMENTED, IS SELF EXPLANATORY AND SELLS ITSELF. And that’s exactly what we want. WE WANT A WAY FOR ALL THE OVERSEAS CAPITAL TO MAKE ITS WAY BACK HERE, IN THE USA.
Before I close, following are a few other facts about my plan:
–such a “project” is a shovel ready project, it can be started immediately, it will actually produce real things that can be sold to the rest of the world, yield enough revenue to the government instead of spending its money, so it can pay for all the social programs, create millions of well paying jobs while fixing the economy.
–on the short term, it will bring in over $4 TRILLION DOLLARS of new cash in private investments from around the world. IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS, CREATING 4 MILLION NEW JOBS;
–on the long term, it will bring TENS OF TRILLIONS of DOLLARS to our economy and TENS OF MILLIONS of well paying JOBS, creating the foundation for a new type of economy, which can not be outsourced;
–for the first time in decades, due to this plan, United States will become the main investment destination in the world once again, by bringing back most of the investment capital that ever left our country, plus by attracting new, major foreign investment capital;
–this plan will set the standard for the future world development;
In one of his articles, Nobel Prize Winner for Economics, Mr. Paul Krugman, from NEW YORK TIMES says:
“But in Europe, as in the United States, the issue is time. Across the world, economies are sinking fast, while we wait for someone, anyone, to offer an effective policy response. How much damage will be done before that response finally comes?”
Mark, to minimize that damage, my hope is that you will follow your inclination to look for THE NEXT BIG THING and contact me. I’m looking forward to hear from you.
Respectfuly,
Emil.
emarcu1@yahoo.com
Comment by EMIL MARCU -
Mid-Atlantic sales & service llc was established to secure a GSA contract at their home base in Goldsboro NC just down the road from Seymour Johnson AFB .As work progressed the need to facilitate a portal for government agencies and financial institutions to access the many services available through the internet was realized .Specializing in real and personal property management and disposition., the owner Lawrence William,a decorated minority war veteran, partnered with Rbids.com to offer a national listing service and online auction as a supplement to all entities with surplus and disposition needs. Imagine one site on the web to see all of the assets the government and banks have to offer . Live sites across the nation for asset management,storage, sale prep. and live/internet bidding will increase the bottom line for the seller
Rbids.com was conceived and set in motion by a group of individuals who are passionate about the sales and auction industry. All those involved in the creation of rbids.com, be it in sales, auctioneering, information technology, programming, and administration have decades of collective experience in the industry. We have consulted with the leaders in the industries listed above and would welcome your input as we have a fresh and exciting way to sell or buy real property, merchandise and most any thing in between .
Currently an agent/broker lists a property at what should be fair ma rket value and decreases the sales price until reaching the point of activity (i.e. an offer). Our site will provide a 2 week inspection period prior to the start of the auction, then the property will go to auction (or bidding) decreasing as set by the seller (e.g. $1000.00 an hour until sold or removed). With our model , the point of activity will come very fast, perhaps with in a couple of days, thus turning the money for everyone involved very quickly. The excitement is generated by the speed at which it all happens. Not knowing what is on the other bidders minds will create an atmosphere of urgency for the bidders highest and best offer. This was an example of a Dutch auction model. This method will help shore up values by creating a competitive experience thus revitalizing the ailing economy .
The Dutch auction method is by no means new, just not utilized in the general public. The Dutch auction method has been used for decades by the Dutch (hence its name), and by the big players in the derivatives market. Now you can buy and sell like the big boys at todays fair market value. In a Dutch auction the property will be opened up for a period to be inspected then will begin with an offer to sell. If the offer to sell is not accepted, the price will be lowered by an amount set by the seller in predetermined time intervals. For example: $1000.00 per hour every hour until a buyer accepts the sellers offer to sell. When a buyer accept the sellers offer the sale is over. No more long, drawn out bidding wars or waiting month after month for the price to come to you. Set in your offer and you will know quickly wether your in or out. This method gives the buyers and the seller a quick way to establish a fair market value today.
For the sellers it is a very quick and expedient way to establish a fair market value based on what the property will sell for in todays market and make a decision wether to hold on or liquidate now. For the buyer you will no longer have to keep up with the property for long periods of time because it will be under contract within a 3 week period of going to auction at a price that is attractive . The state of Indiana through the sale of surplus real estate has proven that the Dutch model brings a greater recovery over standard methods. Buyers and sellers should love this site because it will stimulate activity on even the most aged listing.
To satisfy a national contract Rbids and Mid-Atlantic associated with the National Real Estate Board (a non governing message board with a minimum annual fee) bringing auctioneers, real estate brokers/ agents and appraisers together under one umbrella to blanket the marketplace with sales people .
Rbids will house the database of professional listings and FSBO’s (for sale by owner) , leasing the listing service database to the NREB giving a true wide open forum for professionals and the public to do business at an affordable price point online .This will give us true cross section of the day to day market by having real time data from all segments of the marketplace.
A simple finance plan has been designed to go hand in hand with this auction system that will MAKE the taxpayer money.
We have been asked to present this program to the current administration – Scott Wells (deal designer) 919-223-4799
Comment by Scott -
Pingback: Mark Cuban, Naked Pizza, and Being Passionate and Persistent about Your Dreams
Just an Idea, create a website for entrepreneurs that is basically a place for investors/entrepreneurs to invest in others ideas. Create 2 sections, 1 for ideas or (unstarted companies), and a 2nd section for companies already in place. The investors can bid/fund ideas/companies for “stocks” in them. Each investor/entrepreneur will have their own profile page, etc. Investor will essentially be able to buy stock in small businesses before they are big enough for market production. This will also be a way for entrepreneurs to partner up and create funds for their ideas. Their are a lot of concepts of this that need to be shored up but since its an idea i am throwing it out there.
2 unsure things:
1. Is this 100% legal
2. Is there anything exactly like this already out there? (I havent found anything)
Comment by Nicholas S -
Hello Mr. Cuban,
This is the Text of our Business Plan and Model Concept
Vision and Business Summary
Are you ready for the “Next Generation” of On-demand Interactive Magazines? If not, with a “TOUCH ON YOUR SCREEN”, magazines, advertisers and shopping will soon pass you by!
As innovative thinkers our initial goal is to develop and deploy new Interactive Magazines On-demand programming to millions of subscribers via digital content platforms. This content is made available to individuals who pay a monthly subscription to access interactive magazine content. This content offers a new interactive format for the “Next Generation Magazine Readers”, who are currently viewing more than 50 hours of entertainment weekly.
On-demand subscribers want what they want when they want it. Our research indicates that there is a substantial market of people who love to read magazines and want instant access to their magazines. Our solution is perfect for the family or individual who likes a variety of magazines but does not want the clutter, storage or disposal concerns of what to do with old magazines. Our research also indicates consumers are concerned with conserving our environment more than ever before. The Paper Elimination Act serves notice that we are changing from a paper intensive society to a society that is eager to lessen negative effects on the environment. This greatly reduces the need for paper, printing costs, recycling concerns and postage costs.
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Nykel is offering magazine publishers and advertisers a new vehicle to engage potential magazine subscribers like never before via Magazines On-demand. We’re also offering publishers a familiar layout format plus the enhancements of a new digital format that adds increased ad creativity not available in current print media form. As subscribers become more acceptable to digital on-line magazines, we’re anticipating a natural progression of subscribers to our service.
Take note, digital cable and digital broadcast satellite companies are not switching from analog signals to digital signals simply because the picture will be sharper, the true reason is that there are new applications that can be brought to your television or handheld device using digital technology. Remember magazine publications and television shows have two things in common, which are content and advertisers.
Our vision has been to create entertaining and engaging non- linear on-demand content that will become one of the first niche players to capitalize on the efficiencies and interactivity offered through digital content platforms.
Business Objectives
Nykel is an interactive digital publishing & deployment company whose business objectives are:
1. To offer a new interactive format for magazine producers that reduce production and distribution costs by deploying content via digital content platform infrastructures – which is a substantially lower cost than Internet content distribution.
2. To increase the number of new subscribers by offering an interactive digital newsstand environment – content selection is as simple as selecting a song from a jukebox.
3. To increase targeted advertising revenue by offering new interactive magazine content to next generation subscribers – similar to selecting magazines and newspapers from a newsstand except Nykel’s newsstand is interactive and digitally created.
4. To create an interactive platform for existing magazines to be viewed by their loyal subscriber base. Magazines already have an established subscriber base; our objective is to convert those current subscribers and to attract new subscribers by offering the next generation interactive magazine platform.
5. To eliminate the waste and negative effects paper magazines place on the environment by distributing content in an environmental friendly manner – to become the home of environmentally friendly magazines.
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Products Nykel’s development team will create two (2) revolutionary products that will enhance interactive content and engage the “next generation” content subscriber across multiple telecommunication platforms.
1. Reader/Viewer Interface- The GUI, “skin” is the focal point of subscriber interactions. The interface provides the subscriber the ability to tailor his/her viewer by selecting from a library of themes. This active “skin” allows the interactive magazine or future content to interact with the existing digital platform output devices to control:
• Select menu options
• Parental controls
• Scroll left/right
• Scroll up/down
• Zoom in/out
• Select viewing preferences (single or split page view)
• Auto-page flip
• Digital Bookmark
• Select narrative preferences (male or female voice speaking in English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Latin, Russian, Greek and Hindi etc.)
• Audio
• Video (commercial ad insertion)
• Interact with advertisers
2. Interactive Digital Magazine- Our Digital Magazines will enable print media and future content to be transformed into a dynamic and interactive 3D game format for deployment. It will consist of 3D software, which uses Linux an open-source program language.
This open-source programming offers compatibility across multiple interactive platforms and enhances our ability to patent Nykel created applications. The application will transform print magazines into our interactive game format; our solution gives subscribers the same content and improved graphics while enhancing the look and interactivity of the print magazines they currently enjoy.
Nykel’s digital magazines offers you something new — an interactive experience that lets you actually get involved with your magazine and advertisers in an exciting new way, by allowing you to interact and purchase advertised merchandise through each digital magazine page.
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Intellectual Property and Patent Materials With the accelerated growth in technological advances during the past decade, nowhere has the growth been more noticed than in the digital software and digital arts. We have potential patent materials in interactive software, digital networking systems infrastructure, telecommunications interactive technology, digital template processing, and interface design.
Intellectual property attorneys has been consulted with by the founders in regards to proprietary assets, intellectual property and how best to secure and protect these assets long term. To date, Nykel has not applied for a patent nor executed a patent search, registered trademarks or received patent pending status.
The seven (7) potential items are:
Status Description Type of Intellectual Property
3 Logo designs and business names Trademark Created
Company slogan Trademark Created
Business Model Copyright Created
Reader/Viewer User Interface Copyright,
Patent Developing Direct advertisement process flow Copyright Developing Interactive magazine templates Copyright, Patent Developing Interactive magazine data flow design Copyright, Patent Developing Portable Handheld Device Patent Developing
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Revenue Generators There are five (5) revenue generators in our current business model. Our solution offers magazines, advertisers, Telecommunication Companies a new and innovative distribution model never before realized for magazine digital content.
The five (5) revenue generators are:
1. Revenue Generator FEE Description Magazine Fee Table This is a one-time set-up fee that entitles See (Publishers pay this fee for magazines conversion from print, to Magazine each magazine that is set-up wireless, telecommunications on-demand to utilize Nykel’s platform) Setup platforms.
2. Licensing of Nykel’s Reader/Viewer Reader/Viewer is the User Interface that See allows magazine content to be viewed on (Publishers pay a licensing fee Licensing Handheld Devices based upon the number of Table subscribers viewing their magazine content) Non-Direct Advertisement See Non- Advertiser can deploy static or dynamic ad Fee insertions to magazine content.
3.Audio and Direct Fee video advertisements are now offered. On- Table (Advertisers pay a fee to be demand platform allows the magazines to seen in the magazine.) be viewed by subscribers and also monitors & tracks view through rates.
4. Direct Advertisement Fee See Direct Same as Non-direct advertisements with a Fee table (Advertisers pay a fee to be gateway to purchase items direct from the seen and interacted with in the advertisement via the digital output device. magazine.)
5. Content Subscription Fee See The fee allows access to the magazine (Subscribers to the content pay Subscription content “jukebox” via an on-demand this fee monthly to view Fee table platform. magazines)
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Subscriber Market Potential We have identified four (4) market segments. Our goal is to obtain a 5% share of the total digital magazine market by initiating an aggressive market penetration plan targeting strategic partners in the magazine publishing and Telecommunication markets.
In 2003, the size of the market was estimated at $39.4 billion in revenue with an expected annual growth rate of 5%. It should be noted, our financial projections use a conservative 1% market penetration.
1. The first identified market segment consists of 350 million magazine subscribers totaling $10 billion in total circulation revenue. (Refer to MPA Handbook pages 11-12, 16.) • $7 billion Subscription Revenue • $3 billion Single-Copy Revenue
2. In 2003, magazine advertisement revenue generated $18 billion. (Refer to MPA Handbook pages 27, 29-30) • 226,000 advertisement pages • 12 advertiser category classifications
3. There are over 6,234 magazines being published by 205 publishers. (Refer to MPA Handbook page 06.) • Hearst Magazines • Time Inc. • Conde Nast Publications, Inc. • North American Media Group • Meredith Corporation A young and culturally diverse demographics will comprise the “Next Generation”
4. subscriber. We believe the below referenced demographics are mutually exclusive and offer an intriguing upside for subscription growth.
• Magazine plublisher subscribers
• Caucasian, African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic
• Men, women, children and teens
• Visually impaired
• Current subscribers to digital magazines available via the Internet • Individuals who prefer increased interactivity not available with paper magazines.
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Marketing Strategy Plan
Our primary target markets are the magazine publishers, advertisers and digital content providers. Also included in our target markets are magazine subscribers and telecommunications subscribers. Our primary access to potential subscribers is via handheld device users on telecommunications networks by securing distribution contracts with these entities, the magazines and advertisers exposure to subscribers will greatly increase.
In addition Nykel will participate in Telecommunication and media publishing trade shows throughout the U.S. Our marketing plan closely resembles the approach Video On-demand and Pay-Per Use content companies used when launching their premium services, to advertise the interactive content through local, regional and national television ad campaigns targeting existing and next generation magazine subscribers. Promotional efforts directed towards magazine subscribers include newsstands, advertisements in newspapers, magazines and comics.
Nykel will also market to subscribers of magazines via publisher web sites and printed editions to offer an innovative alternative. One important aspect of the plan calls for establishing working revenue-focused relationships with several partners related to the telecommunications industry magazine publishing and direct advertisement. Thus, our marketing strategy includes establishing several strategic relationships concurrent with product development during the first nine (9) months of development.
We are identifying and building these relationships to ensure long-term alliances. During the second nine (9) months of start up the strategic partners would play an important role in linear marketing campaigns these same strategic partners would receive a share of revenue generated throughout the partnership. Telecommunication providers will enter into a joint marketing venture with us providing advertising time-space. This venture is a win-win proposition due to the fact that advertising revenue generated will be shared based on agreed upon contractual advertising revenue payout.
This gives Telecommunication providers an incentive to advertise our content to their digital subscribers as well as magazine publishers who offer Nykel ad space in print editions. In today’s on-demand environment, advertisers are not present therefore revenue models are heavily based upon subscription sales. With our solution, the introduction of advertisers to on-demand content opens the door for new advertising revenue sharing models not present with current content.
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Risk Factors We have identified five (5) key risk factors. These risks need to be addressed but each can be overcome with sound business planning and aggressive yet obtainable milestones.
1. Funding: Inadequate funding would be our most critical factor in developing a new digital product scheduled for an aggressive customer launch 3Q of year one (1).
We have a three-tiered capital raising strategy. These funds are critical for:
Tier 1 $500K to $1million • Business plan • Consultant fees (Legal, C.P.A, P.R. and H.R.)
• Product development
• Design prototype
• Initial management team selection
Tier 2 $1 million to $10 million
• Complete Prototype
• Consumer research
• Strategic Partner Acquisitions
• Compensation (Employees, Advisors and Management team)
• Content and storage servers
• Content management system
• Improved On-demand infrastructure
• Digital content acquisition
• Research & Development
Tier 3 $10 million to $25 million
• Marketing & Promotions Plan
• Break-even stage
• Future content creation and implementation Timing: Getting to market early and \”right\” is critical in today’s technology
2. businesses.
We understand the importance of timing when launching a new concept. Most advances in the digital content world were stated to take shape in 2002.
With 3-5 years of intense industry development and testing in digital deployments, we feel this technology can be utilized as a consumer product.
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Timing is everything and as a newly formed company we realize this and respect the importance of an accurate product introduction within a targeted time frame. There is little doubt that digital content is here to stay. It’s the wave of the future that is very real now. The digital content phenomenon has been led by media and entertainment companies, wanting to digitize content to be able to repackage and re-sell it.
You can now find digital music, books, and photos readily available almost anywhere. Digital content solutions may have started with publishing, media and entertainment but now it’s moving across all industries. Digital content solutions are more than Digital Access Management or Web content management. The real value of digital content solutions is in enabling companies to achieve the promises of digital transformation, from content creation to delivery. It’s a field that’s opening up the possibilities of digital content – creating new product types and opportunities in the process.
Technology: Interactive technology exists and the infrastructure required to
3. deploy digital content exists. New content is needed to maximize the existing technology. As real-time two-way networks are becoming commonplace, the industry has begun to shift its focus to the advanced services that can now be offered in our digital network environments.
Applications such as used on the iPhone, Video on Demand and digital Content on Demand are emerging as lucrative digital deployments worldwide. As we begin to move past the existing deployments such as Movies On-demand, we can begin to explore other applications like digital Content On-demand that utilize on demand video streaming, and thus leveraging current investments.
Buyer Behavior:
Educating current magazine subscribers on the ease of use
4. and increased interaction are essential when moving current print media subscribers to a new digital format. With any new “Buyer Behavior” restructuring, there is a degree of skepticism.
5. Companies are familiar with the routine of getting a product or service to market and have gone through the ups and downs of becoming effective and efficient. We are going to have to influence their behavior through creative marketing and provide reliable data that supports this new technology and distribution model. In the media business paper and ink are accepted costs associated to deploy print media to their subscribers.
What we can demonstrate is that the “next generation” of subscribers will want this form of media versus print magazines and in order to accommodate these “next generation” subscribers, our solution is the only viable solution. There is not a Magazine On-demand business model to copy because we are the first to believe in this vision. It will take a company that is willing to take a calculated risk in order to attract and maintain its “next generation” subscribers.
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Together we will walk thru this process and at the end of this process is a realistic vision and goal to take traditional print media and distribute it digitally through digital telecommunications and handheld devices in a familiar, functional and fun environment.
5. Advisors:
When entering into a new arena such as digital media deployments, the most important factor is having capable and competent strategic partners and advisors in those key areas where industry experience is critical. We are continually seeking those relationships that will strengthen our company while being advised by the best and most creative minds in digital deployment of print media via telecommunication companies.
Competition We have identified four (4) key players. These companies represent the leaders of the current digital magazine market. Our business model focuses on the distribution of digital content via the handheld device while existing companies have focused on Internet distribution because of the capital they have invested in Internet distribution.
When these companies started, the infrastructure required for television distribution of digital content was not in sight. Recently, due in part to an $85 billion investment starting in the mid 1990’s, telecommunication infrastructure has undergone a “makeover” to allow two-way digital communications. Now is the time to capitalize on this breakthrough to be sure that we are one of the first to offer new content on this new distribution highway.
The market leaders are as follows:
Zinio- Electronic creation and distribution of digital magazines via the Internet download. Founded in March 2000, Zinio creates and delivers, in partnership with magazine publishers and advertisers, the first fully realized digital magazine. Zinio’s technology extends the magazine reading experience to computer screens, for the first time providing publishers, advertisers and readers with the immediacy and cost effectiveness of digital distribution joined to the enduring power of print via the Internet. Customers get the digital issue at a reduced cost of the paper form.
qMags- Electronic creation and distribution of digital magazines via the Internet download. Founded in 1999, qMags markets and delivers to readers’ electronic issues of printed magazines. Using proprietary technologies, qMags converts a publisher’s digital files to a compressed qMags issue. The magazine is then downloaded onto a reader’s PC (or Macintosh) and read using a customized version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Keepmedia- Electronic distribution of digital magazines via the Internet without advertisements. Chairman Louis Borders, also founder of Borders Books and Webvan, and CEO Doug Herrington, formerly VP of Marketing at Webvan, founded the Company in January 2002. KeepMedia™ is a premium content service, delivering current and archived articles from 140+ popular magazines and newspapers in one convenient location.
KeepMedia™ is a premium content service, delivering current and archived
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articles from 140+ popular magazines and newspapers in one convenient location. Until now, consumers have not been able to search archived and current articles from leading publications in one convenient and affordable location on the Web. KeepMedia subscribers can find articles from some of the most trusted brands in journalism, ranging from health and finance to hobbies and politics.
MagRack- Delivers on demand special interest television programming to digital cable subscribers. Mag Rack is the first and only service designed exclusively for on-demand television, launched by Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC (AMC, WE: Women’s Entertainment and The Independent Film Channel). Mag Rack engages enthusiasts with a wide selection of \”video magazines\” about subjects that are personally relevant, such as Yoga Retreat, Motorcycle Freedom, and Inside Weddings. The service offers special interest programming not widely found on other channels with the advanced DVD-like ability to fast-forward, rewind or pause the program.
Operations Plan Our plan depends heavily on an aggressive approach to viewer, software and market development. We will develop a working prototype ready for vendor beta testing within eighteen (18) months of receiving the initial influx of capital. Our optimal goal is to have complete integration with telecommunication providers, media publishers, on-demand platform vendors and handheld device manufacturers within one year of having the prototype completed.
The infrastructure and technology required to deploy interactive media content exists. We will develop “killer” applications that will engage the next generation of media subscribers. As mentioned earlier, we are building key strategic alliances in the telecommunications industry, publishing, On-demand technology, interactive software and media distribution industries to produce the best environment for a successful launch.
The company will be segmented into two (2) sites, the East Coast Headquarters and the West Coast Operations Center. This approach provides cost cutting efficiencies in leasing equipment or commercial property based on need and hiring, training and retaining skilled employees as well as capitalizing on the regional resources each brings to fulfill its functional objectives.
Headquarters: Our focus is to establish our headquarters on the East Coast because the majority of magazine publishing companies are already headquartered on the East Coast. This would provide us the ability to transact day-to-day business objectives within the same time zone as our strategic partners and magazine publishing base. The core responsibility of the site is to manage and support all business related activities of the company. The headquarters will initially employ 3-15 individuals during Phase I, 16-40 employees in Phase II and eventually reaching a maximum of 41-75 employees in Phase III handling day-to-day business support to 100 magazines. These employment numbers are related to the number of magazines using our platform. This location will accommodate top-level management, administration and support personnel. The nine (9)
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departments located at this location are Corporate, Operations, Sales, Sales Support, Accounting, Legal, Public Relations, Human Resources, and Administration.
Operations Center: Dallas, TX. is the optimal location for the operations center because of its long-standing commitment to technology. The North TX is home to commercial properties such as Texas Instruments, large facilities, a vast selection of high tech professionals, multimedia software companies, and the area is currently the core of state-of-the-art facility is to manage and support all technology, design and customer support activities of the company. This technology center will initially employ 10-50 individuals during Phase I, 51-110 employees during Phase II and 111-200 employees operating on a 24/7 basis with three (3) shifts during Phase III creating and supporting 100 magazines. The seven (7) departments located at this location are Interface Design, Animation and Multimedia Rendering, Digital Platform Integration, Software Development, R&D, IT Support, Customer Support and Administration.
Offer and Use of Proceeds In a pre-institutional friends-and-family round of finance, the company plans to raise $500,000. This capital would be applied to initial salaries, office space, consumer research, strategic advisors, professional services, initial prototype design, testing laboratory and operating expenses associated with the formation of the company.
Nykel will later seek a first round of institutional capital estimated at $1-10 million for the acquisition of its network infrastructure, graphic and game servers, dynamic design software, computers & peripherals, prototype beta testing materials, and intellectual property protection.
A second round of institutional capital estimated at $10-25 million will be applied to content acquisition, salaries, working capital, marketing initiatives, sales campaigns and facility expansion. Concurrent with the above-mentioned milestones, Nykel’s focus is to solicit telecommunications companies, and publishing venture companies to invest not only capital but also human and networking resources essential to the overall success of the Nykel.
We believe this approach fosters the best environment for long-term success. Pricing Strategy Our strategy is to price our service at a level comparable to our competitors on a national scale. Current On-demand subscriptions are competitively priced at $0.99 a download to $15.95 per month based on the type of content that is accessible. Our subscription price has not been finalized but the fee projected ranges from free access to $10 per month. This fee provides access to our entire database of magazine content estimated between 25-50
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magazines initially. Our philosophy is to present a value proposition model that does not exist in current paper subscription models. Currently a paper subscription is a one to one relationship meaning one subscription allows the subscriber to read a magazine for a 12 month period. What we propose is monthly subscription to the channel gives the subscriber access to a multitude of magazines. This can be accomplished because of the cost efficiencies provided to digital production and distribution.
Co-Founders Issac Wallace, III received a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration degree from East Carolina University and is a Microsoft Certified Professional. While attending East Carolina University he received recognition for completing the Chancellor’s Minority Leadership Development Program. While attending E.C.U., he was selected to be a corporate intern with Wachovia in Charlotte, NC. This experience proved to be a catalyst for his professional development and desire to own his own business. He was employed with Wachovia Bank as a senior retail banker for five years. During his employment with Wachovia, Issac was placed in numerous leadership and management capacities.
Deon Holmes passion for art and music has been the catalyst for his twenty-three years of combined experience in the music and the graphics industry. He has owned two businesses Hazel Eyes Entertainment and Dark Alley Graphx House. Hazel Eyes Entertainment, which he started in 1994, specialized in the management of producing artists out of Oakland, California and he also started Dark Alley Graphx House, which created logo designs, business cards, brochures, vehicle wraps, magazine design layouts and marketing materials for over 150 different companies since 1991. He is also a partner in Winetime Entertainment and has severed as Artist Repertoire (A&R) for 20+ artists since 1994. The company has produced music for Grammy nominees, and music for HBO-“Arliss”, NBC- “The Inside Stuff” television show, also movie soundtracks for “Senseless” and “Replacement Killers”, just to name a few. As a self-describer “ dreamer & visionary”, Deon’s creative vision for Nykel is to change the way traditional print media is viewed & distributed to the “Next Generation Subscribers”.
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Feasibility Checklist Question Answer
1) Will the content be unique? (YES)
Magazines on-demand content does not exist currently for distribution in the U.S. to wireless handheld subscribers.
2) Will it be too expensive to program? (NO)
To avoid the crushing costs of programming & operating a 24/7 Magazine, On-Demand produces virtual access point of content available to subscriber 24/7 when they select it.
3) Will it appeal to specific demographics? (YES)
It will appeal to a diverse group of individuals much like paper magazines. Also, because magazines are created to be demographically appealing, it will offer an alternative distribution to a specific group that appreciates digital magazine editions.
4) Will it appeal to younger demographics, thereby attracting advertising revenue? (YES)
Magazines are seeking alternative ways of attracting younger subscribers. This content targets a growing base of young tech savvy individuals who rely on the wireless content or Internet as the gateway to entertainment and information.
5) Will the content be attractive to advertisers? (YES)
The content has value added services like local, regional and national ad insertions, increased ad tracking capabilities and eventually a spontaneous buy feature. This is more compelling and attractive to advertisers compared to paper magazines.
6) Will the content be too expensive to invest in and carry? (NO)
Start-up costs for a non on-demand network is initially $5 million to get started on the road to $100 million without carriage commitments. An on- demand network can be started with $3 million with far less on going costs due to decreased programming and operating expenses.
7) Does Nykel have the flexibility to provide unique content across multiple platforms? (YES)
Once the content is created digitally it can be distributed via multiple digital deployment platforms and wireless to mobile subscribers.
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SUMMARY Nykel
is engaged in the design, development and distribution of innovative digital content on-demand media. We believe the company is well positioned for expansion and solid financial performance. The Company plans to increase its value to investors through the continued development and marketing of its product to drive sales, license agreements, joint ventures, strategic alliances and tactical acquisitions.
The Company may rely on its own growth as the primary means of returning value to its investors or it may eventually be acquired or conduct a public offering.
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Comment by nykeltechnsolutionsllc -
Hello Mr. Cuban,
http://www.slideshare.net/NykelTechnSolutions.llc/slideshows
I’m a Co-Founder of a Startup Technology Co. Our Company and Business Model is based out of Charlotte, NC. via Dallas, TX.where I am living Today your Blog with an open Source funding towards startups was brought to us today from a friend, so Here’s our business plan slideshow concept link for all to see and comment on.
Comment by nykeltechnsolutionsllc -
Keeping things simple, the concept is a college bar.
This college bar caters to frats and sororities just like every other bar in town but we have buses that pick the college students up at their front door for free, every half hour, and return them home safely when the bar closes. Every night is a different gig for each frat/sorority as well as music, dj’s, and bands. The bar would host events such as volleyball tournaments, flag football, and other games at public parks or a reserved facility which a title will be given from the bar to the frat/sorority winners.
The big picture, to have this as a franchise business to where the franchisee’s are competing with other franchisee’s for sales but also having the colleges enter the annual tournaments with volleyball, flag football and other events. This could be in the DFW area, Texas or even the nation. Summer college tournaments?
I would be the only owner, you would have 20% of the business which includes all franchisee business. Startup cost would be $250,000 which includes the space, renovations (I own my own startup construction company as of last month), two busses, insurance, TABC fees, and a staff of roughly 25 people per bar(this would create good jobs for college students to pay for school as well as a few manager/event coordinator positions).
I have a golf clothing deal I am working on at the moment which I could email you about.
I have a new construction company that could use startup funds to take a few steps out of the bottom growing process. I have many contacts but do not have the funds to hire anyone right off the bat.
Thank you for your time and good luck,
LRG
Comment by LRG -
Hello Mr Cuban,
I am an independent affiliate member of a ten year old nutrition company that promotes health, wellness and wealth for your life purposes. This is my number one reason for joining with a company such as this. A person can build a business and have immediate income monthly because of the unique business model the company offers.
On March 26th the company launched a new product line and a Share and Earn program. With the launch of this new product line, Sonoran Bloom, It is the first time in ten years of business to promote internationally offering people a way to earn a good solid long term income in this economy.They did not offer a business income before for affiliates. With our economy being what it is today, it is a perfect time to introduce it.
Is it set up as multilevel marketing? No. Multilevel marketing companies typically rely on the distributor to share the company’s message through one-to-one marketing and usually do not provide corporate co op systems that attract customers. I am able to buy my customers through the companies 38 year old media company through television and radio infomercials to online marketing and more which brings in thousands of customers and contacts every week. The full rights to these responders can be purchased, which has helped affiliate members grow their business to become 6 figure income earners. Once you purchase a customer, a percentage of that customers purchases are yours for life.
Set up as an independent affiliate business, yet it is profit sharing of the companies sales. Some even call it a franchise.
The newest product line is one where they turned to the Nopal Cactus in the Sonoran Desert for its remarkable healing properties. It is packed with extremely rare and powerful antioxidants, called Betalains. It keeps cells healthy and your body happy. Many affiliates are already feeling the affects. An up and coming problem when looking at the baby boomers statistics. This may be the next billion dollar product.The next biggest thing.
For the next 90 days starting today an affiliate member can earn 70% commission on this new product, Sonoran Bloom.. Yes seventy percent profit for 90 days.
A 70% profit is paid as they join my business and become an independent affiliate member. This will meet the criteria of CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days and in profit within 90. There is no limit to the number of people you can sell to. There is a limit to the number of customers you can purchase monthly.You can purchase 100 Media Acquisition Customers or MAPS monthly to grow a business. Cost of each MAP is $50.00, or $5,000.00 a month per business affiliate.
Cost of one bottle of Sonoran Bloom Nopalea is $39.95 @ 70% profit for 90 days. Then, affiliate members receive 21% commission on all product member purchases for life.
We have experienced business men and celebrities who are now affiliate members with the company. It is an established money making business for people that I feel is the best business you will find to fund for those you want to help get set up in starting a business that will not fail tomorrow. This business is easily duplicated especially with the funding you can supply.
In the report received from people who has been in Trivita for years, Trivita returns from between 25-40% per annum.With the launch of the new line and adding in a 70% profit margin for 90 days, that percentage will be much higher.
I am in need of funding for my business and other members are interested in a joint venture. If you are interested in Health, Wellness and more Wealth please contact me.
Comment by Gary Giardina -
Mr Cuban:
My company is The OM Bamboo Company. We are in the business of developing clothing lines that are made of Bamboo Fiber. Bamboo is a fiber that has the following characteristics, it is 100% anti-microbial, anti-fungal, softer than cotton, absorbs moisture better than cotton.
Our first product will be Hospital clothing made of Bamboo by using bamboo we are diminishing the possibility of have cross contamination due to the transfer of bacteria on employees clothing. We have the interest of the nations top retailers.
We will partner with large consumer products companies that have green initiatives to be able to diminish our marketing spend by piggy backing on their products marketing efforts. (Ie. our clothes are certified to use with brand X that is a green laundry detergent)
After this product has become successful we plan to develop a full family clothing line to ensure that consumers understands the benefits of Bamboo for them and for the environment. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant and is fully renewable. Our Brand will be Bad Panda Clothing and will become a household name as one of the first “green” brands.
We are creating a ecological company that is focused on getting the best products to the market for the benefit of our shareholders, the public in general and the environment. We believe that being environmentally friendly is not reserved for a small elite but should include the general population and seek to expand the use of Ecological friendly materials in our products for the benefit of our customers.
We will donate 5% of our net sales to charities that champion the environment.
I meet all of the requirements stated in your rules. I will offer up to 40% of the company for investment. My funding requirement is $150,000.
Thanks
Mario
Comment by mario anglada -
As you have now become very popular and chatty on Twitter, I thought it would be a good time to post my plan.
http://www.slideshare.net/smcguinness/twtseat
Comment by Seth McGuinness -
What about a new way restaurants etc. can do deliveries? Instead of having to staff a full time or many full time delivery men, they can outsource all their deliveries to a delivery company. Different than a courier. This can save the companies loads of money and we can make those loads of money which they are saving. Start off in a small area and expand.
This idea as well- Almost everyone is concerned with weight loss and being fit and healthy, however it seems that nobody really wants to stop eating. Let’s start the world’s first fast food chain like McDonalds that happens to be low fat, healthy food. Guess what? We can make it compatible with all of the diets by putting the amount of points etc. on the menus. Perhaps we can start a Weight Watchers franchise restaurant.
Mark are you still checking and giving feedback? I wrote one yesterday, A really good idea.
Comment by David M -
Here you go guys. Totally open source. This business plan/idea came to me from my beautiful wife when she was ordering eyeglasses. She spent hours and hours agonizing over which frame looked the best instead of which was most comfortable or functional which lead me to wonder if people would want to wear glasses as an accessory — for looks — even if they didn’t need them. Apparently so. I have done some research and there are many women who would if they could find fashion glasses at a reasonable price. For examples of searching women just search “non prescription glasses” on any engine. If you are interested you can download my 18 page business plan at the following URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/13858325/Pogo-Eyewear-Business-Plan.
Based on my business plan this business meets all of Mark’s criteria. I know this business can and will be a success once someone comes around with the necessary capital to invest. I am an experienced businessperson with the skills to make this business work, but I lack the capital (student loans) to get it going. I have been searching for venture capital for about 6 months now to no avail — poor time to have a good idea I guess. Anyways I guess this plan is available to anyone now. I would love to be the one to make this business plan a succeess, but if you think you can make it. Go for it!!! My only hope is that the business is a success and you stay in touch.
Comment by William Kinzel -
Dear Mark,
I tried to leave business plan on site it was discarded or email address was wrong. Do not understand problem with summiting
plan will try this instead. Invest $ 675,000.00 return over 6 years
$ 1,415,869,00.
Kind Regards,
Steve
Comment by Steven Williams -
Mark,
Being you have an expertise in tech and software I know you will love this idea. It is a no fail idea!
It’s time to revolutionize online shopping. If you have done the research which I have done on online shopping then you will see that online shopping has skyrocketed, and will continue to skyrocket. People love shopping online because it’s convenient, offers a larger selection, and a list of other reasons.
Second Life- A very intricate online, animated, sim-based avatar world combined with the fantastic idea of social networking.
We are going to combine conventional online shopping with the Second Life world. Yup, it will be done. The question is who is going to take advantage of it.
Here is how it will work- we will develop a Second Life-like platform/s in which a virtual mall will be created. This mall will look like Second Life in regards to graphic. Inside it will look like you are walking through an actual mall, except it’s online. The most fun thing about this is that it will be a social networking experience. You will be able to shop with you friends. Walk into the same store with your friends. Try on clothing with friends. And get their opinions. You will be able to pick up clothing, zoom in and even fit it to your body size. How bout putting your face on the avatar. Why not make it more fun and personal?
How we make money? Well very simple, we will be the only of its kind. We will charge rent for a store to be apart of our mall. Since it’s online, we can fit plenty of stores. Who knows, maybe we can take rake on each purchase. Charge huge amounts for billboards and mall advertising. We can have virtual bands playing in the mall, and perhaps a movie theater linked into surfthechannel or youtube. Possibilities are endless.
Let me assure you Mark, this idea will take far more time than your stimulus plan requires. However this idea will change the world in which we live in, be more profitable than anything on this blog and let me assure you, this will create an unbelievable amount of jobs, from tech to sales to marketing to management etc. etc. etc.
Looking forward to hearing your feedback.
Comment by David M -
I am fairly unfamiliar with blogging. But I have posted my business plan but can not find it. Please find my business plan at:
Your document is publicly viewable at:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgmwxr5x_1cjqn4p6n
I hope this is readable.
Thanks,
Mary
Comment by Mary Blake -
Mark, please forgive me for never having heard of you or the Dallas Mavericks before comming to this blog. We don’t really play basketball in Africa. The good news is that I really like your idea. Run with this, or let me do it myself.
“… no one possesses the less because everyone possesses the whole of it. He who receives an idea from me receives it without lessening me, as he who lights his candle at mine receives light without darkening me.” – Thomas Jeffersen.
Seems to me reading this blog that the best idea is the one that you started yourself, namely that putting the idea down in the public domain is the best way of hatching it. If clones hatch – they enhance your idea they don’t detract from it.
The basic problem with this site is that the architecture sucks. I suggest that you redo the site in a CMS system like Joomla. Here – see an example of how I run an open Source project at http://www.turbocash.net. Well deesigned architecture allows me to connect 1 to 100 000 users. The trick is to get the community to empower themselves.
I really like this idea of yours. What you need to do is stop pretending that you will have the time to micromanage these discussions. Put up $ 20 000 to cover the development costs and I will turn this into a self funding site for you. There are a few tricks for handling collaborative work that will simply go nowhere under the current architecture.
Also stop prentending that you have the time to get involved with start up businesses. Use this site as a means of connecting ideas to other peoples money. The best poeple to put the money into these ideas is not benevolent billionaires (The hardest hit sector of the current recession). The best people to put up the money into these ventures is the poeple who actually help formulate them!
The revenue model is that we will take a 2% share of the deals closed. (Maybe more – I will need to look at the numbers)
The equity model is that I will share it with you 50-50 with your $20 000 starting it. We will keep diluting to the community.
Comment by Philip Copeman -
Good Morning Mark,
I see I am a little late to the post but I hope you will still consider my idea.
The company is named Medext and it uses text messaging technology to help people adhere to their perscription drug regimens.
One of the biggest problems for drug companies and doctors is that patients often forget to take their medicine. However, many of these patients also have cell phones. I propose creating a text messaging service that alerts patients when they need to take their various pills. So, for instance, if you get a perscription that you must take 3 times a day, evry 8 hours you would get a text message reminding you to take your pill.
The technology would not be marketed directly to consumers, but rather to either pharma companies or pharmacies as a value added for their customers. The start-up costs are relatively low. We need to build a secure web-based platform where the cutomers can input customer text numbers and medication times. A negotiated SMS rate also needs to be negotiated.
I’m ready to hustle and make this happen and think it could be up and running in 60 days and profitable in 90 by locking in early customers at a discounted rate with a small non-refundable deposit.
Comment by Dan -
Pingback: What Would Dad Say » Seth Godin says, “Don’t Try to Get a Job.”
one more thing…
7. Exposure from NBA grows our existing industrial and sports sales, so benefits from NBA branded products are exponential.
See SweatGUTR.com for current list of sports and industrial distribution partners. Now available in nearly 30 countries and industrial customers include ExxonMobile, Goodyear Tire, BNSF railways, along with many others. Products are also currently sold through major sports and industrial catalogs, including Amazon, Inc.
Comment by Erick Flatt -
Mark,
Thanks for the opportunity, and I hope we’ll have a chance to exchange information.
The Company:
The Financial-Quest Group is a startup that’ll be incorporated within 12-18 months. Through a network of consultants, the business will provide personal financial planning, small business planning and Direct Public Offering (DPO) services. A virtual office format will be employed, and an executive suite lease provides a national network of offices. Review the business profile on the website: http://www.fqgroup.com.
Proposed Steps to Realize Business Potential
1. Form advisory board(s) for The Financial-Quest Group
2. Incorporate for multi-million dollar plan (100 million shares)
3. Mark Cuban Proposal: $0.50/share (up to 30% equity available)
4. Grow and train network of consultants on a regional schedule
5. Market DPO services and orientation process to small businesses
6. Introduce LEAP! through local ground-game plans and campaigns
7. Plan The Financial-Quest Group DPO to occur within 2 – 3 years
8. Plan The Financial-Quest Group IPO to occur within 3 – 5 years (Exit Strategy)
Services and Program Description:
The primary service is raising money for small businesses through Direct Public Offerings (DPO). However, we’ve developed a package of services that can help communities realize their economic potential. Local Economic Advancement Plans (LEAP!) educate and organize communities to utilize services that promote economic growth. The following is an outline of program components:
• Financial Education and Literacy Program
• E-course and Personal Financial Planning Services
• E-course and Investment Club Services
Clubs organize and educate investors. Members reduce investment risks by pooling their money. E-courses enrollees become members of Local and Online Investment Clubs Community.
• Family Small Business Plans (certification every two years)
The following components may be included in a family plan:
o National family e-mail alert system
o Family website and common-interest networks
o Family genealogy and Halls of Fame
o Annual family reunion (incorporated non-profit)
In 2002 more than 200,000 family reunions occurred nationally. Also, 37% of adults attended a family reunion in 2002. Since 90% of U.S. businesses are family-owned, the reunion format should be used to encourage family business development.
o Education plans and student recognition (K-12)
o Personal financial planning and investment clubs
o Small business finance through DPO
o National alliance of families that may support DPO’s
• Small Business Finance
• Direct Public Offerings (DPO)
Regulated plans allow small businesses (0 – $15 million in annual sales) to raise money ($250,000 – $5 million) by selling ownership shares directly to the public. Theses company-controlled plans bring businesses and investors together at a significant savings for both parties. Shareholders may earn a profit on their investment if or when they sell their shares.
• Joint-Ventures and Alliances
• Traditional finance (loans, friends, angel investors, etc.)
• Enterprise Zone Tax Credits and Refund Services
• Local and Online Investment Clubs Community
LEAP! will help strengthen the U.S. economy by addressing the lack of credit available for small businesses. These businesses deliver valuable products or services and create the majority of U.S. jobs. If an unusually large number fail it could erode entrepreneurial motivation and our competitiveness in a global economy.
State regulators have understood for a longtime the problem small businesses face trying to raise money. They’ve also been aware of the discretionary income that individuals have to invest. To bring small businesses and investors together, regulators created the Direct Public Offering (DPO). (Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has shown that a large pool of small donors can generate a lot of money.)
LEAP! also promote financial literacy to address the projected retirement crisis for Baby-Boomers and future generations. Family Small Business Plans, personal financial planning and investment club services may prepare retirees to bridge gaps in their retirement income.
The Market and Marketing Strategy:
Traditional means for raising money have not worked well for most small businesses. Banks are reluctant to take the risk, venture capitalists want to almost take full control and major brokerage houses make larger profits through bigger deals that close faster. Selling ownership shares directly to the public appears to offer the best option for most small businesses to raise money to meet their financial needs. However, most business owners lack the skills to manage these offerings; and there are not many experienced advisors.
While small businesses are looking for money, there’s a large pool of potential investors who’d be receptive to purchasing ownership shares (just ask Barack Obama). However, most of them are not familiar with the investment process; and until recently there hasn’t been a process in place to facilitate direct investments. Our program educates investors about investing and offers a way to invest in equity shares before a company may begin to trade on major exchanges.
A LEAP! would immediately offer another option for financing small businesses through Direct Public Offerings. As it becomes more difficult to secure traditional financing, businesses could take their cases directly to the public. These offerings could build support in urban, suburban and rural communities because stable businesses usually mean a stable local economy.
A LEAP! also introduces personal financial planning and investment club services. These services would help educate and organize a company’s affinity group to support their DPO’s. Our continuing education plans will promote financial literacy through webinars and local seminars.
Program services may also be introduced through Family Small Business Plans. These plans build on the emotional ties of relatives and promote a culture of intra-family support. All relatives are encouraged to participate, including seniors and elementary school age students.
Business and Service Goals:
The Financial-Quest Group will be a profitable multi-million dollar financial services corporation. Through its LEAP! small businesses could install a permanent and efficient DPO management process. By educating and organizing a national network, most offerings should achieve their financial objective. Businesses will grow, create jobs and help stabilize local economies.
The plan may incorporate the following scheme:
Phase I: Educating and Organizing Affinity Groups – prospects enroll in a (5) lessons e-course ($19.95) for an overview of the (DPO) organizing process and investment clubs. Course must be competed by business officers, employees, personal financial planning clients, investment clubs’ members and other affinity group members.
Phase II: Business Planning and (DPO) Preparation – DPO-Action Plan fees are based on ¾ of 1% of gross revenues (min: $4,950; max: $15,000). Payment schedule is based on the amount of the fee. Offset and Defer Fee calculations may apply to make services affordable.
Phase III: DPO Marketing and Management – fees based on hourly rates and totals average 6 – 8 % of offering’s goal. These fees are budgeted and paid from DPO proceeds.
To sustain a successful LEAP! financial literacy must be a priority; especially for participating poor and minority communities. Personal financial planning and investment club services would promote financial education. This is also an important part of the plan to educate and organize potential DPO investors.
E-courses enrollees will earn membership in our Local and Online Investment Clubs Community. This national interstate network will include entrepreneurs, personal financial planning clients and investment clubs. It’ll schedule financial education events, and businesses can e-market their DPO propositions directly to the community. Approximately 35-40% of DPO investors should come from these local and online communities.
Financial Needs:
I’ve taken risks and sacrificed to develop a model that could make a difference in this dire economy. The plan wasn’t developed for this economy, but it’s an example of “luck is when preparation meets opportunity”. The key components are in place and have been tested for effectiveness. I’m now seeking a financial package that’ll support my last $1,500 and an aggressive marketing plan. The support could be based on any one or combination of the following proposals:
• Equity investments that support a state, regional and national implementation schedule.
• Equity investments and alliance relationships that will provide market credibility.
• Equity investments based on scheduled Direct Public Offerings (DPO). Investments would build investors’ confidence and support implementation plan.
Exit Strategy:
The Financial-Quest Group’s business plan is based on an objective to grow into a publicly traded company through Direct Public Offerings (DPO). These offerings could also provide an important option for investors’ exit strategy. Other options may include a buy-back plan or an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Howard Ware, CFP
Business and DPO Advisor
Comment by Howard Ware, CFP -
Simple proposal, small investment and significant ROI.
1. Develop “Dallas Mavericks” and “NBA” branded Sweat GUTR sweatbands and distribute with other Mavericks apparel. FYI – We hold 2 utility patents.
2. You pay for and help with NBA licensing and we produce here in Dallas!
3. Develop other NBA team branded sweatbands for their shops and distribute accordingly.
4. Players wear sweatbands during games to obtain exposure.
5. Your equity in the company is contingent upon final investment amount and participation.
6. Headband revolution complete.
Comment by Erick Flatt -
What is your growth strategy?
Our weakness is that because we have low revenue we are not able to engage in proactive marketing activities. However the upside of this is that we do allow our channel to profit form distribution and integration of our software. Hundred of consultants already make TurboCASH their full time business.
We also have a strong internet presence – Google Free Accounting Software, Open Source Accounting Software, TurboCASH. Many people find us through search engines and blogs.
Want us to make revenue? Its easy. Take 100 000 free users and turn them into 5000 users paying you $200 per year – bingo – $ 1 M per year profit!
The opportunity for revenue is always there – gough the users. The is not my mission, my mission is to grow rapidly with as little cost as possible. Bringing a funder on board will enable that to happen at a faster rate. We leverage the Open Source industry and there are no foreseeable scalability issues.
I do not see this business growing – personnel wise. I have owned and managed businesses with a hundred people employed. This is much simpler. If you are looking to invest in businesses with offices and board rooms for meetings – this is not it.
In an open Source project the freedom to redistribute the software and the zero cost of connecting to it is our most powerful tool. We have only this and the quality of our product to take on the marketing campaigns of our competitors.
Comment by Philip Copeman -
Clarify why you lead this industry? What are the barriers to entry?
Barrier to entry in the mainstream Accounting Software market is enormous. It is not just the cash cost of entry. In the last 15 years there has not been a single case of a significant entrant in the market. This includes numerous attempts by Microsoft to gain a foothold.
TurboCASH is protected, because our cost of delivery is significantly lower than our competitors. In the Open Source business, it is very difficult to dislodge a market leader. Currently we can deliver the software at zero cost. We can deliver simultaneously in over 80 markets. Our logistic chain is significantly shorter than our competitors. Coming from our early history of bilingual software, I have always kept local language as a priority. Whereas Inuit has multiple versions of Quick books and Sage is even worse with multiple brands, we have one product that compiles once and is delivered instantly to different markets in over 25 languages and over 80 tax regimes.
It is not only the cost of entry- it is the time it takes a competitor to enter- minimum period would be 5 years – in the Open Source market, there is no one else in sight. All our competitors are large public companies. We sell at Zero cost. How would they fight back? What are they going to do – as a public listed company, give up making profit?
What is your target market?
Overall market is 20 Million users. I can explain this in detail if we get to due diligence. It is based on the units in the field and our ability to get a share of those units.
We target SME businesses with from 1 accountants to 10 accountants. The accounts can be a part time job carried out by the owner. It seems very wide, but the Accounting market is clearly defined. Below us we have spreadsheets like Open Office and Microsoft Excel as well as personal financial managers like Quicken and GNU CASH. Above us we have ERP packages like Accpac and Pastel Evolution. All the myriad of POS systems and ordering systems are all incomplete – they all need GL backends, which forces double entry accounting and batch processing and are complex to develop. It is in this shadowy world that we thrive.
So the range of business that we target is narrow ($30 000 per year to $ 3 Million Turnover), but we are prepared to make it work in a very wide geographical sense.
Comment by Philip Copeman -
Give us a brief description of your business proposition?
I am the project leader of the worlds leading Open Source Accounting software for SMEs. We provide Open Source Accounting solution for Small businesses. I am looking for funding to help accelerate the growth of our user base of 100 000 to 500 000 Plus. I have a business worth a minimum of $ 8 Million and I am willing to warrant this value as part of the transaction. The return to the funder will be a minimum of 5 times and I am able to offer security guarantees if required.
I am looking for funding of between $ 1 M and 4 $. Below $1 M, I would rather carry on with my self funded approach, which has a great deal of flexibility. Above $ 4 would require me giving up control of the business, this would not be in either my own or the funders interest. Its not out of the question, but it starts to get complicated. I would be more comfortable with a deal of between $1-2 M, with protections for the funder.
I am certainly looking for advice here, I see that there are some really good brains here. My proposal violates some of Marks rules, so I am unlikely to raise funding from him. However those of you that are also close to the VC market may consider getting involved with me. Considering on how you take your commissions (Cash or stock ) I would be prepared to give up to 20% of the funding raised to any party that materially assists me in putting together this transaction. Depending on your country of origin, there are some exceptional tax benefits for investing in this type of project. The target country of where we expand, makes significant gains for its small business sector.
This is not a commitment to anyone here or an offer for you to make 2 blogs and claim a share of the deal, but is an opening offer to anyone that has suggestions – that stay inside the Open Source concept. To be paid by me, you will need a formal offer from me, which I will do through this site. Until then it is all just “talk”. It is a big step for me to put my data down here – I believe in the Open Source process and I will ride it out to the end here. If the funding source starts out on this site, we keep it here. No private discussions!
I am based in Cape Town South Africa. I am firmly committed to living here and developing my business from “The other side of the world”. Any discussions I have had with US VC companies require me to relocate. This not an option for me. See my article Why VC is as American as Apple Pie.
http://www.turbocash.net/20080831146/Business/Why-VC-is-as-American-as-Apple-Pie
Comment by Philip Copeman -
I have always thought this a good idea – putting up the business ideas on an open platform. It would be great to see something a bit more structured. Can I suggest a Forum structure?
The rest of you seem to have “ideas” – I have a running business in the second round funding stage. This is a step into the unkown for me. One Business plan coming up…
Comment by Philip Copeman -
Mark:
Here is my submission. I hope I am able to recreate my vision in this short synopsis of an business plan.I am confident there is a viable business here, one that needs fairly significant funds at the beginning to ensure a successful launch. With that said, it also believe that it can be sustaining very quickly. As far as your equity position is concerned, I am sure that you will present a take it or leave it offer, but I will answer the question anyway. In consideration for your capital injection you will own 25% of the company.
iPod trade-in, used and New iPods for sale
This is very simple e-business with the primary goal of controlling the secondary iPod market. There are a couple small players that I would venture to guess most have not heard of at this point. They have poor marketing and poor inventory. I amazingly enough there seems to be a very large market for you iPods, mostly sold via Amazon and EBay. The thing is that most of these sellers are obtaining there inventory from the same place The inventory is mostly derived from liquidation.com and other liquidation sites is very small lots of 10 to 20 units. The resellers then place there small mark up of 20-50% and compete against one another.
First Source of Inventory
The idea would to begin by controlling the market on the liquidation sites by purchasing all of the inventory (mostly store returns) driving out the small garage players. Then cut out the middlemen at the liquidation sites by going directly to the retailers that are receiving the returns. Once you control the inventory you can begin to control the pricing.
Second Source of Inventory
Accepting used iPods from individuals. A value is placed on the iPod based on a product detail questionnaire. Upon completion the customer is offered a cash value and a trade in value for the item.
Sales Channels
Sales will be primarily on the internet, via our website easy and quick to set up generating revenue very quickly.
A secondary channel maybe retail. The best application of this could be at mall kiosks. This would also be a great source of brand awareness. There maybe a franchise looming in this secondary channel
Marketing & Communication
We will keep marketing simple and efficient focusing on the market most likely to be an early adopter of the concept. College campuses should be a hotbed of potential customers. College students are usually strapped for funds, but want the latest technology, especially when in comes to music. They will trade and upgrade, buy used and without a doubt trade in their iPod cheap for cash. It should be relatively inexpensive to advertise in local college papers and to sponsor local events to build awareness. As we grow and refine the business our marketing will become more sophisticated and the target market much larger.
Of course we will employ all current SEO strategies and an aggressive adwords campaign.
Distribution
A small warehouse should suffice at first utilizing USPS of UPS for delivery. I expect the need for a larger space to occur fairly quickly. Also, the potential for regional distribution may be more cost effective and timely. A bar-coding system should be employed to track each iPod through the process. The website and inventory software will have to easily scalable to handle rapid growth.
Ancillary Ideas
• The obvious sale of iPod accessories and speaker systems.
• Free registration of all iPods (serial numbers) even those that are not even customers yet. This will help control the theft and promote the recovery of iPods. This is an area that Apple does a poor job. This idea alone will create an immense data base of potential customers. This will show us what they own, how old it is and when they may need a replacement
• Warranty programs.
• iPod Repair and data recovery
Preliminary Capital
Inventory: $150K to $250K
IT: $100K to $150K
Operating: $100K
Initial Investment: $350K to $500K
Closing
This is without a doubt a viable market and timely since we are in a recession. People do not want to give up there toys, they just want to pay less for them. As a matter of fact it is actually en vogue to be cheap these days. The secondary market of a proven brand like Apple iPod is extremely fragmented at best and ripe to be consolidated by one dominate player.
Comment by Tom Cannon -
Real-world Education for Kids & Young Adults
Problem: Conventional schooling does little to prepare children for the real world. Kids are not taught how to develop their strengths & passions. The math doesn’t teach them how to save, or use basic tenets such as compounding to their advantage. You don’t learn entrepreneurial or job skills. Worst of all, many children don’t love to read or ever develop the drive to better themselves through engaged schooling because, in my opinion, the rewards are disconnected from the actions.
Solution: A subscription-based model of learning modules, using user-created content, and a social network to foster collaboration between the students and the parents, finally, the graduates can use the network for ventures and job searching when they reach employment age. Less fortunate families would be offered the service for free. Parents could even withhold or give allowances based on module completions.
Funding needs and equity offered…to be discussed.
eaw112@ gmail.com
Comment by Doug H. -
Mr. Cuban,
Please check out http://www.bidrox.com they are going live next week. it looks like a great opportunity.
Comment by Terry Collie -
Mr. Cuban,
I did forget to mention one small detail in my Brand.com idea, the part part about your equity stake if you chose to invest. Here is what I propose, you would buy the lucrative Brand.com domain name from the current owner and let me build my concept on it. As the site grows in popularity and profitability, I would buy the Brand.com domain from you and return all of your investments with a very handsome profit. 90 days to profitability is very ambitious but I think that I could achieve that by first focusing on very large local businesses for the first Brand.com pages. There is a very large Toyota dealership here (Priority Toyota) that is family owned. I had priority.brand.com in mind to be the first member. One of my good friend’s wife works for a large Nissan dealership and she was telling me that car dealerships waste an enormous amount of money moving cars from dealership to dealership to dealership to avoid paying a state tax for a car that remains on a lot >30 days. An auction at priority.brand.com would be a great way to move cars prior to them going over 30 days on a lot (Priority is a family owned business that owners a Toyota, a Chevy, and a couple of other dealerships.) I have a lot of friends in this dealership, including one that goes on vacation with the CEO/owner every year because he is one of their top sales men. If I come up with a good presentation, he can get it to the Owner. Once the other businesses saw the success of this first member, they would be clamoring to get onboard. Brand.com would then explode the same way Twitter, Myspace,and Facebook did. The difference is that Brand.com would have a non-advertising revenue stream right a way in the form of commissions from items sold.
The current revenue breakdown that I propose for Brand.com would be something similar to this: 90% of the revenue for am item sold goes to the originating seller (e.g. Prince in the example that I gave in the original post), 5% would be reserved for a secondary contributor if one existed (e.g. Warner Brothers records produced a lot of Prince’s albums), the remaining 5% would be kept by Brand.com as a commission. This would be a great incentive to everyone to abandon Ebay and come to Brand.com as a seller. Prince would get 90% of the revenue including 90% of the revenue raised from Prince cds, lps, posters etc. sold at prince.brand.com. Warner Bros. and other secondary companies would get revenue from the resale of 20 and 30 year old records that they have never imagined earning revenue from again. This would create a frenzy amongst all of these companies to join brand.com to get a part of this revenue stream.
Comment by Rex D. -
Marc, Although this seems like a crazy idea, (and you seem like a crazy guy) this is my plan:
Hispanic market is first minority in the country ,
Printed Yellow pages business has been proven to be inefective as business and big hispanoc yellow pages have gone bankruptcy already (the only big one standing now is seccion amarilla own by CARLOS SLIM).
I have an alternative : To create a service that is a combination of yellow pages and 411 type of service for hispanics in the US OVER THE PHONE(GREAT IDEA!!!!!!!) . Google has something like that already called 1800 GOOG 411. but not directed to the hispanic users
I called it guiaportelefono.com (website is running already, check it out)
The process is very simple and it works like this:
1. PEOPLE THAT NEED ANY SERVICE OR BUSINESS a toll free number
2. USERS State location and type of business desired (i.e. lawyers in Beverly hillls CA)
3. WE provides USERS with FREE information
4. Customer service Connect Dialer with Business at no cost
5. EVERYBODY HAPPY!!!
Business will be profitable from month 2 or 3.
Business will make money 3 ways:
– Business will subscribe to be in our database.
_ Before a transfer is made, we will have SPONSORS
_ Website advertising.: banners, sponsors, etc.
The concepts is simple , the idea is new (in the hispanic market USA), and is profitable very quickly .
How do you guys like it:?
Comment by Mendieta -
I have an idea for a business that I believe would be killer: http://www.brand.com.
Brand.com would be the “Myspace” of brand names. It would combine the best features of Youtube, Myspace, and Ebay into one website.
How would it work? Brand members of Brand.com would be by invitation only. An initial group of “inviters” would invite brands that are:
a. well-respected
b. known for high quality
c. offer exclusive content
The invited brands would get their own subdomain on brand.com, for example Toyota might get Toyota.brand.com, musician Prince might get prince.brand.com, and Saxophonist David Sanborn might get Sanborn.brand.com.
Then what?
Well let us first use Prince as an example. Prince could sell cds, mp3s, guitars; any thing that he wishes at prince.brand.com. Brand.com woud get a small commission on each item sold. Brand.com could host video, audio, pictures etc. just like Youtube. Prince would upload his content directly to his Brand.com page. He would not have to pay any hosting fees etc., Brand.com would host everything for him. Prince.brand.com would auction capabilities built in. So Prince could auction off exclusive items if he wished such as signed cds, dvds, music lead sheets etc. This is where my plan differs greatly from Ebay: PRINCE COULD MAKE MONEY OFF OF PEOPLE SELLING HIS OLD CDS. How would this work? Brand.com would have members the same way that Ebay does. However, anything sold on Brand.com would have a brand associated with it. Items sold on Brand.com could only appear on the page of the brand holder. For example, any used Prince CD sold on Brand.com would only appear at prince.brand.com. Prince would get a small commission from EVERY Prince CD sold on Brand.com. Can you imagine if Prince got a cut of every used Prince cd sold on Ebay?
How would this work with a non-musical brand like Toyota?
Toyota is sitting on an untapped goldmine in its stories. For example, let us say that Toyota uploads an exclusive video interview with the guy that designed the 2010 Toyota Prius to toyota.brand.com. He talks about his education, his passions, and some of the things that inspired him to design the Prius the way he did. Immediately following the auction, Toyota puts the following items up for auction at Toyota.brand.com: 1.)100 Blue Ray disks of the interview, no reserve, highest bidder wins, all signed by the Prius designer. 2.)100 2010 “Designer Edition”Toyota Priuses, each with a placard signed by the designer.
So Brand.com would sell exclusive items by top brands?
Yes, the thing that would make Brand.com attractive would be that people that love a particular brand would come to see Brand.com as being synonymous with exclusive items from that brand.
Why would brands do this when they could just do it on their own website?
Centrality, the same reason they now have Myspace pages. People want to be seen where all of the action is. Within a few months of opening up, Brand.com would explode and become the “go-to” place for selling your wares. However, their would be exclusivity by the fact that Brands would have to be invited. Only the best brands would get in, no junk allowed. Brand.com would come to be known as the “center” of commerce, so every brand would want to have a brand webpage their.
Brand.com could even earn additional revenue by having a Brand submission application with a small fee.
For example, let us say that Sony loves what Brand.com is doing and wants in. Well Sony fills out an online Brand.com application form and pays a $50 submission fee. For the fee, Brand.com quality auditors will take a close look at Sony’s brand and either accept or reject their admission to Brand.com. if they reject, they will explain to Sony why they were rejected and make recommendations for improvement to maximize the chance of future acceptance. The $50 fee would be non-refundable since the Brand.com staff took time and effort in reviewing the application.
This sounds like a great idea. Why haven’t you set it up yet?
I don’t own the Brand.com domain name and the current owner won’t sell it to me (yet). Other than that, I have a team of people who could do all of the technical details of building the site. I would host the site at Rackspace.com because they have the technical ability to handle the traffic that I suspect the site would receive.
Comment by Rex D. -
I couldn’t be more late with this as I’m only part way through reading February’s postings, but better late than never I guess.
http://www.slideshare.net/sweatequity/powelton-village-project-proposal
Comment by gale -
Mr. Cuban,
Here is an overview on the Sports Fan Development Institute powered by Game Day Communications in which we seek your stimulus support.
http://www.slideshare.net/gamedayjreau/sports-fan-development-institute-business-plan-for-mark-cuban
Upon your review, please let me know if you have any questions.
Best,
Jackie Reau
Comment by Jackie Reau -
Mark –
Thanks for inspiring so many of us to share our ideas. Here’s mine:
Too many companies in the US need talent they can’t afford, and too many good people are out of work. People need to be productive, companies need help to survive and to grow in a tough economy. Professional Interns matches hard-working professionals with the companies that need them for unpaid, part-time internships. The interns refine new skills while continuing to search for paying jobs. Some will end up with the companies for which they intern, others will gain the confidence they need to interview well and get a job with another employer.
Is it needed? Obviously. Is it a viable business? I think so, and here’s my plan:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddd2v98z_3d9sm5r54
and the numbers to support it:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pZ998O2xHe9T3sLloOV7lGQ
Let’s get to work!
Comment by Myles Beskind -
I’ve sent 3 different ones to you but I’m blocked for some reason?
Comment by dt -
Mr. Cuban,
I have a question regarding disclosure. With the “green” movement, I have always been interested in alternative energy sources. I have developed a way of creating mechanical energy using gravity/kinetic energy. Unlike solar or wind power, it had no dependency on outside energy sources; it only requires gravity, which is always available. This is basically a machine that does not plug in, that can produce electricity from thin air with zero pollution. Since it produces mechanical energy, it can be used in a variety of applications, not just to produce electricity.
My question is, am I able to post without providing specifics on how this concept works until it is patented, I have put thousands of hours of my time into developing this technology and now I am poised to seek funding for a start up as my concept has been proven. I look forward to your answer and will be happy to send you the specifics if you have any interest. I think the possibilities are limitless and our dependency on fossil fuels is troubling. Thank you in advance for your thoughts, A. Mackey
PS, also, do I have to become a Mavs fan?
Comment by Andrew Mackey -
Well, I might as well give it my best attempt.
My name is Austin Cushing, and I want to start a business. In fact, I plan on trying to make it work regardless of whether I get help in it or not. Many local stores in our area discard of books and other media that doesn’t sell quickly enough, sending them into landfills, and it bothers me. I got into the practice of picking up some here and there and reselling them – I make profits on the transaction and break even on shipping costs, someone gets a book they wanted without having to spend bookstore prices for it, and the book ends up in the hands of a reader rather than a landfill.
My initial foray into this as a form of business was effective, generating higher revenues each week as my inventory began to grow, but collapsed due to one primary reason: space. Or rather, the lack of it. Easily acquired inventory does you little good if you have nowhere to put it, or have to little space to manage it effectively and efficiently.
I have considered various options for storage, from on-site solutions such as a shed to rentable storage facilities or even a full storefront. I have even dabbled with the thought of making a full-fledged bookstore and cafe environment – our area has very little in the way of poetry or musical venues, and my wife and I would like to attract more culture to our neighborhood. However, I know that in order to succeed, you have to start small and work your way up. I want to start with the basics that have already proven to work – a setup run out of the home through various online channels – and expand upon it to bigger and better things as I become more experienced and have more capital available to make considerations about property acquisition without having to invest food money in the venture.
I have weighed the merits of storage options — a rented 10′ by 10′ space for storing inventory would cost approximately $60 per month, while a permanent storage space would cost roughly $1,500 to $2,000 to get installed. However, the costs offset by having said storage space installed on site (a shed or similar building) instead of having to transport inventory to and from the storage location would include transportation and time. It simply makes no sense to store everything offsite until sales are significant enough to justify making the trip.
My employees, as it were, would consist of my wife and myself for the time being. We want this to work in the long term, and we will attempt to make it work — but a strong financial backer would facilitate much faster developments and get things rolling more quickly and efficiently.
Assuming that funding has been provided, the money would be used in the following manner:
1) To obtain an on-site storage solution, 8′ by 10′ or larger as local zoning codes allow, for the storage of inventory. Approximate cost: $2,000, including delivery and installation.
2) Obtaining bookshelves to store initial inventory in reasonable good order. Approximate cost: $500.
3) Obtaining shipping supplies to maintain initial readiness for a wide variety of shipping requirements. Approximate cost: $200.
4) Obtaining initial inventory. While I already have some inventory ready to sell, I would like to make a serious investment in acquisitions to fill my shelves, so that clients have a wide variety of material to choose from. Approximate cost: $1,000.
5) Obtaining postage solutions. I would like to reduce shipping costs by purchasing postage online and printing labels from home; this will have a direct impact on shipping costs, and in turn improve profitability while reducing time spent on the task. Approximate cost: $150 for printer and labels.
This is the extent I can afford to plan for at the moment; investment capital would improve the sustainability of the business venture and ensure that things come together in a matter of weeks rather than months.
As for ROI, profits would be tracked and organized into reports, with trend marketing used to improve our future selections of books and other media to save and sell, so that inventory-to-profit is maximized (ideally.) Of money earned from sales after shipping expenses, followup expenditures would focus first on replacing sold goods and supplies to maintain a stable amount of on-hand inventory; remaining money would be considered profits and would be divided between the investor (to repay and improve upon their initial investment up to a specified maximum) and myself.
I think it’s perfectly fair that if someone chooses to invest money in my business and I am profiting from it, then they should certainly regain the money they invested and then some. I hope you will consider my plan, or follow up with me if you are interested and have further questions. Thank you for your consideration.
Comment by Austin Cushing -
Recycling Dead Walmarts
First, this idea is not anti-Walmart; it’s just trying to recycle abandoned stores.
Walmart works fast–when it sees a location it goes after it, builds a store, and generates revenue. Unfortunately, not all stores survive as predicted. Walmart acknowledges failure quickly and abandons stores that don’t turn a profit. When a Walmart dies it usually leaves behind an empty store front, an empty parking lot, and an empty strip mall. But it also leaves behind infrastructure and potential.
In Lake Highlands, there is an abandoned Walmart. Across the street, there is a thriving Mexican deli. Surrounding both are enough apartment buildings and middle-class houses to support a neighborhood store. But if they can, then why did walmart fail? I’ll tell you and here’s the plan:
Partition the abandoned walmart into a number of sections, such as a neighborhood market-anyone can set up a stand for a price; a day-care center; a job/tax stand; a good-will clothing area. Make it a community co-op and hire a few supervisors/managers to oversee the whole thing.
Think ALDI + local comminity.
Comment by Jason Lohr -
Mr. Cuban
My name is Christa. I have a company along with my partner Laurie called Christa Creations. We are a small company that specializes in scented stuff animals. Our business plan is attached.
http://www.slideshare.net/mschrista/business-plan-for-christa-creations.
We work from our homes to keep costs down and over the past few months have seen a profit. Unfortunately we don’t have the necessary funds to expand our operation. We are a minority owned business and take great pride in our creations. We don’t worry about having anyone imitate our work for the formula of creating our products, advertising, leg work involved and keeping the costs down took many months and trials and tribulations.
We are not asking for much, but rather a jump start to really get our business off the ground. We have had rave reviews and even have a membership list currently being setup.
We have never did a business plan, but we did research and did our best creating this one. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
If you are interested, please feel free to contact me with any questions. Thank you for your time. Ms Christa
Comment by Ms. Christa -
Mark,
Here’s our submission. I look forward to hearing something positive from you.
http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/53703/Precise-Values-Investment-Opportunity
Problem: Banks are losing their shirts on bad loans. For each loan that goes delinquent, one of the first things the bank does is get a value on it. Once they know what it’s worth they can decide whether to modify a loan, approve a short sale, foreclose or sell the note to a private investor. They don’t call a realtor or appraiser themselves, they contract with a valuation provider who handles all the details. We are that provider.
Market: Estimates are as high as $10 Billion in 09. Portfolio valuations account for a large portion of those sales. Only sites that can handle batch orders get that part of the pie. We can. Only 3 of our competitors offer the level of automation and systemization that we’ve implemented.
Opportunity: Precise Values is innovative in that we focus on increasing the banks’ collections and recovery rather than just providing an accurate valuation. We provide an accurate valuation, but we also have products to help them reach the customer (the main goal of collectors) and liquidate inventory they wind up with (wholesale selling of notes and REOs). Banks make money on loans, not on houses. The more inventory they have, the fewer loans they can make which is definitely a contributing factor in the credit crunch.
We are early stage/ start-up that has a bootstrapped a working website system, vendors are currently signing up to provide the valuations and we are actively marketing for our first client.
Revenue: small lenders spend $20k to $50k a mo on valuations. Our over head is 50% of each order plus monthly salaries, internet costs, continued web development.
Cashflow/ break even: On first client we’re break-even. We’ve kept overhead low, and plan to use profits to grow. We’ve gotten some warm reviews, but no contract yet. We’ve got some marketing material out there and are hitting the pavement. So why don’t we just get a client? We’ve run out of funding and credit for everything. My partner just quit his job to be full-time, and I’m already full-time plus. It’s now or never.
Funding Request: We’d love $100k, but we can continue to bootstrap on $50k which will be used for marketing, hiring an asst. and salaries and webdevelopment.
How Mark gets paid: We’re offering up to 10% equity or debt financing at 15%, but you’d be crazy to not take the equity.
Thanks for your time. I look forward to your comments.
Comment by Tracey King -
9139 Boulevard 26 Suite 540, North Richland Hills, TX. 78180
Click here to skip directly to our product information
Click here to skip directly to the team
Click here to skip directly to the numbers
BiiCast is the holding company founded and equipped for the development of life changing GPS enabled LBS mobile applications and solutions all designed with the purpose of making everyday life a little easier on everyone who uses our products. We look to identify, engineer, and market multiple brands, but focus on each creation one at a time to increase our earnings through longevity and/or sale of that brand. BiiCast is a start-up in its development stage. The board is composed of experienced professionals in various areas of expertise. As a team, they represent a strong and cohesive board, linked together by shared beliefs and the BiiCast vision of changing lives for the better on both sides of the coin.
Hail the taxi of your choice, by rating, from your smart phone in seconds!
Why?
For Consumers: People always roll the dice when they order or hail a taxi. They never know what they are going to get when it comes to safety, service, personal hygiene, language, etc. What if you could use your smart phone to view the closest GPS enabled taxis to your current location on a map, browse them by rating, view their name and picture, view an interactive driver profile for more information, and secure service directly with the driver of your choice, while coming down the elevator in your office, standing comfortably inside, or just as you walk out the door, in seconds. The interactive driver profile expands to show you other consumer comments on the driver, allow you to pay by credit card, allow someone else to pay your fare remotely, or let the driver know after your ride that you left something in the taxi, and get immediate resolution. Allowing you to directly deal with the driver of your choice, in less time than it takes to call dispatch and get someone on the phone to take your order. All of that and you also get to immediately help the drivers that you like with a tip, a great rating, a comment, or choose them as your favorite which gives them search priority. You can help improve those that need it with comments and ratings, or help ensure that those that don’t belong find something else to do. Don’t worry about bad input because of a bad day for a driver will not affect a good driver’s rating, only those that are consistently poor in customer service and safety, which is good for the industry. What if rain, snow, sleet, wind, and cold weather could be avoided every time you needed a cab? Would you use it? What if the application was free and you only paid when you use it with no extra billing? Would you download it, just in case you need it one day? Why use a directory style application that only lets you search for cabs from specific companies? Wouldn’t it be better if you could see all cabs from all companies that were relevant to your search because of their location, not their branding?
For Drivers and controlling entities: Dispatch groups and medallion controlling entities are adopting GPS at record rates after years of being slow to adopt almost any technology upgrades. But, all of this money is being spent and the drivers have no choice, so the devices are being received with mixed reviews and protest. Drivers see them as just tracking devices. The companies want to adopt more efficient means of dispatch and help the drivers earn more, but even automatic GPS dispatch doesn’t guarantee that, and despite their best efforts they cannot get the drivers to understand or accept that the GPS is there for efficiency and safety, not tracking. What about a system designed to allow the driver to view and use the GPS fleet tracking equipment as a tool to earn more money? What about a system that rewards hard work and great customer service with real results, gives the driver hands on interaction with the system that psychologically transfers responsibility solely to them, and starves bad drivers into submission or retirement, saving the industry and company face which helps the city image and fights an age-old problem of no accountability? Also, our solution provides an alternative to credit card processing equipment, or a backup plan to existing equipment which reduces the chances of drivers driving away thinking they got paid when they did not. Remote payments being accepted will reduce the amount of time it takes to resolve issues of inability to pay and an alternative to involving law enforcement. All of this is done from a secured iPhone cradled in plain view of the driver to allow them to log in, view fare prompts for service (location/destination), and respond and view information on the fare without distraction, talking, or cumbersome controls associated with most all dispatch devices which allows greater concentration and safety. Using the iPhone’s touch screen capability allows fares to be accepted or denied in a one touch sequence that does not distract the driver. Drivers can also log into their account via the iPhone and view their statistics.
What?
A Mobile application supported by an intricate, patent pending back end arrangement that reports the location of the nearest taxis equipped with GPS tracking devices to consumers, upon scrolling over the icon for the driver on the map the patron sees a short driver profile that shows rating, picture, and name. Once the consumer chooses a driver specifically a full page interactive driver profile is displayed that allows the user to view the driver’s picture, see their name, pay by credit card, rate the driver, enter comments or notify them that they left a bag. The driver logs in via his profile on the in-car iPhone provided by BiiCast as an interaction medium to reduce distractions and increase safety through simple button displays for interaction that is not based on speech or texting.
Business Summary:
For CabDaddy: What we can and aim to do is to provide a total solution to the Taxi Industry, those who consume their services, and the businesses that support both of them. The ONLY solution that offers increased earnings, reduced costs to do so, and as a result allowing taxis, limo’s, mini vans et al to perform better in a reduced timestamp, all the while reducing the amount of time that these vehicles must be driving and limits aimless driving to reduce the carbon footprint of these vehicles dramatically. No other solution offers the key to fixing all of the problems in the taxi industry which is the allowing these drivers to earn more money truly based on their merit. Taxi drives work more and earn less than most professions in the U.S., all the while, exposing themselves to danger.
We currently have 3 more conceptual solutions that can be developed once CabDaddy is sustainable
The results for Consumers:
No more stress with the hassle and a gamble of random hailing or calling
Available taxis shown from multiple companies all at once ensuring customers get the absolute closest taxi every time
No longer wait times in rain, sleet, snow, wind and splashing water
No more unsafe nighttime walking while hoping to find a taxi
No hailing frustrations during peak hours
No need to ever call dispatch again
Never wait for a cab to be dispatched from across town
Use taxis when you need them immediately without moving to New York City
Peace of mind
Faster and reliable service
A better life
The results for the Drivers:
No other system out there proposes a means for the driver to earn more money…This can no longer be ignored.
Less missed opportunities while driving
Fewer miles wasted driving to and from fares
Less fuel spent to achieve and fulfill the fare thus greener and environmentally friendly
Less downtime
Eliminate no show rate as all contact is based on proximity
Less stress
Viable credit card processing solution for the majority of Taxis
A real tool for efficiency
Doormen and dispatchers show favoritism to tippers, forcing drivers to forfeit up to 50% of the fare, let’s make this a non-factor
Shorter distances to fares
Secure a new fare at the end of the old one
More money earned
Less money spent
Less time lost
A better life
The results for Businesses and Large Venues:
Less time spent by hotels trying to secure a cab for guests
Front desk employees will no longer spend as much face time with patrons looking to schedule transportation services
Savings for large hotel chains of millions of dollars per year by suggesting their customers to use the service
More efficient way for offices, bars and restaurants to secure taxi service for clients, staff and patrons
Receptionists can spend more time working, less time securing for-hire services for clients or staff
Ability to readily provide these services, where the customer wants, anytime which will drive revenue for the entire industry
Reduced or eliminated cost of front desk employees’ at hotels interacting with patrons
Viable reporting service to report to patrons where their shuttles are at the airport
Viable reporting service to patrons where their shuttles are on location
Swift means for removing disorderly individuals without affecting the other customers in bars and restaurants.
A better life
Sales/Marketing Initial Approach:
For New York City, drivers will be able to use CabDaddy business cards, and our COO knows the owner of two television stations in New York City that has vowed to give us air time because of his belief in the system and Jan Gerits currently runs two marketing firms in NYC, which can help us dramatically and has, allowing him to treat his work with us as a business development effort for now.
Hotels and large gathering venues can use CabDaddy as a means for appearing to offer efficient service, while putting this duty back into the hands of the consumer by offering our marketing materials as an alternative.
We would also like to form partnerships with different carriers to offer kiosks in hotels and other venues with high traffic that have the latest smart phones for them to “play with” and use our service to secure taxi service, despite not having a smart phone. The result is the customer may, in effect, sell themselves a new phone.
As for other markets we offer exclusive Pilot tests to cab companies and medallion controlling entities. Upon pilot release we will exercise press releases on local newscasts and radio stations. Gains are defined as follows: increased revenue – heightened customer satisfaction and driver enthusiasm – higher repeat business – market share gain.
Offer services like free download to customers and marketing materials will be made available. An active word of mouth strategy towards drivers and users is part of the approach. On-going in-depth research is currently conducted with Corporations, Drivers and Consumers.
The Numbers
Target Markets:
• 236,000 Taxis in America alone (worth $424M a year in recurring revenue)
• 504,000,000 Taxi rides per year (worth $756M a year in revenue)
• 241,000,000 Taxi rides in New York City every year worth $364,000,000 a year (WE HAVE AN IMMEDIATE OPPORTUNITY HERE!)
• 13,300 Taxis worth $23,900,000 per year in set recurring revenue (WE HAVE AN IMMEDIATE OPPORTUNITY HERE!)
• For-hire transportation growth rate ranges from 20-44%
• Customers are taxi/shuttle/limo companies (Primary), end-users of the
• Application (Primary) and service oriented businesses (secondary).
• Target markets should be any market of 100,000 or more residents, unless significant tourism is present (e.g. casinos, popular retreats such as Tucson, AZ)
Customers:
• Had 2 hour meeting in New York City with the Taxi and Limousine Commission where they expressed a genuine interest in this service and brought to light that funds are available to secure such services and that is without viewing a demonstration. We have built a buzz through Twitter and other means. We are invited back for a formal presentation and have basically been told to be ready to pilot 200 Taxis. This is the reason for our urgency. Our COO has inside connections in the city government.
• Taxi company in San Antonio (440 Units) – wants to pilot.
• Texas Taxi (#1 dispatch in Houston and San Antonio Texas) has an interest in pilot
• Cowboy Cab of Dallas in interested in Piloting (520 Units) (GPS enabled)
• Yellow cab Dallas has shown an interest in pilot (1100+ units, plus shuttles)
• American Taxi (900 units) likes the idea and would like continued follow-up on our status.
• Dade County Florida: Transportation manager has shown an interest in profiling bus and light rail systems to integrate with CabDaddyGPS for coordination and reporting to consumers.
• Chilean Government: Expressed an interest in profiling public transportation and for-hire industries to report locations to consumers for consumption in a more efficient manner. (Aiming for Government contract)
• Many Drivers, consumers, and hotel managers have shown interest and agree that it is a total solution to eradicate the weaknesses of current business model.
Competition:
• Google RideFinder: This shows balloon points on a map of taxi and shuttle locations and displays the dispatch number for that service. Nothing on the blog or in the news that is newer than 2005. Currently displaying super shuttle.
• Taxi Magic: Our closest competitor to date. But the only similarities are GPS systems, credit card processing that they must pay for through a 3rd party, sister company, but other than that, they are just like the others a glorified directory. Nice product but delivery defeats the purpose. They have no answer for New York City which is 50% of the taxi business in the US and we designed our product around the problems in New York.
• CallACab: CallACab is an entry in the 1st Google Android platform that was approved for release in the new phones as a feature. This cannot succeed without concentrated efforts.
• Zingo: Zingo was introduced in the U.K. as a service that when called dispatched the nearest taxi to a taxi beacon that was GPS enabled. Too limited but still succeeded.
Business Model:
• Taxi Drivers will pay $150/mo/unit (Large Markets) or $37.50 per week which makes it more affordable for the drivers; this is deducted automatically along with per use fees. Our backend system allows us to track which drivers owe per use fees. (Cities like NYC with multiple drivers per vehicle pay less, as we charge per vehicle.)
• Consumers will pay $1.50 per use to use the service but downloading the app is free.
• Service oriented businesses will not pay to display our marketing materials. To use our service for scheduling, they will pay $19.99 per month
• Service Oriented businesses will pay $19.99/unit/month to profile shuttles for their business using equipment purchased from a fleet tracking solutions provider.
Return on Investment:
Investors should expect at least 10-100XROI within a 3-5 year period or better.
Team
FOUNDERS:
Chief Executive Officer: Samuel Hyatt
Sam does certainly not lack the ability to garner support needed for success. Sam has succeeded in bringing our first product, CabDaddyGPS from a simple thought to a full-fledged project with advisors, 7 expert team members, and a lot of investor/customer interest. Sam is proficient in Sales, Research, Development, and Management. Most importantly he is a visionary entrepreneur who can recognize opportunities and turn them into tangible business.
Chief Operating Officer: Jan Gerits
Jan has extensive experience in marketing, brand building and communication. He has also been MD and CEO of various companies in different countries across Asia, Europe and the US. Other than the global perspective that he brings to the business, he has a proven track record in successfully bringing to market a number of consumer and technology based products. He has a strong corporate business development background and is by nature a lateral thinker who provokes unconventional thinking about ordinary problems.
Legal Counsel and Corporate Secretary: David Hutton
David is a highly talented attorney with special expertise in international multi-jurisdictional, transactional and contract law. He provides our legal support, counsel to management and manages our representation of the company’s interests covering a wide variety of issues and subjects both locally and internationally. David also contributes to the growth and development of BiiCast by providing his experienced guidance in numerous legal and administrative areas.
Chief Technology Officer: Paul Gunder
Paul is a seasoned Chief Technical Officer and Entrepreneur. He brings to the table a proficiency at every level. His “out of the box” thinking has resulted in successfully developing a number of incredible applications. Not surprisingly, he is a true professional and passionate about innovation and ideation. Paul is a true technical leader with all the skills to lead the team in creating a product that will surely succeed.
Other Team Members:
Vice President of Business Development (Americas/Europe): Efrain Rodriguez
Efrain is a retired military Special Operations Reverse Signal Engineer with a very impressive background, extensive education, and a set of global contacts that will allow him to take the CabDaddyGPS product beyond boundaries. Efrain has already had productive high level contacts with Governmental and private business leaders in Chile and the US.
Senior Advisor to the Board: Leroy Levin
Leroy is a professional Senior Developer with expertise on most platforms. He is a .NET enthusiast and professional in that arena and is tackling J2ME to help our project become portable across all mobile platforms.
Senior Advisor: Jean Vincent: A 20 year veteran of Silicon Valley, Jean Vincent has done it all. He has been CEO, CTO, and CFO of startups from concept to exit. Driven by the business logic behind our application, his commitment to green initiatives, and curiosity; Jean volunteered to be a permanent advisor for us for nothing in return. Jean’s most notable business ventures, are Centile, an award-winning VoIP company today integrated into 8×8’s flagship VirtualOffice service for small businesses, and Callbright, a call-tracking startup sold to Reynolds and Reynolds in 2005.
We also have several individuals from GPS Fleet tracking industry and mobile software industry who will be joining us soon.
BiiCast’s current estimated pre-money valuation: $940,000 to $1,150,000
BiiCast is seeking minimum $750k to finish development of our CabDaddy product, and get through a 200 taxi pilot with NYC. Beyond that we will need $3-5M in funding to further develop market, introduce, and sell our unique products. The investment will help to establish our corporate identity, to purchase the rights to use major mapping services at commercializing stage, to create successful test markets, and to fund implementation and expansion. These operating expenses will cover one calendar year, after which we should be cash positive even beyond this investment.
BiiCast is incorporated in Delaware, with a development center in Texas and a remote office in New York City. Product development is in place and we are happy to present you with the roll out of our first brand, based on unique, patent-pending technology.
Comment by Sam Hyatt -
Hello, everybody!
First, THANK YOU Mr. Mark Cuban for this exciting and wonderful opportunity. I welcome any and all thoughts. I think I may have caused the whole thing to crumble to begin with as I let a car go back to Ford Motor Credit Dec.07. But I’m ready to help fix just a little corner of our economy.
The name of my company will be:
Squeezepenny Sustainable Farm
Producing fresh, high quality, “Certified Organic” Hydroponically grown fresh vegetables in a Controlled Environment. Delivering locally (50 mile radius) from our 50 acre 24/7 sustainable farm.
Our first crops solely of Organic Hydro Bibb Lettuce.
We would be in the U.S.Dept. of Agriculture’s “Specialty Vegetables” classification.
The consumer driven demand in our niche market is looking for a quality, pesticide-free, soil-free, eco-friendly carbon footprint reducing product. They are at present willing to pay a 10-30% premium.
The numbers used will have to be reworked with the true and exact figures after the decisions are made on systems and models for the greenhouses, the electricity generating windmill(s), etc..
I have already dove into the fine, very fine print of the manuals.
The mark up is expected to be at least 100%.
Cost to raise per head approx. $1.00
Selling price per head approx. $2.00
Ten(10) greenhouses that produce approx. 6000 heads each per crop.
A crop takes a approx.thirty-two (32) days to harvest resulting in only eleven (11) harvests per year. That’s 660,000 heads per year. If Funding were available mid-April, the first planting would be mid-July with a harvest of mid-August. Allowing us to sneak up and be established before the normal harvest season ends in our area(by the end of Oct).At that time WE STILL GET TO PRODUCE YEAR ROUND. We are located in Collin Couty, TX. The closest commercial Hydro producer in our D/FW market is located approx. 145 miles away. Their product is marked as Hydro (If you are NOT certified by the USDA you can’t put “Organic” on the label). I found them at Brookshire’s with a retail price $3.99. Today at a Super WalMart (they carry another brand) retail price was $4.99 a week ago) they are out of stock (no clue if that is due to the demand or lack thereof with the harvests arriving at the markets currently). BUT NOT TO FEAR, we are NOT going to the chain grocery stores (or at least not yet). Our fail-forward idea would be a Produce Broker ) our market niche is already is place. EVERY “LOCAL” “Organic” Farmers Market (Frisco, Plano, Allen, etc…) And the regular well establihed Dallas Farmers Market and a local McKinney Farmers Market only open Apr.-Oct each year. Rest. chains that are PROUD (and adverstising about it) to commit to buy X % of their produce locally. The USDA sponsored “Farm to School” program is another possibility.
I understand that we may help to drive down the premium now paid by providing a lower priced product to the consumer, making the need to diversify into the other types of lettuce and herbs. The Bibb (Boston or Butterhead) has the most profit potential. The local rest. chain that wants 25% local grown uses Romaine. At that point we will add more greenhouses (with 1/2 of them alloted for the increase of the current type and the other 1/2 for the new product).
I would be seeking a loan in the amount of $700,000.00 for 5 years. I fully expect to take advantage of the US Gov./SBA/7a federally backed Small Business Loan Program for the land deal.
That would be the first approx. $65,000.00 out of your loan. First month 2 full-time jobs created , second 2 more and by the third 1-3 other part-time jobs added. Approx. 15 contracted workers to build buildings. And my first re-distribution of your stimulus would be back to the LOCAL gov., ie. fees, permits, site tests. I thought Agri-Tourism would come in later but since the liabil. insur. has to be in place prior to the Electric Coop working on site -we may as well go ahead. I have been thinking of nothing else (forgot to eat dinner tonight) since reading your original post. Consumed to say the least, my family says I won’t shut up about the details. I have the available data from the lastest 2007 USDA Reports. They publish ONLY every 5 years. I also have details on the land to be purchased. With a $120,000.00 cash payment to be exchanged at time of purchase. I would get it in advance on leasing out the house also on the land. I’m not trying to get rich quick, instead I look forward to working the farm and this business for the next 20 years. My personal financial goals would be to pay my outstanding debt to FMCC and you and your investors. I could take the cash-method one step further and not seek any additional credit. You remember a company that pays as it goes for costs of goods sold.
I look forward to helping you help myself and the others it could benefit.
Penny
Comment by Penny -
http://www.slideshare.net/guest35fa3f0/just-try-and-find-me
Comment by Kim -
I see that your number 2. rule states that “It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising.” I have a unique marketing company headquartered here in Dallas that has been in operation for a little over a year; one I wouldn’t necessarily classify as advertising. In fact, I often refer to what we do as manufacturing, that is, we take raw data and develop clients from it. Additionally, we now have products to sell to the clients we develop. With that being said, I guess you could say we have created a way to market our products in-house.
What I began doing sheds light on how my company evolved to what I am attempting to do now. I had a referral service, referring consumers around the country to financial advisors licensed in their respective states for a free financial review. This is done via direct mail and recipients of the mailers dial a toll free number which is answered by our call center personnel who qualify the call and set the appointments. We are paid for appointment packages and the demand for our services is literally unimaginable. There are hundreds of thousands of agents throughout the nation looking for tried and true marketing programs. Initially I was exclusive with one client; a subsidiary of Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America. The ole adage — “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!” – is something I learned the hard way. On April 13th, 2008, Chris Hansen did an NBC Dateline Investigative Report on Allianz. This report showed the improper sale of annuity products to seniors. After agreeing to refund consumers billions of dollars they ordered the company I was contracted with to cut their overhead by a third and I was the first branch trimmed off the tree. I restructured as an FMO (field marketing organization), and became the first and only FMO in the life settlement industry, which is where my focus now lies.
I have several financial products available for sale; for small investors (minimum $25k) to large institutional investors (I currently have a $711 million buy box available and $500 million to $1 billion of fresh paper available each month through my sources). I am also in the process of becoming a state licensed broker which will allow me to orchestrate the purchase of life insurance policies from individuals and I have several large buyers available at all times. One of our products has been producing mid-level double digit annual returns (see Wall Street Journal article; February 4th, 2009; “Life-Settlement Business Gets a Boost Amid Crisis”). 60 Minutes also called it the perfect no risk investment of the future! These vehicles are not affected by market fluctuations or economic downturns. In fact, the worse the economy is, the better our business does. There are over $14 trillion of these policies available to the secondary market.
As the annuity market continues to diminish over the next few years, while the L/S market continues to grow almost exponentially – estimated annual sales to be in the neighborhood of $160 – $180 billion in the next few years –agents who have been making their living from annuities are looking for an alternative products to sell. This presents an extraordinary opportunity for us and for an investor to coming in now as we have an incredible, custom designed, technical infrastructure in place and the know-how, based on past experience, to make this fly to great heights. I would love to recruit 5000 agents nationwide within 24 months. The talismanic key though, is our in-house tried and true ability to get them in front of prospective buyers of our products. I just need some water to prime the pump!
Comment by Walker -
I have been involved in computer science academics for 16 years. I have been running a computer business for over 14 years. I have recently sold most of my assets to a company by the name of T-Mobile.
I reside in Europe but am currently enjoying the fruits of my previous efforts while skiing here in Utah, which I can highly recommend (despite this year apparently being a bad season).
I have about 2 years of grace period which I’m using to start a new business (which I would like to start in the U.S., or maybe even Australia) while I continue to look at other developments in the computer industry.
What I’ve been both actively and passively following (on and off) for the last 8 years is the upcoming 3D market. Gartner research predicts a 100 fold increase in the 3D printing market in 2011 in comparison to 2006. That’s somewhat obvious and doesn’t require an expensive consulting firm to predict.
I’ve been tracking a predominately one man (currently two men other than myself) company that has been a) acquiring (one should say inventing) intellectual property pertaining to the 3D market and b) has been selling his/their product for over 2 years now.
This company is receiving a lot of interest from a whole score of industries; museums, military and law enforcment, industrial design and manufacturing, to name but a few. Things are changing. Very soon we won’t be having a classic two picture mug shot anymore, to name one of the things that’s changing due to the maturing of this industry.
I never look at what is profitable, I always look at developments that generate a “wow” factor for myself. If it looks profitable, then someone else has already seen that. “You have to have an elevator pitch” is one of the biggest lies I’ve (repeatedly) come across in the entrepreneurial climate, although don’t let that statement stop you from coming up with one. Apple didn’t look profitable to Hewlett Packard. Google didn’t look profitable to most people while everybody thought that paid ranking (remember AltaVista?) would be profitable. “The world is round” didn’t look profitable to the church. It’s not that people (or the reigning power) didn’t want to recognize these highly profitable changes. The reigning logic and methods of reasoning of the time simply prevented them from inferring these changes which ultimately changed the reigning logic.
My peers call me an imaginative maverick and I’d like to get in touch with this other maverick for which his adjective has apparently not yet been assigned.
I live in a part of the world that has the highest natural air pressure on the globe. I’m currently vacationing in a somewhat lower pressure area (the locals appropriately call it “Life Elevated”) till the 29th of March after which I’m returning to the high pressure area. I’d like for you to visit my (other) home country and show you around the country while expanding your horizon on this industry and this particular business.
Even if you don’t get involved, we can still have a good time, I never waste my or others time.
Comment by Imaginative Maverick -
Hi – Yesterday I posted a test comment as I was having trouble uploading. It did get posted.
Then I posted my plan. It got posted and the test disappeared.
Today I go to your site to read comments – the test post has appeared and the plan post has disappeared Help !
Cutting to the chase – The link below shows the product line I developed with Sweat Equity – Energy – PASSION and Bootstrap Capital.
I still have the Sweat Equity – Energy – PASSION – but not the Bootstrap Capital.
After trying several Business Models – A learning curve. I found what works best to sell my products. It is not Wholesale. It is not Retail on my own branded E-commerce Web Site. It is selling Retail on an E-commerce Portal – Namely Amazon.com
http://www.geocities.com/feb14thgourmet2000/photopagetan.html?200169
My plan/proposal is to focus on one product for now- my International Award Winning Jerk BBQ Seasoning which is the most likely to hit 60 Day Break Even – 90 Day Profits – given an early May Roll Out to capitalize on The Memorial Day to Labor Day Prime BBQ Season.
The link to my slide show is below. No new jobs are created but equally important – JOBS ARE RETAINED.
http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dfbmms8g_2g8f2p2cf&skipauth=true
If my post was dropped for some non computer glitch – please advise – I like the idea that the plan can be seen world wide – I hope it is your cup of tea – but if not – perhaps it is for someone else.
Thank you for your consideration.
Rod Valentine – Phoenix, AZ
Comment by Rod Valentine -
>>>Other private lenders are considered, 100% money back guranteed (sic), no risk.<<<
No risk… Yeah, right. LOL. If there’s no risk your bank will be happy to lend you the money.
Geez, it’s no wonder Mark isn’t responding to anyone. It’s just a bunch of crackpots.
Comment by Matt R -
Oh my dear Mark, do you ever respond to anyone. I know you are a busy man and so I am a busy woman too. Business is hard to run as it stand, so please take a minute out of your hectic schedule to let me know if my plan interest you. I am a small business woman taking over a large business. I have the loyal customers to service. Investment is 50,000 of your money with a 20,000 return in 6 months, along with your 50,000.
Other private lenders are considered, 100% money back guranteed, no risk. All sales based on orders.
Comment by S.J. -
How can I have my business plan removed? Please advise.
Comment by Peggy Sagers -
EquityLock Financial offers Home Price Protection the first product offered nationaly to a homeowner which enables them to protect their home equity against market downturns. Founders spent 2 1/2 years on the concept and launched in late 2008 with an initial focus on Builders and Developers. To date we are working with real estate companies, mortgage brokerages, PMI and MI carriers and homeowners who purchase to help sell their home using it as an incentive or for their own peace of mind.
We have support from Robert Shiller, well known economist and Yale professor.
We have had a heck of time raising capital for a national campaign given market conditions but have been fortunate to write business in many states with many different types of markets.
Full BP, ES, Financials and anything you would ever need to evaluate risk, underwriting etc… available on request.
P.S. We are a Texas based company.
Thanks
David Camp
Comment by David Camp -
I post this with mixed emotions, as I don’t like it when people promote their stuff in my blog comments. However, many of the ideas I’ve seen written here might not exactly fit the guidelines as described, but they may fit our startup incubator in Austin, Texas. CapitalFactory provides cash, services, and mentorship from 20 talented entrepreneurs. Applications due April 3, 2009.
I wish you all luck in getting Mark (or anyone who might read this and like your idea) to fund your company!
Comment by Bryan Menell -
@Steve:
Yeah, I understand that most recycling projects are government subsidized. For example, I’m forced to pay my city every month for the “privilege” of having recycling. In protest, I put everything in the regular can. It irritates me to no end that they are charging me to sell my stuff.
Now if I were a real greenie (and this is where the Teton deal has potential trouble), I’d save all the cans and give ’em to the Boy Scouts. The other stuff I’d take to the free recycling dumpsters at the local hippie grocery store. Why pay when I can just dump it there?
Comment by Matt R. -
@Grace Cruz: I’m sorry to hear about your situation – it is very unfortunate.
I’m not sure but I sort of doubt that is the type of business Mark is looking to invest in.
Have you considered talking to the guys at lifestylesunlimited.com? They are a mentoring organization that helps people do exactly the types of real estate deals you mentioned. Among other things, they help pair people that have the time to find houses with the people who have the money to invest, the skills to rehab the houses and accountants and lawyers who can oversee the transaction. Just a thought.
Comment by Matt R. -
Hi Mr. Mark Cuban. I have read many of the comments on this site and is it true that you are looking to make even more money for yourself? I thought I finally found a kind hearted billionaire that had his heart in the right place. I am a senior citizen who is about to lose my home of twenty eight years and yes I am looking for help. I want to start a Real estate business with my brother who is already in the real estate business. What I need is capital. That is what I am asking for. We will find the homes that are in very bad condition and hire plumbers,painters and gardeners and who ever I need to put the house back on the market.
Let me explain why I need your help. In 1994 My husband was in a terrible truck accident. He was on the very top of his load and the fork lift driver pushed one of the pallets and it knocked my husband to the pavement below. He crushed his back and One foot. The doctors did the best they could for him. He has steel screws and metal pins holding his foot together and they also had to take bones from other parts of his body to replace all the bones that were crushed. He has never been the same.
I could not work myself because in 1986 I found out I have a disease called Fibromyalgia that disease attacks all my muscles, tendons and nerves through out my whole body. I am in pain 24/7. I cannot afford health insurance and should I have a flair up and my body starts to attack my vital organs I will not be able to go to any hospital or see a doctor.
Since 1994 We have been living off our funds from our savings account which at this time is almost depleted. We earn eleven hundred and fifty dollar a month and our house payment is almost one thousand dollars a month. As you see we are not able to pay all our bills. We have no one and no where to turn. That is why I asking you for help. I know you have rules and I have to be honest with you right up front I will not show income in six months. I would first find the property and then hire all the workers to put the house on the market place. This all takes time and money. I am so desperate for help and a better life style then I have had all these years. I know we will be able to start this business. Please give me a way to save my home and a new start out of this misery, that I am in now. I cannot say much more it is up to you to decide to help me or not. I need a God send. I hope you are willing to help me. Thank You
Comment by Grace Cruz -
This is a test – having trouble uploading.
Rod Valentine
Comment by Rod Valentine -
The short answer is, it cost more to recycle than you can make from it. Any Municipality with a recycling program has to subsidize it. I think the accepted line of thought that it is desirable to recycle items designed to be disposed of should be re-examined. There are multiple reasons to doubt the assumed negative macro enviromental impact of NOT recycling these types of items.
There are some things that are not economically viable which the government should subsidize. The military comes to mind! (Even though you could make an arguement for the peace dividend from that investment.) However, I believe that such an approach should be extremely rare.
Auto salvage yards exist because it is economical to recycle car parts.
I think the ultimate solution is to find a way through better processes, etc. to make recycling disposables economically feasable…in the free market.
Comment by Joel Black -
To Matt R –
Teton Valley Recycling is not my business plan, but I can answer that one pretty easily having seen the downside of a business that depended on the market value of recyclables. Simply put, the value is subject to extreme and untenable fluctuations. Supply and demand is not only subject to the usual economic considerations, but also the ever changing cost effectiveness of reprocessing vs new raw materials. In addition, recycling is mostly an international industry, so frequent changes in laws, supplies and processing capabilities anywhere in the world can have an impact.
There is value to recycling beyond the free market economy, so it would be reasonable for governments to provide price supports. Unless that ever happens, any recyclable collection business plan dependent on market prices is an invitation to eventual failure.
I think the bigger failure in the Teton Valley plan is that there are probably not enough people willing to pay extra to recycle instead of just throw it in the trash. If the recycling was part of a more comprehensive trash pickup plan – for example replace their only competitor’s $70 month for trash only with $70 for trash collection and recycling – they would have a chance. Then again, the competitor would be easily able to match the offer and have the benefit of an established infrastructure. It’s tough to compete with a defacto monopoly, even with some of the advantages of reduced overhead.
Without local political will due to the lure of reduced landfill and a desire to be green, this kind of plan is tough to accomplish.
I think the best way for Teton Valley to try to become viable is to sell the service before creating the infrastructure, and if they get enough takers for critical mass, than execute on the rest of the plan. In this way the plan could also be mostly self-financing. An additional lure that would also create tremendous customer loyalty would be to give a very small amount of stock to customers that commit up-front. Maybe they could even raise additional real equity capital that way. Think of the free publicity attendant to that offer, which could also be another factor in achieving success.
-Steve
Comment by Steve -
A question for TetonValleyRecycling: Why would I want to pay you to collect my valuable stuff (cans and bottles) that you go off and sell at a profit?
Why not just come get the stuff (no charge to me) and make your money by selling it to recyclers?
Comment by Matt R -
I have been promising my business plan for Cajun Sports Cream and I have now completed it and the presentation can be viewed at: http://www.slideshare.net/cajunsportscream/cajun-sports-cream-1182891
Comment by Marcy Jordan -
Hi Mark
This is an amazing idea. And I sincerely hope it works.
Here is what I am heading towards doing. I am in the process of opening a bakery/coffee shop in downtown Chicago. I was offered an extraordinary opportunity to get into a space. The shop is in a community that has been looking for what I can offer. 2 blocks down is a fire station, across the street is a hospital and a high school. The consumers are there, and at the moment have very few places where they can go to get coffee and something amazing on their way to work.
The competition is there, but serving very different things then what I have to offer. I have been doing craft fairs and did my first year at Renegade Craft Fair this year. I have been testing my products for the past 6 months and my product has met with praise at every turn.
I am looking for $30k to fund renovations in the space, fund payroll, purchase supplies, purchase a work vehicle for deliveries, as well as rent for the first month or so. The cost to run the business for 1 month with 1-3 employees is $8k.
The Posh Bake Shoppe will assist in revitalizing a community, the area has seen several business close down, one of which was a small convenience store. I will also be providing jobs. The bakery will be around the corner from Wicker Park area, and hopefully will draw in customers from that side of town, as well as encourage other boutiques and businesses to open on this street.
I believe I will turn a profit in 90 days, with aggressive marketing and going out into the neighborhood to make our presence known. I would like Friday nights to be open to local Dj’s providing a place for them to spin for friends and fans, it would be BYOB, with coffee and my products available for purchasing.
When I have the funding, the Landlord will allow me to take over the space in the back to renovate for meetings, cake tastings, or small events. I ran an Event Planning business for 5 years and would like to bring that back in and merge the two. Eventually hiring on an Event Planner to run that side of the business.
I am offering any investor a 15% stake in the company, open for negotiations, or I am willing to discuss profit sharing. I would like the option to buy back the stake in 5 years. Also in 3-5 years I would like to see a second Posh Bake Shoppe open. Which could lead to a longer investment relationship and higher profits for all involved. If you have any further questions please email me at shayna@poshcelebrations.com I have almost completed my business plan, there are a few numbers I need to work on. But would be willing to email you a copy if needed.
Thank you for your time and I hope I will be hearing from you soon!
Comment by Shana Box -
@Mark R. turn that into a spreadsheet and I am sure you will get funding somewhere.
Comment by Steve Holden -
Kyle Cavil said: My mother blew every dime she had saved over the last 2 years – NEVER REQUESTING ANYTHING FROM ANYONE!! We lost well over 1 million in assets.
Wow, why would she “blow” every dime she saved? That seems foolish.
Anyone who loses over one million dollars in assets must surely have more, right? The market is down, but only by 50ish percent. No prudent investor has lost everything or even close to it.
Comment by Matt R. -
Dear Mark Cuban Please Take a Look at our Complete Business Plan
at http://www.slideshare.net/tetonvalleyrecycling
questions or comments tetonvalleyrecyling@gmail.com
Comment by tetonvalleyrecycling -
Dear Mark Cuban Please Take a Look at our Complete Business Plan
Comment by tetonvalleyrecycling -
Mark, my plan is simple. Find an undeserved market (nuclear power) with a fast growing need that scales – additional services, international sales, and provide it with exceptional service and a great return for client investment in time and money. Cool Hand Nuke has been designed and is being developed to do just that. It will be a proof of concept which will allow for expansion into other under served markets when and where appropriate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvhNGqHUQV0
Short version 50% of current U.S. nuclear workforce is retirement eligible within 10 years. 30 licenses for new plant construction submitted to the NRC. International growth opportunity is exceptional.
Cool Hand Nuke will be the premier online destination for the engaged nuclear professional. A true Web 2.0 community where they will be able to connect with like minded professionals while having all the latest and greatest in industry news, articles, scuttlebutt, jobs and conversation.
We are taking the 20th century concept of the job board and pushing it into the 21st century world of twitter, facebook and linkedin.
We are going to provide our users a premium in experience and content. In return we will develop a loyal base which we will charge employers to access via licenses for job postings, resume database access and targeted advert opportunities amongst other things. Our most recent valuation projection has us with at 3.5M come October 2011 and we believe this to be a fairly conservative estimate.
You will make money via a % return on your investment over a period of time, both to be negotiated.
However, I would suggest the 5-7 year time frame as we are based in New Orleans and you would be able to take advantage of the Zero Percent Capital Gains for Renewal Communities as well as the New Markets Tax Credit. Note you should consult with your tax people on this as I am by no means anything near a tax professional.
If you’re interested in exploring this further please let me know & thanks for your time.
Comment by jeff madison -
My husband, his friends, my friends, my friends children and my coworkers’ addiction to XBOX Live has inspired my idea. I would like to open up a online Gaming Place. I would charge a each person fee of $10/per game to enter. I would have a refreshment stand selling pizza/by the slice, sodas, chips, hot dogs, popcorn, and fried cheese sticks. The waiter/waitress would be accessed via intercom. I will have two rooms/per game. Each player would have his/her own gaming chair (IF THE VIBRATION FROM THE CONTROLLER COULD BE HOOKED UP TO THAT>>>THAT would be great!) and table. Each room will have large plasma televisions. Each player will have the choice to use their own online id or one that I WILL provide. If I have to provide an online id their will be an additional fee of $5.00. I plan on being opened Monday through Friday from 5PM-11PM and Saturday and Sundays from 10AM to 11PM.
Comment by Vicki -
I just poured my heart out to you for MY FAMILY and my Plan for them. Clearly you didn’t like it. I noticed my posts were up momentarily, then removed.
You were my last shot! Do you understand that my request was not about getting something for nothing!!! It was about SURVIVAL!! We are NOT a family of Leakers! We work hard! We’ve, my mother, have more than paid her dues as a single mother.
I am not some punk. I worked my entire HS Enrollment to earn and receive a FULL SCHOLARSHIP to play Division 1 FCS BALL!
What is happening to us, is happening to millions of Americans everyday!! THAT IS THE REAL BUSINESS PLAN!!
Why would you not want to invest in a WI family who is the face of our failed economy and Government Services.
My mother blew every dime she had saved over the last 2 years – NEVER REQUESTING ANYTHING FROM ANYONE!! We lost well over 1 million in assets. 90% of this country would have been lining up to Apply for SSID benefits the next day! Not my mother – NOT OUR FAMILY!!!
Isn’t it ironic how America works?? I am ashamed of our country!! How is it that a self sufficient single woman who always paid her dues and provided for her children independent is now punished and forced into a HOMELESS SHELTER because too many un-honest corrupt people have drained our SYSTEM DRY!!! People who rarely if ever contributed to the SSI FUND!!
Regardless of your political affiliation – this is a TRUE STORY and places a FACE TO the others that possessed too much dignity to ask for help – Why is it that the tax paying – consistent/productive contributors end up in a Shelter in Brown County, WI???
Maybe I’m not making myself clear enough – THERE IS NO ONE ELSE IN THE SHELTER!!! The county and State funds are consumed by LAZY LOSERS who are in it for a FREE RIDE!!! I will make this a PLAN – in fact, I am so disgusted and appalled by my personal experience that I vow I WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!
I will see to it that this “wealthy” discrimination is put to an end!
SHAME ON AMERICA!!!
Don’t worry MY FAMILY WILL RECOVER!!!
I would like to challenge your audience to consider a PLAN that will assist Americans – Open their eyes to what is really happening in our country. Our middle class and upper middle class is falling down and it is gaining more speed everyday!
God Bless America!
Comment by Kyle Cavil -
Services
Teton Valley Recycling, LLC is a service-based company that offers curbside recycling pickup in both the residential and commercial sectors of Teton County, Idaho. Contracts for service will be setup and the services will be delivered on a routine basis.
Service Description
Teton Valley Recycling, LLC will provide bins to new customers who are willing to return our brochure to the company for reuse. It will also make it easier for them to organize recyclable materials. We will also sell more bins to customers who are willing to recycle more materials. The materials will be scheduled for routine pickups twice a month. Materials available for monthly pickup include the following:
• Aluminum
• Plastic-Milk jugs, grocery bags, and bottles #1-7
• Glass-mixed/colors
• Newspaper
• Paper-Grey board, white board, mixed office stock/phonebooks , sorted magazines
• Corrugated Cardboard
• Tin cans
Basic monthly residential pickup of 100 pounds of recycling materials will cost the customer $19.99/mo with a one year contract. If customers are willing to sign up for a two year plan, then the price will drop down to $15.99/mo ($50 a year in savings). Customers also have the option of signing up for a VIP plan that will allow for the pickup of 200 pounds of recyclables per month, two free recycling bins, and free backdoor pickup service for $34.99/mo.
Commercial and group rates will cost $29.99/mo for the pickup of 200 pounds of recycling per month. $5/mo will be added on to the charge for every additional 100 pounds of recyclable materials. For example, if a neighborhood or a business wants to put all their recycling together and pay to have 400 pounds of materials hauled away per month, then the cost to them will be $39.99/mo. This does not include any backdoor service or free recycling bins. The commercial service is subject to further analysis and may require billing after services have been rendered as the weight of the materials being collected could change drastically with larger accounts.
Materials available for special/one-time pickup service include all of the above listed as well as the following:
• Metal-barbed wire, chain-link fence, cables, braided wires
• Large batteries-car, boat, etc.
• Electronic waste-computers, monitors, televisions
• Propane tanks
• Grass and yard trimmings (no wood)
• Brush and woody materials-stumps (clean of dirt and rocks)
• Dimensional lumber (clean)
• Appliances-washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers
• Fill material-rock and sod
The cost of picking up these materials is $25 per every 100 pounds.
Competitive Comparison
Teton Valley Recycling LLC is the only curbside recycling pickup service in Teton County, Idaho. In today’s world, many people are becoming more green-minded. We offer responsible solutions for reducing the amount of waste materials being deposited into landfills. Our basic annual service will cost $19.99/mo.with the opportunity to reduce that number by referring other paying customers, or by signing up for a longer service plan.
Our main competition is Vorhees Sanitation LLC, which charges $70.00 a month for trash removal. They do not offer recycling services and therefore deposit all waste into Idaho landfills. With the growing unpopularity of landfills due to adverse environmental effects directly related to them, we offer alternative services to help the local residents become part of the green movement.
Teton county residents also have the option to drive to the waste transfer station themselves and pay per pound to sort and dispose of their own recyclable materials. The transfer station is only open to the public on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. In turn, we offer the convenience to our customers of never having to leave their home while contributing to the green movement.
Fulfillment
TVR LLC will line up driving routes to make pickup of recycling materials as efficient as possible. A truck and trailer will be used to pickup and haul the loads.
Operating costs for each month will include the following:
• Gasoline-$500 (will be subject to change)
• Insurance-$600
• Equipment/Maintenance-$300
• Office (Computer/Internet/Phone)-$120
• Cell phones-$100
• Transfer Cost-$30 per ton (100 accounts will cost $150/mo)
Total: $1,770.00/mo (based on 100 accounts)
More detailed information is available in the Financial Plan.
Technology
The company will employ the help of modern technology to streamline the business and facilitate efficiency of its operations.
Customer Benefits of Technology
• Internet webpage and email will allow for potential customers to easily find information about the company and sign up for services.
• The internet will also allow for current customers to have a direct line of communication for suggestions, complaints, and pickup schedules, and will allow for us to disseminate emergency information (inclement weather conditions).
• Office LAN phone line will provide a central location for customer service and sales.
Company Benefits of Technology
• Computer with QuickBooks software will provide accounting service to the company.
• Cell phones with two-way, push-to-talk radios will keep communications simple and efficient amongst company workers.
• Office LAN phone line will provide a central location for customer service, sales, and voice mail to be reached by customers.
• Mapping software and GPS for locating new customers and tracking routes.
• Scale will weigh recycling to keep customers within limits and assist in tracking inventory.
• Yellow caution warning light on vehicle will assist in keeping employees safe while picking up recycling materials.
• Microsoft Word and Publisher will be used to produce an informational brochure
• Microsoft Office Access will be used to log sales reports, customer services, expense reports, billing reports, time cards, etc.
Future Services
It is our intention to grow into a community fixture that provides quality services and creates jobs. Some future services may include the placement of aluminum can disposal bins in various spots throughout the community. This will be a free service that will provide a place for used cans and will pay dividends to the company through advertising as well as collecting money from selling the aluminum to material collectors.
TVR will keep an open mind and awareness to the needs of the community as they arise.
Comment by Michael -
MC, you fund any type of business right? as long its profitable? what do you think about food business? I have my business plan and almost ready for you (it’s small kinda new and can spread like “roaches”) just curious cuz i noticed most of the peeps here are more tech enthusiast on their ideas (which is good) just wondering your thoughts about food business.
Thank you for your time.
Mark
Comment by Mark -
Commmnet to Gerald who commented on my posted blog, if you live or visit downtown on a weekly basis and if you survey like we have in front of our location. We are looking at a heavily populated, foot traffic area in front of our building. Again read my post, its 25 cents to travel on the dash, from any district in downtown. If you want to contact me directly my email address is guapo@onebox.com Thanks.
Comment by Emmanuel -
I have an idea for the backup/security market.
Intent is to partner with a RAID card manufacturer to re-write device drivers to allow nesting of RAID groups in a way that facilitates specific parts of a logical drive to be derived from separate RAID groups.
A typical windows workstation organizes files into four areas that really matter- windows directory (OS), documents and settings (user), program files (software) and the C:\ root.
The idea is cause the root and windows directory to be drawn from a separate drive or RAID group. At the driver level you assemble these drives/RAID groups into a single, logical system disk, making the backup system OS transparent. In the event of any sort of operating system failure, you merely cold boot to a backup of the drive/RAID group supplying your root and windows directory. One could cause the program files directory to also be swapped at the same time, effectively replacing every executable that matters in the entire machine in the length of time required by a shutdown and cold boot. As we are still using the original user settings in the docs and settings directory, the workstation user’s files, internet history, e-mail, etc would be intact after such a backup is utilized. Suddenly, critical computer systems experiencing any sort of virus or OS failure are able to be restored almost instantly by the USER, allowing IT to get to the failure at it’s leisure. Swapping of drives on a cold boot is simply a matter of throwing a switch that will remove power from the problem disk/RAID group, and apply it to the backup. A simple circuit requiring the machine to be powered off to affect the change in state to the power connections on your hard drives and a re-worked device driver would both be elegantly simple to design and produce. Many mission critical operations- law enforcement, military, medical, fire-rescue, homeland security, etc- would greatly benefit from enhanced security and increased uptime for a minimal per-workstation cost- Say a four drive RAID card and a couple of additional hard disk drives. A little more effort in driver design would likely produce a similar system that would work with drive partitions instead of physical disks, although this allows for the possibility of a boot sector virus. Imagine a large network with this system installed on 1,000 workstations infected with a serious virus- locate the vector and close it, and you are back to productivity in the amount of time it takes to cold boot. Very marketable, IMHO. Also, very fast to market, as implementing this on existing hardware is very easily accomplished. I have an engineering lead available to me for this project with twenty years of open source experience, most of which is centered around storage systems. Im told the modifications of which I speak are not prohibitively difficult to accomplish. The real trick is producing a board partner, the rest is easy.
Comment by Scott -
TourAlign is a golf alignment tool that is simple and effective to use. It is currently being used by many Tour Pros worldwide. We have the product in place already and we are currently selling TourAlign on the internet. We are seeking funding to run a 30 second commercial on the golfing channels and sports channels, to attend and present TourAlign at golf shows nationwide (PGA golf show in Las Vegas and many others that anticipate attendance to be in the thousands), to put together a complete marketing kit for buyers of big box retail stores, and to put together a marketing kit for high school and college golf teams. We know that with funding, we can make TourAlign sales increase exponentially. We also would like to increase our inventory to meet the demands that our increased marketing and advertising will generate. By being able to manufacture in greater quantities, we will be able to lower our cost per unit and increase profits. We also realize the need for expansion of product lines and have several other golf aids currently being researched and developed. Funding would assist with product expansion also. At this point we are the only true retailer and wholesaler of this product.
I believe that this project meets all the criteria for funding in the following ways:
1. It can be an existing business or a start up.
This is an existing business.
2. It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. Why ? Because I want this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. Thats the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time.
This is a real product that is sold for profit.
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
It is currently cash flowing. We have product sales.
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
With more market exposures, TourAlign will be profitable shortly.
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops
I understand the program rules.
6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered
I have all the cost breakdown of manufacturing, packaging, shipping, etc and we are profitable per unit sale now.
7. Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else
We are all working to generate sales and revenue at TourAlign.
8. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com , scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download
Posted summary here. I have more detailed information on golfers’ statistics, importance of proper alignment, competitors’ products, cost of manufacturing and delivery, wholesale and distributor pricing levels, etc.
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own
We anticipate only needing funding an initial time.
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont.
Your involvement would definitely be more exposure for TourAlign but it is understood that it is not part of the program offering.
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows.
We understand the need for our accountability of any funds you designate to us. We will do everything to be in compliance.
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money.
We proposed a ROI of 15%. We seek an investment of 40,000.
13. No mult-level marketing programs (added 2/10/09 1pm)
NO MLM marketing involved in our marketing campaign.
Comment by Lee P -
Thanks for the new customer!:
“She loved them. Thanks again, and I will be telling my friends.
Just FYI, I found you guys on the Mark Cuban blog post about small business opportunities.”
Comment by Jeff -
Hi Mark,I am 24 years old and I have recently launched my own website that is called Swapish.com. It has been in development for about 8 months previous. I had a professional team of developers work on it and finally the final product has emerged. The whole just of the site is to allow users to sign onto the site and trade any items they may have lying around the house for anything else they see on the site. It incorporates the ability to social network and put a face to the person they are dealing with. The site’s idea I feel is a great site for todays economic crunch. I feel people are still a little scared to go out and spend money with fears of today’s insecurities! This is a way in which people can use their existing stuff they already own to maybe bargain/barter with another! The only cost involved would be the shipping and handling but other than that their is not cost for signing up or even using the site! I even created what is called a freebox because this way people could even donate or give stuff away they don’t need or want anymore to others than may want or need! Check out the site Mark! I feel it is a great time for this and hopefully this is a new revolutionary idea for the economy. Thank you. By the way, users have the ability to blog, IM and chat, email, upload videos, upload pics of their items, and we made the site really user friendly as well as fun!
PS- I met you recently at a Spurs vs Mavs game and it was a pleasure meeting you! You are truly a genuine man!Thanxs again.
Comment by Matthew Neie -
Emmanuel Guapo:
I don’t mean to be a kill-joy, but how do you plan to get people to want to drive to downtown to get to your site?
USC is not too far away, but UCLA and Cal State LA are across town (in opposite directions), and, in any event, all three colleges require a car-ride, usually on a crowded freeway, to get to where you are. That means you will be competing with other entertainment venues (especially for people coming from the West Side). Even the people who work downtown will need to go out of their way if they want to get to the Convention Center, since it is on the south west edge of the central business district.
What do you plan to do about parking? Downtown LA is a pain to find parking in unless you are willing to pay a lot of money, especially around the convention center.
It is also hard to get from the Convention Center to just about anywhere, including across the street. If you are there and can see it, you will see why — it’s surrounded by a big (pay) parking lot and is hard to get to by foot from all directions.
So people are going to have to plan if they want to go to your site. It’s not something one can just do spontaneously.
Comment by Gerald R. Lampton -
Dear Mark Cuban:
I have a friend who recently bought a building across from Staples Center (on the corner of Figueroa and Pico), it has a great roof top view of Staples, Nokia, LA Live and the beautiful skyscrapers of downtown. There is a 48 license to the building. What I’d like to do is have an interactive pool area for daytime and night time parties. Not the typical ‘walk around’ the pool with the suit and tie LA crowd, but have fun and get into the pool ala Hard Rock-Las Vegas style – great msuic, fun people and a lot of drinks, you are not coming into the place if you are not getting into the pool, especially during the daytime. If people would like to order food for delivery from the restaurant(s) in the same building or the surrounding areas, it is all very doable, we do not want to be in the food business. Flatscreen TV’s will be at the bars and we will screen local LA region sports games and popular boxing, UFC – matches.
We will be catering to 21 and over college students, USC, UCLA, Cal State LA, and Northridge and the 20-40 year old young business professionals who want to let loose on the weekend or on their day off and take advantage of the California sun without having to travel to the beach. Downtown LA hotel guests, LA convention center guests (we are just across the street) and San Fernando Valley visitors on the weekends will be a big plus also any of those guests can travel on the dash to the front of our location for only 25 cents.
Please contact me at guapo@onebox.com if this is of interest to you. Thank you for your time to read this, and continued good fortune. Cheers,
Emmanuel Guapo
Comment by Emmanuel -
Mark,
I have a Wide Format printing Sign Business I started almost 6 years ago. I started it out of a 10’x20′ Portable building for three years. I made and saved enough money to build a new house where I moved and setup my business in a 20″x46″ building in my house. I currently have 2 employees not including myself. I’m in the process to move my business into a full size retail building. I located a building I’m interested in. The building is $160k 5400Sqft built along the frontage road in a rapidly expanding city just 25 south of Dallas. This building is 4 times as large as are current building. I will average $180k a year at my current rate of sales. I do very little advertising due to my limited space and current situation. We are at 70% profit margins mainly because of the extremely low overhead. I have $0.00 business dept and all equipment is paid in full.
With a retail location I believe we would need to hire 2 more employees (1) artist and (1) production worker as well as an increase in advertising. I also believe that we will generate $360K+ in the first full year at the new location. Are profit margins would decrease by approx 6% due to the increase in overhead. In 1 to 2 years we would need to invest 65K in a new UV Flatbed wide format printer as well.
Mark, I’m a quadriplegic with very little finger movement. I was injured in a motocross accident in 1994 after racing a Pro Supercross event in Cali. I stopped on way home to Texas to ride on sand dunes where crashed I broke my neck. I’m currently in perfect health other than being paralyzed. I have built a profitable business with vast room for growth. If you are interested in helping with funding we can talk in more detail. I also way an awesome idea for an Iphone app that would be a interactive Guided travel Tour while driving to different towns. It would use the GPS location to detail pin points along the way as you drive. It would also display the Historical markers and allow for extremely detailed information about the town your driving through. Thank you for the opportunity to write you.
Comment by Chris R. -
“There is one that I have watched for almost three years, but I have not been able to raise the capital.” ($9500)
No offense, but anyone can raise $9500 in three years. I saved more than that each year I was in college. Sounds like a motivation problem to me.
Comment by Matt R -
I posted my blog on Feb 14. Since that date I have gathered more information in regards of expasion. It WOULD benefit you to take a closer look. The market is perfect with the economy as it is. If you’ll look at the information(facts) I will send it. But only if you’ll look!
The balls in your court now!
Jonathan
Comment by Jonathan Farnsworth -
@Dan Zemel: What website? Water purification is a done deal. I have a $150 thing I bought at REI that will make drinking water out of a mud puddle.
Comment by Matt R -
Water separation technology including Emergency response Trailers
for Purified Water.Industrial Recycle,House gray water recycle,
solar water purification please see the web site.
Comment by Dan Zemel -
Mark,
I posted last night and my post either never showed up or was deleted (for no reason I can think of).
I am very interested in Gloria P’s Disney character idea. I am a software developer experienced with inbound and outbound telephony apps and would love to help her get this done in exchange for an equity stake in the venture.
As I said in my other post, I wouldn’t be too quick to decide it can’t be done without a license. IP law leaves lots of room for doing this as long as there is no visual representation of the character. Do you think Elvis impersonators have to pay royalties to Graceland…? Nope. This needs a lawyer, not speculation.
Please pass my e-mail address to her. If she doesn’t contact me, I might just do this one myself. What a terrific idea!
Comment by Matt R -
Hi Mark,
I’ve got a business that I’m starting and while capital would be a big help, I’m simply not willing to share the details on such an open forum. I do appreciate what you’re doing here, though, and I hope you help some people get started and make some money doing it. I hope you’ll read my additional comment below.
“Gloria P” above had the idea of having Disney and other characters “call” children to persuade them to do their chores, eat their food, etc… You said the characters would have to be licensed but I’m not certain this is the case. Certainly the visible likeness of a character is copyrightable, but I don’t think a mere voice claiming to be Cinderella is. On another front, trademarks protect names, but only when associated with specific classes of goods and services. That is why, for example, there is a “Cinderella Shoe Company” that can exist with no permission or license from Disney. Disney doesn’t make shoes and doesn’t hold a trademark on the name for that class of goods. I might be wrong but I’d have an attorney look at this idea before concluding too quickly that a licensing deal would be necessary.
I am a software developer for a Fortune-500 and my background is in inbound and outbound telephony applications. What Gloria P has proposed is VERY doable in a short timeframe. Could you please pass my e-mail address along to her? I would be very interested in helping her with the technical aspects of this project in return for an equity stake. I even have several thousands of dollars worth of outbound dialing equipment gathering dust in my office closet – it could be put to work on a project like this. Gosh, talk about an idea. This thing could just sit in a computer rack and generate cash.
Comment by Matt R. -
Mark, I love the idea and have spent some time looking over the various proposals here. I might submit my own at some point but meanwhile I can’t help but take issue with this rule: “It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. Why ? Because I want this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. Thats the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time.”
You are of course entitled to your opinions and to set the rules for your investments but that last sentence is patently false. I have started a number of websites that were profitable in the first month and have remained so ever since. If you ever want to chat about this I’m game – otherwise, I’d love to see you go into more detail on this in a future blog post. Thanks!
Comment by Kurt K -
Video Improvement and Bandwidth Reduction Signal Processing:
Video Bandwidth Reduction:
Abstract: Small, Sweat Equity Based Technology Start-Up has developed a video bandwidth reduction technology:
– Compaction Technology: Video Signal Processing Technology that allows for 20% to 70% improvement in bandwidth reduction as seen on the network(MPEG-X, etc). Utilizes non-compression techniques and is lossless. Results with ‘proof of’ hardware show significant improvements on the network, after encoding, with MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 traffic being monitored. Requires ‘Compaction’ module on FrontEnd (or HeadEnd) and “de”-Compaction module, or “software” module on Subscriber side.
Project Status: both proof of concept and proto size circuit boards are fully functional at a discrete circuit level, capable of packaging at the semiconductor level or small, sealed module level. Hardware solution has a latency of 1/2uS per side, totalling 1uS for an end to end solution.
Goal: find commercialization partners who will integrate into their products, solving significant bandwidth deployment and cost issues.
Markets: Video Transmission in the Consumer, Medical, Military and Surveillance Space.
Schedule: A 60-90 day to profit schedule is reasonable if commercialization partners are found assuming goal is to sign licensing agreements with such partners. Integration into commercially available 3rd Party equipment will take standard New Product Introduction deployment times. If goal is to produce saleable product, via OEM or 3rd Party, schedules vary.
Video Improvement:
Abstract: Small, Sweat Equity Based Technology Start-Up has developed a video improvement technology which will improve 15 key areas of interest, including Colors, Blacks, Whites, Contrast, Detail, Resolution and others. Core is ability to resolve significantly more information in a video signal, thus allowing the following High-Level features:
– Consumer: ability to create a Standard Definition video experience that rivals Blue-Ray 1080p
– Medical: ability to resolve and clarify medical images and video allowing more information to be seen in X-Rays, Scopes, Microscopy, etc
– Surveillance: all of above AND the ability to resolve information lost in Dark Zones and Shadows, in otherwise highly lighted areas. Finding cars, people, etc in the shadows of building, doorways, etc. Also improves all night vision images and video as well.
Project Status: both proof of concept and proto size circuit boards are fully functional at a discrete circuit level, capable of packaging at the semiconductor level or small, sealed module level. Hardware solution has a latency of 2uS.
Goal: find commercialization partners who will integrate into their products.
Markets: Consumer, Military, Medical and Surveillance.
Schedule: A 60-90 day to profit schedule is reasonable if commercialization partners are found assuming goal is to sign licensing agreements with such partners. Integration into commercially available 3rd Party equipment will take standard New Product Introduction deployment times. If goal is to produce saleable product, via OEM or 3rd Party, schedules vary.
Many other R&D based projects in development, centered signal processing techniques. However, all are well outside of 6+ months before ‘poof-of’ can demo’d.
These projects are probably outside the scope of this initiative, however its worth posting in such difficult economic times. Percentage of ownership and other details are all negotiable. Several detailed discussions were underway with companies who are now focused on ‘right-sizing’ their organizations and cutting R&D budgets.
Comment by Mark F -
I inherited a small business on my last semester in college. It’s a small hobby & gaming store in Bangor, Maine that I had worked for previously years before. The first two years went well and we used the extra funds to fix up the business space which had problems like old paint jobs, bad lighting, torn-up rugs, rats and things such as that. The store is now something I look on and am proud of. However, since about September, things have been getting more difficult and tighter economically. The only people that use money from the account are me and my co-owner who’ve been doing all the work by ourselves these past years. We really do want the money to expand our business into more trades. We currently have the space to do such, but not the money.
Current business:
Hobby gaming store that sells collectible card game, trading card games, collectible miniature cards, board games, role playing books such as Dungeons & Dragons for an example, and merchandise for those games such as case, sleeves, binders, etc. We also carry of import and geek-themed merchandise such as geek and video game clothing, figures, DVD, plush, and other similar items. We hold officially ranked tournaments for games hosted by Wizards of the Coast, Upper Deck Entertainment, Bandai Entertainment, and will be hosting official events for the HeroClix miniature game. We offer customers free table space to play games and involve other customers to play with them. Our backroom has been modified and is now a projector room with surround sound where customers can rent out time to watch movies or play online with the store’s XBox 360 or Nintendo Wii consoles.
EXPANSION:
I would like to expand the business in a number of ways. We have a great space for our business and a backroom that isn’t used to its fullest extent. I would like to see the store start to carry new and used video games and to better expand into our anime and imports as our area has no store that carries those goods aside from the DVD selection at Best Buy. The store could also benefit from a video game station, renting time on one of a number of XBox 360s, each hooked to a TV and connected together. That space would bring in additional traffic by running tournaments on those systems. Another mark that we’ve only begun to go into but only have the money to break even on is EBay. I currently pay someone around $150 a week to picture, post and mail out EBay orders through the store. Expanding the available funds to that, I know we would almost double what is put into it. A booster box of a card game at cost runs about $40-50 a piece. Even if you open a ‘bad’ box, you will always come out at least $10-20 ahead of your cost. The ‘good’ boxes will net $75-100 dependent on what the current game demands.
I have other ideas and I know my partner does, but the ideas stated above are those that I know will be the most profitable. Video game tournaments or stations have initial start-up costs to them with no upkeep aside from extended warranties. EBay costs can recycle back in from the profit made. This business has become an important part of me and my partner’s life, and while I have a college degree to fall back on, she does not and I worry about her. If we can really give the store the severe kick in the pants it needs, then I’ll be content.
Comment by Kirk Davis -
Proposal Summary:
RE: DIGITAL IMAGING and SHREDDING SERVICE
Inclusive Solutions is proposing a digital imaging and shredding service for local businesses. This would meet a need in the business community as well as give people with severe disabilities the training, experience, real pay and self-esteem that will result from this work. This will not be charity work but a real work experience in the community.
It meets the requirements you have outlined and I hope you will consider it.
If funded, each contract would be filled by a Work Team. Each Work Team consists of at least one Job Coach to provide direct support and quality control for an estimated 4-5 people with severe disabilities. Job Coaches work side-by-side with the people with disabilities. This is not a hierarchical system–just a team where people with different levels of skills and abilities complete a job. ie. Some members may need assistance with accommodations, modifications, as well as direct care in the bathrooms, eating lunch, staying on task….
Numbers of employees will increase as we generate new business and become profitable. By the end of 90 days, there could be 10-20 people working depending on the size of the contracts.
We are asking for:
1. The purchase/rental of one piece of digital imaging equipment and two commercial shredders; the cost varies depending on the type of business contract secured—medical, insurance, government agencies all have different requirements for record security, copying and disposal and this impacts the type of digital imaging machine required. (Bids will be secured if you are interested in this project, range rental/purchase from $3,000- 50,000);
2. Funding for 2-4 critical staff to go to Minnesota for two days to learn directly from the experts who have demonstrated this type of work can be profitable and successful for people with autism and other severe disabilities. (Approx. $3,000).
3. Salaries for the 2 Job Coaches and 8 people with severe disabilities who will be using the first 30 days for training. Job Coaches will make $18.00 – $20.00 an hour plus benefits, the 8 people with disabilities will be paid a “training wage” for this 30 day period based on their individual capabilities and production as allowed by federal and state law. (approx. $ 12,000)
TOTAL: $18,000 (including rental equipment) to $65,000 (including equipment purchase)
Day 1 – 30 would consist of:
1. We purchase/rent equipment and train the employees with severe disabilities using records from our company.
2. 2 Job Coaches and 2 Critical Staff visit the successful program in Minnesota to learn the modifications and accommodations as well as review their business model and sample contracts. See Minnesota with the Governor’s Developmental Disabilities Planning council http://www.MNcdd.org “Digital Imaging: The Changing Face of Technology”. The Minnesota experts are willing to continue as mentors and answer questions that may arise.
3. Hire 2 Job Coaches who will make approx. $18.00 – $20.00 an hour plus benefits based on experience, we have several people who are available for these positions and are threatened to be cut due to state budget constraints.
4. We find and sign contracts with local businesses/companies for our service. (Inclusive Solutions would provide an administrative person to secure the contracts at no cost to this project).
5. The employees with disabilities would be paid a “training wage” for the first 30 day period based on their individual production as allowed by federal and state law.
6. All administrative, facility, and transportation costs for the people with disabilities would be covered by Inclusive Solutions.
Day 31 – 60 we begin work on a contract with a local employer, either in their facility or use our own facility:
1. The first Work Team is trained. They begin the contract job and the people with severe disabilities are now paid at least minimum wage.
2. We work with this first business, meet the contract, and resolve any problems.
3. We begin looking for a second company and a second contract.
4. We train another Work Team to use the digital imaging and scanning equipment. (This will be accomplished using the profits from the first Work Team).
Day 61-90 the second Work Team begins a second business contract. We begin looking for a new contract for the first Work Team.
Day 91. We should now be making a profit and able to start repaying you for your investment.
Inclusive Solutions will document the progress of the start-up, write up a program evaluation each month, and give guidance to others who would want to replicate the business.
Thank you for your help on this important project. If we could get the initial start-up funds, this service would become profitable.
Comment by Mary E. Ulrich Ed.D. -
Hello Mark,
Thanks for this opportunity.Here is my business plan:
Road Trip Commodity Buying
Business Model
“Road Trip Commodity Buying” is the working name selected for the purpose of detailing the proposed business model.
It is a simple concept as old as business itself. Buy Low and Sell High.
In today’s business and personal finance worlds, possessions are becoming less important than liquidity. There are many contributing factors: 25 year stock market lows, record unemployment, savings and net worth incur massive losses, national debt at all time high and growing, to mention a few. Simply stated, individuals from all walks of life are finding themselves in a personal cash crunch. Banks are not lending, jobs are being lost at all levels, and economists are painting a dark picture for a slow recovery that will last for 24 to 48 months. Some economists are even predicting a depression. People from all walks of life are finding themselves in a personal financial cash shortage that has been sudden and unexpected. The result of this is a mass selling off of personal assets such as jewelry, coin collections, watches, scrap gold, silver, and platinum. This will continue and increase in numbers over the next 2 to 4 years.
Many companies are cashing in on this by advertising through expensive National TV and Radio ads for consumers to mail in their valuables and receive a check in the mail in a couple of weeks. “Cash 4 Gold” ran an ad, doing this, in the Super Bowl. It is remarkable to me that anyone would ship his or her valuables to an unknown company and wait for an unknown amount of money. People are desperate and doing it. The company “Cash 4 Gold “ is sending out 15,000+ packages a day.
Logic tells you there are 1000’s to 1 that will sell their items in person for immediate money, versus those who would trust to mail their items to an unknown source and wait for their unknown amount of money.
The facts stated above have led to “Road Trip Commodity Buying “. The plan is to visit towns with a population of 100,000 to 200,000 and buy. “Road Trip Commodity Buying” will run ads in the local newspapers, radio stations, flyers, and other media. This will blanket a community in the fact that “Road Trip Commodity Buying” is buying at a local hotel, in their community. People that have items to sell will come. The average individual has no idea where to sell their valuables to maximize their dollars. Small communities have few resources for those needing immediate funds. Many people have large collections of coins, watches, jewelry, and other items are too large or costly to mail to one of the mail-in buyers or sell to a local dealer. Therefore, in today’s economy, when given an opportunity, people will line up to sell their items.
The two principles involved in “Road Trip Commodity Buying” are seasoned professionals with a combined knowledge of over 75 years in the coin, gemstone, and jewelry business. Buying with knowledge will keep the average profit margin above 50% on every dollar spent. Existing contacts in the bulking and refining industry will allow an immediate return, within 24 hours, on all items purchased.
The time for this is now. The wealthy have gotten wealthier, throughout history, doing this very thing. For an Investor to have a further understanding of this project, structure of this venture, and the cash flow, it is best discussed in an interactive conversation.A spreadsheet and Powerpoint are also available. We are seeking $115,000 in funding and are negotiable on the package and exit stategy for the investor.
Thank You for your consideration.
Comment by Steven Parker -
Mark,
My idea is to start a sit-down and/or take-out restaurant here in Manhattan called “Ramen Shop”. The idea is to provide an entire menu of ONLY ramen noodles, at an extremely inexpensive price. The menu will have as many as 50 proprietary delicious organic spicy flavorings representing cultures all over the world, mixed in with fresh, basic hot steaming ramen noodles. For example, there will be spicy Mexican flavors represented, Indian curry variations, classic beef and chicken flavors, Asian, Russian, French, etc. etc. gourmet variations. I intend to develop these flavor formulas by reaching out to top NYC area chefs and my own experimentation and adaptations from traditionally popular recipes and flavors. The key here is to take advantage of the current recession by selling these dishes VERY cheaply – a gourmet Ramen dish will be on the menu for a flat price of $2.99 regardless of flavor. People in NYC love to eat out and be social, but even in the least expensive restaurants it’s very difficult to eat out without spending a lot of money. Ramen Shop will provide a fun, even a romantic atmosphere for people that want an inexpensive and unconventional date. One serving will be enough for a snack but many people who want a big meal or want to sample multiple flavors can order several in a sitting. Beef, chicken, and steak add-ons will be available for an additional $2.99 per serving. Take-out will be served in tall styrofoam drink cups filled to the brim with steaming flavored ramen. This will make it easy for people to eat and *slurp* their meal on the go without even requiring the use of utensils, which fits with the busy New York lifestyle. Future expansion opportunities include mobile carts/traileres that only serve the to-go cups, which can be placed around the city at strategic locations (or at sporting and music events, street fairs, etc., and future additional sit-down locations, and ultimately franchise-driven expansion into other cities and eventually other markets. Because this keys into the current recession, it should be very easy to get a lot of free advertising from local newspapers and television shows, maybe even Good Morning America (it’s an interesting twist and ready-made news item). This business could be launched very quickly with a $75,000 initial investment from you, the proceeds of which would be used to lease an appropriate location in downtown Manhattan, pay for restaurant equipment and furnishings, develop the flavoring menus, negotiate contract for importing high quality noodles in bulk from Japan, develop a simple but effective website, set up the necessary corporate and legal arrangements, and other setup expenses. By way of background, I have several years of experience in the restaurant business as both a cook and a waiter (from in my college days), both jobs I really enjoyed, and also have an extensive finance, accounting and legal background. I plan to run the daily operations myself and hire one server to start, with further hires as the business expands and traffic increases. In exchange for your $75,000 investment, I would offer you a 50% equity interest in the business. Because the variable costs are so low, I expect operational profitability almost immediately, and definitely within 2 months. I’m very excited about getting this off the ground and would love to discuss it with you further. Thanks.
Sam
P.S. Here’s a cool link about the cultural background of ramen and a glimpse of the potential “ramen craze” that could happen here; ramen could go from being a college student’s survival ration to a trendy cultural phenomenon overnight! Unlike the pricier ramen restaurants mentioned in this article, however, I intend to stay laser-focused on the frugal consumer and keeping the price low and taste high, while keeping the environment trendy and avoiding a “fast-food” feel in the restaurant (think Chipotle).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/31/AR2008073101858.html
Comment by Sam R. -
U-Paper
What:
Personalize wrapping paper through an interactive template on the web.
Continuous support directly to the consumer.
Photos, texts, animations, and default art can be uploaded to this website.
End product will be printed on semi-gloss, but, high quality paper that will accommodate consumer expectations.
This will increase the value of purchased items given to loved ones as gifts. (A great way to follow the economic curve)
Demand ensues all year-round (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Valentines, and the upcoming Mother’s Day for starters).
Technology will play an integral part in the successful growth and expansion of our model.
Additional products will emerge from within the company walls upon maturity of our business.
How:
Startup will include the acquisition of a large wide-format printer, packaging supplies, ink replacements, paper goods, and shipping cost.
These would be sought out through energy, or, Eco-friendly sources. (This will raise the bar for our company right from the jump)
In addition, there would be pre-controlled products leading to increased profitability by researching variable dimensions of box-sizes. (IE., After the product arrives to the consumer, an illustration displaying a how to wrap the object is supplied based on dimensions set by the consumer on the interactive website)
Where:
Test market will be right here in Dallas, TX.
When:
Immediate
Mark Cuban’s equity percentile is 40%…..:O
Comment by Larry Vulpo -
Almost 10 years ago I became ill with a form of Muscular Dystrophy (MD). After spending thousands seeing doctors and universities I left with no hope for a cure. I have a wife and 5 children so I could not give up. If I was going to die I might as well use my own body as a guinea pig to seek a cure. But after 3 years I was getting very bad off, then I stumbled on to the cause of the illness. Knowing the cause was half the battle because with MD the reason they have not found a cure is because they do not know the cause. I need funding to put together a research team to verify what I found, concerning the disease and cure, holds true for all terminal MD patients or at least a percentage. Then I need the funding to commercialize the cure (testing, trials, FDA verification and approval) . This is estimated to save over 50,000 lives a year. I feel, with the knowledge I have, I can get to a cure in less than a year and FDA approval in 3 years.
I realize this may be outside the arena you were expecting, but if I can get this going I think I can take this business to the next level and research other areas of medicine along the same lines (muscle & Nerve damage and perhaps arthritis).
Comment by Les Tarlton -
Enterprise software start-up, with exit potential > $68M revenue in 2013, seeks $2.25M funding. Executive Summary: http://www.scribd.com/doc/13189074/NWS-Executive-Summary-Mar2009
Overview: http://www.scribd.com/doc/13191282/NWS-Cuban-Stimulus-Plan
Having now spoken with many other entrepreneurs who have “applied” to the Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan, I understand much of the value can come from interested parties who respond to this posting. We absolutely are seeking investors and Mr. Cuban is invited to respond, but help in the form of potential sales partners, talented software developers, and venture-principals are welcome.
As a former MicroSolutions customer, I’ve been an enterprise information technology consumer here in Dallas for over 20 years now. In 1999, I recognized a software product opportunity which I began proto-typing in 2001. Still seeing no good alternative solutions in 2003, I struck-out full-time as Founder of Net Watch Solutions.
Beginning in 2004, we sought funding and had limited success with Brent Dunn of the Todd Wagner Foundation, the North Dallas Investment Group, STARTech and the Southwest Venture Forum. Being a novice and extremely unconnected to the start-up venture community, funding easily eluded us.
So, I’ve done it the hard way – working extremely long hours and successfully bootstrapping our software company into reality. By January 2005, we launched our enterprise software product and have closed customers like: The City of Plano, MetroPCS, The Staubach Company, Hunt Petroleum, Interstate Batteries, Shands Jacksonville Florida and DFW Airport. To date, we’ve generated $1.2M in revenue, while not the stellar revenue success that many service-oriented businesses show, it demonstrates my heritage of a break-even mentality.
We’ve attracted help from people like Brandon Cotter, but as we grew with little forward-operating cash in the bank, our team grew and contracted chaotically. As we closed more customers, we had months of profitability but became bandwidth constrained from the resulting obligations for user training, courseware development, account management, product support, and customer requests for additional products. Regretfully, we’d stop selling being so focused on delivering, and as you’d suspect, we’d be in a frenzy a few months later to obtain new customers.
In 2008, we succeeded in raising $500,000 from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, a laudable feat. This program has a follow-on requirement to obtain at least $500,000 from another investor in a Series A valuation round. We are currently seeking $2.25M in equity funding, $750,000 over 2009, and $1,500,000 in 2010.
Over the last years I’ve worked hard to “get connected”, having now been the immediate past president of the DFW Chapter of TeXchange, a member of SIM, TENG, and an option donor of the Entrepreneur’s Foundation of North Texas. I’ve had recent success pitching at Rice’s I.T. & Web 2.0 Venture Forum in November, and was invited in February as 1 of 16 start-up companies by the Texas Governor’s office to a private investment forum. It feels like we now have meaningful investor traction.
As for the market for our product, it materialized too as our company matured and is now recognized by Gartner as being a Configuration Management Database (CMDB) product. This market is 3 years old, is growing at 7% – 10% annually, but is 95% underserved. Being a technology play, I have no qualms posting our business plan as it has an inherent barrier to entry – many people other than potential customers don’t understand the products value. We now have direct competitors which are helping to mature the market, and I’m sure others will appear too. We have an innovative product that can’t be replicated overnight, pending patents and a head-start over anyone who would read this plan and decide to get started. I expect good than harm from this posting.
Mr. Cuban’s Stimulus Plan is ideal for Net Watch Solutions. We are cash flow positive, and with our low burn rate can remain profitable and can accept funding monthly. With funding of $750,000, we will create $1.2M in revenue and create 8 jobs in 2009.
An overview of our business is posted http://www.scribd.com/doc/13191282/NWS-Cuban-Stimulus-Plan. We anticipate an M&A exit in 2013 when revenues will be over $68M.
We offer Mr. Cuban equity on par with his investment to our pre-money valuation. Rather than making his investment all up front, Mr. Cuban suggests he would stop his monthly funding if sales / expense projections are not met; certainly a penalty. If however, Mr. Cuban decides to continue funding the deal after missing an objective, our plan provides an accelerator in valuation to his favor. Conversely, if revenue goals are exceeded, we propose the venture obtains a higher valuation and Mr. Cuban’s equity has a downward pro rata share.
As it stands now, we are currently ahead of plan!
Peter Beasley, Founder & CEO
Net Watch Solutions, Inc.
Comment by Peter Beasley -
test
Comment by Peter Beasley -
MC you are one hell of a fine line between Very smart and Cocky businessman. BTW i like the nigerian comment you have made.
Comment by Muki -
Hello my name is Michael Bush, I have a business ideal called Watch This. I was wondering if you could possibly help me get this started. Its uploading your resume through the television and applying for jobs at the same time. I will work with all the cable companies so we can store people’s information thru their receiver/satelite dish. I would have to buy a channel like 01 that would be funded by advertisements and customer’s who got hired thru Watch This. Much more on customer’s getting hired not ads. People looking for a job will contact Watch This so we can get all their information to send to their receiver/satelite. From there they can go to the channel and start their job hunt city,state,and job postings in their area. Employers would have an ID number to seek employees that may have apply at their business. I have everything mapped out, if you have any questions or concerns please do ask.
Comment by Mike Bush -
Investment not needed, but all questions answered. Something to consider as you proceed with Naked Pizza franchising investment, or any other investment with leased real estate. Management of critical dates, lease and property data and documents, franchise agreements, liquor licenses and other permits, facilities maintenance and more so dates or opportunities are not missed and dollars are paid per the terms of a lease, and not a dollar more results in an improved bottom line.
1. It can be an existing business or a start up:
It is existing business.
2. Can’t be advertising:
It is not.
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days:
Done.
4. It must be profitable within 90 days:
It is.
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis:
Investment not needed.
6. Sell your product or service for more than what it costs:
We do.
7. Everyone must work:
We all work hard and there are no “titles” assigned to include the founder/owners. We are a nationally certified women’s owned business enterprise.
8. You must post your business plan here:
Lease management services and web-based software for restaurant and retail tenants and multi-unit franchisees. Solutions are specifically designed to offer small to mid sized companies the tools and resources traditionally available only by the largest companies — industry leading lease management technology and a complete team of real estate professionals. Current client list includes over 42 different national brands, and management of over 5,500 properties globally.
9. I make no promises:
Got it.
10. I will make no promises:
Got it.
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify:
Got it.
12. Specify how I get money:
Occupancy cost reductions and lowered corporate G&A for Naked Pizza franchise locations and any other retail or restaurant multi-unit tenants in which you invest. Lease administration impacts bottom line results. Our software and services protect profits. The tangible savings generated significantly offsets the cost of the services making the outsource program at the least very low cost, and at it’s best, a self-funding program.
Comment by Nancy Wood -
Hello Mr. Cuban and all others,
What I have in mind I will try to start in my community regardless of this competition. It is something everyone should do anyway. It strengthens communities and leaves virtually NO carbon footprint. Neighborhood farming.
It may seem a little tree huggy and dorky. But just think about it in real, applied form.
You grow tomatoes. Your neighbor grows corn, another grows broccoli, another asparagus, eggplant, celery, cauliflower. Or, each person involved grows 2 or 3 or 4 things. Once you pool your harvest no one has to go to the grocery store, ever again, for vegetables. Greenhouses can make some types of food available all year. Think of the backyard cookouts with your own home-grown food!
This would not take very much money at all. It would, typically, have a harvest within 3 months or so and would be self-sustaining for ever. All production would go back into the community and any food left over could be sold and put back into the cost of upkeep or donated. I would say, conservatively, $200 per household involved to start, 20 households per community: $4000. Then, if each household could sell their produce (even to each other at first!) within the 60-90 day parameter, it would have gotten off the ground within your time limit. After you get good at it, you can get chickens! Anyone anywhere can run with this and do it themselves. Now that it’s on your board they can anyway, and, hopefully do!
Thanks for the opportunity to express our ideas, Mr. Cuban.
G.P. Cole
Comment by Gerald P. Cole -
Becoming a mom not only changed my life but it is impacting education and raising awareness on an outrageous glitch in early education. I created my company at age 40 when my girls were ages 3 and 1 and I was trying to find something to help them get ready for school. I am not a teacher or educator, and yet I created a book used by schools. I didn’t create the alphabet, numbers, colors or shapes but found a way to repackage it for parents, kids and teachers. With a telephone and a computer, I created http://www.cedarvalleypublishing.com. 10% of all profits are donated back to literacy foundations and schools.
I am the author and publisher of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! & Let’s Get Ready For First Grade! Both books are award-winning, state-approved and used inside homes and schools across the nation. They are currently used in over 400 school districts from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon and in libraries and head start programs all across the country. Parents, kids and grandparents all love them because they are not storybooks or workbooks; they are books meant to be read over and over that cover the curriculum for Kindergarten and First Grade. I just released the highly anticipated Spanish/English edition of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! iA Prepararse Para Kindergarten! My kids think it is absolutely hilarious that I released a Spanish book without being able to read or write the language. As my 7 year-old says, “just hire a translator, duh, anyone can do anything.”
I am a mom inspired by Oprah to change education. This has become my passion! My mantra is if two brothers from Ohio can change the face of aviation, that why can’t a mom, inspired by Oprah change education at the core! Thirty-eight states are discussing all day 4 year-old Kindergarten because kids are not coming to school prepared. But where are the public service announcements telling parents the 7 things they need to know for Kindergarten testing: the alphabet all mixed up, numbers to 10 all mixed up, basic shapes, colors, coins, counting objects to 10 and how far they can count to 100? Schools purchase my books in bulk to help get parents, kids and teachers all get on the same page for Kindergarten and First Grade! After a television segment aired in Madison, WI a local college called and asked it I could create a workshop for parents, kids and teachers. So I did. Now I have a national platform speaking to educators, schools, parents and kids! But along the way, I have uncovered an alarming trend in my preschool and head start workshops nationwide: the majority of preschool and head start teachers that come to my workshops do not know what children are tested on in the first Kindergarten assessment test, so if they don’t know this information, how are parents and children suppose to know this information? In fact I recently tested my teachers at 3 conferences and the result: only 12 of 630 teachers got it correct!!! They failed!!! So when parents come to that first parent teacher conference and they are told that their child only knew 5 of 26 letters all mixed up or was only able to count to 35 on the way to 100; parents feel frustrated and at that point many feel if they can’t help their child in Kindergarten how are they suppose to help in First Grade, Second Grade and beyond! At that point, many opt out and let the “teachers” teach their children and become disengaged in the educational process. I am on a word-of-mouth grassroots mission to help us all come together and get on the same page starting at the core, Kindergarten!
I am in need of additional funding to translate and print Let’s Get Ready For First Grade into Spanish and release Let’s Get Ready For Second Grade! The long term dream is to also release my book series into 10 minute video blocks for schools to use during down time that reinforces counting objects, basic shapes and colors, etc. These 10 minute videos could easily become a 30 minute television series geared toward preschoolers!! I am building a brand with the Cedar Valley Kids to become the Good Night Moon of Kindergarten! Thank you for you time!
Comment by Stacey Kannenberg -
Hi Mark.
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=d45zbpf_116md49mvgz
Using $150,000 of our own money, friends and family we opened up our membership based salon/spa almost 3 years ago (3/27/09 is our birthday!).
The first month we tested selling memberships to our salon/spa we had 40 new subscriptions. We paused it immediately.
I decided to invest ahead of our growth curve and invest the money into our infrastructure, accounting and point of sale to handle our goals of having 1000 members at our store. I needed to make sure we could provide quality service without having a breakdown in our payment systems, staffing, etc…
We don’t need extra capital, but heck, you’re offering so why not? =] haha. j/k. We would consider allowing you to invest with us to scale, hire additional staffing and aggressively advertise for membership sales.
We can achieve break even within 60 days because we are in the beauty industry. Despite the bad economy, Women and Men spend a ton of cash on waxing, manicures & pedicures, and short clean haircuts.
We’ve been quietly testing and refining our systems and we are ready to take it to the next level. Our internal focus will be a source of sustainable competitive advantage.
You took over the Dallas Mavericks and said it was stupid not to invest in your players. Well, we all know the benefits of feeling good and getting pampered and the direct effects it has on corporate culture.
This is why our concept is capturing everyones imagination. It’s simple to understand, profitable and relatively recession proof.
So here, is our investment opportunity for you…We hope it will be a good fit for both of us =]
go here:
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=d45zbpf_116md49mvgz
Good luck!
-Robert Luu
robluu@mac.com
PS “Biters will be eaten” -jabbawockeez
Comment by Robert L -
Mark:
I’ll get right to it –
Service Product: CSI Squared (but imagine a superscript 2) – a revolutionary Outplacement solution I’ve just launched this month to augment my firm’s retained search services.
Opportunity: The last mile of Outplacement and Transition Services…warm, qualified Networking introductions to hiring authorities in the displaced jobseeker’s target companies. This is the one element of most successful job searches which large Outplacement firms talk a lot about but stop short of providing.
Facts and Indicators:
– “Given that 65 to 85 percent of jobs are found through networking, it should be the focus of about 80 percent of your allotted search time.” – Harvard Business School
– “The average time it took an unemployed person to find a job – full time, part time or otherwise — in December (2008) was 19.7 weeks” – Department of Labor
– “Elite professionals feel least adept at getting meaningful introductions to key contacts (and) more adept at maintaining ongoing contact with key network members.” – Recent study by Pepperdine University and UpMo.com
– “We estimate about 3.5 million jobs will created (from President Obama’s stimulus plan) but it will be over a period of one to two years.” – Adecco North America
– “80 percent of companies offering some form of outplacement services, employees have come to expect assistance.” – Business First of Louisville
Solution: Think “Executive Search” but in reverse with the value add of best selling job search books, and web 2.0 tools, automation, assessments, collaboration resources and career counseling from a seasoned recruiting professional.
Pricing: somewhat less than the typical Outplacement fee currently paid by employers for mid level employees and significantly less than what they pay for senior executives being outplaced
Leadership: Me – 13 years of cross functional Retained Executive Search and Recruitment Process Outsourcing experience serving Fortune listed companies in several industries. I launched VerticalReach Consulting Group in February 2006.
Staff: Me (full desk), a research associate and an abundant supply of recently unemployed and under-employed Recruiting professionals working remotely (contract or W2)
Market: 8%+ unemployment (and growing) with white collar workers being among the largest segment hurt. 4 million unemployed since the recession began (according to some sources) and over 2mm in last 9 months. Barclay’s is predicting up to 133,000 more layoffs a month in 2009. Average job search taking over 5 months (any kind of job). Result – Outplacement is a growth sector (very unfortunately) that is sure to persist for quite some time as re-hiring will lag behind the future economic recovery that’s expected to occur sometime this decade.
Target Outplacement Recipient: Senior executives and upwardly mobile mid-career professionals ($100k and up).
Target Clients: Corporations desiring to give their displaced employees more than the typical Outplacement offering of a new resume and a sympathetic ear (and avert the growing backlash of negative public opinion regarding what “outplacement” has come to mean). Plus, mid level to executive level professionals willing to invest in first class job search assistance. I’m currently providing this service for both pay and pro bono to a number of individuals and have begun approaching major employers.
Competition: There are about 1,000 Outplacement firms in the U.S. Of these, about 500 belong to the Association of Career Firms North America (ACFNA) – ACFNA, September 2008. Providers range from large, multi-national Outplacement firms to resume writers, job posting aggregators, internal corporate recruiting departments-turned-outplacement consultants, and a few “search firms” that actually require the Candidate to pay a hefty fee up front and then pay more if they find them a job (ouch!).
Our Differentiation: Turning the old adage on it’s head, we believe it’s better to help the job seeker “dig the well” rather than just turn them loose with heavy duty earth moving equipment and an out of date owner’s manual. Put more succinctly, Executive Recruiters are “professional networkers” and specifically trained to source job leads, do research and quickly connect with relevant decision makers in any company. The typical job seeker is not.
Marketing Strategy: Direct phone sales (me), social networking – offering referral rewards, display advertising and direct mail to the Human Resources channel and web presence (Google Adwords, SHRM etc.). Advertising and Marketing firm suppliers have been identified – costs to be spread out over the first year.
Investment: $250,000 [Post-money of $2.5mm @ 10% ownership of CSI Squared – hey, you’re only chipping in for 3 months…maybe! 🙂 ]$125k for sales and marketing (overhaul website, sales collateral and 6 month advertising campaign), $62.5k for Executive Search Advocates (run rate for 3 months), $62.5k for research tools, GS&A and miscellaneous (to be itemized).
Modest (dumbed down) 3 Month Projection:
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3
Sales 16,800 50,400 100,800
People 10,000 20,800 27,733
Expenses 20,833 20,833 20,833 Gross Profit (14,033) 8,767 52,234
Exit Strategy: Management buyout once we hit $5mm of your puny 10% 😉 or spin off to a traditional Outplacement firm OR Search firm desiring an easy entry into the space.
Call me if this piques your interest. If not, I still applaud your entrepreneurial spirit.
In any event, many thanks for the free advertising!!
Corey
Shameless shout out – “Go Mavs!”
Comment by Corey Matthews -
Mr. Cuban,
Here is our business plan for OpentheHome.com. We are looking forward to hearing from you.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/13179492/Open-the-Home
Chris
chris@mycorporateblogger.com
Comment by lethebashar -
Mr. Cuban,
My business plan is for the Sports Fans Hall of Fame. All sports fans secretly dream they could be in the Hall of Fame. Now they can be. Anyone nominated to the Selection Committee receives entrance into the Sports Fans Hall of Fame. All sports and all levels are accepted. The start up funds are simply for a computer, printer, and hiring someone to create the website. The initial costs will be refunded to you with interest as profits are made. Please read on for further information.
Mission:
The mission of the Sports Fans Hall of Fame is to provide sports fans with a place to be recognized for their devotion to their respective teams and to provide them with a record they can proudly display. It will also serves as a social networking site for fans to interact.
Strategy:
The Sports Fans Hall of Fame will be using a low-cost producer strategy. The HOF will be run entirely on the computer. Nominations will be received through emails sent to the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee will accept all nominations and upload the Sports Fan’s information onto the website. This is all free of cost; however the sports fan also has the opportunity to purchase a certificate which will enable him/her to have physical evidence of their achievement. The fans will also be able to find and interact with other inductees that share their enthusiasm for their respective sport and/or team.
Strengths:
•Most people are sports fans – large target market.
•Low costs in manufacturing and no cost for location
•Can make decisions quickly with few people involved
•Materials easy to obtain – certificates.
•Already own domain name http://www.sportsfanshalloffame.com
Weaknesses:
•No reputation in the market
•Employee has little skill with website management
Opportunities:
•Expansion through existing sporting good stores, kiosks in sporting venues (possible franchise for specific sports and teams) and shopping malls
•Global expansion through the internet to every country
•Partnerships with Sports Leagues
Threats:
•Competition from previously established individual fan clubs and/or halls of fame
Objectives
Financial:
•To break even in 60 days
•To make a profit in 90 days
•To pay back Mark Cuban
Strategic:
•Introduce customer feedback system and receive 95% positive feedback the first year.
•Set up business in the local mall by Christmas.
•Have 600 sports fans in the Hall of Fame in the first year.
Names of Top Management
•First Inductee and Manager- Robert Rogers
•Second Inductee and Financial Adviser – Katherine Rogers
Organizational Structure
Flat – everyone does work and no one reports to anyone else
Location and Geographical Information
The Sports Fans Hall of Fame will consist of one workplace located in Freeland, Pennsylvania. All business will be conducted on the computer, under the direction of Robert Rogers. The website will be used to showcase the Hall of Fame and be a means of contact with its members.
Company’s Products and Services
The Sports Fans Hall of Fame will offer an exclusive membership to all those who feel they are worthy fans of their favorite sport/team. The Hall of Fame will also produce Certificates that provide the inductee of evidence of their membership along with information and photograph on the website. The website also serves as social networking site where fans can interact with fellow fanatics.
Financial Considerations
•New computer and printer.
•Hiring someone to create the website.
•Purchasing Certificates
•Future Professional Licensing Costs
•Advertising Costs
The Target Market
Look at the globe.
Comment by Robert Rogers -
Mr. Cuban,
I would like to start an online school which could teach construction trades at first and possibly evolve to academic education as well. I am currently attending Ashford University and have a 4.0 GPA. It could also teach people how to be inspectors in the various applications.
As long as a school is accredited, the government will issue student loans for that university.
The tuition for Ashford is about $400.00 per credit hour.
This “University” would provide job skills to people looking to change career choices. I would recruit elctricians, carpenters, and various other trades to teach online.
The start up cost would be minimal. There would first have to be a web design and of course a web site.Advertising would be needed to spread the word.
The lessons could be as simple as powerpoint displays or as elaborate as video presentations.
In addition, Texas requires tradesmen to do continuous education. The school could provide such training. I currently have to go to a class for six hours a year to maintain my licenses. I would much rather be able to go to an online class/training session at my on pace. The cost of such training is $80.00 per person. There are thousands of people from each construction trade who are required to do training.
I am a master plumber and a Texas licensed plumbing inpsector.
Jay
Comment by Jay Parr -
Mark,
Create a mergers and aquisitions company to grow one electronics recycling company for the entire US. Then take it Public. Its going to happen but who is going to do it? I will.
Thank you for helping us keep the earth clean,
Gareth Amon
817 946 5655
Comment by Gareth Amon -
Hi Mark,
My idea involves becoming the metabolic specialist for the Dallas Mavericks. Do you have any research scientists on the Mavericks staff? I’m currently a PhD student at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and my thesis defense date is May 27. My belief is that training for athletic performance does not just include training from the outside-in (i.e. weightlifting, running and stretching), but, also, from the inside-out. What if your endogenous levels of oxidative stress (as measured in blood/urine) are high, should you modify your training to optimize your metabolic profile? If your oxidized LDL levels are high, thereby leading to increased atherosclerotic plaque, decreased blood flow and, to decreased athletic performance, wouldn’t it be important to know your oxidized LDL level? Studying metabolic changes as a function of time can minimize risk of disease, enhance performance, and as a consequence, lifespan. Unfortunately, currently existing clinical biochemistry/metabolomic companies do not care (believe me, I’ve tried) about optimizing metabolic status in professional athletes. Hopefully you’re interested in this idea and I’ll hear from you soon.
Thanks,
Mike Lustgarten
Comment by Michael Lustgarten -
To Everyone…Ok, for the last 36 hours since I came across Mark’s proposal – I was narrowly thinking of my own company, Buybak.com. I’ve re-read Mark’s initial proposal and I’ve been able to take the blinders off to what I believe he is trying to achieve and apply it to my company and assisting others by duplicating “seed” business efforts across the country.
Buybak provides “buyback” sites to online retailers/sellers to purchase directly from consumers their no longer wanted consumer media – DVDs, CDs and Video Games (and soon additional categories like consumer electronics), where in turn online retailers/sellers sell them online through online marketplaces like Amazon.com and others.
We currently provide free websites to online retailers who sell more than 10,000 units per month under a marketing program that they must execute. If they sell less than this threshold amount we charge around $10K for startup fees for a site. Under either scenario we charge 18% of the buyback price for each unit successfully received, plus $125/month for hosting.
A typical online seller will license a site from us and use Google Adwords, their own email or package insert marketing program to get consumers to their site to turn their no longer wanted inventory into cash. They receive orders from customers and verify the quality and quantity of each item. Once the check-in is completed the retailer pays the consumer via check or Paypal. Our clients receive a couple of thousand units per month to well over 10,000 units per month for resale – all with modest marketing. All of our clients who actively work their site have seen their initial investment returned within 6 months or less and profitable from that point forward.
This is our proposition. Buybak licenses an individual a buyback site (under this open funding stimulus effort) to purchase consumer media (DVDs, CDs and Video Games) with the startup cost of $1000 paid by MC (and/or open funding associates). That individual begins to market their site to friends, family, local schools, churches, non-profits and the general public at grocery stores (like the Girl Scouts) or have Buyback Parties at their home. They also can reach out to their email list (if appropriate), friends/associates on Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Twitter and the like. They either collect the product themselves and put it through their Buybak licensed site or have their online contacts do it themselves through their site. The product is then sent to a receiving warehouse (Buybak Logistics) where it is checked in for quality and quantity. Once successfully checked in payment would be triggered by Buybak through a Citibank Visa debit card (virtually via email and/or through a Visa debit card sent through the mail that can be spent anywhere Visa is accepted or funds can be transferred to ones bank account) backed by centralized funds provided by MC (and/or open funding associates). Buybak Logistics would then prepare the acquired product (ensuring that the product is attributable to your licensed site) to be sent to Amazon.com for warehousing and pick, pack and ship by Amazon when sold on Amazon’s Marketplace. Once product is sold Amazon remits sale funds to a central bank account where monthly Buybak accounts for all sales that occurred with your product and remits to you monies after all fees are accounted for. If a site can generate buyback sales of 1000 units per month they could breakeven in 45 days and profit within 60 days and after an approximate ramp of period of 4-6 months have income of approximately $2,100 per month at this level (1000 units per month). Buybak would also provide an affiliate marketing program to each licensed site to reach out to 3rd party websites for advertising, paying them a commission when your site successfully received an order.
So what are the numbers? The average buyback price would be approximately $3.75 per unit, the average order bought back from consumers would comprise of 32-34 units to provide the consumer with around $100 to $125 per order (double this when consumer electronics are included, and double this total amount with a fuller breadth of buyback categories offer later this year). The net to the licensee would be around $2.00 to $2.70 per unit (assuming a buyback gross margin of 58%) with all fees accounted for, except the $125/month hosting. If a licensee would acquire 1000 units per month over a 4-6 month period through their offline efforts and/or through online efforts they would net ~$2,100 per month with the heavy lifting done by; 1) Mark Cuban (and/or associates) in Financing, 2) Buybak.com in Software and Receiving, 3) Amazon.com in Warehousing, Pick, Pack, Ship and Marketplace Sales and 4) Citibank/Visa in payment processing. We also project that any startup costs paid by Mark Cuban (and/or associates) would be paid out of the initial income received, these costs are estimated at $1000 per licensee (based on a test of 100 sites, this drops to $500 for 1000 site rollout).
So what does Mark (and/or associates) receive? They receive (projected by Buybak and not be assumed to be the final negotiated term or fees), fee for Financing the inventory of 2% or $0.08/unit, they receive an inventory risk (unsold inventory or spoilage) fee of 10% or $0.38 unit. After a period of time I would propose a rebate to the actual percentage of unsold inventory which historically would be between 6-7%. A 2% fee on inventory sold would produce a ROI of approximately 16% annually on committed funds of $500K (estimated funds anticipated to finance 100 sites ($100K), buyback product purchases ($375K) and margin of $25K). We anticipate that the investment of these funds would also be secured by the inventory of product acquired, inventoried by Amazon.com.
What does Buybak receive? Buybak would agree to reduce its seller startup fee from $10,000 to $1000 based on a commitment of 100 sites (this would be reduced to $500 for a plan rollout of 1000 sites) to be produced and licensed by Buybak. Buybak would receive “Per Unit Receive” fee of 18% or $0.67 per unit, a Buybak Logistics (receiving) flat fee of $0.75 per unit and an order payment fee of 1% or $0.09 per unit, and if our Affiliate Marketing Platform Program fee is implemented this would be a $100 upfront fee with a $0.80 unit fee successfully received based on referral fee commission paid of 6% or $0.22 per unit to third parties for advertising.
For a detail of all these proformas, fees, and margins, please see Scribd link… http://www.scribd.com/doc/13149125/Open-Source-Stimulus-Funding-Proforma-Buybak
What’s the potential economic impact if this was rolled out to 1000 individuals with Buybak sites?
For the individual licensee
Potential income: around $2,100 per month (based on 1000 units or 35 to 40 orders per month) after 4-6 months with breakeven in 45 days and profitable in 60 days. (Individual licensees may experience results lower or potentially higher than what is estimated/projected here). We believe this requires a minimum 20 hours per week to work your site.
For one thousand licensee’s, with a first year net income of $21,500 – an economic impact of a collective 1000 sites would be ~$22M per year.
For Consumers who sell…
For all the consumers who receive $125 per order on 40 orders per month across 1,000 Buybak sites per month would equate to $5,000,000 to the economy per month or $60M per year – per 1,000 sites.
The combined economic impact could easily exceed $100M for every 1000 sites licensed.
How real are these numbers and this plan? Very real. We’ve been doing this for a number of years and all data is from 7 years of experience across dozens of client sites. To that point Amazon.com last week launched their first buyback initiative on Amazon’s Marketplace where they are beta testing buying back video games. In addition, for many years over 1M individuals have made their livelihood off of eBay by going through estate sales, garage sales, store closings, etc. to obtain items to resale on eBay. The challenge has always been to 1) source resaleable product and 2) keep your overhead low enough to make money. This proposal accomplishes this. The only thing needed for this plan is a financial jumpstart to get this out to a test group of about a 100 and individual sweat equity. Once everything proves out correctly or modifications need to be made then multiple it by 10, then by 10 again and then by 10 again and we still would be shy of equaling what eBay spurred over these many years.
Summary
Mark said… “I was looking for an idea that hopefully could inspire people to create businesses that could quickly become self funding. Businesses that just needed a jump start to get the ball rolling and create jobs.”
Buybak – We believe we have put forth a plan that will be quickly self funding and with 1000 sites create over 1000 new jobs (some part-time some full-time – you get what you put into it).
Mark said… “If it’s a good idea and worth funding, we want it replicated elsewhere.”
Buybak – Test a 100 locations across the U.S. (rolling out to 1,000 or more after the initial test of 100)
Mark said… “The idea is not just to help you, but to figure out how to help the economy through hard work and ingenuity. If you come up with the idea and get funding, you have a head start. If you execute better than others, you could possibly make money at it. As you will see from the rules below, these are going to be businesses that are mostly driven by sweat equity.”
Buybak – MC (and/or open funding associates) provides the funding, Buybak provides the software platform and the reverse logistics to receive the product, Amazon provides the product warehousing, pick, pack & ship along with 70M+ visitors per month to their marketplace for the sales and Citibank Visa for payment processing. All that is left is your “sweat equity” to reach out to friends, family, associates, and consumers both locally and online!
Please comment on your thoughts or questions regarding this plan and if you would be potentially interested in participating!
Sincerely,
Buybak.com
Comment by Steve Bonneau -
We started a blog cover3.com a little over a month ago and while a lot of our income will be from advertising we are hoping to come up with methods of cross promotion with other business/website owners here that can help everyone…and I want to thank Mr. Cuban (one of the few billionaires who actually made money in 2008) for letting use his blog for this..contact me if interested
Thanks,
Sharad
sharwal@gmail.com
Comment by Sharad Agrawal -
Bavooka.com
The idea for Bavooka! was born when a group of experienced recruiting and outplacement professionals got together to design one of the most effective virtual job search experiences on the market.
Rather than joining the traditional job sites in what has become a crowded playing field, Bavooka! listened instead to the needs of job seeking professionals who demanded something far greater and more powerful to satisfy their needs.
The Bavooka! mission is to put today’s career professionals back in control of their own work-life destinies. To this end, Bavooka! has delivered an engaging and interactive solution that extends beyond the Internet and educates our members in self-analysis, performance improvement, relationship development, comprehensive job search training, and much more.
Our vision is to become the leader in a new market that leverages the growing capabilities of Web 2.0, maximizes video for more effective communication and engagement, and empowers individual career promotion. Our Ask a Recruiter functionality is just one example of how Bavooka! combines the virtualization of the Web with the personal touch of Recruiter Counseling.
Bavooka! is a self-funded, nationally certified woman-owned business enterprise and is part of one of the largest professional employment conglomerates in the nation. Since 1995, the members of Bavooka! have operated in the Executive Search, Contingent Workforce Placement, and Recruitment Process Outsourcing space for companies ranging from start-ups to large Fortune 500 organizations
Comment by matt meredith -
South Coast Clinical Trials, Inc.
Website: http://www.southcoastclinicaltrials.com
Title: Founder/Owner/Principal
Industry: Pharmaceutical
Year Founded: 2003
Legal Status: Corporation (S)
Location: Anaheim, CA (USA) San Bernardino, CA (USA)
Company Description:
We are a company that conducts clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies and biotech firms. We specialize in outpatient and inpatient studies in the areas of psychiatry and neurology. Our Anaheim site was established in 2003 and is profitable. Our San Bernardino,CA site was opened in 4th quarter of 2008, is currently conducting one study for schizophrenia, and will be profitable by May 2009. The plan is to open 2 more sites in the Southern California region within the next year, and then sell to a strategic buyer by January of 2011. We are currently working with 5 psychiatrists and 1 neurologist at our 2 sites. We employ 10 people presently.
Mark, for $500,000 I am willing to give you 20% of the shares. You can buy in gradually, getting a percentage of the stock as you invest more over time (up to 20%). I am open to your feedback and suggestions.
Please view entire business plan here:
http://www.slideshare.net/Dansfera/business-plan-south-coast-clinical-trials-inc
Comment by Dan Sfera -
Hi Mark,
My team at ClearSky Systems and I have created a groundbreaking piece of software that captures entire lectures and distributes them to students without any additional effort from the instructor. We call it SpeakerBox.
As recent students ourselves, we know there is a tremendous need for a better way to review what the instructor talked about during class. Right now, if you miss an important topic in class, you have to spend a significant amount of time reading the textbook or conducting research. If you’re up late studying for an exam the next day, this is a very unpleasant situation to be in.
With SpeakerBox, students can download entire lectures and watch them anytime, complete with the instructor’s audio and visual aids displayed in sequence. SpeakerBox requires no additional effort from the instructor and it’s available at no cost to schools. Other lecture recording systems, on the other hand, are incredibly difficult to set up and use, while costing the schools tens of thousands of dollars per year in licensing fees.
We released SpeakerBox to the general public in September 2008. It’s available as a free download from our website, http://www.clearsky-systems.com.
You can learn more about ClearSky via our 1-Page Executive Summary and our full 2009 Business Plan:
Executive Summary: http://www.scribd.com/doc/13142449/ClearSky-Systems-1Page-Executive-Summary31009
2009 Business Plan: http://www.scribd.com/doc/13143301/ClearSky-Systems-Business-Plan31009
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Grant Bookman
CEO, Co-Founder
ClearSky Systems
Comment by Grant Bookman -
Here’s the idea:
I must say, this can be done with you, Marc, funding is not enough, also publicity is needed for it to be popular fast:
Create a site, called Open Source Funding:
– People submit their simple business plans, here. And pay 10 USD for submitting.
– So people, watching it, comes and vote the ideas, and business plans.
– The most voted idea in a certain time gets the %X percent of the accumulated amount so far. (Doesn’t matter how the idea is stupid.)
Comment by Can -
UPDATE PRIOR PROPOSAL
PLAN: Trade leveraged CME Mini Stock Index Futures trading, utilizing both inter and intraday data, utilizing proprietary
genetic algorithm.** 100% quantitative.
Trading $capital since 2/9/2009; 94% winning trades; 50% per day avg. return on minimum day-trading margin per lot traded, i.e., $250 per $500 margin per lot CME Mini S&P 500, contract total worth approx. $34,000. All brokerage statements available.
Comment by SJ -
Hi Mark,
There are so many hurting people in America due to foreclosures, and people needing a place to live.
I want to help by renting my house to low income family or someone who is in need of a place to live.
I am asking for 3-4 thousand dollars to do some repairs that the house needs.
Your will see a 50% return on your money in monthly stallments begenning at the 90 day time period.
Your help is needed to maked this plan a reallity.
Gloria
Comment by Gloria -
Hi Mark,
There are hurting people because of foreclosures and the economy right now. I would like to rent to low income people. I need about 3 or 4 thousand dollars to rehab my house for low income people or families needing a place to live.
I intend to give you 50% of your return from this rental begenning on the 90 day time.
Gloria
Comment by Gloria -
Mr. Cuban,
Children are our Future Now!
If children are our future why not invest in them. Let’s start from the basics. We know that nutritious food is necessary for children to even perform at their highest level in School.But let me just add,a child needs nutritious food to help them in their day to day activities.Having the right nutrition must be essential in the way a child think.
I have notice that the schools in my city, mostly public schools feed the children breakfast however, it is loaded with sugar and then the teachers wants the child to sit down in school and learn. We give our children unhealthy and unsafe food and expect them to lead the country wisely. Only the mercy on God is helping them this far.
The parents need to educated and the general public needs to take a closer look also. I intend to help the children in the nutrition area and other ways starting with publication in the schools and homes etc.
I intend to open a center that would address the problem by offering nutritious meals at a center for children and also a catering service. Also I would like to speak to the School board in my community about the situation with the kind of food being offered in the schools.
Of course I will need funding from someone who believes with me that this is a problem that needs to be addressed.
I definitely agree to the terms you have listed from rule 1-13.
I am asking you Mark Cuban to stand with me and support this very worthy cause.
If children are our future why not invest in them now!
Thank You
Gloria
Comment by Gloria -
It is futile and counterproductive to develop additional financial rackets (e.g. a hedge fund for gasoline) to extract ourselves from this meltdown which was caused by the globalized Ponzi schemes of Greenspan, Paulson, Rubin, Clinton, Bush II, et al. The new Techno-religion is the breeding ground of false prophets as well. More video games, computer applications, playback devices and other infantile toys will only further delay our getting serious and back to real work (sorry, but the whole ‘Jetsons’ thing just ain’t gonna happen).
We need to get back to creating real wealth, not more hallucinated hologram wealth which will only lead to the next bubble. We can start by shutting down the dollar per day WalMart slave camps in Asia and bring the mfg. jobs back home. If we are to pull out of the suicide-pact fantasy economy of perpetual, exponential growth on a finite planet, it’s time to grow up and move on. more here: http://ehrlum.com/groundup/022709/
Comment by Gregg Brazel -
Mark,
I have been planning this venture for some years, and due to just recently being laid off, I now have the time to dedicate 100% to this Start Up Business. My business is a International Sourcing company. I myself have over 20 years experience in the Import Export Business, and the other person joining my has over 5 years experience. We have our plan in place:
I feel we will need a total of $125,000.00 to start the operation. This will be for the initial inventory or shipments, to cover some of the start up legal fees, and 2 to 3 months salary. I feel that we could have an even cash flow break in 60 days, and turn a profit in the first 90 days.
I have customers lined up to start, suppliers to start with, the logistics or transportation part in ready. I just need capitol to cover the first samples and shipments.
Basically, what I am doing is any type of cast parts, iron/steel etc, that a customer needs, specialty or not, I will source and deliver to their door. My Motto will be, “You need it, I will find it”
I will be based in Atlanta GA but will source world wide. This is NOT a franchise, this is my own brainchild and I will succeed.
I look forward to hearing from you to further pursue this opportunity.
Tamie Wahle
Comment by Tamie -
To all readers, since this is open source funding and stimulus effort, and our business is helping consumers turn their no longer wanted media items (soon other categories will be launched) into cash and assisting retailers in connecting with consumers to purchase their no longer wanted consumer media, we would like provide everyone with our own stimulus demo.
Check out http://www.BuybackDirect.com (powered by Buybak.com) to sell your no longer wanted consumer media directly, quickly and simply (Note: It will be faster if you enter the UPC of the product your looking to sell). For readers of Mark’s blog enter coupon code BBDMOTEN (when you checkout) to receive an additional 10% for your buyback sale. When you get your cash go out and spend it on something you need while helping the retailer (and its staff) you’re spending it through – thus doing your part to stimulate the economy.
Note: this is much simpler option than to sell your items one at a time online, but if you’re so inclined please do so – you may get more (or not) selling your items one at a time through eBay, Amazon or the like. Also the buyback prices are determined by figuring in all the fees associated with the purchase, receiving and sales through Amazon or other marketplaces – leaving the retailer who purchased the product with a decent margin for his/her risk, overhead and decent profit. No one, obviously, is under any obligation to sell anything.
Please let us know what you think since this is the basis of our effort and request for funding here.
Thank you,
Buybak.com
Comment by Steve Bonneau -
Mark,
Please use this Scribd link for Buybak’s Business Plan. The previous one is no longer available.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/13116045/Buybak-Summary-Business-Plan
Thank you.
Buybak.com
Comment by Steve Bonneau -
Mark,
This is a follow on post to Buybak.com’s original posting (http://blogmaverick.com/2009/02/09/the-mark-cuban-stimulus-plan-open-source-funding/#comment-61614).
In addition to the Executive Summary – 3 pages (http://www.scribd.com/doc/13098891/Buybak-Executive-Summary) and the PowerPoint with audio narration (http://www.slideshare.net/sbonneau/buybak-executive-power-point-presentation-2009-presentation-906339), we’ve added a Buybak Business Plan at…http://www.scribd.com/doc/13114363/Buybak-Summary-Business-Plan for your consideration.
We also would like to mention that by funding Buybak you would be economically assisting 4 different groups (thus maximizing and stretching your stimulus investment dollars); 1) consumers who use our clients buyback sites turn their no longer wanted personal inventory into cash to assist their households, 2) retailers (and their employees) who are the recipient of these traded dollars from consumers who spend them, 3) retailers/online sellers (and their employees) who purchase from consumers their no longer wanted inventory and resell this acquired product to other consumers at a price point less than but equal in quality with similar new product, and; 4) the staff of Buybak.com which experiences accelerated growth through investment.
In addition, Buybak is green! For every used item bought back from consumers this is one less item that makes it to our land fills and subsequently this is one less new item that needs to be produced, which saves on the materials and energy required to produce that new item. All of these benefits while making a very attractive investment.
Lastly, our business model just received a significant marketplace validation from Amazon.com. Amazon just last week began the beta testing of purchasing (through a 3rd party retailer who sells on Amazon) consumers no longer wanted Video Games. See http://www.amazon.com/tradeingames.
Again, thank you for your consideration.
Comment by Steve Bonneau -
Mark-
I have been trying to launch the following for the past 3 years and believe this is the best way to allow entrepreneurs to bring back the economy while allowing people to still save money and spend money that is put to use on them. Please see below, I look forward to working with you in the future:
SPT (STRICKTLY PERSONAL TRAINING)
“WHERE WORKING OUT IS MORE THAN EXERCISE”
A ‘FUNCTIONAL TRAINING’ GYM THAT SELL MEMBERSHIPS TO TRAINERS AND ALLOWS THEM TO TRAIN THEIR OWN CLIENTS USING THE GYM AND ITS RESOURCES. FOR YEARS I HAVE HEARD COMPLAINTS OF CORPORATE GYMS WHO HIRE TRAINERS WHERE THEY MAKE AN HOUR WAGE AROUND 10-15 DOLLARS. TRAINERS ALSO CANT USE MOST GYMS TO TRAIN THEIR CLIENTS B/C OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST. AT STP, THEY CAN BRING THEIR CLIENTS TO MY GYM AND USE IT FOR A FRACTION OF THE COST. I AM JUST PROVIDING THE VEHICLE FOR THE ENTREPENUER (TRAINER). BEST PART IS, “FUNCTIONAL TRAINING” IS THE CUTTING EGDE OF WORKING OUT AND THE EQUIPMENT IS NOT BULKING OR EXPENSIVE (NO MACHINES).
I WILL BE OPENING UP LOCATIONS NEAR EVERY LA FITNESS (FLORIDA), DUE TO THE REASONS THAT THEY HAVE ALREADY RESEARCHED THE MARKET DATA FOR THE POPULATION AND ITS COMPETITION FOR THEIR TRAINERS.
MEMBERSHIP FEE
-$99 DOLLARS FOR THE MONTH NO CONTRACT NO DEPOSIT
OR
-$9 DOLLARS FOR ONE TIME WITH THEIR CLIENT
OR
-$1000 PER MONTH FOR INSTRUCTORS DOING GROUP CLASSES OR TRAINING (MAX 2 HOURS PER DAY)
START-UP COST-
$14,200 FOR ONE GYM (2000 SQUARE FEET) (TO INCLUDE FIRST, LAST AND SECURITY, BUILD OUT, GYM EQUIPMENT)
MONTHLY BREAKEVEN-
$3844 PER MONTH (ONE EMPLOYEE @ 4 DOLLARS PER HOUR PLUS WALK IN ARE SPLIT WITH THE GYM AND EMPLOYEE, 2500 PER MONTH RENT)
30 TRAINER MEMBERSHIPS AND ONE INSTRUCTOR MEMBERSHIP COVERS MY COST. I CURRENTLY HAVE TWO INSTRUCTORS AND 8 TRAINERS READY FOR ONE LOCATION, I WOULD LIKE TO OPEN MORE THAN ONE AT A TIME AND OFFER A FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY.
THERE WERE 278 TRAINERS LICENSED IN FLORIDA LAST MONTH, I AM SURE THEY WILL BE EXCITED TO KNOW I AM BACKED BY YOU, I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR EMAIL.
AARON CAROTTA
Comment by Aaron Carotta -
Mark,
I recently submitted a business plan for your review using this comment box. I would like some feedback from you if this was the correct method of submission, and whether or not you have received it.
Much thanks for this opportunity.
Phil
Comment by Phil Vinton -
There are millions of people with the ability to write lyrics, music, scripts, and books who don’t have the means to get their works produced. I am in the beginning stages of starting a middle man website to connect writers with producers. How does it work? Writers post their pieces on the site, the producers then pay a fee to be able to view and purchase them. The start up costs would include legal fees, advertising, and a couple root beers to celebrate making our first million, well at least my first. This site would provide an opportunity for many people to make some good money selling their work, therefore benefiting more people then just you and I. I have owned my own small business and know the challenges they come with and I am ready to face them.
Comment by Jared -
Hello Mark,
Unfortunately this plan just helps America get back on it’s feet in regards to job creation, going off the grid, increasing disposable income, Homeland security safeguards. The profitable area comes with the development of our prototype Road Power that my nephew and I are working on.
National Emergency Energy Farming Lottery
To the American Citizens,
NATIONAL LOTTERY HISTORY as quoted by Scientific Games Lottery-Museum
http://www.scigames.com/sections/lottery-museum/
“For almost 400 years the lottery has played a significant role in American history. From 1612 to 1621, it provided the colonists at Jamestown about 8,000 pounds a year that helped them pay passage for many of the new settlers. In 1776, a lottery authorized by the Continental Congress brought in revenue that helped offset the high cost of the Revolutionary War.
Lotteries held during the decade following the war allowed Congress to repay foreign and domestic loans made to the United States in the interest of the Revolution. Before, during, and after the war, state legislatures authorized lotteries that paid for the construction of buildings at Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, and many other prestigious universities. In the 1790s lotteries subsidized state and private buildings in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York.
For the next century lotteries built roads, bridges, railroads, and schools, as well as helping the poor, elderly, and destitute. Although lotteries were banned in the first half of the twentieth century because of isolated cases of fraud and abuse, community leaders and citizens never lost sight of the potential benefits of the lottery. In 1964, the lottery, protected by stringent legislation, re-emerged and once again this recreational “voluntary tax” provides revenues for public education, senior citizens, transportation, roads, and parks.”
As you can see by our history, my proposal below isn’t so much new as just rejuvenating a system that has worked for us in the past. Let’s do it again!
VISION FOR NATIONWIDE EMERGENCY ENERGY FARMING LOTTERY
GOAL:
To take 100 million structures off the grid (meaning reduced consumption-not batteries) in ten years and at same time have those same structures start producing back into the grid. A net difference of two. There are approximately 100-110 million homes. At 50 Million homes producing same amount or close to back into the grid would balance the other 50 Million homes thus taking us to a “Neutral” carbon footprint.
THE PLAN
It is a simple plan. Have a 24/7 $1 dollar national lottery ticket that would be run in all 50 states. The winners would be issued a $25,000 voucher which could be used for any energy generating product or “GREEN” appliances. Give it away. To a relative, friend or business. It doesn’t matter as long it goes “GREEN”. Would be fully transferable to any person or entity should the winner already have such items as: Solar, Wind, etc….
The Fed’s could help by some form of matching funds or tax credits.
Now, if $1 Billion tickets sold per week, (52.1 billion lottery tickets sold nationwide in 2008) it will generate 40,000 winners per week or 3.968 winners every minute. Every single week of the year, another 40,000 people would be “eliminating grid consumption”. 20.8 Million
Structures in 10 years effectively pumping electricity back into the grid, effectively dropping our carbon footprint at twice the speed to a neutral position. If we could get matching Federal Funds, we could double that number. Think of that! That’s 41.6 Million Structures. How many “GREEN” jobs would that create? Millions & Millions in all sectors of GREEN technologies.
The collection of monies will be fully 21st technology. After signing up On-Line; Phones, cell-phones, blackberries, TV sets, email would be but several ways of being notified upon winning. No store terminals will be required.
The day-to-day operations of the lottery would be run by a non-profit organization. For every $25,000 voucher, $10 would go for running operations and increase expansion of this non-profit organization. Therefore, the voucher would be $24,990. The organization purpose would be to help people with Disabilities, Veterans, Homeless, etc…get back on their feet.
ADDENDUM: (2-20-09)
In giving the above paragraph some thought. Here is what I’m envisioning. It is only a concept.
Tickets would be bought via a dedicated web-site. Purchasers would have the option of having their bank accounts debited on an individual basis. $1, $5, $10, $25, $50, $100 max. per month. The money debited against your account turns into Lottery Voucher Credits. They would have the option of a “window” so if they wanted to play at 5:00 pm every day, week, month, etc…they would have the option provided that window is available. Remember, a drawing is approx. every minute for 3.96 winners.
Every time $25,000 is collected, a random drawing from 00001-24990 would issue the winning number.
Thus, this lottery would be a 24/7 operation. Every 3.96 minutes another winning number would be issued. Since each drawing is only 24,990 players, we would need a method of notifying players that they are in the next drawing of 24,990 players and their number is 00001-24990 to prevent confusion as to what game they are entered in, based upon when debit from account occurs, kinda like Keno.
Upon winning, a message would go out to every player announcing the winning number for that drawing. Email, Iphones, cell-phones, text messaging, TV, website, blackberries, Ipods, etc…would be involved based upon players sign-up on the website. Should they win, a message would come up “YOU ARE A WINNER” $24,990 has been deposited to your account.
We would have an “APPROVED VENDOR LIST” on the website. Winners would then go to web-site and buy Solar Panels, Wind Turbines, Energy GREEN appliances, Hybrids, Solar Fans, etc…The company that they buy from would debit this account and ship product to the winners.
Since it’s fully transferable, this web-site account will have a method of transferring balance to another person, entity, corporation, etc…of their choosing provided they have an account on this web-site.
Since most people have a morbid curiosity of “how close” they came to winning, it would be fun to post the results as to how close they came. For example, I receive an email that says “your are number 12,345 the winner number was 12,347. You missed by two numbers. Please try again.
A TYPICAL SCENARIO IF I WON A $25,000 LOTTERY VOUCHER:
I would install Solar in my home which costs around $16,000. The balance of $9,000, I would buy “energy GREEN” appliances. A new Refrigerator, Washing Machine, Dryer, Freezer, Heating systems, etc…creating additional energy savings. The extra energy now generated would go directly back into the “Grid” creating additional credits to my account along with generating electricity nationwide back into the grid. The savings of approx. $3000-$6000/yr that I had been paying for monthly energy bills, I would probably buy a Hybrid because I could use my credits for charging my Hybrid. Now my home and vehicle/s would take us to a “0” carbon footprint for our home. As a side benefit of this proposal for Americans is with increased energy output nationwide, it should drive down cost per Kilowatt thus helping the Nation as a whole.
BENEFITS: (Why I would buy a lottery ticket)
1. Increases home values
2. Excess power creates “credits”. Approx. $0.09 cents per KWH ($avings) to homes
3. Increases disposable income by having minimum or no energy bills.
4. Starts to reduces carbon footprint immediately
5. No new power grid requirements
6. Get to buy new Energy GREEN appliances, bulbs, etc…
7. Use Balance for Hybrid purchase to create a “0” carbon footprint.
8. Spreads installation jobs evenly nationwide; installers, mfg’ers, sales
9. Increases energy GREEN jobs for American workers
10. Increases re-cycling of old “non-GREEN” appliances
11. Even distribution reduces risk of terrorist attach against our grid
12. Resistant to energy disruptions due to national disasters ie; Hurricane IKE
THE ODDS: (25,000 to 1) At 25,001 another lottery drawing is done, etc…
A billion per week is 40,000 winners, 3.96 winners every minute. Side Note: Approx. $1.04 Billion of yearly disposable income could be realized by elimination of monthly energy costs.
Winners Minute Winners Hour Winners Day Winners Week Winners Year
3.968 238.08 5,713.92 39,997.44 2,079,867
$99,200 $5,952,000 $142,848,000 $999,936,000 $51,996,672,000
HOMELAND SECURITY
The visions outlined above also defends against the possibility of terrorism regarding our energy grid. With a universal grid distribution, America disruption would be minimal due to the uniformity of energy being produced thru every home, apartments, mobile home parks, industrial complexes, local, state and federal buildings, etc…. nationwide.
CONCLUSION
I look forward to your next 8 years of Presidency. It should be an exciting time for Americans and the prospect of a greater mission for all Americans. Your inaugural speech inspired me to write this letter.
America is better than this. Honor and Integrity need to replace Greed and Immorality.
The mindset of corporations, institutions, government and the people needs to change.
In time of need, the American people have always stood together. This lottery would give the chance for the people to feel involved for a good cause to a new future.
By the People, for the People seems appropriate in this situation.
Even President Abraham Lincoln used lotteries to advance America’s destiny.
The spike in gasoline prices showed us how vulnerable the American people is when it comes to disposable income. We can’t keep the economy going if we don’t have any extra money to spend. When $800 billion leaves our economy for oil every year, it’s no wonder.
My proposals above would put substantial monies in your pockets. Instead of a tax rebate for a small amount, my plan would release that $300-$600 monthly electric bill every month allowing for a gradual influx of cash-flow back into the economy. More disposable income forever. Buy a Hybrid?
The visions outlined above would help America (and the world) in bringing about a cleaner environment and a new direction for the 21st Century.
I so hope you might give this some attention and support. The ripple effect of pumping $52 billion into our economy for GREEN jobs & products is self evident.
I am 57 years old and feel I’m starting to run out of time to effect positive influences on our planet as a whole. Let’s make the 21st Century a new beginning for us all. This will help.
God bless America,
God bless Planet Earth.
Sincerely,
Grass Valley, CA
Comment by Gary Fosburg -
Hi Mark,
Are you interested in investing outside US as well? If yes, then will you be willing to invest in Karachi – Pakistan? The idea is very simple… a website similar to alibaba.com. Revenue generation? $2/year for registeration for anyone who wants to list themselves which will initially be done on the spot and later online. If thats not enough we can try launching local versions of almost every major portals such as Yahoo and Msn and while we are at it we can also do something about bringing Ebay here. We still lack these major giants over here.
How Pakistanis respond to things? just look how quickly every tom dick and harry adopted using a cellphone… 50% of the entire population of pakistan!! A little marketing and persuasion can do wonders here and with banking and telecom a little played out the next boom here is gonna be in IT for sure!
Its all about just launching them here, sooner or later everyone will obviously come here… the major players i.e. and history has it, the sooner you enter a market which has got no competitors, you’ll ultimately become the leader in the future.
Comment by Dan Rash -
Mr. Cuban,
Thank you for the opportunity to present our company, Buybak.com to you for potential funding.
Buybak.com offers Retailers and Online Sellers a software platform as a service to purchase “No Longer Wanted” inventory from the over 100M consumer households and retailers, directly and simply without online auctions or marketplace listings.
Buybak.com’s mission is to become the Internet standard in online applications for retailers and online sellers to purchase (buyback) households “no longer wanted” personal inventory immediately and efficiently without person-to-person auctions or marketplaces listings.
Buybak offers retailers and online sellers the ability to purchase “no longer wanted” inventory directly from consumers through online “buyback” websites provided by the Company. Buybak will provide its clients the ability to purchase over 2.5M unique SKU’s of product directly from the largest inventory base in the world – consumers no longer wanted property. Buybak provides the capability to set buyback prices directly, via formula or thru sales data acquired by large marketplace sites like Amazon.com to ensure desirable and predictable resale margins. Buybak also provides the ability to check-in acquired product in a locatable warehouse setting, such that either in-store or online the retailer is able to efficiently to sell, pick and ship committed product either online or offline.
Buybak clients allow households the ability to sell their no longer wanted personal inventory immediately and in bulk to trusted retailers and online sellers for cash or credit versus the uncertainty and complexities associated with person-to-person auctions and fixed price marketplaces. Sellers “click” through their no longer wanted Consumer Entertainment, Electronics, Collectibles (soon), and other such product category (soon) inventory and in return are provided with “buyback” prices for their no longer wanted inventory. After the consumer/household elects to sell their no longer wanted inventory, they ship it to the retailer/online seller (MarketMaker). The MarketMaker receives the order, checks the product for quantity and quality, then remits payment to the consumer/household.
Company’s management is the most experienced in the “buyback” space having both developed and operated its own buyback sites for 7 years while supplying clients like Blockbuster, Musicland, Tower Records, Electronics Boutique, GameStop and top Amazon/eBay online sellers, plus many others with pre-owned product sourced directly or indirectly from U.S. consumers. Prior to 2006 the founder of the company owned and operated its own buyback site and sourced product directly from consumers. Management made the strategic decision in 2006 to move from the receiving and re-distribution of physical “buyback” product to providing retailers and online sellers with the technology and services to purchase directly from consumers themselves. In 2007, the Company successfully updated its technology and successfully began servicing clients through Buybak.com.
The Company is self funded, has numerous clients, revenue generating in 2008 and 2009 and breaks even on a cash flow basis.
The Company is seeking funding to accelerate both its technical development and business growth.
An Executive Power Point presentation (with accompanying audio) can be found at…
http://www.slideshare.net/sbonneau/buybak-executive-power-point-presentation-2009-presentation-906339
An Executive Summary can be found at…
http://www.scribd.com/doc/13098891/Buybak-Executive-Summary
Best,
Steve Bonneau
Founder, Buybak.com
Comment by Steve Bonneau -
Here’s another one, though the details are a lot more sketchy.
We’ve all seen those colleagues in school or business that we knew would be successful. This is a way to capitolize on those people to everyone’s benefit.
In principle, the idea is to create a stock market of sorts based on an individuals net potential worth.
Basically, an individual would at some point offer an IPO on their own self-worth and potential and investors would purchase stock (at various common/preferred status shares as need be). The value of the stock would be tied to the individual’s net worth, income, etc.
As an equity works with a corporate entity, the stock would be based on the value of that individual’s earning potential and annual performance, market based. As like any stock, the performance is based on market factors and performance. If the individual also held shares (or a majority) it would also set up elf-regulation de-facto standard).
What this concept would require is the set-up of a stock market equivalent, a number of professionals per industry (could be limited at first), and a system of rules and regulations for the individuals and investors.
The premise is solid and based on centuries old models of corporate equity and stock practices. This takes it further to the common internet-age model of personal branding and marketing/performance.
At this point, the concept is very rough, though I propose to start it in the industry that I know best, design. If you look at the potential lifetime revenue for a single designer ($1, 7320760 at an average salary of $57,693 based on 2008 core77.com 2008 salary results, not even including inflation or other factors), this potential dividend is high compared to what could be an initial IPO.
The business model would operate like a traditional IPO does. Individuals apply through a common web platform, or other service to create shares in “themselves”. The initial stock offering is based on a panel of experts that determines their potential and an agreement that gives the individual cash in exchange for a share of future earnings. Proportions to be determined.
Initial capital expenditure for this concept would be purely marketing, approx. $15,000. Dividends based on stock would be at a mutually agreeable percentage, depending on capital investment and dividends share.
Net investment is minimal and the investment is based on future rewards built on a model of low income professionals who have potential and need cash in order to proceed to future earnings.
Essentially a VC model, but for individuals. In my own industry (design), at least, I think this would be relatively easy to evaluate based on an interview and portfolio review, though perhaps in othr industries it may be more difficult.
R
Comment by Richard Kuchinsky -
Our company, Essential Elements, is a web based business software provider. We have developed a comprehensive solution for critical business functions including: accounting, payables, receivables, Inventory, communication, messaging, log books, labor, human resources, timekeeping, document storage, e-commerce and event planning. In addition, we have developed specific functions for the various industries we currently serve.
Our software is based on an organic approach to development for our customers, meaning our core software can be enhanced by participating companies. Those enhancements often lead to global solutions that are made available to all customers – without the high cost of upgrading. This gives each company the latitude to bring their own vision to Essential Elements, and build specific Business Intelligence tools like KPI (Key Performance Indicators), dashboards and reporting. In effect, we enable them to use the tools in our product to continue to run their company successfully rather than tell them how we think they should operate.
We have made the startup costs and monthly fees scalable for any sized business. Currently, our customers include multi-unit, complex corporations, as well as single-unit small businesses. To date, our largest customer base is in hospitality, but opportunities have pushed development into grocery, retail and construction.
Essential Elements originally began development several years ago under a parent company. We have had paying customers for just over 2 years. On July 1st of 2008 a separate LLC was formed establishing Essential Elements as an independent entity.
On behalf of a group of potential investors, partnership documents were completed, and a portion of the company was set aside for investing partners. Those investors, who had promised an initial outlay of $250K, fizzled out with the downturn in the economy.
This business is our passion. We have accomplished a lot with a small group of dedicated, multi-tasking people. Our income is derived from 3 basic services: 1.) Setup Fees. 2.) Monthly Usage Fees. 3) Custom Development Fees. The revenues are increasing. In January, we turned our first, very small, monthly profit. But, we need investment funds to increase our staff and grow our company. We have customers under contract now that we can’t get online fast enough. We need a minimum investment of $110K over the next quarter to hire more code writers and support personnel. We need funding for a sales & marketing campaign.
The downturn in the economy has forced every company on the planet to re-examine their current way of doing business. Essential Elements can make them more profitable. Your assistance will help our company grow, so we can help our customers bring more profit to their bottom line. That initial investment can either be a 5% ownership in the company, or a loan with terms. We are open for any discussions. Either way, your investment should bring you a strong ROI. We are a fully developed, functioning company, primed to hit the marketplace on a much larger scale.
Comment by Mike Burris -
Mark,
My idea is to have health insurance for our cars. People can’t afford a $750.00 bill from the car mechanic hitting them all at once with the economy so instead they would have a deductible and copay. This would also eliminate people being taken advantage of at the car repair places. You would need to start the business by getting a few of the chain auto repair places to partner with you (ie. Good Year and Pep Boys). Once the business became established smaller car repair places would get on board so that they didn’t lose their customer base. Then the company will have maximum charges for certain parts or labor on certain jobs just like they do with the doctor’s charges. The person would pay their copay and then the health insurance for their car would kick in. You would need to base the insurance premium on the model and year of the car.
If you were not able to have the car places partner with you, you could still have it where the people that purchase the insurance have to submit their own claims for reimbursement. This would be similar to what a lot of people need to do with secondary health insurance right now. This may be a more realistic starting point until it gains credibility.
Thanks for this opportunity to share!
Linnea
Comment by Linnea -
I can run a pest control business profitably with $25 fixed price per visit.
Comment by Chuck Jamshidi -
🙂 .. easy.
yiid.com – Your Internet ID
because it’s time for it.
We start last week and we are realy open.
Feel free to contact me if you like to know more.
We are based in Germany but you could write me in English or Italian 🙂
Marco
Comment by Marco -
Dear Mark,
For a very long time now I have had a great idea for an invention that no one has ever seen before. It is a keyboard for a computer that can both heat and cool. I think this is a very good idea because it is really practical and I believe that many people would want this. Just think next time when you are on the computer, and your hands are hot or cold then you will see the need for this product.
Lucas
Comment by Lucas Zacharias -
Mark,
Thanks in advance for taking a look…
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dwg7j9k_0hnrjpccj
Comment by Justin -
Mr. Mark Cuban,
My idea is to create a business corporation that seeks out and supports innovators and inventors from patenting and imaging of product concept up to the prototyping phase.
“InventHelp” charges from $15-20,000 to patent and create 3d images of the product concept. This is not a good deal.
My proposed company gets to choose which great new products to help up to prototyping (ie only those with potential to earn huge profits within a 6-12 month cycle; has potential for global marketing).
There are hundreds of innovators and inventors desperately seeking sources of funds to help push their product ideas up to sales and distribution. With your funding support more new globally attractive products will reach the market faster.
I know this is a doable new business venture.
Comment by Alpha Ace -
Mark,
Here is part of our executive summary (the full detailed equity request memo is on google docs and slide share – links below).
Baltic Ave, LLC (“Baltic”) is a company we have formed to take advantage of a specific niche within the financial institution/bank owned properties and the distressed real estate market in Las Vegas and Henderson Nevada.
Today, an unprecedented number of properties are owned by banks or other financial institutions which has created a significant opportunity to target and acquire properties at heavily discounted prices. The traditional “bank sales at the courthouse” are no longer effective due to the volume of transactions.
Baltic’s focus is to identify and acquire specific properties in targeted neighborhoods typically purchased in the $30,000 to $60,000 range (30-40% of previous loan values on the property) by leveraging cash offers on multiple properties with a 7 day close. Once acquired, cosmetic improvements based on a strict set of guidelines are made immediately after closing. During the improvement phase, the properties are being marketed to primary home buyers (mainly FHA qualified and first time buyers) with pricing increases of 30% to 50% above total costs. Baltic is responsible for managing the initial acquisition, overseeing the improvements, marketing/resale of the property and all aspects of the rental management for the properties that are not immediately sold. We perform a detailed analysis on targeted acquisitions and are involved in all aspects of Baltic Ave, LLC – from financial support to general business management.
The opportunity to purchase properties directly from the financial institutions on a “quick closing” basis has been created due to the reluctance of the banks to accept loan contingencies and longer closing periods from traditional buyers (they’re not in real estate, they’re banks). A typical low income primary home buyer will need to qualify for an FHA loan which will take between 30 and 90 days to close. Most financial institutions are looking for a 15-30 day closing period with no financing contingencies and are willing to take deep discounts in exchange for this – especially on the property profiles that Baltic targets.
One of Baltic’s key strategies is to purchase homes in this market segment directly from the banks which will allow these primary home buyers the time it takes to obtain the traditional FHA financing. In addition, based on recent legislation, many of these FHA qualified buyers will also receive tax incentives offered to first time home buyers which we believe will help sustain or even increase activity in the low end market as it is much more affordable for a FHA qualified buyer to purchase a $100K home than to rent.
Baltic will strictly focus on homes in this market segment while the banks can be motivated to discount the purchase price in exchange for a quick close, the sales activity remains steady and the rental rates remain extremely favorable in comparison to the overall cost of the homes. We believe the timing is favorable and the demand will support our model which has multiple strategies that range from strong cash flow opportunities via long term rentals, immediate sales (flips) that capture high returns and/or long term appreciation with substantial cash flow during he hold period.
Baltic Ave. is currently seeking $1,500,000 to fund the immediate acquisition and rehab of 25 homes in our phase 1 launch and a total of $12,000,000 to acquire 200 homes in Las Vegas (with an average all in cost of $60K per home after inprovements).
We believe there is a tremendous opportunity in todays low end housing market and that Baltic Ave has a scalable model that could be replicated in cities like Phoenix and San Diego where we plan to add 200 homes in each city (600 total homes) with incredible cash flow (the houses are paid for up front so the is no debt service) and tremendous long term appreciation potential (see proformas in the full summary).
This is a business that feeds or stimulates many different employment groups as the banks, escrow/title companies, realtors, property managers, contractors, laborors, retail material suppliers, home inspectors, exterminators, plummers, electricians and everyone else in the food chain all get back to work in a industry that is slowed to a grinding hault today.
The business also stimulates the credit markets as FHA and first time home buyers are incented to purchase new homes – which believe it or not are more affordable than renting. The monthly mortgage payment on a $100k home for a FHA qualified buyer is almost HALF of the current rental rate and since we improve the homes before they are put on the market, we provide a housing option to these families that they can take pride in (buyers or renters).
You can find the full Baltic Ave, LLC Equity Request Memo at the fillowing:
Google Docs: http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=F.3a7e67b6-8ced-44db-97bb-3ff44228b7c5
Slide Share: http://www.slideshare.net/dfaddis/baltic-ave-equity-req-df-2-09
Thanks and I wish everyone the best in these challenging times. Keep working hard, keep an open mind, stay positive and focused…there are opportunities for all of us every single day in this great country that we are lucky enough to live in.
Doug Faddis
Comment by Doug Faddis -
“It’s All In The Sauce!”
This is not a restaurant, but a specialty fast food. More like Starbucks or Jamba Juice or Hot Dog On A Stick style of business, where people buy and leave.
Product Specialty: Sauce!
All different kinds and taste and from all over the world. Hot, spicy, mild, slimy, gory, etc. Sauce from Africa, Brazil, China, Ireland, etc.
The business actually sells specialty sauces. The sauce IS the product. Customers pick and choose the sauce they want.
Selections for sauces are in hot deep bowls (similar to ice scream shops where store clerks scoop the ice cream and place it in cups or cones).
But what goes with the sauce? Mainly chicken strips to be dipped in the sauce.
Target market: age 2 to 92.
Business name: Chicken Pronto!
Ideal Locations: Malls
Store Ambience: Cheerful and Sunny
What fun it is!
Thanks for reading, Mark.
Comment by Edgar Enriquez -
Mark, this is an opportunity to revolutionize the health-care industry, help save lives, and “make a difference” as you said.
Healthcare, as an industry, has been typically late to adopt useful and efficient business practices from other non healthcare-related industries. There are industry-leading business practices from the manufacturing, retail, and financial services industries which could be applied to the healthcare industry resulting in improved patient flow through crowded Emergency Departments, help save patient lives by ensuring the patient is receiving the correct medication and drug dosage, and applications to ensure hospitals are receiving full payment for their clinical and professional services. There is a significant opportunity to apply these types of industry-leading business practices to improve patient care, save lives, and help create a more efficient healthcare system.
For example, one industry-leading business practice in the manufacturing and retail industries is bar-coding. However, this type of technology is considered “new” within healthcare, but is certainly considered outdated within manufacturing and retail. This type of bar-coding technology has greatly improved patient safety throughout organizations where implemented, and should have been implemented many years ago. Bar-coding technology, when used in the medication administration process, has the capability of saving lives by reducing the number of preventable adverse drug events. Bar-coding ensures the patient is receiving the correct medication, in the right dose, at the right time, to the right patient. The error to Dennis Quaid’s twins out in California could have been avoided if this technology was in use.
Past Behavior in Healthcare
Unfortunately, operating margins at hospitals are small, even smaller now, and CFO’s never allocated capital towards the purchase of new and industry-leading technologies, like bar-coding. However, there has been significant progress in the past few years to understand how information technology can be used to enhance patient care, improve patient safety, and increase operating margins. Information technology is now seen as a critical tool in the everyday operations of a healthcare organization.
In the past, the healthcare industry never required detailed financial justification when considering a capital healthcare information technology (HIT) investment. Healthcare organizations viewed healthcare IT as an expense and never considered the financial benefits of an HIT application and never clearly identified the overall financial and operational impact of an HIT implementation to their organization. However, this type of financial justification is in everyday use in the financial services industry, and is now being recognized as a critical tool within the healthcare industry. The new stimulus package as applied to healthcare, and the adoption of an electronic medical record (EMR), is helping lead the way in using these types of financial services business processes.
The FiscalHealth Group
Our company, The FiscalHealth Group (FHG), was formed to assist healthcare organizations determine the overall financial and operational impact of various clinical and revenue cycle healthcare IT applications, in both the acute care and ambulatory environments. For example, we show the financial impact of a fully functioning bar-coding medication administration application, identify how improved patient flow and better clinical coding would increase Emergency Department revenue, improve patient care and throughput, or help physicians in their offices become more efficient and increase revenues through better coding and reduced operating expenses.
We provide the financial expertise to assist healthcare organizations understand the financial and operational impact of the HIT implementation to their organization. These organizations are now beginning to understand the importance of modeling the financial impact of these HIT applications, and we have completed over a 1,000 of these types of financial assessments.
Stimulus Bill
The Stimulus Bill, as applied to healthcare, will assist in increasing the adoption and use of an electronic medical record (EMR) within a hospital, and increase the adoption rate of using an EMR in a physician office. FHG would assist healthcare organizations and physician offices determine the financial impact of an EMR implementation, and determine whether their EMR adoption rate qualifies for a full or partial allocation of the stimulus bill funding.
FHG Goals
We intend to market our financial consulting services to hospitals, hospital systems, physician offices, and HIT vendors across the country. Our consulting services will help these organizations understand the impact of the EMR adoption process and help them determine whether they will receive a full or partial share of the stimulus bill funding. Most HIT vendors are not interested, or don’t have the capability, to show the financial impact of their IT implementation to a healthcare organization. And, HIT vendors certainly don’t have the capability to identify how the stimulus bill funding would impact a healthcare organization or physician office.
Healthcare organizations and physician offices are also wary of listening to HIT vendors and how they can assist in this stimulus bill adoption process and financial modeling, and would be more inclined to listen to an unbiased 3rd-party to help them better understand the stimulus bill funding impact to their organization.
We are the right company, at the right time in this time of need for healthcare organizations and HIT vendors across the country.
1. It can be an existing business or a start up.
The FiscalHealth Group (FHG), LLC. (www.fiscalhealthgroup.com) was formed in June 2007.
FHG Services
We assist healthcare organizations determine the overall financial and operational impact to their business when evaluating Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) applications. FHG creates financial assessments to confirm whether implemented applications, or applications under evaluation, meet an organization’s strategic and financial objectives. We have expertise in clinical and revenue cycle applications, in both the acute care and ambulatory environments.
When comparing the financial benefits of single, or multiple HIT applications among competing vendors, we help identify which HIT vendor provides better financial value. If we know the total cost of ownership (TCO) for each HIT vendor, we can identify the vendor which provides the better financial value, and identify potential cost savings opportunities for the hospital when making an HIT vendor selection.
Current Initiatives
We have performed consulting services for a number of healthcare organizations. We have been involved in several marketing initiatives, targeted at hospital CFO’s and administration, to help them understand the impact and use of our consulting services. We have given presentations at a national conference, HFMA (Healthcare Financial Management Association) chapters (hospital CFO members), and will begin giving webinars to national HFMA chapters. By showing the overall organizational financial and operational impact of these HIT investments, hospitals and physician offices will now be proactive and understand the impact of these HIT investments, and spend their time on managing patients and their care versus spending valuable resources to select the best HIT vendor for their organization.
Healthcare Stimulus Plan Impact
The federal government is providing significant funding to assist hospitals and physician offices increase the adoption of healthcare IT and adoption of electronic medical records (EMR). Once the HIT vendor becomes accredited through a federally mandated program, hospitals and physician offices must make a selection among competing HIT vendors, selecting the best clinical and financial applications for their organization.
Since FHG is vendor agnostic, we would assist hospitals and physician offices in their HIT vendor selection, identify which HIT vendors provide the best financial value, and show through the EMR adoption process whether the organization would receive full or partial funding from the stimulus package.
2. It cannot be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. Why ? Because I want this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. That’s the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time.
– Any advertising we have done is targeted to hospital CFO’s to help them understand the operational and financial impact when purchasing HIT applications. In the past, hospital CFO’s have never recognized the financial impact of these HIT purchases, only focusing on the expense. Any advertising we have done is to help educate and help these CFO’s understand the financial benefits associated with an application, as well as identify the total cost of ownership (TCO). Once the financial benefits and TCO is identified for an application(s), we identify the financial value and show where cost savings opportunities might occur. We are in the process of trying to educate and communicate to an industry late to this type of financial modeling methodology.
3. It Must Be Cash-flow Break-Even Within 60 Days
– We were cash-flow positive after our initial customer. As a consulting company, we have limited overhead and capital requirements.
4. It Must Be Profitable Within 90 Days
– We were profitable after our initial customer.
5. Funding Will Be on a Monthly Basis. If You Don’t Make Your Numbers, The Funding Stops
– Any funding requirements we need would be used for marketing our services to hospitals and physician offices across the country. Any funding would be contingent upon these types of initiatives. Additionally, we would like to network with anyone you may know within the healthcare industry to help market our consulting services.
6. You Must Demonstrate As Part of Your Plan, That You Sell Your Product or Service For More Than What It Costs You to Produce, Fully Encumbered
– As a consulting company, we have already created the intellectual property required to perform these consulting services. Cost of a consulting engagement depends on the type of assessment required, and the number of HIT applications under review. We already have good margins and have limited operating expenses.
7. Everyone Must Work. The Organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else
– The principals all work to create these financial assessments. If we need additional employees for increased volume, we can easily identify potential employees who would be able to assist in completing the work.
8. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com , scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download
– We provide an overview of our consulting services here. If you require additional information about company background and consulting services, we are more than happy to talk live on the phone, or come in for a face-to-face meeting.
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding, you are on your own
– Understood. We are really looking for a “push” to help us market our services to the healthcare industry, especially now with the new stimulus bill targeted to healthcare IT adoption. We would need funding to market our services in various healthcare-related forums, and any funding would be contingent upon these types of initiatives. Our target market is any hospital, hospital system, or physician office throughout the country.
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to, I will. If not, I won’t.
– Understood. However, we think you might be interested in helping us change an industry, and help save lives in the process! We need as much help as we can possibly get.
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows
– Understood, and not a problem at all.
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money
– If interested in our proposal and consulting services, let’s talk about this item in more detail.
13. No multi-level marketing programs (added 2/10/09 1pm)
– We have already identified the type of marketing initiatives we feel would be needed to market our consulting services to healthcare organizations across the country.
Comment by Curt Magnuson -
MArk,
I love the NBA and Mavs. Dallas rocks. I enjoyed watching the mavs and miss watching them. I plan to living back in dallas and hope the team has more playoff runs.
Great plans for your NBA team would be this. Due to the poor economic cycle.
1. Offer really good low prices on season ticket seats or offer long-term season tickets seats for one great low price, but on the LT seats a person could have an option to purchase 10yr, 15yr, 20yr, maybe 30yr, which LT plan would be for a person who is a die hard basketball fan and they’d get these seats for whatever their term is. Signing a contract for a long term season ticket holder will enable someone to get first dibs on playoff and finals tickets and get some discounts off of MAVS products,venue goods, and discount off of certain places around DFW area. Discounts off of sponors who work with the mavs. This would be an benefit for being a mavs season holder.
Comment by Mikey Jenson -
Oh I’m averaging about 1-2 business ideas per day. I have a short list of the ones that I think would be the most fun and interesting but the one that I just posted is the only one that I don’t mind somebody else stealing, as it’s for the good of humanity!
Comment by Christopher Vigliotti -
Yo Mark. This is a more of a non-profit type of thing, as the goal of this idea is to make it easy for charities to raise money and have some fun connecting with friends.
elevator pitch
social network. twitter meets micro-payments meets charitable donations meets gaming
company and website name
TBD
tag line
changing the world fifty cents at a time
why?
charitable donations are down at a time when charities really need money. make donating to charity an affordable, fun, social experience.
donations
fifty cents (or more)
user interface
twitter-like main bar, side bar that contains (1) user overview, (2) “donate $.50 now” button (3) list of charity/charities they support, (4) badge board
features
140 character posts ala twitter, add friends, import contacts from gmail etc.
other features
iphone app, facebook app, sms hooks, desktop notification
people that you get to donate
also create accounts and are considered your recruits. you get badge rewards for their accomplishments as well
badge board?
ala x-box badges. a badge board displays icons that represent a user’s achievements. charity-specific badges, and also badges that are awarded as prizes from fund raising competitions.
badges for…
beta tester
for reaching X dollar limit
charity-specific badges
for every X dollars that your recruits collect
others TBD
why me?
good networking skills, developer + project manager for 10 years, friendly, creative, loud
why it will work
startup costs will be small, i know some really awesome software developer resources that would love to help out
funding
from united way, red cross, habitat, a web hosting company, mark cuban, others
follow-up
screen mock-ups available upon request (give me a few days to sketch them out).
Comment by Christopher Vigliotti -
Existing business currently engaged with select NBA & NHL teams (among other teams and leagues). Simple concept – we help teams create a private label brand of retail and promotional merchandise and apparel, using a little capitalized on “local license exception” most teams don’t maximize. Putting more money in owner’s pockets, not the league office or licensees. Have had great success with teams we’re engaged with, looking for investment/partners to fuel dramatic new growth to other teams, leagues and new opportunities opening in collegiate sports. Small staff, flat organization, no building or equipment, break-even now, profitable within 60 days…and a value-prop that will resonate now more than ever with team owners – create and sell quality team merchandise at low fan-friendly price points, and generate much more gross dollar margins in the process.
Please see more at:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhqm246r_2hmsts6g4
Comment by Bob DeMasse/Greg Bennett -
Mr. Cuban,
You have replied to my post twice, we are an operating C corporation over two years old, Federal Trademarks, etc. Since my first post on February 11, 2009 @ 11:01 am, we have done 39,434.00, collected on 12,252.00 and our accounts receivables rarely goes beyond 30 days.
We are going to expand to one corporate office in every state (in stages). Hiring at least 3 people for every state, 144 people back to work, two vehicles for every office 96 vehicles sold, one building for every state, 48 commercial real estate sales.
We have a real opportunity to put people back to work, help the auto dealers with sales, not to mention the real estate transactions.
What better way to help stimulate the economy by taking advantage of the three hardest hit sectors, Employment, Auto Sales and Real Estate transactions.
What most people see as gloom, I see as an advantage. We will not find a better time to expand, being able to work the best real estate deals, auto prices and there is an abundance workers right now.
I look forward to hearing from you, in any event this will be my last post.
Sincerely,
DM
Comment by DM -
A movie pitch based on a trilogy of unpublished novels from personal experiences ripped directly from today’s headlines. First hand knowledge and experience with alleged large-scale fraudulent investment companies and the boom and bust of the real estate/construction industry. The first 97,000 word manuscript is currently being copyrighted.
In the Enron-era of the 1990’s, I practiced as a Mergers & Acquisitions attorney in Houston where I represented a Mexican-national controlled financial conglomerate (banking, insurance, mortgage co. and other investments) alleged to have bilked investors of nearly $1 Billion. For 10 years during the height of the Texas construction boom and bust market, I ran the operations of a large scale construction contracting company with branches across the State of Texas. This legitimate corporation was used to smuggle more than $700 Million in illegal narcotics into the United States. I have based my 97,000 word novel on my own personal experiences where I interacted on a daily basis with genteel Houston high society and a labor force consisting of “coyotes,” “gun-runners,” illegal immigrants and naturalized US citizens of Mexican heritage all seeking the elusive “American Dream.”
Comment by Tom -
Dear Mark Cuban,
Superstarcase.org and Superstarcase.com are essentially “two
sides of the same coin”. I have been in the entertainment business for all of adult life and part of my pre-adult life. I have worked with the craft in several places around the world, engaging several several performers prior to their success.
My programs are designed to be highly profitable and they occur online as well as offline in a manner that is towards the efforts to combine international artists talent performances as well as,the creation of productions and consumer product by content creators that is salable to a world market (various countries simultaneously).
Our projected audience is well in excess of 1 billion people.
Taking into account that only about 1/4 of the world’s population has access to the internet, growth potential is great over the course of the next 10 years or more with product line expanding during the process (see http://www.internetworldstats.com). I have been refining the concept and process for more than ten years (necessary because of the size and scope) and have a “unique copyright” from the Library of Congress which took over a year to obtain. This was because of the innovative layout and design of program, process and content(Library of Congress does not normally copyright business proposals. They copyright literary works only).
Plenty of material created to substantiate all claims and to
give all background, pertinence and relative information pertaining to many aspects of the programs. More than sure that after viewing each site and additional materials you will have a complete,clear an concise understanding of all that is on offer. The below listed links are provided for your edification and enlightenment.
http://superstarcase.blogspot.com
superstarcase.org
superstarcase.com
Kenny Beck
kennybek@superstarcase.org
Comment by Kenny beck -
Dear Mark Cuban,
Superstarcase.org and Superstarcase.com are essentially “two
sides of the same coin”. I have been in the entertainment business for all of adult life and part of my pre-adult life. I have worked with the craft in several places around the world, engaging several several performers prior to their success.
My programs are designed to be highly profitable and they occur online as well as offline in a manner that is towards the efforts to combine international artists talent performances as well as,the creation of productions and consumer product by content creators that is salable to a world market (various countries simultaneously).
Our projected audience is well in excess of 1 billion people.
Taking into account that only about 1/4 of the world’s population has access to the internet, growth potential is great over the course of the next 10 years or more with product line expanding during the process (see http://www.internetworldstats.com). I have been refiningthe concept and process for more than ten years (necessary because of the size and scope) and have a “unique copyright” from the Library of Congress which took over a year to obtain. This was because of the innovative layout and design of program, process and content(Library of Congress does not normally copyright business proposals. They copyright literary works only).
Plenty of material created to substantiate all claims and to
give all background, pertinence and relative information pertaining to many aspects of the programs. More than sure that after viewing each site and additional materials you will have a complete,clear an concise understanding of all that is on offer. The below listed links are provided for your edification and enlightenment.
http://superstarcase.blogspot.com
superstarcase.org
superstarcase.com
Kenny Beck
kennybek@superstarcase.org
Comment by Kenny beck -
Early Stage Business seeking equity investment and or working Partners….
It’s nice to see this kind of a posting once in a while if for no other reason than to see that there are other people out there like myself.
I can say without doubt that I have the opportunity that if more people knew about it would crawl over each other to get at it. I realize that this statement is sort of over the top and raises questions which are ordinarily hard to answer, but, not in this case.
A few months ago I stumbled across a new patented invention in the Telecommunications industry. No one else has this device, it does not belong to MaBell, Verizon, T-Mobile or any other monster telecom company. In fact as Jeff Levy of KTLA radio said, “Ma Bell will quiver in their boots when they hear about it!”. We call the device the ICT and what it does is allow you to….
Make calls from your existing cell phone to anywhere …from anywhere anytime for pennies instead of dollars.
You do not have to be in a hot spot or near your computer, in fact you do not even need a computer.
This innovation in the telecom industry is the only one of its kind, it is unique. It can be sold to anyone that owns a land line phone or cellular/wireless phone anywhere in the world. The market therefore consists of over 4 Billion customers of which we would be ecstatic with one half of one percent. It can be sold to individual consumers, to businesses of any size and be sold through almost any medium.
It is affordable, PROFITABLE and feasible. It offers a shelf product and a service residual. It will allow the cheapest local calling rates, cheapest long distance rates and the cheapest international rates as compared to any product on the market today. The device is completely prepaid & contract free.
At present I am licensed as the sole Master International Distributor. Additionally there are many other interesting features, benefits and marketing developments that I know you will be interested in. So it is my hope that you will contact us to discuss how we could work together to develop the device to its full potential.
Comment by Rick C -
Missionary Coffee is at this moment a “ministry” not a “business”. But the idea has always been for it to evolve into a philanthropic business helping qualified causes around the world. Right now, Missionary Coffee is a small batch coffee Roaster that roasts coffee from some of the best coffee regions in the world (Nicaragua, Honduras, and Vera Cruz). For the past 5 years, we have roasted between 4,000 – 5,000 pounds of coffee per year. 100% of the profit is split between qualified organizations who sell our coffee as a fundraiser, and missions/humanitarian efforts in the poverty stricken regions where the coffee is grown. Groups like Garland Independant School District, Mothers of Preschoolers, Church Youth Groups, Cheerleading Squads, Little League Football Teams, etc. have sold our coffee as a fundraiser. If they sell 100 bags of our coffee (offered in 8 different flavors – Snickerdoodle, Tiramisu Cream, and Mocha Swiss Almond are among the best sellers), then they keep 45% of the money right off the top. They pre-sell it with a color catalogue, then send us their order along with the remaining 55%. Then we roast their coffee and ship it to them for distribution to their buyers. The 55% Missonary Coffee keeps is used to buy our coffee beans to roast, and then used to buy clothing, medicines, and toys for children in the coffee growing regions, as well as help to defray some of the cost of the people who volunteer to delivery it all personally. We own a small 5 acre coffee plantation in the Northern Mountains of Nicaragua, right in the heart of a community we have adopted to receive our help.
My dream is to get the help we need to make Missionary Coffee a national brand, landing it in grocery stores, specialty food stores and anywhere else coffee is sold. Of course, the economic plan would have to change, but it would still be known as a Great Coffee for a Great Cause. We would like to expand our philanthropic efforts to include any qualifying need (eg-American Heart Association, Homeless Shelters, Susan G. Coleman Breast Cancer Awarness Groups, etc.)These groups would ofcourse have to apply for our help, and be granted access to funds by a small board of directors.
The hook is, when you buy Missionary Coffee you know that 30% of your money is going to help one or more of our qualified causes. During this downturn in our Economy, people may be more hesitant to give money to these great causes, but if they are buying something they normally buy and know that at the same time they are donating to these wonderful causes, everyone wins!
The remaining 70% would be used to run the business side of Missionary Coffee. Right now, all of our helpers are volunteers. If Missionary Coffee could get help to move to the next level however, I’m sure there would be the need to hire a small staff to help with distribution, advertising, clerical issues.
At our small size now, we have contributed well over $75,000 to the groups who have sold our coffee as well as the very needy coffee workers in the coffee regions themselves. We like to think that Missionary Coffee is “better than fair trade” coffee because the hard working coffee growers and those who actually pick the beans themselves are being helped in a real and practical way.
Thanks Mark for your consideration and your generosity to help enterprising business get a leg up. Please consider Missionary Coffee so we can do more for people all over the world who need one too.
Comment by Max Kennedy -
Ian-
Please contact me about your idea (lithium0073 (at) yahoo (dot) com).
Mark-
The story of Southwest Airlines hedging fuel costs and turning a profit while its competitors struggled to survive is well known. So why don’t businesses with a fleet of trucks or cab drivers or even normal people that have a long commute every morning have the ability to hedge the cost of gas?
Well actually they can really easily. There are a few ETFs out there that track the price movement of oil and gasoline in the US. The only problem is that people don’t know they this exists or don’t know how to do it. We can work with businesses and individuals to help them come up with a hedge that is right for them based on how much they drive and how much exposure to gas prices they want. We can then buy them the securities that suit their needs and take a normal mutual fund fee off the top.
From MC> I think its a great idea, but i need to see a business plan and capital requirements
Comment by Ian — February 10, 2009 @ 8:35 pm
Comment by Brian -
Is this thread done?
I haven’t seen a MC response since Feb 23rd. Has this run its course?
Comment by Benjamin -
http://inpursuitofworlddomiintion.blogspot.com/
thanx
Comment by Denton -
Pingback: Exchanging Thoughts
Sounds kul. That’s how the HTML got started. Only the Geeks will post. Everyone else who wants privacy are greedy capitalist. They only seek $$. Geeks seek Fame.
Comment by sydnar -
Well established fully accredited university (10 years) expanding into distance / online education from sunny Costa Rica. Looking for funding. U.S. schools credit per hour cost are non competitive in current cash crunch. Students can obtain same quality education without huge debt loads.
Comment by david ben rubi -
Here’s my plan Mark.
Photochromic dyes.These are speacial dyes that reversibly change from colorless to a colour upon exposure to ultraviolet sources,such as sunlight.These dyes are aplied to plastics,lences,and sunglasses.My idea is to apply this dye on a clear tint so the windshields on cars can transition.To this point a have’nt seen any automobile with this technology.I need about 1,000 to buy the materials.If this works 50% goes to the buisness and 25/25 for us.
Comment by Antonio -
Doh! “Thus commissions of $7500 to $100,000.” should be “Thus commissions of $7500 to $50,000″ (I’ll need to budget in an editor for the book”
Comment by Chris Keaveny -
Mark,
Driving a semi-truck for a living provides one ample time to think. Here is the fruit of my thought while steerin’ and gearin’ this week.
Franchise brokers typically receive 50% of the franchise fee as commission for introducing the buyer to the franchisor. Single unit franchise fee is usually in the $15K range and master franchise agreements are around $100k. Thus commissions of $7500 to $100,000. I want to sell a book via infomercial (think Tony Robbins)that offers a 25% discount on buying a franchise (rebate half the commission) on franchises sold. The book “2009 Business Ideas for 2009”, or something more brandable, will have tons of free business ideas divided into different categories by industry, start-up cost, desired income level, etc. and the franchise section is where we make our money (in addition to the $19.95 price of the book.) In order to receive their discount they must register on website with a code/serial # of the book. Additional revenue can be generated through referral income from entire business start-up/entrepreneur support industry. ie. coaching services, web builders, etc. etc. If you want to break or change rule #2 that would open up an additional revenue stream but it is not necessary. That’s it in a nutshell.
1. Write book. (I bet I could bang it out with 2 weeks of highly caffienated obsessive behavior)
2. Sell book with infomercial.
3. Automate process to “register” clients and introduce to franchisors.
4. Rinse and repeat with updated version at least annually.
Scientific wild ass guess on numbers:
Sell a million books at $19.95. $19,950,000
1% of readers buy a franchise 10,000 x $3,750= $37,500,000
First year sales $57,450,000
First year jobs created at least 10,000
I realize this is over-simplified. I bet it would be a big hit though. Lots of people looking for jobs or dreaming of starting businesses. Keep up the good work Mark.
I monitor channel 19 on the cb or 608-873-9000
Comment by Chris Keaveny -
Candles that burn with different “designer” color flames.
Red White & Blue flames on the candelabra for the 4th of July Party. Green Red and White candle flames on the mantle for the XMas party. Your kid’s favorite color in the candle flames on the B-day cake, etc.
I’m not a chemical engineer. But I know that candles burn wax. Maybe there is a ChemE/PHD type out there w/enough experience working w/fireworks or other burning things to formulate candle wax compounds and/or wick treatments that affect the color of the flame on the wick? And do so without creating a candle that will kill your dog if he ate it?
Comment by Chris Almond -
My wife Kathleen and I have a custom wedding invitation business that we are currently executing on part-time (we both have full-time jobs). She is the artistic talent and the face of the organization, and I handle the website and the accounting. We are partners with Envelopments paper products and with a local printer.
We are currently profitable, and have clients booked through the summer. We have booked clients from around the world through our unique “movie poster” invitation offerings. You can check out her work at http://www.plushpaper.com
We would like to expand more into products rather than operating wholly as a services business, and we would also like to be able to hire some people to do the invitation assembly so we can focus more around the core business. We would also like to utilize technology to be able to have customers customize a stock invitation that would feature their names and details at non-custom price. These are all things we simply cannot do with a day job monopolizing the time we would need to execute on this expansion, and we feel like her talent and eye for design separates our brand from the competition, as evidenced by our many client bookings in a short period of time.
What we are really looking for is 60-90 days of funding that would include compensation for the lost revenue from her day job, and some additional monies for development tools and basic small-scale advertising expenses to drive greater local revenue as we build a larger web presence.
I would be happy to submit a business plan if you find this idea intriguing. We feel like with hard work and a little luck we can build Plush into a national brand via the web, offering high-end, customizable invitations and stationery at reasonable prices.
Comment by Rich -
I’ve always had an idea to make a drink place. But something I haven’t personally seen. It wouldn’t be a coffee place as Starbucks has that hammered down at the moment.
I, personally, am picky about my ice. Ice can make or break a drink for me so I thought that customers can pick the ice of their choice. Crushed, cubed, small, large whatever they want and we offer. I also think this is good because Ice is something that you don’t have to re-buy.
Expanding on that idea, I thought of not only choosing your ice, but maybe choosing a flavor of ice. Say you ordered a strawberry drink and mango ice. Your drink starts out mostly strawberry (with a hint of mango) As the ice melts you have yourself a strawberry mango drink. Once your finished with the liquid you can munch down on the ice to finish up. 3 kinds of flavor in one drink.
In addition I’d sell snacks and a few food items for increased revenue.
Drinks are one of the most profitable items for restaurants and eateries. And I would offer an array of choices. Soft drinks, malts, shakes, smoothies, health drinks, anything that you can drink. I would start at one place and branch out accordingly if it’s profitable.
Thanks for your time.
Adam
Comment by Adam -
This is a follow-up on Freddy Lakers’ suggestion made at least once a couple of years ago about expanding the use of tugs at airports. The present system is that a plane starts its engines at the gate, gets pushed back, and taxis to the runway under its own power. If the tug takes the plane to the takeoff waiting area, starting the engines a few minutes before takeoff conserves fuel. I’ll split the fuel savings with you and the airline 20-20-20, with govt taking the rest in taxes/fees.
Some logistics:
1. Determine the amount of time required for cockpit crew to follow the starting checklist and schedule ahead of takeoff as necessary.
2. Test concept at a low-volume airport.
3. Fit any additional APU equipment onto tugs as necessary. This may take the bulk of time to break-even or profitability.
4. Modify tugs to pull planes at taxi speed, possibly in a phase II.
5. Place APU-equipped tugs at the takeoff area for engine start. High-speed tugs return to terminal, possibly with a landed plane — assuming the plane can shut down its engines following exit to taxiway.
The cabin environment control unit is operating as now.
A plane waiting in line behind others can save a significant amount of fuel if delaying engine start until needed. Present technology makes engines reliable to the extent that failure to start is hardly a consideration, but of course provision needs to be made for tugging the plane back to the gate as necessary.
At the concept airport the initial expense is the purchase of additional tugs for transport and takeoff threshold engine start.
Benefits:
1. Fuel savings
2. Engine exhaust pollution reduction
3. PR advantage of actually DOING SOMETHING about “going green” and hardships of fuel costs.
Everybody works?
Hire additional tug drivers with taxi licenses. (Someone meets this requirement already, to retrieve disabled aircraft and to tow planes to maintenance hangars.) Designate these new persons “stimulus employees.”
Hire a recordkeeper for accounting and to ensure honesty on the part of airlines.
Hire a full-time advocate to address modifications to laws, airport procedures, and tax revenue replacement.
Hire an artist to paint the special tugs for PR value.
Hire a planning team for expansion to more-sophisticated airports as the concept proves out.
Comment by Charles Moncrief -
Mark,
I must admit, I play on the net all the time and spend everyday on a computer yet have never blogged … I have read your last post and the original post concerning your stimulous plan and breezed through some of the other post as well … its now past kinda late or I would have read more, will tomorrrow … I understand completely your requests and stipulations … its funny I cross this catching up on my Mavs info trying to wind my day down and go to sleep!! … I’ve spent the last 6 months solid looking for capital after an intial investor backed out on pre-planned funding 8 months ago for a start up company that I’ve spent the last two years developing. After doing considerable industry research in field(s) that I have extensive knowledge in and 15 years of related experiance … I decided at the end of last summer after realizing the full potential of the venture was not only a reality, it had/has industry changing capabilities that had to be done … I’m not one to shy away from entrepreneural opportunities in my life … everyone whom I spoke to about the business, who is in the business responded the same … stating its a no brainer resulting in a list of individuals that are waiting in line to participate … be honest with you till just recently I have been literally shocked it hadn’t been done and may HAVE spent more time than nessisary making sure of its compliance with industry regulations because of my disbelief … there is a true need for this company, it provides way more than I can explain in a email … it really quite simple and developed through a natural “abritrage” … between industries that have been very unsucessful in intergrating product and service that go hand in hand, been tried for years … its not a exactly a secrit but for what ever reason has not been realized anywhere remotely close to its potential or quite franky properly … its affect to the bottom line income for an individual or to large companies is substaintial and realative … literally providing income charateristics the other lacks … such as what stocks and bond do for one an other … the company will have a huge affect on an industry already filled with entrepreneural people … its work flows already existing and performed daily … and as you mention in your post this is an industry that I love!! … one that many in my family eat, sleeps and breaths … I have no doubt you have heard or been pitched the old “next big thing” story so many times its not even funny … and I’m also quite sure at some point you knew with out a shadow of a doubt broadcast.com of potential well before it was ever realized maybe even just after its inception … I’m there now with HarborLife … I wouldn’t never, ever suggest results similar to broadcast.com but its potential is clearly in that realm … its going to happen … it makes so much since and provides so much for so many people its almost unthinkable that what we are about to do what hasnt been done ( in this application )or at least I thought till the last few weeks … I finally found a competitor that provides a similar service/ platform if you will thats has experianced substansial growth, to #6 in production nationally for a privately held company in specific area of our focus … the inception of this company is only a few years … finding this company only strengthens my understand and beliefs in what we are doing … our platform takes things to a whole new level and developed with same recongnition just from the other side of the isle where the business originates … funny our paths are very similiar in thought process that ultimately defined the business … I been to banks, family, friends and even got approach by a private equity firm that got wind of what I’m doing that wasted 6 weeks of time when they shelved there postion in the 11th hour of getting a deal done during October and Novermber of last year … its been a chore … yet for me no matter what it takes, one way or another I’ll get this done … all that being said I do have one problem … I do not exactly want my business plan placed on the internet for all to see … at least not with out a reason or incentive … if you have an interest I’ll gladly further explain, I think you’ll like and see its innovation immediately … its toatlly against the grain form old school idea … maybe we can work things out let me know … im not exactly seeing a business plan on these post anyway … I have a full business plan prepaired and update monthly while identifying goals … its time to do for this month now … I personally built the web-site as I taught myself how to build through Ibuilt.net that came out pretty good, I will get some prfessional help to finaize and expand for the business / recruiting side of the company which I already have something else in works utlizing the same concept applying to internet based production … the sites only for the operational side as of today or the wigit if you will … it needs some modifications … 90 days profitable with debt service not a prblem ??? its there now … its generating income today … you mention you have a standard plan ??? do you mind further explaining … I need been telling some of my buddies for very little capital … im talking about less than 6 figures … the company is closing to launch its programs now besides already generating services
Thanks
Dan
Comment by Dan -
Hey Mark, love the website and the open source idea…
Clearly energy drinks, bottled water and other soft drinks are products dominated by global brands. More recently, there has been a huge shift towards healthier options (natural juices, vitamin water, etc). What about bottled coolers with all-natural juice inputs. We’ve seen all sorts of new developments in the beverage industry but not much innovation in the bottled booze segment. So, I’m thinking bottled coolers, natural juice with no additives coupled with cheap, domestically produced vodka (entirely outsourced).
I really appreciate any advice/criticism you have on this idea.
Thanks,
Robbie
Comment by Robbie -
G’Day Mark,
I hope your project is global, cause here’s a pitch from Down Under.
http://www.slideshare.net/guest4229ad/startup-pitch-easy-bpay#stats-bottom
Needed AU$2000 (~US$1100)
I’m sure we can be cashflow positive in 90 days.
Cheers,
Comment by Gaurav -
Mark,
My idea is to make a television show about this process and all of the great ideas and businesses that will likely flourish as a result. This show would have many of the good qualities of the Apprentice, however the reward would be to run the business of your dreams rather than work for a one of Trump’s bankrupted businesses. You could take as large or small of a role in the show, frankly I think it could be successful either way. If one could ink a deal with a major network the venture could be more than profitable within 60 days.
Ben
Comment by Ben -
Take over and refurb. closed manufacturing plants and/or warehouses for indoor sports facilities in the N.East for kids and adults to play soccer,b-ball,lax, etc.
Recession proof as parents will always pay for their kids to play sports
Comment by JM -
A Starbucks like Indian Tea & Coffee Shop, also selling Bollywood Movies & Music
The Bay Area, CA is teaming with many Indian- Americas who are very affluent, well educated, have strong ties with Indian culture & traditions and have shaped the Silicon Valley landscape with many successful startups. This crowd along with their colleagues would love to hang out in such a place for meetings, social or business.
Startup investment is less than $100K with 24.8% returns in less than 3 months. I have the knowhow, the connections, the network and the enthusiasm to build one such. Just need to have the funding!
Comment by Dj Das -
Mark
Here is a link to my slideshow on a business geared towards heping people who are sick get control of their lives.
http://www.slideshare.net/rickfree/rick-freeman-business-plan
Rick Freeman
412-561-4752
Comment by Rick Freeman -
The Internet is broken!
If I want to search for software engineering jobs (or just any other types of jobs), I have to search through a number of different sites (career builder, yahoo hot jobs, dice, monster,…). I don’t think the need for employment justifies the amount of I spend on those sites, dealing with typing queries, struggling with broken/non-intuitive UIs and much more pain.
Sometimes I even use more generic search engines (like google) because not all job sites have every job opening.
We need a search engine for Jobs. In other words, all the different job sites need to submit their job feeds to a search engine that users will then use to look for jobs.
In fact, other broken areas might benefit from specialized search engines.
If we don’t currently have that, I’d like to work on it.
As far as the revenue model goes, this is profitable in so many ways!
Comment by Wagz -
The Internet is broken!
And today I’d like to talk about the “job search” area. It’s one of the broken areas that have a viable solution, and not just a temporary patch.
If I want to look for Software Engineer jobs, I have to search through a number of different sites (e.g. Career Builder, Yahoo Hot Jobs, Dice, Monster, …). I don’t think the need to find employment justifies the amount of time I spend on those various sites typing search queries, dealing with broken/non-intuitive UIs, and so many other broken parts.
We need to apply the same thing that [more general] search engines are doing to Job Search. In other words, all those different job sites need to submit their feed URLs to a “Job Search Engine”. And job seekers would then use the job search engine.
It’s that simple. Maybe it’s being done already. If not, then this is something that I’d like to work on.
I don’t think I even need to talk about the revenue model; this is profitable in so many ways!
wlucdor at gmail dot com
Comment by Wagz -
Contrarian Play. Creating the nation’s largest “green” contractor to install and market “green” products to the end user where there currently is none.
02:04 PM CST on Monday, February 16, 2009
By ELIZABETH SOUDER / The Dallas Morning News esouder@dallasnews.com
Oncor will pay cash to homeowners and businesses that install solar panels: Solar Energy Gains Ground in Texas
“In just talking to customers, there’s a lot of interest in solar water heating and solar photovoltaics, from people that sold the technology and customers that wanted it. But there’s no middle piece, the people to actually install it, market it to end customers, etc.,” said Michael Stockard, director of energy efficiency programs for Oncor.
Comment by DFW Genius -
Pingback: There’s No Replacement for Hard Work | Adam McFarland's Blog - Musings of a Balding 26 Year Old Entrepreneur
thanx for all the interest in Dinner & a Movie “Delivered” ya’ll…if you have any more questions here is my email
deanmalibu@gmail.com
Comment by Denton -
Mark
Thanks for leaving me hanging and hung out to dry on my concept
of cops vs xcons. Never a single response out of you and way to
waste my time,your blog has been useless to me!
Comment by Marshall -
The 2008 crisis has caused damage much deeper than what is perceived.
The credit freeze and threat of a series of bankruptcies of US companies are issues requiring immediate attention and swift solution.
The US and world governments as well as innovative American business owners and entrepreneurs are trying everything in their powers to get us out of this mess.
Hopefully the turnaround will come sooner rather than later. However even after the economy starts its recovery and asset prices start a long and slow ascend there will be one group of Americans that has been affected beyond repair.
Pensioners and retirees are facing their worst fears. Anyone that retired since 2008 and millions of people that were planning to retire in the next 5 years or so are pretty much stuck with nothing.
401k and other equity related savings and retirement plans have been eradicated. Plunging home prices coupled with a very thin housing market and complete lack of credit have deemed any plans of cashing out on home equity unfeasible. Hundreds of thousands of retirees were planning to sell their homes and move to retirement communities in Florida. Hundreds of thousands of advanced age employees about to retire face the harsh reality of having to extend their work life. Even worst numerous advanced age employees have lost their jobs and face the daunting task of finding a new job amidst 10% unemployment and having to compete against much younger and better qualified candidates. Many of these plans are not feasible any more.
To complete the nightmare, we have a faulty healthcare system that only sees rate hikes on annual basis along with shrinking coverage as healthcare companies try to maximize their profits.
A large percentage of people over 55 and their relatives find themselves in the position of having to overcome an enormous obstacle.
The idea here is to fill in the gap and employee many of these Americans across the country. They will be employed at rates well below current market rates. Employment will be part time but will provide with some much needed income. These seniors will be employed as call center representatives directly competing against cheap labor in India.
It will be a simple 5 step process: 1) program application 2) set-up 3) 2 week training session 4) 4 week trial period 5) employment
1) A simple application process with a form to be submitted either on-line or via fax
2) Upon approval set up of home PC via in-mail kit (for large communities set up of hub is possible)
3) Two week training program to get accustomed with software and policies of client
4) Four week trial period when with the help of supervisors agents get accustomed to process
5) Part time employment begins with a contract rolling on monthly basis
The benefit to US companies using this service will be cheap domestic labor, ease of set up and scalability. Most importantly however the benefit will come from a
“patriotic/American” profile for the companies and from better quality of service.
Clients will be much happier conversing with middle aged Americans than any “Abraham” or “Marry” with an Indian accent that in many cases is incomprehensible. All that while these companies are “supporting” senior American citizens.
Set up is easy though existing technology that is cheap, flexible and scalable (see ticker SAAS). Clients will pay fee per head.
Set up cost structure can be done in a couple different ways. Either by set-up fee charged to clients or to potential employees. Wi-Fi hot spots can be set up in senior citizen communities giving economies of scale.
More specifics (cash flows, projections, cost analysis, IRRs, etc) available upon request.
Comment by Dimitris Kavalekas -
Topless gentlemens clubs at every major hub airport. Expensive alcohol.
Called “LANDING STRIPS”
INSTANT cashflow…
INSTANT profitability….
… the next “Hooters”
The logo is hot. The branding is hot. The women will be too.
No need for me to post a PPM, executive summary, or anything like that. You already know it’s a winner. Two experienced, successful IT entrepreneurs at your service. Regardless of the time of day, no matter what the airport or concourse – we’ll have all the people and discretionary spending.
Dave Segal
York, PA
Comment by Dave Segal -
Hello Mark,
Thanks for the chance to persent my plan. Since there was no comment I assume your not interested and that’s fine. However, do you know of anyone else in your circle of friends that is interested in stimulating the economy as you are?
Thanks again,
Comment by Bryan Smith -
Mr. Cuban,
My idea is simple and will be profitable. In addition it will eliminate one of the nastiest and costliest mistakes people are currently making. I would like to buy the pay-day loan debt people have and set them up on short term (6 Month), 10-15%, loans to pay these outrageous loan sharks off.
How will we make sure they pay? Of course you cannot make sure they will pay you off but you can take a look at their budget and their current situation and make an educated guess of their ability to pay.
How will we make sure they use the cash to pay off the pay day loan? I will pay off the loan with them. I will take a personal interest in making sure they pay off the loan and are on the right track to taking over their finances.
This business will work and will make a change in some peoples lives. I would like to have the opportunity to make a difference.
Thank you and thanks for making this a possibility.
Comment by Mike Richardson -
Mark,
I did forget to mention your ROI on the Eastside Sports Arena project. Twenty percent (20%) per year of the annual Net Income or an estimated $400,000 per Arena location. With 20 Arenas planned by 2015, an estimated $8,000,000 annual ROI.
Thanks again for your consideration and please let us know if you have other questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
J. Mark Carpenter, Chairman
Eastside Sports Arena Project
Mesa, Arizona
(602)518-5553
Comment by J. Mark Carpenter -
Mark,
A note regarding our above proposed Sports Arena, it could also be named after a sponsor, ie. HDNet Sports Arena. Or, it could always be named Cuban Sports Arena. Bet Robert Sarver would love that! Wouldn’t that be funny since he has never returned any of our calls?
As we expand and build these Youth League Arenas nationwide, the Arena name(s) could change in each city or remain the same. Just a thought…
Anyway, thanks again Mark for reviewing our plan. It would be amazing to get this built for all the kids that will get the chance to play basketball, volleyball and soccer indoors…and maybe someday become Dallas Mavericks themselves.
Sincerely,
J. Mark Carpenter, Chairman
Eastside Sports Arena Project
jmarkcarpenter@yahoo.com
Comment by J. Mark Carpenter -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I am the Chairman of the Eastside Sports Arena project in Mesa Arizona.
The Eastside Sports Arena (ESA) is a $11 million complex housing 10 indoor basketball courts, 3 indoor soccer fields, 1 outdoor covered soccer field, 3 indoor batting cages, a sports themed arcade, an athletic apparel retail store, a sports lobby and PC media center, a game film room, concessions, snack bar, and more…
ESA is a HIGH END, UPSCALE sports arena featuring water fountains, sculptures, sports art, plasma TV screens, state of the art scoreboards…all climate controlled, ALL INDOORS! This 139,000 sq. foot structure will be home to over 20,000 youth sports league athletes from across the entire South East Phoenix metropolitan area.
The ESA would be built, pending funding, the summer 2009 in the city of Mesa, Arizona. An existing building at 1235 S. Power Rd. in Mesa, formerly a Costco, is proposed to be converted into the 10 court complex, one of the largest indoor Youth Sports Arena’s in the United States.
With three of the fastest growing cities in America located in the East Valley, as well as being located in one of the fastest growing counties (Maricopa) in the country, the ESA has the location and population base to emerge as a cutting edge frontrunner in the ever expanding “family sports and recreational fitness” market.
ESA was created to embrace and promote youth league team and individual sports, health and fitness, and family values….
Currently, over 80,000 East Valley children ages 4 through 12th grade, participate in area youth sports leagues2. Additionally, MAG Interim Socioeconomic Projections3 indicated that by 2030, Maricopa County is projected to more than double in population over the 2000 base population of 3.07, with an anticipated total of 6.24 million people. That means that the region will experience growth of approximately one million people during each decade, or 100,000 per year. That’s an estimated 160,000 youth sports athletes in the East Valley who will be seeking out sports leagues and facilities capable of providing adequate training, practice and game facilities and same level competition.
While there are a dozen or more youth soccer and basketball leagues in the East Valley that offer individual or team sport participation for youth ages 4 to 12th grade, none offer indoor practice times, few offer indoor game facilities, and none provide trained and certified coaches and/or referees. Most of these leagues are poorly run as a “part time business”. Very unorganized, very unprofessional, poor officiating AND they usually fail to communicate with their paying parents and athletes.
Typically, assigned league coaches (ie. parent volunteers!) must go out and find an outside court or field within the community where they can hold team practices and even play games. And the parent’s must sit and watch their child athlete practice for an hour or two each week, in the sun, with nothing to do and nowhere to go! The same applies for games. Until now…
With 80,000 current child athletes and their approximate 145,000 parents and 120,000 siblings all longing for a trusted place they can go to learn, play, compete and have fun…the time to build a youth league driven Multi-Sports Complex in the East Valley has never been better.
And, the times when the facility is not being used by full paying youth league participants and parents on evenings and weekends (during school year), ESA will provide it’s facilities to non-profit groups such as the Special Olympics, Muscular Dystrophy, Make-a-Wish Foundation, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, American Diabetes Foundation, Children’s Cancer Society, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Muscular Dystrophy Association, and many other state licensed and nationally recognized charitable groups specializing in children’s needs and services.
In addition, youth athletes who have transportation challenges, are provide free transportation to and from the ESA complex via ESA’s self-administered Pick-Me-Up arena bus and van services.
ESA will set the standard for programs designed and created exclusively for young athletes in America, providing the opportunity for all children regardless of race, income or ability, to participate and compete in an environment that celebrates their effort, their health, and most importantly, their happiness.
How the ESA Leagues, Sports Academies and Arena Facilities generate income is simple.
Parents enroll their children into one or more of the Eastside Sports Arena’s sports leagues and/or academies. Membership is much like a typical Sports Club, YMCA or Fitness Center. Parents start by selecting one or more sports or activities for each of their children to participate in for each quarter/season. A selection card offers two sports leagues (basketball and soccer), batting cage time, private lessons for four sports (football training held on soccer fields), individual or team training and sports camps. These are all options of which a player can choose one or more sports per ‘season’. Any child can play one or more sports each quarter or enroll in other Spots related programs as long as that sport has not sold out. Seasons run quarterly and the two sports leagues (basketball and soccer) offer a season ending playoff or tournament with medals and trophies.
Once an athlete is enrolled in his/her sport(s), the parents can also enroll for THEIR own sport(s) or activity which includes summer and Sunday adult leagues and personal training or private lessons. And, while their children are at their weekly one hour of practice time (per sport) or private lesson, Mom and/or Dad can hang out in the Sports Lobby or Media Center, answer emails, surf the internet, grab a snack, or spend time with their other children in the All Sorts of Sports arcade. ESA will be a “home away from home” for families and athletes who participate in any of our year round ESA youth sports leagues or events.
In addition, various citywide, regional, state and national tournaments will be regularly held at ESA resulting in up to 7,000 players, parents and ‘fans’ per day at ESA. These events, along with our regular league play schedule, will result in millions of dollars of revenue for the city of Mesa and the State of Arizona as well as over 100 jobs at ESA for Phoenix area residents.
Future plans to expand ESA into other markets such as the Phoenix west valley, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Atlanta, San Diego and Dallas will be implemented once ESA shows steady and substantial profits. This is likely to occur at the end of operational year one.
The Arena is estimated to profit over $2,000,000 anually with a minimal ramp up period due to this being the only multi-court indoor Arena in Arizona.
I have all the financials including budgeting in a 40 page report if you would like more details. I also have letters of recommendation from the City of Mesa, the State of Arizona and the Arizona Sports Commission. Everyone would love to have this Arena built we just have not been able to obtain the funding.
Thank you so much Mark for reviewing this and for your consideration of this project.
J. Mark Carpenter, Chairman
Eastside Sports Arena Project
Mesa, Arizona
(602) 518-5553
Comment by J. Mark Carpenter -
Mark – thanks for this opportunity.
My name is Tony Ross.
We manufacture the “only” in home 3D Gaming and Movie Player/Media Server available “today”. As you know, 3D is quickly becoming a hot topic and yet a niche market.
Our technology is proven and currently selling today. We have several major strategic technology partners supporting our market push.
It would be a pleasure for us to have you and your team to visit our office and demo the technology. The movie and gaming scenes come right off the screen. Feel free to visit our website http://www.glaciermediasystems.com.
We currently have shared office space, manufacturing facilities, and administrative services with a couple of all supporting partners. They believe in our product and have extended their support.
Our organization is totally flat, with everyone wearing multiple hats (sales, support, manufacturing, admin, etc.)
As with everyone else our problem is lack of operating capital and investors. Our investment thus far has come from personal saving, credit cards, and sweat equity.
We seek $50k – $75k per month investment.
This will be used to pay employees and for marketing.
Our systems and services are design to meet the requirements of all consumers. We believe establishing a brand name me early around 3D will be the key to our long-term and short-term success. The name is currently up for grabs, and we have created a little bit of a buzz in the market today. Google us…
Target Audience:
1. All Consumers
2. CEDIA Dealers
3. Retail Electronic Stores
4. Commercial Business
Products and Services:
1. Home Entertainment Media Servers (Music, Movies, Photos, etc.)
2. 3D Gaming and Movies Systems
3. Digital Home Lifestyle
We do it for Middle-America:
1. Our systems and services are design to meet the requirements of all consumers.
Why do our customers/clients care?
1. Our customers and clients want a user friendly product that makes home entertainment easy.
2. They are tired of the guest work and difficulty of integrating several different manufacturer products in order to delivery mediocre home entertainment.
3. We have developed an ALL-IN-ONE Home Theater server solution that delivers ease of use, a high quality system, and at an unbelievable price.
What does our company do?
1. We provide an affordable home entertain system solutions for the digital lifestyle for all consumers and incomes.
Why is our company different?
1. Our company has merged the best of Custom Audio Video techniques with Basic Information Technology creating an affordable experience like none other.
What is our company?
1. We are media server manufacturer, who is focus is on bringing entertainment technology into the home with reliability, ease of use, and a bit of Wow!
What environment is our company operating within?
1. We operate in both the CEDIA and Retail sales channel. The challenge is to offer a high quality product at a highly competitive price point that delivers that “WOW” factor.
What single thing does our company do better than any other?
1. We are the best in the industry at innovating and delivering best-of-breed products and services at a price no one else can match.
Overview:
1. We are 1 of 15 companies that are Gold Certified Microsoft partners
2. 3D Ready server providing solutions for both movies and gaming
3. Our systems are Dolby True HD & DTS HD certified
4. We have dynamic strategic relationships with key partners: Microsoft, Mitsubishi, NVIDIA, Seagate, ADM, Intel, Cortexa, Eparts, and Aspen Media Products, etc.
Comment by Tony Ross -
Mark,
Create a ticket marketplace for the Mavericks like the San Diego Padres have and then sell the idea to the other team owners. Low cost and big returns both quantitative and qualitative.
Why can’t teams become a reseller of second hand tickets if a season ticket holder can’t or isn’t going to attend a game? I worked in San Diego for a year and I would go to the Padres marketplace online and buy tickets from season ticket holders who couldn’t attend and print the tickets at my desk. The seller could list for a fixed price or auction but I never had to meet them in person since the Padres sponsored it and I could just print the tickets. I attended once every couple weeks because I could get good tickets near first base that otherwise would be unused. If I went to the ticket counter they would stick me way out in the outfield because they couldn’t access these tickets. This is a much better model than StubHub and as I am sure you noticed it doesn’t benefit anyone when seats go unfilled and it’s lost value. Why can’t all teams in all pro sports do this? Why would I go to any third party site if I could go to the Mavericks marketplace to buy my Dall Mavericks tickets. Your allowing StubHub to exist and profit off of your hard work. Not to mention wealthy season ticket holders won’t go through the work to list tickets there. They just won’t go.
Bottom Line
If a season ticket holder doesn’t want to attend they should be able to quickly tell the team and the team lists the ticket and the ability to print online. The ticket holder gets a credit and the ability to donate all or some of the proceeds to charity. The team coordinates maximizing profits and filling the stadium. most tickets should never go unused! Fill the stadium with fans that will inspire your team to win. How can you give 110% when the lower level is sparsely filled?
Benefit
(1) Maximize profits via resale of tickets and increased concessions (2) build fan loyalty and (3) win a few more games as a result of thrilled fans cheering the team to victory.
Comment by Brian -
Hello Mark, and thanks for the opportunity. I’d love to read your feedback on my idea, even if nothing else comes of this.
My idea centers around one central act that is a big focus and priority for most humans: Sex. Specifically, the porn industry.
Right now the porn industry is in the worst shape it has ever been in. The industry is being forced to “grow up” and become a legitimate sector and face the problems of legitimate businesses. It’s no longer a place where fly by night companies can swoop in, make a killing, and bail out. Not only is the industry suffering from economic problems, it’s also now facing a dilemma similar to what the music industry faced with Napster and file sharing communities (porn is dealing with sites like PornTube, PornHub, and other porn “tube” sites profiting from unlicensed copyrighted material). Some people think of this as a great time to completely avoid this sector, but I disagree. Naturally, the porn industry is not going to dissapear. Instead, the problems facing it will define the strong companies and remove the weak ones. In the meantime, it will provide a great bargain-basement acquisition shopping ground for companies ahead of the technological curve and ready to expand in troubled times.
How am I so sure? I’m the founder of a rapidly expanding porn company, with a strong focus on ‘new technology,’ that has been seeing consistantly increasing numbers throughout it’s existence. We’re not a huge company, we’re rather small actually. We have, however, grown very “grass roots style” over the last 4yrs, won awards, developed a great reputation, expanded our distribution to reach a worldwide audience (in both digital and brick and mortar sales), and expanded our business with very little outside funding and a whole lot of blood and sweat. Now, the company’s media and video unit produces original adult motion pictures that are distributed worldwide on DVD, video on demand services, and premium movie channels. The company owns thousands of hours of digital content, some acquired in buyouts and some produced in-house, and partners with more than 50 cross-platform distributors to provide the most exciting variety of adult entertainment available today. The company’s direct-to-consumer unit derives revenue primarily through subscriptions to its consumer-oriented adult websites. Content for the websites is obtained from our media division, or through licensing agreements with third party partners and content providers. Traffic to our consumer websites is primarily generated through either a targeted network of affiliates that earn a referral fee from us when diverted traffic converts into paying members, or “type-in” traffic in which users navigate directly to the sites by typing the addresses into their web browsers or search engine.
What I would like to do is take advantage of this economic down time to rapidly increase our market share and acquire a relatively small number of profitable but under-funded and under-marketed entities in the industry. These range from website operations to full fledged production studios, but all of the target entities provide exceptional value for the company in both revenue as well as additional content for worldwide sales and marketing. In addition, the acquisitions would provide great PR and solidify the general feeling that our company is here for the long run and capitalizing in a downtime (thus increasing both vendor and consumer confidence).
The key to these acquisitions, of course, would be cost-reduction. As I suggested before, this industry has encouraged and rewarded reckless business management for too long. The ability to reward such behavior is gone now, so the true businessmen are beginning to shine though and the industry is shaking up. I believe the key to success right now, for any industry really, is cost management. The amount of well known and well branded companies unable to survive in my industry alone, for no reason other than a lack of cost and growth management, is mind boggling. By successfully consolidating a number of companies in the adult industry under one umbrella, an across-the-board reduction in costs is inevitable, and the long term revenue inherited via the increased market share as porn becomes more and more mainstream would would be priceless.
I am confident my plan would be profitable within 90 days, and break even within 60. I am confident enough that I would bet my stake in my company on it, and more. As I mentioned before, the company has a well established brand, a great fan base, award winning products, and great distribution. Thanks to that, I will continue growing it regardless of your response, but if this is something you are interested in please do let me know (via email or public response, whichever works best for you) and I will forward you a prospectus immediately. I also understand many people may not be comfortable with my company, our industry, or an investment related to either one, and I completely understand if that removes this plan from eligibility.
Thanks for your time!
Comment by NonAbsolute -
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Thank you for being the wonderful person that you are,
We are all apart of the existence of one totality that transcends all human knowledge and all human comprehension. The existence of one totality is myths’ eternal fire, and will always inspire those who are lucky enough to have the energy, space, and time to ponder it. No two eyes have perfect sight. However, with the tools and senses we do possess, we may still find some valuable insights into the existence of one totality. No individual is always wrong or right. However, with the logic and intuition we possess we may speculate intelligently and converge upon ideas about the existence of one totality that best satisfy our common need and aspiration to achieve and maintain health and happiness. No individual wins in every fight. However, with the courage and wisdom we possess we may yet conquer our own ignorance, and come to a fuller, richer understanding of our place in this magnificent world.
Happiness is a balance of the emotional forces of the mind. Balance is a state of equilibrium reached by cancellation of all forces by equal opposing forces. Force is the capacity to cause change. Our thoughts, beliefs, and expectations about the existence of one totality are forces acting upon our emotions. Our emotions in turn are forces acting upon our bodies causing release of hormones, increase or decrease of our heart rates, shunting of blood flows and causing other physiological responses. To achieve and maintain health requires that our happiness be achieved and maintained and vice versa.
Scientists in various fields of study have found much to say about the theory that happiness leads to better health and behavior. There are completely new fields of scientific research that address the relationship between emotions and physical health. This scientific research seems to affirm the theory that optimistic thoughts, beliefs, and expectations about the existence of one totality have a positive influence on our health. Our optimistic thoughts, beliefs, and expectations about the existence of one totality are believed by scientists to improve our various health behaviors, our immune functions, and our biochemical functions in ways that make our bodies more resistant to illness and better able to recover from existing disease.
An infinite number, diversity and variety of myths about the existence of one totality only limited by our creative abilities and powers of imagination; are made possible by the existence of discovery and the existence of mystery. I think, believe and expect that optimistic thoughts, beliefs and expectations about the existence of one totality improve my health behaviors, immune functions, and biochemical functions in ways that make my body more resistant to illness and better able to recover from existing disease. A capacity to produce the most optimistic thoughts, beliefs and expectations about the existence of one totality; is the basis for choosing a belief in the one myth that enables me; to have the highest esteem of the existence of one totality; and is the basis for not choosing a belief in all other myths about the existence of one totality that are made possible by the existence of discovery and the existence of mystery. It is on the basis; of producing the most optimistic thoughts, beliefs and expectations about the existence of one totality; that I suggest belief in a most optimistic myth about the existence of one totality to others.
The House of Ideology is a model of the existence of one totality that we build within our minds to orient self towards the world and or to explain the world to self. I choose to build in my mind with ideas that are both possible and imaginable a model of the existence of one totality that enables me to have the highest esteem of self and the highest esteem of world. I am the High Ideologue of the House of Ideology: I am the authority that makes up my mind about self and all that I find: I am the architect of The House of Ideology that I build within my mind to orient myself towards the world and explain the world to myself. I build a foundation of truth and knowledge of theory based on scientifically reproducible discovery and derive from this foundation a standard of conduct that if and when adhered to by me is most likely to produce the most powerful physiological responses of health possible. I choose to add to this foundation of truth and knowledge of theory based on scientifically reproducible discovery, a framework of myth and fantasy based on mystery that if and when believed to be true enables me to have the highest esteem of the existence of one totality. I combine my foundation of truth and knowledge of theory based on scientifically reproducible discovery with my framework of myth and fantasy based on mystery to build a house of ideology that enables me to devote energy, space, and time to the most optimistic thoughts, beliefs, and expectations about the existence of one totality. Doing so enables me to produce in my mind the most powerful emotional responses of joy, faith and love imaginable and thereby balance the powerful emotional responses of sorrow, fear and anger that follow from the discovery of the impending disease and death of my seed body. This balance of emotional responses in my mind produces happiness. In this way, I converge upon a standard of conduct that best produces happiness and health.
Many of the life forms in our body consuming biosphere naturally build a model of the existence of one totality and use this in the process of orienting self towards the world and explaining the world to self. Out of an awareness of this fact and a desire to pursue happiness and health came to me the idea of founding the House of Ideology, a community of faithful believers. Through this community of faithful believers I challenge us to have the highest esteem of the existence of one totality; and to converge upon a standard of conduct that best produces happiness and health. The House of Ideology welcomes the active participation of anyone who wishes to join me in this effort.
The product of the House of Ideology is spiritual education, entertainment, and leadership. This product is currently packaged in the form of a book entitled the House of Ideology Manifesto; and posted on my official website located on the Internet @ http://www.4iam.info/Manifesto.htm. Chapter Eleven of the House of Ideology Manifesto offers a description of polity. Polity is the internal organizational framework, patterns of association, cooperation and governance, the structures that any given community of faithful believers uses to implement a doctrine and live out a commitment. Organization determines the relationship between local units and more general, coordinating bodies. Polity assigns content to different roles persons play in the community of faithful believers, as well as its affiliated agencies. I created this organizational framework in an effort to qualify for a tax exemption as a religious organization and failed to do so because I was unable to produce proof that there exists a meeting place devoted to providing spiritual education, entertainment and leadership to a regular congregation as is required. The reason for this was simply a lack of funds.
In the market place of ideas, people tend to vote with their money. If you invest in the House of Ideology, then I expect you will eventually get more than your money back because this is a great concept for a business that also has the potential to be tax exempt. Revenue streams could be generated from sales of spiritual education, entertainment and leadership experiences open to the general public. Additional revenue streams could be generated from sales of drug rehabilitation and life coaching services. Many people live by a habit of making oneself happy by thinking happy thoughts. Unfortunately, unpleasant life events, conditions, and circumstances may challenge and threaten ones’ ability to cope emotionally. It is at these times of crisis that one may turn to authorities for help. Some of these authorities may offer ideas that lead to emotional responses of joy, faith, and love and or physiological responses of health. Ideas are thoughts, beliefs, and expectations about existence. Doctors, clergy, philosophers, psychologists, self-help guru’s, scientologists, scientists, swami’s, hypnotherapists, entertainers, politicians, poets, and songwriters are some of the many who are interested in helping themselves by helping others ‘get back on the right track’ in the pursuit of health and happiness. Indeed, this is one of my goals as well: to help myself by helping others.
I am the High Ideologue of the House of Ideology,
Kevin Michael McDaniel
Comment by Kevin Michael McDaniel -
Mr. Cuban,
Below is the link to my business plan. Thank you for your time and consideration.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcjczdqs_12c9rfqt
Respectfully,
Jason Conley
Comment by Jason -
My parents started a company producing automotive floor mats. With credit being so difficult to get and car prices being what they are, many people are choosing to “refurbish” and upgrade their current rides. We do all of our own work, there are no “managers”. My father does the books, my mother runs the office, I take care of the website, marketing and supervising. My oldest son does our graphic designing. Currently we have three other employees, who manufacture our product. Our marketing budget in non-existant. I believe that if people knew we were here and what we do, this business would literally explode with business. We are barely a blip on the map right now, but the room for growth is astronomical. We have done custom mats for designers that work with Chip Foose, West Coast Customs, and Chrome Shop Mafia. I would be thrilled to share anything about our business, but I’m not sure where to start. Please ask questions that maybe more informative. Investing in our company will give you an oppertunity like no other. How are we different than our competitors? Check out our website … http://www.SuperiorMats.com. Thank you foryour consideration. Cindy
Comment by Cindy Walker -
Non-profit school for children with dyslexia needs your help!!!!!
During the 2008-2009 school year 5 students were given ½ financial aid based on a grant that is typically received for $40,000.00 during the beginning of the school year.
This year we did not receive the grant.
Also, 3 of our family’s fathers lost their job. The parents are unable to pay tuition; however, we feel we cannot dismiss the children from the school. So, we are talking about another $30,000.00.
We are financial $70,000.00 in need to pay out the remainder of our year, teacher’s salaries, etc. through July. At that point we would break even.
Our teacher training unit begins in June and continues in July, and those monies have supplemented the school year.
****The return on your money would be saving “The Mind of a Child”. We also would allow you the opportunity to become involved with our campus, and would even consider renaming our campus in your honor. We are housed in portables, and would love to be able to purchase a space to move the school into during the 2009-2010 school year. (We have looked at spaces that range from $700,000.00 to $900,000.00). We would like for you to consider investing in us, our dream, and the lives of the dyslexic child.
Beverly Dooley, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Comment by Beverly Dooley -
Mr. Cuban
I submitted my plans on Feb. 14 @ 2:53 A.M. & 3:18 A.M. and would like a response from you, that would be priceless to me. Thanks in advance.
Comment by S. West -
Mr. Cuban,
I have made one previous post, but I don’t think you got it because it does not appear on the comments, so I’d like to leave you another.
I’m sure you can tell by my website that the business I want to open is a laundromat. I belive that you will see from my business plan, which is on my web site, that I meet all of your criteria. There is also a floor plan, an equipment list and a Proforma for you to see. A demographic study has also been comnpleted and is available upon request. I have taken out the specific address of the laundromat because I do not want anyone to take the location that I want. I have no problem with anyone duplicating my ideas I’d just like them to do it far from where my laundromat will be!
Laundromats have been around for over half a century and one of the best things about a laundromat is that it is virtually recession proof. In fact, during recessions business actually picks up (according to the CLA, Coin Laundry Association). It is a cash only business, so there are no receivables.
If you choose to finance my laundromat then you will be strenthing the economy in my area by providing at least three to five people with jobs including me.
I am the mother of four active boys and I have a wonderful husband who I’ve been married to for over 17 years now. My husband speaks fluent Spanish, which will be an asset to our Hispanic customers, and has worked in the field of Information Technology for over eight years, so he will be active in setting up and maintaining all computers and electronic equipment. He has a BS in Behavioral Science and Health.
I have an AA in English and Speech and have worked part time most of our marriage in the Health Care field in Customer Service.
It has always been our dream to own our own business. It was about seven or eight years ago when I realized that I could do a very good job owning and operating a laundromat. I am a homeowner, but I do have to go to the laundromat about once a month to wash our comforters, area rugs, sleeping bags, etc. that won’t fit in my washing maching at home. I do not like going to the laundromat because all of the laundromats in my area are small, old and not very clean. There are always several machines out of order and there is always a wait for the big machines.
I noticed that the customers who have children with them often become very frustrated by the time they are done doing laundry because there is nothing for the children to do while mom or dad get the laundry done. Also, there is nothing for the adults to do either except read one of the magazines from 2007 that are lying around.
About a year ago I was in the laundromat and had to wait over an hour just to start my laundry because there are only three big machines in this laundromat and I had to wait for them to become available. So I’m sitting in this laundromat reading the same magazine that I’d read the last time I was there, and I was watching a little girl about three and her brother who was about five or six, run around this small laundromat while their mother tried to keep them contained and try to do her laundry at the same time. The mom was getting more and more frustrated by the minute and I was getting more and more frustrated by the minute too. Not because of the children, but because of the inefficency of this laundromat. I thought, “They really should have a place for these kids to play so that their mother can do her laundry. It would also be nice if I had something to do while I was waiting for my laundry.”
The wheels in my head started spinning and when I got home (four hours later, it should never take that long to do a couple loads of laundry at a laundromat)I told my husband that I’d had it and that I was going to open up a laundromat in our area that offered all of the amenities that the customers needed and wanted: A children’s play area, several large TV’s, free Wi-Fi, tables and chairs for people to sit comfortably to read or write or work while their laundry is being done, state of the art washing machines that use less water, gas, electricity and most of all TIME, than the dinosours that are currently in the laundromats in my area. Any I was going to have the cleanest most eco friendly laundromat in my state!
I began doing research on the Internet and after researching several manufacturers I decided to use Speed Queen machines because of their long histroy, quality, durability and energy efficiency. I’ve met with my local Speed Queen representative five times over the past year and developed a business plan and floor plan of the perfect laundromat. I have an amazing piece of land in the perfect spot in my area and have met with the owner/realtor twice and talked to him on the phone several times. He is giving me a fantastic deal on this piece of property.
I have been to two SBA seminars and taken most of their on-line courses regarding starting and running a small business.
Mr. Cuban, I am ready to begin construction tomorrow!! I am anxious and excited about this opportunity and would so very much appreciate your financial assistance.
I know this is probably different than what you were planning on financing. My one laundromat will not have a huge impact on our local ecomony, but it WILL have a huge impact on me and my family. You will essentially be making a dream come true for a little lady from Oklahoma who thought that her dream of owning her own business would never be a reality, especially in this economy.
It will have a huge impact on those customers who come to our laundromat to be able to finally do their laundry in a clean and pleasant environment.
Please take the time to look over my business plan and other information and seriously consider choosing me and my laundromat, Laura’s Laundromat, as one of the business that you would like to assist.
Thank you for your time.
Laura R.
Comment by Laura Ridley -
Mark,
I am posting another blog of another idea that hopefully will catch your eye. Like Kirkwood, the great lane of Indiana University, Broadripple, IN is a street full of life and color. Known famous for it’s bars, stores,late nights,and food, entering the fast food market with a brand new store would make a fortune. Now, my parents grew up around a growing burger joint called Maid-Rite and came up with the idea that we should put a Maid-Rite on the Broad ripple strip. This idea to start this business has been running through the heads of our entire family but the initial funding for this idea just isn’t there. We would make it a slogan, Late Night Made Rite and be open for all the drunk happy people from the Broadripple bars. If you know anything about a Made-Rite burger you know they are just absolutely delicious and If you know anything about Broadripple, which I am sure you are familiar with kirkwood, you would know it is a fantastic idea. I look forward to hopefully hearing from you. Much Respect,
Nate Wiersema
Comment by Nathan Wiersema -
I would like to open literacy centers to offer the special reading programs that children with dyslexia need to learn to read adequately. The public schools do not offer these programs without lots of legal fighting, labelling a child, and animosity. Moreover, when the child finally receives the instruction from the school it is often in a group setting and it is not always adequate. I would like parents of children who have dyslexia to have a private place to take their children and a resource for them to help them through their difficult journey. I have identified the reading program and the knowledge. I have the professional expertise. I need the start up funding.
Comment by annkent -
hello mr. mark.
here’s my cool concept.
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dckb6dkw_85cdz94xfj
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dckb6dkw_165gzhrjnc4
thank you for your consideration.
Comment by sean kimmel -
Hi Mark,
This is an awsome thing you are doing. I could’t believe what I was reading at first!
My idea is to open a salon that will cater to people who are underpriviledge and can’t afford to pay regular prices to look nice.
I want to open a salon for people who are trying to find a job and do not have the finance dress approipreate for job interviews. In my city we have welfare to work programs, that states people must work when their children is of age. I want to help them to look and feel good about themselves when going on job interviews by opening up a salon to provide dress etiquetts starting with proper hair styles and clothing.
I would also extend services to people with health issues. Appearances could also help them to feel better about life.
I am requesting 35,ooo to help purchase and renovate the building this would also buy supplies.
I will perpose to pay a 15% return upon said deadline.
Thank You
Gloria
Comment by Gloria -
Mr. Cuban
I am fellow Hoosier and Entrepreneurship major who is always thinking big. I am a very social person and think that if I were to run a Men’s Day spa with the focus and theme around sports men would feel more comfortable about taking care of themselves. Offer a cigar lounge with lots of T.V’s and a bar great food messages, manicures, pedicures, everything that Men would love to do to even hangout and getaway. I think it would be a huge hit in upper class cities where people are willing to throw some doe. With your name behind it as well, it would be the best Men’s Sports Spa out there. People need to slow down and relax and that would be the best way to do it. I would take the risk to run this business with the help of your funding. Let me know what you think!
Comment by Nate Wiersema -
Here is what I propose:
Get a cell phone company to partner up with a medical health record company who has a program that is currently being used in hospitals.
Offer a low rate of cell phone service for the floor nurses of the hospital, give them a cell phone that be used to collect patient data, include the ability to enter chart notes by the nurse, the nurse uses the cell phone network to update the patient information, the upload will be a destructive upload in that once the send function is implemented the cell phone would then empty itself of the data, make the monthly charge of the cell service tax deductible, and make sure the software on the phone is open source to better facilitate troubleshooting and also enabling incremental improvement in the functions of the cell phone, allowing each nurse to customize the features of the phone depending on the type of nursing being done, provide the training to program features on the phone to any nurses who want to lean how to do that, kind of like a widget, set up a website to sell the widgets for a small fee, I’m thinking of under five bucks, give a percentage of the sale to the nurse who wrote the widget or program, use the rest to fund the running of the website. The cell phone should have some kind of full keyboard that can be used easily.
This would cause the nurses to get invested in the electronic health record use, it would enable the nurse to begin the process of learning how to improve the device and be compensated for the effort in learning to program them, the company whose electronic health record program could then rapidly improve its product, the cell phone company would make money, the doctors would become more interested in the electronic health record, and communication would be improved throughout the hospital setting as many patients in the hospital bring cell phones with them they could easily get their nurse on the phone. My hope would be that it would decrease the response time to requests from the patients. One difficulty I can see right away is confidentiality, a nurse may leave the hospital without uploading all of the information entered in to the phone, this might be solved by having some GPS capability, so that the phone could automatically upload the information if the phone is a certain distance from the hospital.
One thing that has held back the use of an electronic health record is the reluctance of the doctors to embrace the idea of a computer record. If the doctors see the nurses using these devices that most all doctors already have, they would be easier to persuade to use technology to keep their info easier to enter and access.
I also think the doctors might see that if nurses can program these devices to their liking and then sell that program, and make money from using the device, they might want to do the same.
The hospital benefits by reducing potential errors, the nurses benefit be having a phone that they are allowed to use for their personal use as well as for work, allowing for the tax deduction, the cell phone companies benefit by enlarging market share and customer usage of the service provided, the doctors benefit by having a device that quickly and accurately provides patient data in a simply operated cell phone, and the patient benefits by having their records available quickly.
I am not sure how this would be accomplished but I see google has a good phone that uses open source software, as far as I understand it, I don’t know which EHR company would be willing to do this, and I am not sure how the phones could be programmed, but Sourceforge is an ideal repository for a model of archiving programs, the payment model would be something like I-tunes. And the website could be something like a google homepage. The thing that would need to be understood is that the information should be as visual as possible. Pulling up a patient’s page should allow an almost instant Gestalt of the patient’s current condition and should allow for a highlighting of poor lab results, or a quick assessment of trends over time using many of the principles of envisioning information as codified by Edward Tufte.
I have no background in finance, so I would need lots of help with monitizing this idea, and I would also need help in partnering with an EHR company, a cell phone company, and a company who could put up a secure website to keep trak of the programs and patient information pages.
My e-mail address for anyone who would like to help me with these ideas is:
Karendotgarrettasteriskcomcastdotnet
Comment by patrick garrett -
What it is:
I have an existing business, Redema, LLC, selling my newly-patented Redema Ottoman Footrest. My motto is “Redema your soles and more with the most versatile ottoman footrest.” The name “Redema” comes from a combination of the words “relieve” and “edema,” or swelling. It is the most adjustable, portable, supportive and lightweight footrest or ottoman available. It is simply easier to call it a Redema instead of the previous sentence!
The response to this product has been consistently enthusiastic.
Those who suffer with pain, circulation issues, swelling (edema), those who are recovering from an injury or surgery or are just frustrated by sitting because they have short legs have claimed to have greatly benefited from use of the Redema Ottoman Footrest.
The Redema Ottoman Footrest is useful for public events, such as sports events, concerts, expos, conferences, theme parks and meetings. It is also pleasant to have outdoors for tailgating, camping, lounging by the pool and RV use. However, most people purchase a Redema for use in their homes, offices or while traveling by air. From sports players to senior citizens, the Redema is a hit!
The Redema Ottoman Footrest has been introduced all over the globe in each major continent since its debut in 2007. As of now, not a single one has been returned that has been used. The challenge remains to get the word out and to physically get it where it is wanted at an affordable cost.
I have sold it between 3-5 times the cost of manufacturing, packaging and shipping from China.
What I need:
I have invested everything I have to get this going up to the first run on manufacturing. To be profitable, I would need approximately 300K to cover current cost and allow more extensive promotion and manufacturing to occur over the next 90 days.
I would greatly prefer that the manufacturing be done this next round in the US (as opposed to China where my first run was done), but the expenses would be significantly be higher. With this approach, I would expect the need to be closer to 450K. Yet, I would be more than proud to have this product marked “Made in America,” knowing I could help keep a few more of us hardworking Americans at a paying job normally sent abroad.
What Mark receives in return:
The bigger the manufacturing run + the more extensive the promotion –> the better the sales + the bigger the profit in customers feeling better physically, Americans working, and for us monetarily. I will gladly return 25% of all financial profit as my “Thank You, Mark,” for your generous investment.
Comment by Karen Tinsley-Kim -
BIG! BIG! BIG! Business idea. I know it does not qualify for this plan. But if you’re interested in funding an idea that is truly unique but at the same time draws from markets that have already proven to be profitable. This idea can generate thousands of jobs. Support, stimulate & revitalize several different business markets. idea & plan is for You Eyes Only!
Comment by MIKE MURRAY -
Linda Macon
Essie Mehtab
March 2, 2009
Mark Cuban
Dallas Texas
RE: HELP PROVIDING & FINANCING FOR NEW AND PROFITABLE IDEAS
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I was very enlightened to hear your generous offer to help out the less fortunate by offering to help people out with any type of business idea that they cannot afford to pursue. Mine is in relevance to a patent that I submitted around August 2008. Although, I haven’t received any response on it, I don’t have the finances to put it on market or bring the plan into fruition. The basic idea I am trying to portray and have patented is for all sports attire-pop warner through the professional leagues. This concept is to make clothing attire such as caps, hats, sweats, jerseys, t-shirts, sneakers, socks, etc. that embodies the colors and logos of more than one team with some having home and away colors.
For ex: T-shirt (front side) Dallas Mavs Logo & color (back side) Dallas Cowboys Logo & Color or Texas Rangers (front side) Logo & Color with Dallas Stars (back side) Logo & Color. This concept will be applicable for every city and state in the USA. Another ex:(Starter Jacket) New York Yankees Logo & Colors (front side) and N.Y. Giants Logo & Colors (back side) with – N.Y. Knicks (right side) N.Y. Jets (left side).
Some attire may only contain two teams with their Colors & Logos; others may have a catch phrase instead of another team on back side. Such as: Game Over, “Get Your Popcorn Ready”, No Haters, Defense, Play Hard, Play to win, Play Like a Champ, etc. This idea can also be event specific such as: Final 4, Super Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl, World Series, NBA Championships, State Championships, etc. Ex: Two Super Bowl teams such as Pittsburg Steelers & Arizona Cardinals Colors & Logos. This is applicable for all sports attire including making some caps double bibbed, (front side) with team Colors & Logos (back side) with “away” Colors & Logo or with catch phrase.
Ex: Dallas Mavs Logo & Colors (front side), catch phrase or “away” Colors & Logo (back side) or Dallas Mavs Logo & Colors (front side) & 2nd team Logo & Colors (back side)-Dallas Cowboys.
Another Ex: One sweat leg (front side) might be Pittsburg Steelers Color & Logo with the other leg possibly being the Philadelphia Seventy Sixters colors & logo with the backside having Pittsburgh Pirates colors & logo on One leg (backside) & Philadelphia Eagles on other leg (back side) or catch phrase or Philadelphia Seventy Sixters might be on front side & play like a champ as a (catch phrase) on back side. More examples are: Washington Redskins Colors & Logo (front side) and Washington Wizards Colors & Logo or Washington Nationals (back side).
Page 2
Also, this will include any and all high schools throughout the nation. Ex: Lincoln High School Tigers Respective Color & Logo (front side) with a catch phrase on (back side). I am aware that I will need authorization from the commissioner of each league (for probably a percentage of sales). Mr. Cuban, I know this will be a profitable business & you have the expertise, finances, and knowledge to make this idea successful! The entire line of sportswear will be called or named “The Mehtab Collection”. Thanks in advance for your willingness to assist me in this matter.
Sincerely,
Linda Macon
Essie Mehtab
Comment by Essie Mehtab -
Well, spoke too soon. My posts are back up sans comments. I’ll keep checking my e-mails, but it seems like the Wonka’s Golden Ticket has eluded me. Go Mavs!
Comment by Scott Powers -
Link and intro disappeared; is this a good sign?
Comment by Scott Powers -
Wow, this did pay of, nearly 2000 comments.
I wish I read that post yesterday, yesterday I just started an Initiative to help bloggers publicize their blogs faster than you can imagine.
I decided to start it without any investments at all at a small range.
Will post details on my blog soon, it started paying of already 😉
Comment by Shadi Philip -
Folks,
I get the feeling that anything I write here is blocked. I’ve submitted my business ideas three times for the last two days and I still don’t see it here. Am I missing something???
Would anyone let me know.
Comment by Hirecules -
Mr. Cuban –
I have a proposal that is extremely lucrative already and will become more lucrative if and when real estate prices fall further.
THE OPPORTUNITY
My proposal is a bank that lends to customers that have rationally decided to walk away from their underwater mortgages. In exchange for a large up front payment, our bank will guarantee a line of credit and a pre-qualified mortgage to homeowners that want to voluntarily walk away from their mortgage if they had high credit scores previously.
This is a lucrative niche. Millions of homeowners who still have the cash flow to easily pay their existing mortgage would prefer to walk from those mortgages in order to lock in a lower house price on a new purchase. Even though almost all mortgages are non-recourse, these homeowners are deterred from this path because their FICO score would be decimated and they would not be able to get a new mortgage.
Our bank will work with these homeowners to extend them an offer for credit before they let their current bank to foreclose on the mortgage. Our fee will be an upfront fee of about 3% of the total credit we guarantee to them. They will happily pay 3% because it will enable them to lock in property prices that have fallen 25% or more and leave their bank holding the large loss on their old house.
The 3% upfront will enable us to break-even within the first quarter of operations but we will generate additional profits over time from the above-market interest rate we will charge. After 7 years when the default ages out of their credit score we will also be able to sell these mortgages as prime mortgages.
If you like, you could further magnify the returns by shorting house price indexes or buying default swaps on the regions we heavily target or shorting the banks that have significant exposure in those regions as we would be increasing their default rate (note – need to investigate the short aspect for legality).
YOUR ROLE
As this is a highly capital intensive plan you would probably want to be a lead investor but not the sole investor. With a moderate investment we could start lending immediately after clearing basic regulatory hurdles. However, with your investment we would also have the credibility to approach a number of pension and private equity funds. Many of these investors are keen to invest in the banking sector but are looking for banks that do not have overhang from mortgages issued at the peak of the boom. We would be extremely attractive to them.
INVESTMENT REQUIRED
The minimum investment would be approximately $600K to enable us clear the regulatory hurdles and hire an experienced banking compliance lawyer and engage an auditor. If you would broker introductions to other large potential investors, your investment would be much more effective and you could get a quicker assurance that this is a viable business plan.
YOUR RETURN
100% of the equity. You may choose to give up some of this as we line up other investors, but you start as the 100% owner and have complete control how much you decide to dilute that stake in return for expanding our capital base and hence the amount we can lend. (Note we will still be able issue non-voting preferred shares for ordinary capital raises).
100% equity will make it easy for you to ultimately sell the business if it proves profitable or dispose of if it does not meet your expectations. Why mess around with these illiquid 20-30% stakes others are offering?
Why would I give you 100% equity? Simple – if this project succeeds my involvement will be adequate compensation and this success will give me the credibility to raise capital for other businesses down the road. I’m young and have plenty of time left to leverage this success in the future.
If you would feel more comfortable with me investing along side you, I am willing to do that as well. I will also work for free for the first 6 months.
If this of interest, I will make a more complete pro forma available along with a more detailed presentation.
Alex
Comment by Alex F -
Mark,
I doubt you’ll see this, but I’m going to make this one short but sweet.
I’m sure this can be tweaked, but here’s the general pitch:
HOT TUB RENTAL business aimed directly at COLLEGE KIDS.
I’m a college kid myself, and I know this is something there is a high demand for.
I PERSONALLY surveyed 50 random students at 3 of the 4 Universities I would be providing this service to. (as we build, I could easily branch out to others also)
There was a overwhelmingly HIGH DEMAND for this service.
Listen, we party, we drink, we try and have sex as much as possible, and we’d like to do all of those things in a HOT TUB. And most of us either live with 3-5 other people, or have plenty of friends that can pitch in for this service with NO problem.
I will advertise through word of mouth (free), provide all of my friends with T-shirts promoting the service. ($50-$100)
Once I pay off the first tub and trailer, I could bump of the marketing campaign (I’m a Sales & Marketing Major, Web Developer)
-They can CALL ME or go on the WEB SITE to make their rental order. There will be a calendar that allows them to pick ONLY available dates.
– They can PAY ME in person or thru the Web site.
-8-12 person hot tub will be dropped off on a platform Trailer, pre-filled & heated. (possible with propane heater) The trailer will be customized with steps and railings for safety. And if we wanted to get flashy, we could implement a sound system,fridge, television’s, etc…..
-I will charge them a rental fee. I will offer HOURLY, Daily, Full Week, Weekend rates.
-They will sign a WAIVER/CONTRACT that state we are not responsible for any damages, injury.
-Will also require a DEPOSIT.
-I will be the ONLY employee until I PAY OFF THE FIRST TWO HOT TUBS. I will: design/create/operate the website, track the accounting, drop off/wash/fill the tubs.
-I can start off with ONE hot tub until initial investment and interest is paid off. Then I could take it from there.
– I wouldn’t need that much to start, maybe like 8k-12k, which could EASILY be made back within the 90 days. My goal would be to generate $1k per week which is a realistic under-estimate.
-The only upkeep cost of this business would be:
Hot tub repair (the product is under warranty during the time of your investment)
water to fill/wash
gas for the vehicle hauling the trailer (almost any with a hitch, but I have a Explorer)
chemicals (usually come with a large supply when hot tub is purchased)
BOTTOM LINE:
I wish someone would just give me a trial period to show them I could make some serious money from this service. I’m popular(not to sound egotistical, but knowing people will help me boom), in college,smart, and business-minded and all of these things will help me succeed in this aspect.
If you think this is a idea that you could entertain, or seriously invest in, I’d be more than willing to come up with a more concrete,detailed business plan.
If ANYBODY sees this and has any comments/suggestions, feel free to email me at jru2[at]uakron[dot com]
Comment by Justin Urich -
MY NAME IS GLENN MACLEAY AND I HAVE DEVELOPED AN INVESTMENT PLAN THAT DEMONSTRATES AN INVESTMENT PLAN THAT GENERATES 10-20% RETURN IN ANY MARKET USING PAIRED ETFS. IT REQUIRES 5-10 MINUTES A DAY OF TRADING AND MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO SMALL OR LARGE INVESTORS LOOKING TO SUPPLEMENT A WORKING INCOME WITH THEIR INVESTMENTS. IN THIS WAY, IT COULD BE A GREAT BENEFIT TO WORKING MOTHERS, FATHERS OR STRUGGLING PEOPLE. I NEED VERY LITTLE CAPITAL AT PRESENT AS I HAVE PUT MOST OF THE MONEY IN MYSELF AND THE WEBSITE IS READY TO GET GOING. I NEED THE CAPITAL FOR MARKETING, ADVERTISING, AND PROMOTING MY E-BOOK AND IN DEVELOPING MY OWN TRADING AND TRADING BLOG WITH THIS SYSTEM. COULD YOU HELP? I AM A SPURS FAN THOUGH! FROM SAN ANTONIO TEXAS. I WOULD NEED SOME TIME TO REPAY THE LOAN, BUT WOULD STRUCTURE THE LOAN AS A PROMISSORY NOTE IN THE AMOUNT OF $200,000 AND WOULD REPAY YOU AT 8.5% INTEREST. THE GREAT THING ABOUT THIS PRODUCT IS THAT THERE ARE NO COSTS BEYOND THE MARKETING THAT I HAVE DESCRIBED AND IT WILL BE PROFITABLE IN A VERY SHORT TIME.
THANKS,
GLENN MACLEAY
PHIL. 4:13 I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME.
Comment by GLENN MACLEAY -
Mark-
First off, thanks to you for giving companies like mine an alternate source for financing during this period in history. Too many banks and individuals are running scared, and hiding under the table, waiting for the storm to blow over. Most of them fail to realize that storms dont just destroy, they can also clear the way for new building and new opportunity.
My company is called A/V armor and we are one of those opportunities. We manufacture weather-resistant and theft resistant enclosures, mounts, and devices for the audio visual industry. We are a relatively new company, but already making a name for ourselves. We fit all of your requirments for investment and are teetering on profitable, as we sit, after only a couple of months in business. The investment money would be used to take our products national, hurtling us past the growth barrier we are at right now.
The below link is to a brief outline of our company that I posted on Googledocs for your review. If you would like further information, my contact info is at the end of the outline.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcx3kcdr_0cgvvq3dh
Thanks again for your time!
Comment by A/V armor, Ron Birkla -
Mark,
I actually have three pitches; all viable:
1) I began my own consulting business in mid 2008. (The Small BizNest LLC)
I work with start-ups and small businesses to take their sales/marketing/business development efforts to the next level. The consulting work is a short term revenue generator as I build my website into a destination/community for business owners where they can find free information on all aspects of running a business. The site will generate revenue from strategic partners like Intuit, FedEx, etc. (revenue share and not advertising).
I need about $20K to finish the site, launch and promote the site, and to market my consulting services and secure at least 6 months worth of consulting business to maintain cash flow.
I will pay a 20% return on any investment.
2) I just got a trademark this week for a brand of apparel (t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, etc) that will resonate with two audiences, a) anyone who needs to laugh at the difficult times we’re all facing and b) sports fans who love promoting their favorite rivalries. I plan to implement an element of crowd-sourcing like http://www.threadless.com but offer better revenue sharing to the artist community.
I need $40K to build a website, promote the site/brand, print inventory, marketing budget for pitching retail partners.
I will pay a 20% return on any investment.
3) This is a non-profit play. I’m interested in getting involved with the political process in this country like I never have before. The current state of affairs in this country is simply unacceptable and I know I’m not the only American who is fed up. I created http://buckthegovernment.wordpress.com with the goal of raising funds (a “buck” from everyone who cares)that to launch a social/web 2.0/crowd-sourcing/PR wildfire that can not be ignored. Equally as important as the funds would be the stories from frustrated taxpayers.
I need $10K to quickly drive awareness/traffic and build community/raise funds. The more funds we raise, the more noise we make; the more noise we make, the quicker we enact change. If the Obama administration is so “wired” and listening to the people, we shouldn’t have any trouble getting their attention.
I will pay 10% on any investment.
Thank you for your time and feel free to contact me with any questions.
Regards,
– John
Comment by thesmallbiznest -
BACKGROUND
NATURE OF BUSINESS
We are considering the purchase of an existing business that currently has $1.2 million in revenues and provides healthcare exclusively for women. This business was started 25 years ago by a Doctor that still owns and runs the business. We are in a position to purchase this already-profitable business from the Doctor for approximately $1.5 million.
Presently, the facility employees three doctors, including myself for the last six months. Since, I have started working at this facility I have been able to see all aspects of the business including how it is doing financially. With my 35 years of experience in the medical field (specializing in women’s healthcare) and previously owning another similar medical facility I have been able to assess the financial stability and this opportunity for investment.
In 100% of the cases, payment is rendered at time services are provided and payment consists of the following: 80% Cash and 20% Credit Card. Business is NOT dependent upon any insurance (i.e. PPO, HMO), Medicare/Medicaid or any other governmental programs. As such, there is NO Accounts Receivable. Most of the services provided are specialized and unique, similar to lasik or plastic surgery. Therefore, insurance rarely covers these services.
The current patient mix consists of 40% that are recurring. Approximately 25% of the patients come from physician referrals.
This referral network is one in which I am very familiar with and is well respected within this group. It should be noted that many of the referring doctors consult with me on a recurring basis.
MARKETING PLAN
We will continue with the yellow page advertising that is currently being employed, in the Dallas/Forth Worth Market and ads in smaller surrounding communities in North Texas and Oklahoma.
In the age of the Internet, we will make maximum use of getting our name out in the marketplace. We have contacts to a web design company to host our website. This Company works exclusively with Women’s Clinic only throughout the United States. This advertising medium is growing rapidly and is not currently being utilized by existing ownership.
Additionally, we will advertise in the Hispanic marketplace utilizing yellow pages and Hispanic TV network.
DISCUSSION OF P&L
In FY 2008, this facility had total revenues of approximately $1.2 million. This current revenue base is derived from a pricing structure that has not been updated (i.e. increased) in over 3 years. Since I have started working at this facility I have noted that there is tremendous opportunity to both increase revenue (by improving existing services and adding additional services) and cutting expenditures (by improved purchasing decisions and careful management of labor). The business currently has 20 workers in various capacities (i.e. doctors, nurses, medical assistants, and front office staff).
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
If we buy this business outright the cost will be $1.5 million, which is not fully negotiated, as result it may be less. It is an already profitable business thus the only investment needed is up-front purchase cost. Immediate return on investment can occur from DAY ONE.
We are prepared to payback the investment in a timely manner with reasonable interest and/or offer an equity position in the company. We have full P&L’s for 3 years compiled which include repayment options on the investment that will be discussed in person with you.
Comment by J.S. Walia -
Mark
With the economic downturn and with the potential of years to recover. More and more families and people are staying home to be entertained.
In addition, everybody thinks they are an expert on music and movies and sports.
This idea can be adopted either on a national basis or locally as tastes vary as you go across this country and around the world.
Create a website that everyone can create their own compliation collection of songs or video or movie bits and once completed the creator would get a percentage of the sale.
You would provide the web servers and connections to entertainment industry and copyrights rules.
In particular, I am an expert on Detroit rock from the 70’s, my music collection would contain music from bands like MC5, Mitch Rider, J Gelles Band, Amboy Dukes, and Bob Seger.
Another example is movie clips on Bill Murray, his famous Caddyshack Cinderella story clip along with his speech from Stripes on what it means to be an American and the classic scene as Hunter Thompson doing the Super Bowl in a Miami hotel room.
People purchase the Detroit rock or Bill Murray collection, MPAA gets their cut, then a cut for you amd cut for me.
Everyone could propose their collection and eventually once everyone is hooked then charge a fee based on return of investment or don’t charge a fee.
These sites can be created by anyone, anywhere so the potential is there for lots of people around the country to profit.
With your connections, the entertainment industry might also loosely their purse strings to generate an extra stream of income that they are currently missing. Maybe even open up the NOT list of songs and movies clips not currently available, like Led Zepplin and the Disney classics
This model can be adopted at every age level, even young kids can propose a collection of clips from their favorite Jones Brothers moments.
Obviously, rules will be set in place to stop porn, nudity or other items against public trust. YouTube already has lots of clips for free, but this could contain extended versions and even comments from the people involved. Similar to the info-mercial
on TV but without having to watch Don Rickles for 30 minutes explain about who was on the Dean Martin roast that week.
I already have the webdesigner and of course the expert tastes
in music, movies and TV and only need the expertise that you provide in copyright rules and entertainment industry.
Whether you pursue this idea or not, I hope that everyone sees this and develops their own websites to make them richer instead of going to ITunes and making Steven Jobs richer.
Comment by Larry Visconti -
Hi Mark,
I submitted the idea for the online education website. I checked my personal finances and have enough for 6 months. That means that all the money I borrow will be used for the company. I’ll forgo the trip to Vegas. I’ll pay 20% APR and will have the loan repaid by the end of the year. Schools start in September, so my customer base will increase then. The account will be at your bank. There will be 3 major needs, money for teachers to edit it, 6 laptops for people I’m employing as well as their monthly pay, and the website itself. I need to get 3 bids on that.
Dave
Comment by dave eastwood -
Mark,
I am the VP of Operations for ScavengrNET.com and we launched on 2 Feb 09. The purpose of our site is to bring together targeted marketing, social networking and gaming to one site. The concept is simple: create “Hunts” that bring the desired content to the Hunter. The “Hunts” are mulitple choice questions about that particular site or specific page, utilizing whatever content resides on that page. We have developed the concept so social networking sites and the infinite contact within it are maximized by allowing players to invite friends, blog and more. Additionally, we are developing an IPhone application that will allow a version of our game to be played on it. The gaming aspect brings competition and reward; the games requires both speed and accuracy (without sacrificing the message presented). The possibilities are endless and while we are not a search engine we do a very cheap alternative to any Pay-Per-Click model or search engine optimization. Why pay outrageous fees in hopes of that random search when you can pay 75% less, reach the same audience with what YOU want them to see or learn about? I can create a demo that shows not only the current capabilities but what it can do in the future. Check out our site and I would love to hear your feedback.
Comment by Brian Riffey -
Mark
I forgot investor gets 100 percent of profit until initial investment is paid back and the 45% percent over the next 4 years. I have no escape clause because I feel that is the first sign of doubt in your business.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddh6cph3_1dh7c4ksr
if you have ANY questions I have the answers.
Comment by Denton -
Mark ,
Here’s the idea. Simple, little to no over head, and quick turnaround on investment.
Partner with staffing agencies who have a ton of candidates coming to them for openings. There aren’t enough positions (obviously). I would offer career counseling services including resume writing, online career assesments, interviewing skills, etc branded other their company name and offered thru their national offices and company websites. The staffing agency benefits by profiting from candidates they can’t place and my team handles referrals.
Costs associated with developing of website should be south of $20,000. This is a direct sell is to the corporate ops of staffing agencies. Your stake is 25%. Once sell made, easily/ quickly recoup investment.
Comment by Matt Lo -
PS. My students use no calculators to do logarithms or any other math. It’s all mental. Dave
Comment by dave eastwood -
Hi Mark,
Off the top of your head, what’s the log of 400 and log of 200? Now add them. My 8th graders could do that after 2 hours. Oh, yeah, subtract them.
I’m a math teacher and author. I’ve written the files for 2nd grade to algebra and now I just need a website. I want to employ 4 recent college grads upfront as well as others to expand the courses to science.
Everybody complains that american kids don’t know anything. Well, I did something about. I started this in my remedial math class and I’ve expanded it.
First, I’ll meet with a rep from your company to show it works. If it works out there, I’ll move to Dallas. (I’m single) I lived in Austin and like Texas.
How much? 25k. This isn’t a cheap website. I’m aiming to support 10,000 student upfront. Marketing? First unit in each course is free. If the student likes it, $5.95 to finish it. That’s $60k if everybody takes 1 class, but people will take more classes and I can expand.
It’s not just for kids. Older people, prisoners, etc. The more classes, the more possibilities.
I used my method when I substituted for algebra 2. They had bombed the test after 2 weeks of work. I taught them for 20 minutes and the kids told me they learned more in 20 minutes than in the 2 weeks.
You want to make a difference. Make a difference in the classroom, whether it’s home school or public.
David Eastwood
Comment by dave eastwood -
My “business” is actually a charity…albeit unique!
When disaters strike, who responds? Volunteers! People from all walks of life, all areas of expertise, all there to help their fellow Americans.
Where do they stay? Initially, many will be in tents, makeshift bunkhouses and the like. But widespread destruction requires long-term commitments. How many days and nights would you spend volunteering if you had decent housing?
Heavenly Housing was created for this single purpose…to provide decent long term loding for volunteers. Here is how it works:
1. disaster strikes
2. Heavenly Housing volunteer responds to area and makes a land purchase, secures building permits, etc.
3. pre-framed housing package is purchased from New Hope Construction ( TN ) which is ready to ship in 21 days!
4. home is contructed with volunteer and paid labor support.
5. home is available within 90 days for the long-term recovery of the disaster area to volunteers of any organization with a donation of $10/day.
6. moneys generated pay for utilities, insurance, etc.
Heavenly Housing has established a budget of $125,000/ home and sees a need for homes in MS, KS, LA, TX, CA….
Rebuilding and revitalizing neighborhoods with volunteer labor is essential to re-establishing the communities and the economies of those communities. No real profit here, other than the investment into American lives!
Comment by Lauren Brasile -
Mark,
This proposal meets your criteria.
We are an existing, established Open Source computer company, eRacks Open Source Systems, which is marketing-constrained.
We are self-funded, privately owned, and therefore have no previous venture or investment-capital ownership.
We are already roughly break even (although it varies by month and time of year, the average is roughly break-even, which includes debt service).
Our products range from rackmount servers with preconfigured Open Source certified application stacks, such as webservers, mailservers, firewalls, to qualified and tested Linux and BSD-based rackmounts, to QuietByDesign(tm) and Short-Depth rackmounts, to fill Studio, Broadcast, and Home-Theater applications.
We are also seeing significantly increased demand of late for Linux-based desktops, laptops, and Netbooks – especially as more corporations and governments roll out programs to migrate portions of their infrastructure to Open Source.
Your description of “Jump start” is exactly what we need.
We seek capital for growing and expanding our business, primarily for Marketing (including Branding and PR), but also for debt repayment, to start with a clean slate. (Over the years, we have accumulated a debt load which currently eats the profits – We would be moderately profitable already, without our debt load.)
As an Open Source company, we are perfectly positioned right now, for growth and expansion –
Several recent articles in the Information Technology media have talked about how the sentiment and attitude towards Open Source and the framing of questions have shifted from “Should we look at open Source?” to “When do we get started, how much can we save, and by when?”.
We are already well-known in the Open Source space, and we are the only rackmount server company (or general computer system vendor, for that matter) listed in the prestigious “Open Source 50″: http://www.thevarguy.com/the-open-source-50
So, our marketing campaign needs to shift our target audience from the current sysadmins who already know they want open source, to a get-the-word-out message to the general public, targeting former fence-sitters, now Open Source adopters.
Now is the *perfect* time, due to both the current economic conditions as well as the changing role and rapidly growing acceptance of OSS, to do this.
The payback and ROI for you, can be in one of three ways:
– Equity in the company (exact % TBD depending on investment)
– Debt payback (interest % rate / payback schedule TBD)
– A combination of both
Another additional benefit to you, is a steady supply of discounted rackmount servers to your various needs, businesses, home theater applications, other portfolio companies, and so forth.
Note that an Open Source media server, opens a lot of doors for capabilities not supported by proprietary, closed-source mediacenter-based servers.
We have spreadsheets showing various levels of investments, and how far a given investment level would take us. We’ll be happy to post one or more of these for collaboration and discussion on request. They show initial investment, followed by rapid payback for the advertising and marketing funds, and a break-even cashflow in 60 days, and a growing profit curve in 90 days afer funding, as required.
“Open Source Funding for an Open Source Company” – it has a nice ring to it.
We look forward to hearing from you, and from the other commenters on the blog.
Comment by Joe -
hoodiepeople.com – fresh hoodies for everyone
hoodiepeople.com is an online retailer focused exclusively on hooded sweatshirts from leading Action Sport, Urban, Solid, Couture, and Team apparel brands. hoodiepeeople.com will be for hoodies what zappos.com is to shoes and what amazon is to books.
We launched the site on a shoestring budget in late October and have seen strong increases in traffic and sales, and have been adding new brands each month.
We compete with many of the largest retailers in each retail lifestyle niche, for example karmaloop.com in the urban market, and pacsun.com in the surf/skate market.
Here is a traffic graph from compete.com of the major competitor sites: http://siteanalytics.compete.com/pacsun.com+urbanoutfitters.com+drjays.com+karmaloop.com+dogfunk.com/?pid=29261&metric=uv
We have a unique advantage of 100% focus on one popular product category and broad horizontal category growth.
We have been extremely successful in SEO and are seeking funds to expand the business and grab some of the larger apparel companies such as LRG, Billabong, Volcom, as well as many smaller niche brands.
We are currently cash flow profitable on a month to month basis but need additional funds to grow.
Why would anyone invest in retail in this economy you ask?
With some many store closings, the large retailers are in retreat, we can use this downturn to establish hoodiepeople.com as the go to site for hoodies and eat their lunch. We will be well positioned when the economy rebounds in 12-18 months and will be profitable along the way.
We are seeking $150,000 in equity financing to continue expanding the product selection, team, and brand.
Please contact me to learn more about this opportunity.
Haasan Luongo co-founder / ceo
hasan {@} hoodiepeople.com / 707 477 3990
Also please see a recent article about hoodiepeople on examiner.com: http://tinyurl.com/arqlfp
Comment by Hasan Luongo -
Mr. Cuban,
I will repost the site with a bit better explanation. My idea is to do to teacher training seminars what you have done to attending a basketball game. My idea is to treat teachers like professionals, and offer them training that will engage the students and revitalize teacher creativity. It is not a test-training exercise, but rather collaborative, interdisciplinary lesson development. Teachers will learn to find common threads in their teachings, and use them across content areas to strengthen learning and resonate in students’ minds throughout the day. Teachers will be treated to a day off campus, in a nice facility such as a hotel or restaurant banquet hall, and engage in interactive, cross-discipline workshops that will challenge and entertain them. Please read the plan; it’s pretty cheap, and the teachers and students of Texas and the nation are hungry for it.
Comment by Scott Powers -
Website focused on selling eco-solutions / green products. Will take $500 to start up web site, then need start-up to mass market website globally. Can break-even in less than 60 days and add on services to install such products for additional revenue opportunities. Eco-solutions are emerging market, thus lots of growth.
Comment by Pamela Stevenson -
I’ve come up with a new home improvement invention (an affordable, durable and attractive window covering) and have been trying to get the business off the ground for the past several years. I have a pending patent and just need some start up capital to get going. Thank you for your time.
My business plan:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd3tr3hn_7t45sdsd5&hl=en
Comment by Debbie Wade -
Pingback: Unified Studies
Non-profit idea which may lead to profitable ideas and opportunities. Launching organization which focuses on innovation in pre-teens and teens. Searching right now for Board of Advisors. Filing non-profit forms for the organization (should get this wrapped up by Summer). Plan to launch organization formally in Q3 2009 with initial Board of Advisors meeting combined with submission of grant applications.
http://www.inventiveyouth.com
Comment by Pamela Stevenson -
A friend of mine and I have a patent application we are working on for a new type of laptop bag (cannot disclose as of yet due to status of patent application).
Once patent approved, need start-up funds to get manufacturing agreement on the item, website to sell the item, then mass marketing to market the item to big chains such as Macy’s, etc.
This is a middle to high end product geared initially for women “road warriors” who must travel with laptops in airports. Meets all new airport regulations for travel bags plus a special, unique feature which women will love! Would like to discuss offline. Market opportunity is big in this space!
Comment by Pamela Stevenson -
Idea: Centralized program office services, contract program and project management resources, industry-based business process improvement consulting services.
Website secured.
Market demand showing increase in need for contract labor due to # of companies downsizing employees. More project work now opening up and available.
Need start-up funds to launch business – get the message out to companies – organize events to bring in customers locally and globally.
Expect first contract to sign in first 60 days which will enable a break-even opportunity with the right market approach.
Business is based on labor-based services and setup of net30 to net45 payments terms.
Been in PM business for past 10 years, ran my own IT consulting business in late 90’s (sold in 2000), have been working for global outsourcing company since 2000. Have extensive leadership capability to launch this business. Just need a bit of financial help to make the move out of my company and launch this new business.
This will put a lot of PMs back to work and help solve the clients solution needs.
First 30 days – mass marketing push – online and local events – recruiting activities for contract labor.
Next 30 days – push for first contract.
Next 30 days – submit first invoice and begin collecting revenue.
Breakeven target 90 days.
Comment by Pamela Stevenson -
I am working on business plan, but wanted to get my idea on the table. I am a dog groomer. I had my own business for 4 years, and had to sell because of separation from spouse. I propose a drive thru dog grooming (hopefully) chain. Where you have the ability to order off a menu like a fast food and drop your dog off at window/door. We come out to get pet and provide service and then owner returns at specified time. This service will be offered at a reasonable price and offer more conveinance for consumers, ie, no making appointment, no getting out of car. Everyone works, you need order taker/receptionist, bathers, and groomers. My daughter is bather and will help in this new venture. I have a very catchy name and titles to the packages. In high traffic areas it should be break even in 60 days. I propose Huntersville/Lake Norman area of North Carolina. Hope you like it, this is a wonderful idea. Thanks for the opportunity!
Comment by Marcy -
How does one get a response from this? Does anyone? Have any of these ideas recieved funding? Granted, there is a vast spectrum of ideas ranging from brilliant to bullshit…but will any of us truely see the opportunity to pursue our aspirations?
Cuban! Have you invested in anything here? Did this get too big to thoroughly investigate any one idea? How unreasonable am I to hope that my basic concept has been read over and perhaps considered by any individual in the position to put ideas in motion?
Is this just another dry well?
Comment by Richard Trayer -
Hi Mark,
I am a Celebrity Chef….. Chef Beck and I am in Georgia helping a couple that took over a Bed and Breakfast. I have been working with them to start a private exclusive club for upscale clients. ..people of high caliber that like their lives private but also like to have fun….
This type of club is very profitable and I have done a great deal of research in it. They have until March 31st to come up with the money to buy the house. They put down 20.000. They have good credit but the banks arent loaning any money and Rick owns 8 Cicis Pizza franchises and over a million in realestate..and malls.
They are looking for a silent partner who also can come here any time and stay. We are having a party Saturday the 27th and 28th and in the summer we will be having a Celebrity Social.
It takes time to build a buiness and I have only been here one month and have busted my chops trying to find investors. I have run a Bed and Breakfast before and can run this one…they have turned it over to me to run for them. They need a handup like so many do now with the economy so bad. If you can help or know anyone who can loan private money or partner up email us:
hilltopgardensuites@gmail.com
Comment by B.B.Russo -
I was wondering if you might be open to the idea of a loan where I could pay you back so I could start a lawn service business.Please e-mail me back with a reply.
Thank You,F.R.
Comment by Frank -
I have been tirelessly reading some of these blogs. I can’t imagine, Mr. Cuban what you are doing with all the ideas. I wasn’t going to submit one, but when I read the post script from ‘MY’….I decided to. This idea is in the conceptual stage and may be way beyond what is feasible for your offer. I am the daughter of a former NFL football player. We are a sports oriented family in Fort Worth. My fiance’ is a league hockey player. My idea stems from the endless trek he has to make…along with the rest of us, to public ice skate, or particitpate in league play. Fort Worth does not have an ice rink. We are in the process of designing, with the help of my brother-in-law, David Brehm, an ice skating rink, to facilitate public and team skating here in Fort Worth and the surrounding areas. David, is the Creative Director for HKS Architects, and is on the design team for the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlignton. He will be a featured speaker at the VisMasters, Design Modeling and Visualization Conference in San Francisco, in April. http://dmvc.vismasters.com/speakers.html . The closest ice facililty is at the Parks Mall in Arlington. We are not opposed to a free standing structure, but we are first proposing our idea to the corporation that owns the Hulen Mall for this venture. Probably would be a ground lease, and would be considered a tenant of the mall. The mall has ample parking. Should someone steal this idea, it would be most appreciated. We have all the confidence that this would spurn the growth of our area. The amenities that would be included with the proposal….pro shop, heated conference room, rentals, locker rooms, snack bar, facilities for birthday parties and a great sound system for music… would enhance the visibilty of the rink. Uses for the rink include, but are not limited to; private parties, public skate, adult no-check leagues, childrens leagues, figure skating etc. An investment return on such a project, would indeed be calculated at the end of our field study. Our on-going research includes, NYTEX (formerly Blue Line, in North Richland Hills), now owned by a company in New York, and The Ice, at the Parks Mall. We are studying guidelines for such a structure attached to a public place. This may be a project for many investors, but just wanted to get it out there for all to see.
It wouldn’t be the NHL, but…”if you build it they will come.”
Robin A.
Comment by Robin Abel -
http://www.geocities.com/sjkpowers@verizon.net/OverheadTransparency.doc
I hope this link works, and I hoipe you value the project idea.
Scott Powers
Comment by Scott Powers -
Mr. Cuban,
I know it is late in the game, but is this still where you’d like the business ideas to be posted? I have been sitting on the fence on this, but all signs now say “go.” It will be ready to present later today, I just want to be sure this is where it can be seen. Nice win last night, tough SA loss. Glad you stayed above the Riverwalk.
Comment by Scott Powers -
Introduction
Goodlite Products, Inc. is a family business that specializes in packaging and distribution of non-prescription pharmaceuticals to the Sundries Merchant Wholesalers Industry. We have been in business for over 30 years with a strong customer base and 1.7 million in sales for 2008. With proper capital we expect to easily exceed our financial forecasts through increased sales.
The Company
Goodlite Products, Inc. mission is to be the leader in packaging, distribution and customer service to the market. Through close customer contact and excellent relationships, we will meet the needs of our customers wherever we can.
Goodlite Products Inc. is a privately-held Texas corporation and maintains an office and warehouse in a mixed-use area of Dallas, Texas.
Barbara H., the founder and CEO has both entrepreneurial and industry experience. Ashley M. brings operational management skills to the company. 12 other employees run the day-to-day operations ranging from shipping, packaging, processing and accounting. The founder and CEO, Barbara H. has an excellent personal credit rating and Goodlite Products, Inc. has above average D&B rating.
The Products
Goodlite Products has multiple product lines, each with our brand packaging. Our products line includes:
Johnson and Johnson Products: Tylenol, Tylenol ES, Tylenol PM, Tylenol Cold, Tylenol Sinus, Tylenol Allergy, Tylenol Rapid Release, Benadryl, Motrin, Pepcid Berry and Imodium
Proctor and Gamble Products: Dayquil, Nyquil, Pepto Bismol, Pepto Bismol Original Liquid, Pepto Bismol Max Liquid, Dayquil Original Liquid, Nyquil Original Liquid, Nyquil Cherry Liquid, Vicks Vaborub, Scope Original, Scope Peppermint, Secret Invisible Solid Powder, Old Spice AP/DO Invisible, Crest TB Regular and Gillette Foam Shave Cream
Bayer Products: Aleve, Alka Seltzer, Alka Seltzer Plus, Bayer, and Midol
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Products: Excedrin, Excedrin Tension, Excedrin Sinus, Excedrin Back and Body and No Doz.
Weyth Products: Advil, Advil PM, Advil Liquid Gels, Chapstick Regular, Chapstick Cherry, Chapstick Strawberry
Insight Pharmaceuticals Product: Anacin
Boehringer Product: Zantac
Carter Wallace: Trojan Red, Trojan Blue, Trojan Gold, Trojan Black Magnum, Trojan Purple, Trojan Navy, Trojan Green
Medtec Product: Clear Eyes
Most of our products are purchased in bulk from the above companies and then repackaged into 25, 30 and 50 count boxes with the exception of Johnson and Johnson products that come packaged in their own boxes. Goodlite Products, Inc. houses their products in our own warehouse to be distributed with other products to fill customer orders.
The Market and Competition
The Sundries non-prescription pharmaceuticals industry is a multi billion-dollar industry. Goodlite Products has found a niche in the 2 pack 25, 30 and 50 count boxes.
Our competition:
Select Distributors: 2008 sales of 10,000,000.00
Lil’ Drug Store: 2007 Sales of 15,000,000.00
Sessions Wholesale: 2007 sales of 13,000,000.00
Eagle Distributors: 2007 sales of 10,000,000.00
Financial Considerations
The Company has an investment capital need of a $300,000.00 line of credit. All investment capital will be used to acquire inventory from above listed pharmaceutical companies. Inventory control is always our top priority so that product flows in and out of the docks with minimal cash in inventory on the warehouse floor. Administrative expenses will come from bottom line profits that are accrued from the sale of products. Our accounts receivables have a 25-day payment history with a strong and loyal customer base. We currently have $90,000.00 in sales we cannot fill with $57,000.00 in accounts receivables.
We project our monthly break-even will by roughly $20,000.00 or $120,000.00 in sales. Our sales with inventory in stock will easily exceed our break-even point. We expect to generate $430,000 of net profit on $ 3 million worth of sales in 2009 with proper inventory levels.
1.1 Objectives
Goodlite Products, Inc objectives for fiscal 2009 are:
· Produce website to directly sell to small retailers and increase profit margin.
· Aggressively market to industry leaders in retail.
· Achieve $3,000,000.00 in sales
For the following two years our growth objectives are:
· Grow our revenues by 30% each year.
· Increase margin by 5%
1.2 Mission
Goodlite Products, Inc mission is to be the leader in bringing quality packaging and service to the market. Through close customer contact and excellent relationships, we will meet the needs of our customers wherever we can. Goodlite Products, Inc. will secure sufficient profits from free cash flow from operations to sustain its stability and finance future growth. We will add value to our community by maintaining a friendly, familiar work environment.
1.3 Keys to Success
As an existing company, we must be focused and work hard to create acceptance for ourselves and our products within the marketplace. The keys to our success are:
1. Quality support and service recognizing Goodlite Products, Inc. success depends most critically on the relationships it’s able to create.
2. Innovative, quality products that are able to both expand existing markets and create new ones for our customers.
3. Steady, disciplined pattern of growth.
4. Our customers and keeping them happy.
R.O.I.
Mr. Cubans return on investment can be one or two or three options:
10% return on cash used accrued at a yearly rate paid monthly.
Equity stake in the business.
5% return on investment with equity stake in the business.
Comment by Barbara H -
I don’t have any such big plans.. Its the small one.. I want to be a designer..:)
Comment by Delphi Software Development -
Mark,
I am going to make this like a girls skirt, long enough to cover the material, short enough to keep it interesting.
The gift card industry in a billion dollar industry. All the gift cards have a fee and you are not always given gift cards to a store you want.
So the business would be to buy and manage gift cards, and have them bought back directly by the issuer. (Think Best Buy, Wal-mart, Starbucks, etc.) Ex. I get a $25 gift card to Starbucks. I register it (over the phone or on the website) and I have an opportunity to convert the gift card into cash. Say the Cash offer is $20. Our company would take $2.50 and Starbucks would buy the gift card from us for $22.50 (amounts changeable, multiplied by millions of transactions). Advanatage for Starbucks is that these liabilities on their balance sheet from having to deliever on these gift cards would be reduced.
So the company would take a small management fee for hosting the gift cards and then recieve a portion of the money saved from buying the gift card and immediately selling it back to the issuer.
Thanks for reading.
MY
P.S. Buy a hockey team, the NHL needs you.
Comment by Matthew -
American Style T Shirts, Polo Shirts and Baseball hats for European Soccer teams.
The popularity of soccer worldwide is unexplainable. I have traveled all over the world and have noticed that most people wear their favorite team’s jerseys and colors everywhere. However, most of these teams only sell jerseys or jersey like t shirts which are very expensive and very difficult for the average fan to afford. There are no cheap soccer team shirts or hats like the sports teams in the US have. Like the team apparel that you see at the local Footlocker, Champs, Ross, Sports Chalet, Dillard’s, etc. type stores. I just started a sports apparel company that incorporates an American flavor to sports wear in Europe. The first country that I will target is Turkey. I chose Turkey because most soccer fans in all of Turkey support one of the “big 3” teams and they are all in Istanbul. These three teams are The Lions, Eagles and Canaries. I have designed shirts and hats that incorporate American style logos with the European teams. For example for the Lions I would have four images on the shirt. One on the front (One team is Galatasary so I would use a Green Bay Packer G logo), one on each sleeve (A lion paw on the right sleeve and an outline of a lion similar to the Detroit Lions logo on the left sleeve) and a logo on the back (A lion with a crown on his head roaring). I would make a sample of one t shirt, one polo shirt (A red shirt with a lion outline) and one hat (A red hat with a Green Bay G and a lion on the back) of each team and first try and sell the designs to the teams. If the teams reject the idea then my plan would be to sell the shirts to stores by introducing the clothing line by having a fashion show and have famous Turkish celebrities and models wear the team that they support and of course have the media cover the event. I would sell the shirts at a cheaper price anywhere from $10.00 to $15.00 for the t shirts, $30.00 for the polo shirts and $20.00 for the hats so that all fans could afford the clothing line. As you know manufacturing this type of clothing is fairly inexpensive and quite profitable.
Comment by Saran -
It’s a great time to buy, but a tough time to sell! Why not buy a new construction home now and sell your old home later.
If you purchase a new home from a partner builder, Marketplace Homes will offer a guaranteed lease on your existing home so you can move today. We guarantee rent payments, maintenance and upkeep so you can enjoy your new home with out worry about the old. We pay for maintenance, repairs and even pay rent if the tenant doesn’t!
Experience – Company is profitable was started after leaving a large national builder. Recently bought out partners with hopes to take company to more markets.
Target Market – 25 to 34 year olds that are newly married or have children between the ages of 0 to 4. In Michigan many families are upside down on homes, yet families continue to live life, get married and have children. Those that bought a small starter home or condo often feel trapped. We offer a great solution that allows their family to have the life style they deserve without selling at a loss and without having to foreclose.
Marketing – Builders help market our program at point of sale locations in model homes. Often we receive customers after they have purchased but can not close because the old home didn’t sell. We are able to sell our lease program and help the builder close the transaction.
Business Model – We are paid upfront by the builder prior to having to put out any of our cash to manage any property. This makes each deal profitable immediately and makes our cash flow strong. We contract out all work and only employ 2 employees directly. The builders pay our costs as we help bring them more clients and we are able to convert clients they already have. We fill our homes with renters in days as the rental market continues to get hotter due to increase in people who can not qualify for a mortgage.
Competition – No one in Michigan is working with builders in our capacity. Realtors often try but generally are not willing to put their money on the line if a renter fails to pay. Property management companies exist, but not as a marketing company for big builders.
We are not afraid to offer our idea out to the community here as we know how challenging each transaction is for us to put together. I have been able to script all of our presentations and have refined our program over the years to be profitable by making all of the mistakes already.
The opportunity for Mark – This is a profitable model that works. It’s not just an idea. We believe a screaming need exists to help manage property now on a national level. The time is now to expand to other markets! We can sell builders on covering many of the costs associated with taking our business to other markets, but we’re just a small business that has worked hard to build our model. We would benefit from financial bonding that makes builders feel comfortable with us. In our world of real estate, it’s not so much an amount as it is a feeling of confidence. You would be a name that would provide that confidence.
I believe that the value of having bonding from Mark Cuban would be enough for us to convince large national builders that we can help increase sales. I believe that if you view each of our deals you would have the confidence to back us.
I’m open to offering any type of compensation that makes sense for you and for us and I’m happy to provide any and all details you may need.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Mike Kalis
Comment by Mike Kalis -
Estimado Sr Mark Cuban
dicho proyecto consiste en establecer un centro de acopio, selección y exportación a los EEUU, hortalizas orgánicas producidas mediante sistemas de cultivo basadas en técnicas ancestrales, aplicadas por agricultores pero bajo la dirección y organización de la empresa, lo que nos da la característica diferencial principal de productos sanos con firma ecuatoriana en un marco de progreso equitativo entre empresa, productores y sociedad.
Se ha identificado una creciente demanda insatisfecha de consumir alimentos sanos, debido a un sin numero de enfermedades causadas por la comercialización de productos sin la debida normativa entre ellas se puede mencionar la fiebre aviar, el síndrome de las vacas locas, lo que genero inclinación por el consumo de alimentos certificados como orgánicos, especialmente vegetales por lo que nos enfocamos a satisfacer ese requerimiento ofertando productos libres de residuos químicos nocivos para la salud.
El proyecto es para El Ecuador, provincia del Carchi zona donde presenta las condiciones idóneas para la producción de esta clase de cultivos, se determino como producto inicial a exportar la cebolla perla, pues su demanda y precios son muy interesantes y mejor aun los producidos orgánicamente los cuales incluso llegan a triplicar su valor a los producidos tradicionalmente, la meta esta en diversificar nuestra oferta hortícola orgánica a partir del segundo año con productos como la zanahoria, ajo, pimiento, tomate, que también representan interesantes rubros de exportación, a fin de cubrir mayor demanda y mercado, la empresa no será productora directa, seremos los comercializadores pero para obtener el producto que reúna las normativas de calidad, consistencia, cantidad y sobre todo parámetros de cultivo que necesitamos para exportar, vamos a brindar asesoramiento técnico a los productores que decidan asociarse a nosotros, a fin de estandarizar los procesos desde la producción hasta que el producto llegue a nuestros clientes se ha hecho reuniones con gremios como Asociación Agropecuaria Bolívar, quienes han expresado su predisposición en realizar este tipo de cultivo
Se definió como mercado objetivo a los EEUU por el tamaño poblacional (aproximadamente 300 millones de consumidores con tendencia al consumo orgánico) y donde aprovechando el buen precio promedio que se consigue hace muy atractiva esta plaza, además los estudios demuestran el auge en la demanda actual y la poca oferta disponible de este tipo de productos
Para la ejecución del proyecto se requiere una inversión que alcanza los de 400000 Usd destinados a cubrir la adquisición de maquinaria y otros activos fijos, además de los costos operativos mientras se empieza a exportar las primeras cosechas a fines del primer año de haber constituido la empresa.
Se proyecto un volumen de ventas anuales que bordea1´380.000,oo Usd el primer año duplicando este volumen en el tercer año con una rentabilidad neta sobre ventas del 35%
Desafortunadamente no cuento con los recursos necesarios para poder emprender solo un proyecto de esta magnitud, no así la experiencia y los conocimientos necesarios pues mi desempeño por 10 años dentro de empresas exportadoras de rosas, sumado a la preparación académica en el Área de Negocios Internacionales y sobre todo el grado de compromiso con la ejecución del proyecto me avalan para poder consolidar la empresa que propongo, respaldadas por investigaciones previas que por alrededor de un año llevo realizando, me permiten pronosticar la atractiva rentabilidad que este mercado en expansión propone
Realmente espero que el resumen de mi proyecto de negocios que le envío pueda en cierta forma despertar su interés por apoyarlo, pues estoy convencido de su viabilidad y de que es el momento oportuno para emprenderlo, pues la alimentación sana es una necesidad impostergable aun en épocas de recesión, asi que de ser factible que podamos llegar a algun tipo de negociacion, le agradecería me lo haga saber.
A la expectativa de su pronta respuesta y augurándole éxitos me despido.
Saludos cordiales
Jorge Campos
Comment by Jorge Campos -
Hi Mark,
My idea involves helping with college housing. I have the land in mind and all the companies and people in place. There’s a great need in the community and this project of mine would provide housing, employment and empowerment for the community. As you know the percentage of college attendance has increased and through student loans plus federal aid, payments will be made on time. Just my idea from a student in need!!!
Comment by Desmond Donahue -
http://sites.google.com/site/paginadata/_/rsrc/1232130223556/Home/para%20correos%202.jpg
Comment by Federico Dassatti -
We are building a very GREEN Eco-friendly “Boutique” Lodge-hotel and Restaurant with huge deck overlooking a very popular lake. Nothing like this around here!
“Dine, Play & Stay” is our slogan.
In addition to the accommodation and dining/banqueting facilities offered, there are 3 major draws [attractions] for corporate, schools and family groups.
It’s a year-round business with many special events planned to continually build the revenue stream. Close to 750K residents and many corporate HQs.
This is an undeveloped pristine location [location, location], surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens and waterfalls. Open to the public to view.
There are 3 profit centers:
Revenue projected $4.2M – Split: 39/29/32% – Income B4 Int. & Dep. 46.2%
I’ve been offered up to $2.2M from local investments, but can’t secure a bank to write the commercial mortgage for the buildings, etc. I don’t think they can see the wood for the trees. Pun intended!
I’m hoping more private funds can be found from others wanting a share. This GREEN business will create 75 much needed jobs with innovative and groundbreaking designs and features.
For additional measure, the whole project is subject of a documentary TV show (from Day 1 to doors opening) because of all the green features being encompassed in to a business like this.
Comments and suggestions very welcome.
Comment by Graham Ross -
PLANO TRADING COMPANY
4409 PALMDALE DRIVE
PLANO TX 75024
We invite you to partner with us in crude oil trading. Our focus will be to buy bonny light crude oil and PDVSA crude oil and sell to refineries in USA.
1. We apply to NNPC and PDVSA for offical oil allocation.
2. We get two refineries to be the end users of the the crude oil allocated to our organization.
3. We charter two crude oil vessels to pick up our monthly allocation from Nigeria and Venezuela and deliver to the refineries in USA. This will take 30 days to pick up the crude oil, deliver and get paid.
4. The inital expenses are flight tickets and hotel accomodation.
5. After the first delivery and the refineries pay for the crude oil the company can run herself.
6. Suppose we delivered 2 million barrels to each refinery and the net profit per delivery is $3 million. We stand to make $6 million net every month.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely
Ehi Borha
469 254 9932
Comment by Ehi Borha -
Mark,
A partner and I have started a business last year as a side venture. We are at the point now where we cannot grow anymore due to our main jobs. Yet we do not have the money to go out and make it work. We have a computer service business that has 12 monthly customers that we perform maintenance on. We have calls coming in all the time to pickup new ones but we cannot take on more. If we could get some startup funding we could make this thing profitable in 60 days due to our low overhead. All we need is a office space and that comes in at $300 a month, all utilities paid. We also need phones and internet hook up, that is an aditional $100. We are also looking for a salary cover for us till we bring it into profit. The total we have figured to need to start up is $150,000. That would hold us for awhile. We are currently bringing in $2,000.00 a month and with a ver low sales volume of 3 customers a week in 3 months we can be bringing in a total of $3,800.00 a month in maintenance not counting service calls. If we continued ou projected sales, in one years time this business will be bringing in $92,400.00. I appreciate your stimulus.
Comment by Brent -
I don’t have an item to sell to someone that they will buy and never use again. What I want to do is something for the community. I want to keep our kids off the streets. I want to do something for our younger generation who will be our leaders very soon (after or during the recovery of our country). They, too, need the self-confidence, humbleness and the focus of a TEAM, as our current leader [Obama] possesses. I believe paving the way to a healthy future has to start with protecting the morals and strength in our children. I want to create a place for our children to go where education is promoted and turning to “the streets” can be eliminated. That with my mom’s idea of teaching Latin dancing to kids will give them exercise and boost confidence. I want to also teach the children the competitiveness of the “grown up” world and industries, we can have several different competitions related to education, business, dance. I don’t know what you mean about “advertising” but I will get the kids in the building and money generated if I can just get up and running in a location that is central and visible. (I have a couple of ideas about location). Let me know what you think. This hasn’t been completely thought through because a window of opportunity has never been opened. I can get whatever details you may need if you’re interested. Thanks for your time in reading my post.
Comment by Paula -
Can anyone tell me why my business idea was pulled off of the site? One day it was there, then some unusual links showed up on the bottom of my post. The links took me to a site that made no sense to me. I have no idea how they arrived there because I had nothing to do with them.
Now the post is gone all together. My business plan met all of Mr. Cuban’s requirements for a business. Can anyone enlighten me?
Comment by Dale Grinstead -
One more thing, not only does our business model provide jobs internally, it is a platform for people who are unemployed or simply want/need extra cash to become independent entrepreneurs by selling or promoting on intheglo. Cash-in your closet, garage, attic or get creative and sell handmade goods, are you available to babysit? tutor? write papers? the list is infinite. Sell yourself!
Comment by Lindsey Port -
I forgot to mention that we all work from home and our only overhead for the near future is bandwidth/storage for our EC2 and only COGS are credit card fees.
Comment by Lindsey Port -
I am a 26-year old female entrepreneur and have spent the past 10 months developing an online marketplace where sellers post a video of their item rather than pictures and descriptions. I myself was selling on ebay last year, to make cash after being laid-off from my high-profile fashion job, when I stumbled upon this concept. I thought it would be so much quicker and easier to sell and actually pitch my items via video (think homemade infomercial) rather than trying to find the words to describe my black handbag. It seemed odd that no one was doing this already and so the lightbulb went off and this spring people all over will be able to buy and sell via video listing! Coming from a sales background, I know first-hand that getting in front of your buyers is much more effective than sending images of the line if they can’t make t market and not being able to use your savvy persuasive skills to really push the sale. We also have included a section where service providers can promote their services. We are a revenue-generating model from the start and are debating if down the road to add advertising, however; it would just be an additional revenue stream to capitalize on. No one is being paid. No one is planning on taking a salary until the company is cash-flowing and it does not come out of our investors’ pockets. I am looking to sell in the 20% range and of course the price is the negotiation. We already have seed funding and looking for an angel. Please see the link attached. If you are interested, I can provide the url for our development site that has not gone live yet for your review.
http://www.slideshare.net/guestc8e77f/inthe-glo-business-plan
I have never used slideshare so please let me know if it did not upload correctly.
Thanks,
Lindsey
Comment by Lindsey Port -
is this open to businesses outside the US?
Comment by betsy -
Mark,
My business plan is simple: bring innovation to an industry that has been left untouched by the digital age and ignored for nearly 2000 years, a 12 billion dollar industry, surrounded with a stigma that is antiquated and irrelevant, and intrinsically tied to consumers that still maintain and control wealth in our nation and abroad (AKA unaffected by the recession). In the process, I intend to create the library of tomorrow, a place where wisdom presides over knowledge, and where fact is merely a support system and does not pass as content. This business WILL turn heads, draw more media attention and free publicity than any other proposed business plan on this blog, and has the capacity to capture 15% of the market nearly immediately, and potentially 100% of the market inside of 10 years.
I would ask for your support in development of a working prototype, and applying for patents – a prototype that can be built with components that exist and are widely available, and far from cutting edge. I have an extensive background in IT, marketing, and sales and am confident tapping into an already existing distribution network wouldn’t take more than your time limit you expressed in your post. The next step would be to build our own distribution network, and proprietary products to be linked to our network exclusively.
Feel free to reach out to me for a complete business plan, pitch book, and marketing materials. Ideally though, I feel you could bring a lot to the table with your background in business development and technology – which is EXACTLY why I’ve decided to pounce on this once in a lifetime opportunity to not only bring this society changing invention to life, but to do it with the right partner, at the right time.
Thanks Mark – and I truly hope you see this!
All the best,
MD
Comment by inov.8 -
Hi Mark,
My husband is a licensed builder and I design architectural plans or rather that is what we did before all hell broke loose. We were your small town builders that specialized in quality, customer service and legitimate mortgage loans. Tract builders came into the area and scraped it clean demolishing builders that had been in the business for generations so now we have scooped up the pieces and are attempting to establish a property management company.
At some point the current inventory of property available will be bought by investors and we are there to manage that property from the time of purchase. We will complete any repairs, market the property to potential renters, oversee the property once it has been rented and provide maintenance as required.
Granted this is not a new idea but we feel there is a need in today’s market to maintain the quality of existing homes to stop the steady slide of home values due to abandoned homes in the neighborhood. We have already started putting our plan in action on a shoestring budget. The “Free home rent” we advertise is the first week free upon signing a one year contract. This will cost the owner nothing. We cover the cost and it will assist families with utilities, moving fees etc..Our fee is 10% of the monthly rent.
Thank you for your time.
Comment by Lisa Snow -
1. It can be an existing business or a start up.
Start-up.
2. It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. Why ? Because I want this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. Thats the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time.
Advertising is a facet of the monetization structure, but the majority will be from licensing fees and revenue generated from gaming patrons.
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
Break-even 60 days after the launch of the business is plausible based on the development costs and project creation time length.
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
Again, expected, but pushing an inferior product to market for the sake of hitting this time mark is counter productive.
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops.
6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered.
7. Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else.
8. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com , scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download.
This business involves the creation and implementation of online assets with regards to fixing the suffering horse racing industry. The horse racing industry is suffering due to the economic stress, lack of a younger generation following, and the outdated business practices of industry past. Revenue is generated through gaming handle, software platform licensing, and possible advertising revenue.
We will not publicly release the business plan, but welcome the opportunity to speak with you or one of your associates. We are located in Dallas, TX and have connections with a member of your legal staff.
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own.
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont.
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows.
As long as it’s not with a bank trading in single digits… or Bank of America.
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money.
This depends on whether the initial amount minimizes the likelihood of Series B+ funding rounds.
13. No mult-level marketing programs (added 2/10/09 1pm)
The business would be managed by experienced entrepreneurs that have acquired, founded, and sold successful online casino and social software start-ups. All of the business plan is legal and falls under the horse racing caveat of the UIGEA passed in October 2006.
Comment by Bode Meahn -
Hi Mark,
I just wanted to say thank you for giving entreprenours the chance to be heard. You are the first person to step out and make this possible. I hope that other wealthy people will follow your example. I submitted the plan for an educational website that makes algebra far simpler than other online sites. Do you know any website developers that would be interested? I live in Austin, so it would provide jobs in Texas. Dave
Comment by david eastwood -
Anyone with a legitimate business plan, and any legitimate investor would shriek when told they need to publicly publish their business plan.
Dumb.
Comment by Bode Meahn -
Pingback: Open Source Funding | Bob Foster's Blog
there is like 40 good ideas…wish i was a billionaire, you would have all been funded
Comment by Paul Tarulli -
Pingback: Random thoughts on random topics. » Why I Find Mark Cuban Interesting
Mark,
I have been running my own hair salon out of my house for over 20 years and I would like to open up my own salon outside of my house. Working out of my house worked out great, because I have three kids in grade school now. I would hire people from the Beaver County Vo-Tech and other hair stylist from Beaver County. My husband has just been laid off and he had over 20 years of engineering experience, if I could own my own shop with several employees I could help make up for his salary. I’m from Monaca, Pa the same hometown as Brad Davis, the Davis family knows my family real well (Javens family). I have been profitable in my house but I would like to increase my revenue.
Thanks
Renee
Comment by Renee Javens Zuk -
Mark, I was able to get confirmation from manufacturers that puts our selling price at $29.99. Still generates cashflow in 60 days and profitable in 90 days.
http://www.slideshare.net/econ365/dtv-maverick-presentation
Let me know what you think. This has been updated BIG TIME since the last version.
Comment by econ365 -
I was wondering if I could get a contact email for Mark Cubin for Buisness proposals related to the Stimulus funding and the Broadband Initiative.
Gerry Locke the owner of broadband Specialists Inc and Broadband Fleet Services in balch Springs, Texas was wanting to send some information about the Broadband Intitative that is being started up in Texas and other parts of the country and was wanting to start a dialog with the person in charge.
If I could get a email address for the owner to send a non-spam email to, it would be greatly appreciated.
We did not want to send someting that might appear to be just another sales call.
Thanks you for your time
Comment by Steve -
Mark,
My other idea is to start a website for snowfall totals. We always know that the weathermen get it wrong and for fun me and a colleague have bet the over under on a snow storm as told by the National Weather Service…I think it would be a way to generate some easy money and we could sell the rights and website access for a handling fee as well as other sources of advertising from the members. What do you think?
I would need only 5,300 which we can split the equity 50-50. thanks tom
Comment by Tom Flynn -
Mark,
The Facebook idea I just posted…The idea is to hire a developer and work with local markets to sell the information or link them to the information. You would get half the profits/equity and it would be a two month development cycle and one month of QA. It would be a one time sale to Facebook or other Community Websites. I am a Technical Consultant and have many developers I work with and we would divide the 50% equity amongst us. I would need 22000 for payroll and 1000 for administraive costs such as beta testing the local communities here to sell the Software link as a service(SaaS). What do you think? Thanks Tom
Comment by Tom Flynn -
I have an idea..that is adsense but with a product idea. It is a bit morbid but how about a Facebook Page-yes I know it is against #2 but it is worth reading to understand the product idea. It is an apllication, a bit morbid but very practical. It would be an obituary auto email to all friends-connections to let people know the services and funeral information. the idea is to build a quick market around these notifications that will in essence combine great business data for flower shops-tombstones-funeral services…cremation, cryogenics…
The true idea is to come together to celebrate someone’s life but the $$ generated by the extensive reach Facebook has with its Web 2.0 framework. Any thoughts? Thanks Tom
Great idea of how to stimulate the economy!
Comment by Tom Flynn -
Would you consider posting a list of ideas you have said yes to, and where they are located? Give people in other markets a chance to do the same thing with your backing? If an idea is good for one market and it will make money there, why not duplicate it elsewhere. I am in Tulsa, OK. I have a great network of people (friends and family) needing something to do. Thanks
Comment by Doug Minton -
BUSINESS PLAN BUSINESS PLAN BUSINESS PLAN
411ForTravel.com “A New Kind of Search”
Business Plan is to provide a better place to seek businesses in a vacation spot and in your own HOME town. This business plan offers a web page and a coupon for each business to offer to their customer and more.
Up-to-date information and a reservation system to book online travel . 411ForTravel has a self serve format and a platform we have yet to release for propitiatory reasons until we are fully funded and more.
Also, plans to link with newspapers across the country and more.
http://www.411ForTravel is already processing reservations and ready to make money on the first day. This company has been self funded so far. If we had our choice, we would like to partner with Yahoo , Microsoft, Or Google and provide a local search engine with a marketing platform created “out of the box”
This is a perfect B2B and B2C company. It is a Win-Win strategy . Recession Proof and Business Stimulus Package all in one
Looking for $100,000 . Company shares to equal 10% 5 year out
With proper investments we expect to be in the $365 million yr category in three to five years.
The site is up and ready
Contact: Jeri Mead jerimead@gmail.com OR support@411fortravel.com
We are trademarked and copyrighted 2009
For Those that want to copy this idea, I would hope you would just contact me for investment partnership and save yourself the time.
Mark, Good Investment Hunting
Jeri Mead, Founder
411ForTravel.com
.
.
For those programming geeks laid off from MicroSoft, Google, or Yahoo. I have lots more ideas to get going.
Same goes to the Sales Departments…
If your good we can be better together!
Or a CEO in need of a purpose that has a million $$s to invest (No Bankers Please) Contact me. J
Comment by Jeri Mead -
Problem: Time, gas, trucks, health, & pollution are wasted on reading meters for water/electricity/etc.
Solution: Offer a contract service that reads multiple meters at one stop by cyclist (meter readers on bicycles) within in city limits.
INITIAL COSTS:
Bicycle – $600-$1000/bike.
Meter “reading” unit – $400-$800 (I really have no idea how much these cost).
TOTAL – $1000-$1800
ONGOING COSTS:
Ongoing bicycle maintance – $8/month/bicycle.
Employee – $3000/month/employee (+/-)
TOTAL: $3008
SAVINGS:
Vehicle – $15,000
Gas – $300/month/truck
Insurance – $40/month/truck
Repairs/maintenance – $100/month/truck
Health of employee – priceless
TOTAL: $440/month/truck/employee + Initial vehicle cost + employee health from excessive sitting.
There are more factors such as health insurance, time spent by company managing fleet/employees/etc. that could be factored in.
Comment by Bob Potter -
Mark Cuban,
I was hoping for any questions or even criticism…have you even looked at my proposal??
Comment by Denton -
Dear Mark:
With regards to the RainbowX Smart Graphic Technology introduced last week, here is a niche market that would meet the needs of basketball fans everywhere: We are looking at creating an RBX Demo Beta Product specifically for Basketball. This demo product would be the basis for a lucrative market niche in print media(news papers and magazines) and broadcast media, providing Sport Stats, all in RBX Smart Graphics and in living color of:
Team by Team Comparisons
Offensive Stats
Rebounding Stats
Conference Leaders
Top Ten individual Stats, etc.
We believe that this niche market could meet the requirements for sustainability in sixty to ninety days and experience accelerated growth thereafter. Furthermore, it is the sort of business activity in which your direct participation would be an asset.
Please give us your reaction ASAP. Thanks.
Comment by Keith Giles -
Is this idea also for persons operating businesses outside of the U.S.?
Comment by Dahlia -
I have been working on this for four years. We are very close, but alas no money! We can bring this to market at the start with as little as $150,000. This product is exactly what President Obama has in mind for Electronic Medical Records. This is a lengthy business plan, but worth the read. Thanks!
eZRAY by PMR Solutions, LLC
I. Executive Summary
PMR Solutions, LLC lead by Neil M Goldstein, DDS is bringing a new product, eZRay, to the dental radiography market. Digital radiography is one of the newest technology trends in the medical and dental fields, but has, up to now, been unaffordable for the average dental or medical practice. With eZRay, existing analog radiographic images taken with traditional x-ray machines can be quickly and easily converted into digital images that can be modified, annotated and stored for use within the dental or medical practice or to share with other dentists, physicians and insurance companies. This product utilizes the existing radiographic equipment and film owned by the dental and medical practices along with the eZRay software which can be seamless integrated into any practice management software.
Traditional digital radiography can cost a dentist or physician close to $20,000 to convert a single operatory into the digital age, with the average dental office having three operatories this would be approximately $60,000 per dental office. PMR Solutions, LLC is marketing their eZRay product for only $3,000. One eZRay can service an entire dental or medical office, no matter how many operatories the practice utilizes.
PMR Solutions, LLC is offering more than just a product to the dental market. Neil M Goldstein, DDS has developed a process of transferring the images from the dental practice’s files into a digital database with the ability to send the images to other dental offices and insurance companies. This is a patented process in the United States.
PMR Solutions, LLC will be marketing the eZRay product and digital transfer methods to not only the more than 150,000 dentists within the United States, but also the large number of insurance companies, and third party administrators across the nation that would also benefit from a the streamlined process. It is also available to more than 600,000 dentists through out the rest of the world. With digital radiographic images that can be sent electronically to insurance reviewers, insurance companies can decrease the amount of time required to approve or deny an insurance claim from 30 days to 1 or 2 days, this saves the insurance company money in processing fees and providing the dentist with faster reimbursements. Dentist to dentist, dentist to specialist transfers as well as archiving of radiographic information is easily accomplished. Furthermore, the product and transfer method can be marketed to large institutions, such as dental schools and government programs that require radiographic images for teaching, research and identification purposes. An Internet storage facility for image storage and retrieval is a logical secondary opportunity. A monthly fee for storage and support will provide an additional revenue stream.
The product, eZRay, will cost around $500 to produce, there will be additional costs to market and distribute to the dentists, giving PMR Solutions, LLC a large profit margin for each product sold. Additionally, a $99 monthly service fee will provide the dentists with updated software and storage and will provide PMR Solutions ,LLC a budget for research and development of better software and products.
Currently the sole investor in PMR Solutions, LLC is Neil M Goldstein, DDS, the inventor of eZRay and the transfer method. Neil M Goldstein, DDS has exclusive control of the United States patents and has invested $150,000 into the company and development of the technology. In the first year of business, PMR Solutions, LLC expects to produce a profit of close to $5 million. In order to accomplish this, only 2,500 units must be sold, which is 2% of the dentists world wide.
II. Description of the Product
The following is taken from the United States Patent, “Methods for Transmitting Digitized Images,” owned by Neil M Goldstein, DDS and describes the product, eZRay, and service provided by this company, Digital Imaging Solution, Corp.:
“In one embodiment, the transmission method comprises the steps of generating a digital image of an x-ray radiograph, encrypting the digital image of the x-ray radiograph to create an encrypted digital image and transmitting the encrypted digital image.
In another embodiment, the transmission method comprises the steps of generating a digital image of an x-ray radiograph, establishing a virtual private network and transmitting the digital image of the x-ray radiograph over the virtual private network.
In yet another embodiment, the transmission method comprises the steps of generating a digital image of an x-ray radiograph showing features of a human subject, establishing one or more authorized intended recipients for transmission of the digital image of the x-ray radiograph, providing written notice to the human subject concerning at least one identity of the one or more authorized intended recipients and transmitting the digital image of the x-ray radiograph.
The present invention is useful for generating a digital image of an x-ray radiograph, including generating digital images of existing x-ray radiographs and/or capturing an x-rayed area in computer readable (digital) format through digital radiography. The digital image of the x-ray may be manipulated to comply with recently promulgated federal regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (hereinafter “HIPAA”).
An x-ray radiograph is a photograph obtained by use of x-rays or any radiograph made using forms of penetrating or reflected radiation directed through or reflected from a body or object having features not readily discernible from the exterior. The term x-ray radiograph includes both medical and dental x-ray radiographs. The purpose of radiographic photography is to ascertain information about the features within the body or object. The x-ray radiograph may contain an image having shades, ranging from black to white, or relative degrees of transparency, ranging from transparent to opaque.
An existing x-ray radiograph may be digitized by conventional methods known to those of skill in the art. For example, a high-resolution digital scanner may be utilized. The output of the scanner is a computer readable format of the x-ray image. There are a number of suitable digital scanners, such as those available through Canon or Adara Technology. These systems typically have an 8 bit to 12 bit dynamic range. In another embodiment, a standard digital video camera may be used to digitize the existing x-ray radiograph.
In still other embodiments and as discussed more fully herein, a digital camera may be employed. A digital camera takes a still picture of existing x-rays, but does not require the development of film. The output of the digital camera is a computer readable representation of the x-ray radiograph. The digital camera may include a video capture mode feature. When the digital camera is in video capture mode, a live real-time continuous video image of the x-ray appears on the screen of the digital camera. By adjusting the position of the x-ray relative to the digital camera, the user may attempt to optimize the appearance of the x-ray’s digital image. Examples of suitable digital cameras include, but are not limited to those offered by Olympus, Canon and Nikon”
The product packages a digital camera, light source for illuminating the x-ray film element and control and user interface software. The basis for the product is the intellectual property described by the issued patent.
The product can take a standard radiographic image taken on traditional film into a digital copy that can be stored, enhanced and sent to any number of referring dentists, insurance companies or organizations. The product works by taking a standard x-ray and placing it on a modified light box that is connected to a digital camera. The light box allows the digital camera to view the film. There is a live feed to the digital camera and the image is seen on a desktop or laptop computer.
This image can be captured, enhanced, sharpened, annotated, encrypted and modified to suit the dental or medical offices needs. The image is then saved on a central database with other radiographic images from this and other patients. This database can be accessed from the office’s existing computer system and can be used to e-mail the radiographic image to other dentists or insurance companies, and/or the image can be printed and viewed in the exact manner as a traditional x-ray. The image quality using a 16-bit multi-pixel camera is excellent, with no noticeable loss from the analog to digital conversion, therefore allowing the digital image to become the archived image record, rather than retaining the original x-ray. The image secured in this way provides a medical/legal capture that is secure from destruction. The office system can be backed up and the images can be restored if the computer system should ever fail.
There are two major systems that support dental and small medical practices. Most widely adopted is PMS (Practice Management Software) used for patient records, administrative and scheduling, billing and receivables, etc. The eZRay product integrates seamlessly into any PC based PMS system and expands the capability of the PMS in a valuable way (digital, annotated radiographs that can be communicated external to the practice).
The second system- PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) are computers or networks dedicated to the storage, retrieval, distribution and presentation of images. These systems in current digital radiography technology applications require sizeable dedicated servers to handle raw radiographic files, and communication outside the practice entail large, cumbersome files.
eZRay, with its low cost compressed digital files uses the existing PMS and, in essence, adds PACS capability. This synergy adds strong PACS functionality growth at very low acquisition and operating cost. No special training is required to convert an analog office into a digital one. This introduces another value proposition to potential buyers of the business-scaleable PMS systems that embed PACS functionality. This can expand the adoption rate of digital radiography by providing low cost system solutions to the medical practice.
The patent is fairly broad and protects analog to digital capture, annotation, modification, encryption and transmission of the images involved.
III. Market Analysis
a. Potential Markets
1. Dental Practices and Medical Practices
Any dental or medical office that utilizes traditional radiography in their practice can use our product, eZRay. The advantage to our method of transferring x-rays to a digital medium is that traditional equipment can still be used in the dental operatories without any modifications. Also, as opposed to other methods of digital radiography, this invention is extremely simple to use and can be operated by a dentist, a dental hygienist, medical technician or receptionist, eliminating the time strain on the dentist during business hours. The radiographic images can be quickly transferred into the computer and placed on a central database that can hold not only the dental records of each patient, but also their referral, billing, medical history and insurance information. These digital images can also be used for patient education in individual operatories or remote locations, as well as be sent to referring dentists with a click of a button. Archiving and back up of radiographic images will be greatly streamlined. Those dentists with multiple offices will be able to access their records at either office or remotely. Specialist offices that receive hard copy radiographs will be able to duplicate and store the radiographs instantly and at a tremendous savings in man-hours and darkroom costs.
2. Insurance Companies
With the radiographic images on a central office computer, eZRay becomes an invaluable tool for insurance companies as well, a second marketing base. Prior to reimbursing a dental office for services rendered insurance companies review all claims, and often request radiographic images. Insurance reviewers can wait up to 7-10 days to receive a radiographic image from the dentist and take up to 14-30 days to approve a procedure. With a digital copy that is easy to e-mail to insurance companies, dental offices can receive same day or next day approval of insurance claims.
3. Public and Private Institutions
A third market source for eZRay is large public and private institutions that require radiographic images for teaching or identification. Included in this market are dental schools, county and state medical examiners offices and large government programs, such as the military. Dental schools use radiographic images as teaching examples in their classrooms. With this product, images can be stored on a central server that can be wired to each classroom at the dental school, providing professors and students with the opportunity to view every image instantaneously. Furthermore, if dental schools can train dentists to use digital images in patient diagnosis the schools will lead to a drastic expansion of our market. Consumers become dependent upon the techniques they learn as they develop their skills. Therefore, as each graduating class opens their own dental practices there will be an expanded demand for digital radiographic images obtained in the same manner as these dentists were taught in graduate school.
Medical examiners and government institutions, such as the military, often use dental images in the process of identification. With this product every person in the military, for example, can have their dental records converted to digital images and held on a central server that can then be used for identification or medical purposes. The military services, either active or veteran have significant issues with their hard copy dental records. Each individual’s radiographic records are presently shipped via Federal Express from location to location. With eZRay the records can easily be digitized and sent via secure URL’s to any remote location.
4. Chiropractic, Podiatry and Veterinarian Practices
These offices will be able to utilize the same benefits as the dental and medical offices.
Market: The market potential is large, composed of the following segments:
– 150K US dental offices
– 600K dental offices outside of the US
– 100-200K target medical offices
– 100K Specialists
– 50K insurance offices
World wide potential of 1M units
We estimate the market compounded growth rate to be approximately 5 – 10%; resulting in a total market of 1,500k by 2012, five years after the eZRay launch. Current DirectDigitalRadiography products had approximately 13% market penetration in 2005. Current DDR adoption rates of around 8%/year through 2008 are forecasted to slow to 6% or less there after.
With these assumptions the maximum available market for the new product line is approximately 755Kunits through 2012. We believe that a realistic and conservative achieved market range is between 10% and 25% of the maximum. As we developed the baseline economic case for the product line we assumed a three-tier distribution structure: Manufacturer, OEM, Distributor. The OEM represents our target customer for a technology and business purchase. We assume reaching a 10% minimum market share within five years for a total placement of 75K units. During this five-year period revenue at the street level reaches a cumulative $260M, with the majority of the profits occurring at the OEM. For the OEM the revenue approximates $185M, an annual revenue reaching $50M by the third year.
b. Market Growth
All three of these markets have a large potential for internal growth. According to the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were about 153,000 practicing dentists in America in 2005 and the American Dental Association (ADA) states that 80% of those dentists worked as sole proprietors of their practice, with 13% working in partnerships and the remaining few working in hospitals and physician’s offices. If only 10% of the sole proprietor dentists switched to this method of radiography, over 12,000 products would be sold. In larger offices dentists may choose to purchase more than one station to provide a larger front desk staff more resources to convert the images. As this small fraction of the dental population begins to switch to this process of converting radiographic images to digital copies, it can be expected that a large portion of the remaining dentists will also switch.
Once eZRay technology has been established within the dental community, PMR Solutions, LLC can begin to expand its market by providing more services for dentists and insurance companies. For example, a central database can be created and maintained by PMR Solutions, LLC that can house dental records and dental images for dental practices and send these images to insurance companies. A storage fee and transfer fee will be charged to the practicing dentist. PMR Solutions, LLC can become a third party processor of attachments in the dental insurance claim process.
Another application of eZRay is the digitization of microfilm. Presently the retrieval, viewing and storage of microfilm create cost and logistical problems. With minor additions to the standard eZRay equipment, microfilm can be digitized. Retrieval, storage and viewing become much easier. The sending of microfilm via the Internet becomes much more cost effective and much easier.
Potential Customers/Partners: We plan to market the technology, working prototype and the production design to established firms with global distribution. Some of these target customers have internal RD&E and manufacturing as well as distribution and service. Some target customers are predominantly sales and service companies and will require linking a development/manufacturing partner to them to complete a sale. The potential customers are:
– Sullivan-Schein is the largest dental products and supplies company in the US with revenues of $1.7B in 2006. The firm has superb distribution reach, but does not have a significant RD&E capability.
– Sirona is a German based multinational with 2006 revenue of $520M. Strong growth record through organic means and acquisitions. Market capitalization of $2+B. Acquired Schick Corp in 2006, a US based firm with a major DDR product line and strong distribution relationships with the second largest US distributor. Global distribution partners. The company was founded in 1997 as a result of a private equity buyout of the former dental division of Siemens AG.
– Canon Medical Systems is a major division of one of the strongest companies in the digital imaging field. The firm has excellent DDR products and widespread distribution. Strong technology base in all critical imaging technology areas. Global distribution.
– Phillips Medical Systems has global distribution reach and a historical background in analog and digital radiography equipment and services. Superb technical capability in imaging technology.
– CareStream Health ( Formerly Kodak ) is a company that controls 98% of the dental film market world wide.
– Microsoft Corporation which has launched an online Medical records program, Healthvault.
– OptumHealthCare Solutions which is developing electronic Medical records technologies.
– Fuji Film Medical Systems is a company with a strong commitment to its medical systems and supplies businesses. Large scale distribution and world class development, manufacturing, and distribution.
– Olympus Systems has a focus on open systems to promote adoption of their digital imaging product lines. Distribution is somewhat limited. Could be a development/manufacturing partner to one of the major distribution companies.
– Insurance Companies; MetLife, Aetna, Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, and Dental Benefit Providers (the dental subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group).
– Third Party Processors of Dental and Medical Data such as but not limited to, WebMD, NEA, Captiva, Dental Exchange/Dental Connect, Renaissance Systems LLC and Tesia/PCI.
– Dossia Founders Group an internet storage group that is developing sites for patients to maintain their medical records online.
c. Value Comparison to:
Traditional film based Dental Radiography, Computerized Digital Radiography and Standard Digital Radiography.
Traditional film based Dental Radiography:
In the traditional method, radiographic film is exposed and developed. If duplicates are needed it is a wet process that must be performed within a dark room setting. There are dark room costs, film costs, labor costs and training necessary. eZRay starts with the exposed and developed film, duplication is done in a lighted front office setting in seconds with out added film or chemical costs. Images are stored digitally and only those images needed are printed or sent via the Internet. There is time, labor and chemical savings.
Computerized Digital Radiography:
In this method of Dental Radiography reusable plates, usually phosphorous based, are used. These plates are exposed to radiation in the standard intraoral method. The plates are then placed in a “digitizing” machine that creates a digital image. If a hard copy is needed one can be printed to film. This method requires an expensive “digitizing” machine, extensive training and costly duplication film. With eZRay a hard copy film already exists, the equipment is less costly and training is minimal.
Standard Digital Radiography:
To convert a single dental operatory into the “digital age” using traditional digital radiographic equipment, the price could reach close to $25,000. According to Video Dental Concepts, a supplier of digital radiographic equipment, a single digital sensor and conversion unit would cost the dentist, at minimum, $6,995. A conversion unit takes the information from a digital sensor and can translate the information into something that a computer can understand. This price is for a single sensor that is useful as a generic sensor. In order to have high quality images, better-suited sensors are priced from $7,995 to $8,995 for the sensor alone, and must be coupled with a $1,495 USB interface conversion kit. Video Dental Concepts also bundles packages together that range in price from $8,995 to $13,995, depending on the quality and amount of sensors included in the kit. Furthermore, these kits and sensors work only for standard dental bitewings, and cannot be used for panorax (full mouth) films, or other radiographic techniques. To convert these other radiographic techniques to digital copies it would require more sensors, each with a high cost to the dentist. Further costs to the dentist to convert their operatories to digital radiography would include installing a computer and monitor in each operatory, installing a network and central server to house the images, and storing the images in a comprehensive database. According to Neil M. Goldstein, DDS, a typical dental office would produce approximately 30 gigabytes of digital images within one month of normal operations. Depending on the state of the dental practice, these images must be kept for a set period of time. In New York State, original copies of dental images must be held for at least 10 years. This would require the dental office to hold close to 3600 gigabytes of information over 10 years. Most digital radiography systems create JPEG images as the only record of the patient’s teeth. Depending upon compression techniques, JPEGs “throw” away between 30 and 95 percent of the pixels captured. For digital radiography to get close to the accuracy of radiographic film the image must be saved in Raw or TIFF formats. This greatly increases the storage burden and the archival problems for the dental office. The only limitation on the accuracy of standard radiographic film in the grain size of the silver ion, this variable remains constant for radiograph to radiograph.
Compare these astronomical costs of revamping an entire operatory’s radiographic system and storing the images, with the $2000-$3000 charge of installing eZRay, which can service an entire office and convert any type of radiographic film to a digital image, and a monthly fee of $99 for software updates and modifications provided by RMP Solutions, Corp. The existing radiographic equipment, including x-ray machines, film, and positioners can be used and the monthly or yearly fee will cover any software updates and modifications that will need to be made to the equipment. Also, each image requires approximately 250 kilobytes of space and does not have to be saved because the dentist would still retain the original radiographic image in the patient’s chart.
Not only does this process eliminate the cost of converting an entire office, operatory by operatory, into the digital age, but long waiting times for both the insurance companies and the dental offices to receive payments will be eliminated, recouping the cost of the initial investment quickly. Furthermore, the workload and cost of services for both dental offices and insurance companies will be decreased. Beyond the significant decrease in cost of postage, both dentists and insurance companies will be able to streamline the process of sending and receiving images. Dental offices will not require their staff to fill out insurance forms on each individual payment with their own personal information. Instead, the computer can quickly create a document that includes the patient’s coverage plan and previous claims and then send this form electronically attached to the digital image. Insurance companies will no longer require staff to receive and process dental claims before a dental reviewer can view the images. Instead, the e-mailed radiographic images can be sent directly to the dental reviewers inbox, where the dental reviewer can make a decision regarding the claim and immediately respond to the dental office’s claim.
On October 1st of 2005 the final phase of HIPAA was implemented. A provision of the regulation will require dentists to have a secure backup of their patient’s records. The simple process utilized by eZRay will allow dental offices to easily and economically comply with HIPAA regulations.
d. Expected Reaction of the Competition to Product Introduction
One of the advantages eZRay and, especially, PMR Solutions, LLC, has over its competition is that none of the other dental digital radiographic equipment companies that have similar products have received a patent on their server systems and digital transfer methods. This means that when this company enters the market with this patented product, it will be able to challenge the positions held by other companies and demand licensing fees for the products they produce that are similar to this new process. This licensing fee would not be limited to just dental digital radiography, but would also include medical digital radiography that has yet to patent its methods of transferring digital radiography as well.
e. Intellectual Property
The basis of this company is the intellectual property that it will provide to the market, eZRay. Dr. Neil M Goldstein has designed a machine that can take a standard radiographic image taken on tradition film into a digital copy that can be enhanced, stored and sent to any number of referring dentists, insurance companies or organizations. This new product works by taking a standard dental x-ray and placing it on a modified light box that is connected to a digital camera. Normal light boxes are usually mounted on the wall and used to view radiographic images by shining light through the film. This process uses the light box to allow the digital camera to view the film, instead of the human eye. The digital camera is set to read a live feed from the light box and the image is seen on the desktop computer. This image can be captured, enhanced, sharpened, annotated and modified to suit the dental office’s needs. The image is then saved on a central database with other radiographic images from this patient and other patients in the practice. This database can be accessed from the dental office’s computer system and can be used to e-mail the radiographic image to other dentists or insurance companies, or the image can be printed and viewed and used in the exact same manner as a traditional dental x-ray. The beauty of this system is that the radiographic image is stored in a condition that is not only better quality than traditional film, but also secure from destruction. The office system can be backed up and the images can be restored if the computer system should ever fail, as opposed to a traditional image that could be lost in any sort of process that destroys a patients file.
f. Pricing Breakdown
The system provided to the dentist would include the modified light box with a digital camera, the system software required to capture, enhance, store and send the image, and a manual to describe how to work the product. Currently, it is estimated that this product would sell for $3000, a drastic difference from the price of installing traditional digital radiographic equipment in a dental office. There will also be a monthly service charge for each converted practice that will include software and product maintenance and software updates.
g. Competitive Advantage
There are three main advantages that this system has over the traditional digital radiography systems: financial, human health, and ease of use. First, this product is much more financially affordable to the practicing dentist. Each unit would cost at least a quarter of the price of a traditional digital radiography system and would service an entire dental office, as opposed to a single dental operatory. While the financial benefits associated with transferring images to insurance companies associated with this new method of digital radiography over traditional digital radiography are the same, the initial investment with this new process is drastically lower. Furthermore, the sensors used for digital radiography are extremely expensive and extremely fragile. After each patient the sensor must be disinfected and stored properly or else they will break. Neil M. Goldstein, DDS has cited examples of dental offices that go through at least one sensor a month, due to improper sterilization techniques and poor storage of the sensors. The high costs of digital sensors outweighs the added costs to the dental office of purchasing radiographic film and developer, which are estimated at around $1000 per dental office per year. In order for the price of a digital sensor to challenge the price of film, a sensor would have to last at least 6 years.
Second, there are human health questions to ask with traditional digital radiography. Traditional radiography uses a process of lead shielding to protect the interior of the patients mouth and intraoral tissues from excess radiation. On the backside of every traditional x-ray film there is a layer of lead that absorbs the radiation once it passes through the teeth and the film. Digital radiography sensors do not have this type of lead shielding. To protect the patient digital radiography inventors designed a sensor that requires 50% less radiation to be used for each x-ray and decreased the exposure time required to take each picture, but they were not able to recreate the lead shield protection that traditional radiography utilizes. Because this new product uses traditional film x-rays, it still utilizes this lead shielding to protect the patient from excess radiation, a huge advantage over using digital radiography sensors to take x-rays.
Finally, this product is simple, quick and efficient. Within days of owning this product a dental office can convert its entire library of records into digital copies. Each image requires less than 30 seconds to capture, enhance and save on the server. Dental offices can reach back into patients files and include images that were taken by other dentists or before procedures were done on the patient. Also, digital images are not as clear as true radiographic images; so most dentists will choose to keep their traditional film images in the patient’s chart.
h. Integration of Intellectual Property and Company
While the product produced by PMR Solutions,LLC, is the backbone of the corporation, this company provides much more than a digital transfer method for a dentist. The intellectual property produced and patented opens the doors for huge financial gains for the company, including production of its own digital transfer equipment and server, as well as licensing fees and leaps into other radiography fields. On top of the intellectual property business ventures, the idea of a central server to hold digital images and distribute them among insurance companies and other dentists allows this company a place in the information marketplace, bundling communication software with the product and providing dentist and insurance agencies with a link to each other.
IV. Size of the Opportunity
a. Total Available Market (TAM) and Served Available Market (SAM)
According to the United States Department of Labor, there are over 150,000 practicing dentists, with 80% of these dentists working as sole proprietors of private practices. This opens up 120,000 dental offices to eZRay and PMR Solutions,LLC. Dentists with multiple offices will find eZRay especially helpful in “sharing” their patients radiographic images over the Internet. Within New York State alone, there are over 18,000 practicing dentists, according to the New York State Dental Association. Seventy-six percent of these dentists are associated with the New York State Dental Association, which hosts seminars and lectures to all members. The Association also holds trade shows throughout the year, an excellent opportunity to market eZRay. Massachusetts also has a dental association, connecting its large number of dental professionals and hosts the Yankee Dental Congress, a five-day trade show in the Boston area. The Yankee Dental Congress is a prime market for eZRay. With over 20,000 dental professionals from the New England and Mid-Atlantic region attending, the Congress offers products over 23 hours of exhibit time free listings within promotional material. The Yankee Dental Congress also receives large attendance from the local dental schools, including Harvard, Boston University, Tufts, and University of Connecticut. According to their own statistics, 90% of Yankee Dental Congress attendees visit the exhibit hall and 58-60% of the attendees say that their experience and the information they gain at the exhibit hall will influence their purchasing decision. This allows eZRay to be marketed to close to 12,000 dental offices within a three-day period. Similar conferences are held around the country and open up many doors for eZRay and PMR Solutions,LLC. The remaining world market includes approximately 600,000 dentists.
b. Growth of TAM/SAM
The United States Department of Labor asserts that employment growth in the dental field through 2012 will be driven partly by the need to replace the large number of retiring dentists and partly by the aging baby-boom generation. The Department of Labor believes that job prospects should be good as new dentists start their own practices or take over practices that are established. They also postulate that improvements in dental technology, such as those offered by PMR Solutions, LLC, will be crucial to the growth of the market, allowing dentists to offer more effective and less painful treatments to their patients.
Comment by Neil M Goldstein DDS -
Mr Cuban,
I am very open to ideas on my plan including paying you back the investment and the opportunity. I have pondered on this idea for a few years now. I was a small business owner until hard times fell upon us and had to close our doors. I had a swimming pool construction and remodeling company. I feel very strong with this idea in the DFW area, I know it will take off very very fast and be very very profitable.
INTRODUCING THE NEW HIP AND TRENDY SCENE CATCHING ON
United States consumers are embracing the affect, if not the taste, of kava.
Kava grows naturally in many Pacific nations, and its roots, when crushed and mixed with liquid, produce a foul tasting, but calming narcotic..
While kava is banned in Australia, kava bars are starting to pop up in the US.
On many Pacific Island nations kava’s narcotic affect has meant its often the precursor to discussion and negotiations, in villages and parliaments.
Now kava is becoming the drink of choice for many United States consumers, looking for something that is new, and different.
The owner of the …[a kava bar in] …Southern Florida, Jeff Bowman says it’s become the perfect accompaniament to a night out on the town.
He says the later it gets, the less noise there is. People he says just become very relaxed.
Mr Bowman says while his patrons have embraced kava’s numbing affect, its foul taste, often compared to muddy overused dishwashing water, meant many took a lot of convincing to give it a go.
He says if people are going to drink something that tastes that bad, then they better get something out of it.
I have sources for whole kava in bulk all we need is a hot spot and a little word of mouth and it will spread like wildfire.
Sincerely,
James M.
Comment by James -
AviaSphere Corp has designed a visually managed aircraft records retention system targeting exclusively aircraft leasing companies, portfolio managers, banks and other entities that have aircraft in a portfolio.
The application is visually managed, thus eliminating the need for ‘search technology’ within the application.
We are launching the product at the ISTAT, International Society of Aircraft Traders in Arizona March 15, 2009 and will have a booth at the MRO at the Gaylord (In Grapevine Texas) April 20-24. The company is incorporated and has a fully functioning Board of Directors and strict corporate governance.
Our brand is Trademarked and we have 1 patent as well as one pending.
We are a virtual company and while we have a mailing address our home is on BaseCampHQ.
Comment by Grace Farmer -
Dear Mark,
First let me commend you on taking another risk. You embody the essence of America and believe in the end you will be handsomely rewarded. When I came across the article online that circulated in the NY Times, I knew that God put it in front of me for a reason. My business partner and I just incorporated last week in a ground floor start up. The idea behind the company is to obtain residential real estate in the chicagoland area from auctions and short sales. This is going to reduce the “bad assets” the banks currently hold while giving TRX an immediate equitable stake in properties obtained. Because we can buy these properties at literally 50-60 cents on the dollar, all original investor money is guaranteed.
We will be issuing prommisary notes or certificates of deposit, and paying a graduated interest to the investor. Example, 100k invested in a 3 yr CD with interest paying 8% in yr 1, 10% in yr 2, and 12% in yr 3. TRX would issue a check for interest back to investors on an annual basis, above example, yr 1 8k, yr 2 10k, yr 3 payout of 112k….which gives investors a total return of 30% on there original investment.
How TRX will generate revenue will depend in large part to the housing market at any given time. In a market like we are in now…the idea is to buy and hold, renting out units to generate positive cash flow. At the prices we will be obtaining properties at, the oppurtunity will come up to buy, renovate, and sell property immediately. Making the property the mac daddy of the block while pricing it at or below current fair market value will decrease the carrying time on the property and allow for a quicker then avg sale. Because of the margins we are working with, renovating the property if need be will not cut into any investor profit. When housing turns around, TRX will continue to operate and will continue to produce revenue. Purchases at that point will be made primarily thru short sales thru banks, because foreclosures will always exist, and again the auction process.
The long term goal is for TRX to have a vast number of properties generating rent, with a steady flow of sales on one end, while continuing to acquire new “diamonds in the rough” on the other therefore producing a steady reliable revenue stream.
Below is just the intro to TRX’s business plan. We are currently in the process of gathering investor money mainly from family and friends. When the business plan is completed, again more money..lol, my partner and myself will be pitching this idea to anyone with CD’s that are earning less. The risk on this Mark….is completely on my partner and I…your investment like everyone elses would be insured thru the properties we own and the margins we buy on. If housing prics drop another 40% in 3 yrs….believe it or not….your original investment is protected. TRX makes money when we sell units for a profit….almost all of the rental income will be paid out to investors while using some for property taxes and up keep on the units. I cashed out my 401k accounts to start this and I am as they say in poker….ALL IN! That is how much I believe in this idea. Take a look at the intro and please please let me know what you think. Your opinion on this would mean a great deal to me. Thanks
Dear Potential Investor,
Welcome to TRX Investments! TRX is an investment firm that was created for the sole purpose of generating better then average returns on your portfolio. With the volatility in the stock markets and financial sector, we feel as a company, that it is extremely important for individuals to be more diversified in there investments now, then at any other time in American history.
Most people have a majority, if not all, of their investments involved in the stock market in one way or another. When the stock market goes down, so does your portfolio and future financial security. The strategy behind TRX’s investments is based on whats called a recurring revenue model which avoids the volatility normally associated with the stock market and other investments. The managing partners of TRX monitor market conditions and adjust strategy accordingly to maximize earnings and provide the greatest returns to shareholders.
We invest solely on real estate in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. The most important part of the TRX strategy is to purchase real estate at well below current fair market value and convert properties to rental status within 3 months of acquisition. This will give TRX an almost immediate 40 – 50% equitable stake in the properties as well as positive cash flow on a monthly basis, derived initially from rent. These incredible real estate opportunities will come thru the use of property auctions and communication with lending institutions regarding their REO inventory and what they are willing to accept in a short sale process. Long term goals include the sale of said properties to keep in line with our underlying mission of growth and profitability.
The vision behind TRX Investments was hatched while witnessing the recent downward spiral in the banking and credit sectors of the market, as well as the foreclosure and default rates rising amongst homeowners. At the same time we watched home values plummet, while borrowers became more willing to simply “walk away” from a property where the amount owed exceeded the homes value. This has led to a vast increase in the amount of property that is currently owned by banks and therefore, an increase in properties available for auction and short sale at incredible discounts. With stricter guidelines recently put in place by most lending institutions, we are seeing the rental market increase as the potential for home ownership goes down. This can equate to an amazing opportunity for the “cash” buyer to be highly profitable in both a short and long term acquisition.
The goal of TRX is to find like minded individuals who don’t have the time, the credit, or the start up costs that are necessary in acquiring an income producing property on there own, but wishes to reap the benefits as part of a group who does. With our aggressive marketing strategy in place, we will be looking to add roughly $200,000 in 2009 to the fund thru investor contributions with TRX managing 3 properties at year end. We are currently forecasting that in the latter parts of 2011, we will have up to 14 properties, be managing a fund upwards of $1.25 million, and have assets totaling more than $2.1 million.
The managing partners of TRX Investments are Jeffrey G. Sommers and Brian E. Blazyk. Both individuals have aggressive styles balanced with a keen understanding of the housing and real estate market. Jeff has been writing loans for home mortgages for the past 8 years in both the retail and wholesale sector while at the same time, acquiring a vast knowledge of the real estate buying, selling and rental process. Brian brings the experience and expertise needed to run a sound profitable business. He is currently the VP at a lighting wholesaler and has been with the company for the past 18 years. Dealing with contractors and Fortune 500 home builders on a regular basis has given him an incredible referral base to pull from in the case where subcontractors are needed for rehab. The partners together, bring experience and know how to the table, that will be incredibly profitable for both the short and long term investment.
…..again….this will all be finished and available for presentation we are hoping very soon.
Hope to hear from you Mark, and thanks for the oppurtunity to present my idea.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey G Sommers
President TRX Investments Inc.
Comment by Jeff Sommers -
Mr. Cuban I am in the process of converting a non-profit university to a for profit university. I have a good business plan and it meets all of your criteria. However I do not want this opportunity made public at this time. Is there a way to submit it and have it remain confidential? I would not like this comment published.
thanks
Comment by Robert W. Brown -
The Problem
The Real Estate market is experiencing significant changes. Despite declining prices, sales are down, lenders are tightening up, and REALTORS are scrambling to leverage any and all available technologies to increase their access to qualified leads.
The Opportunity
The City Broker combines the quality tools and resources of a high-volume national company website with an emphasis on the area and attractions that local REALTORS rely on when converting buyer to owners. This is done, not through one corporate supersite for the whole country, but by building a website for each market (as defined by a combination of MLS zoning and search engine traffic).
Executive Summary
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12774573/The-City-Broker-Executive-Summary
Comment by Dan Gordon -
Mark,
So a 20% MPG savings and 40% emission reduction on Semi Trucks or a ZERO emmision fuel didn’t get your attention?
Comment by dean -
this is an easy one. we are an existing fha lender in 49 states. Currently closing 150 deals a month. We could close 500 deals but out lines are not large enough. 20 million more in lines could be spun 2 times a month. profit day one, money held in escrow(safe).there is a reason Virgin Lending became a new player in town. let me know if you have an interest.
Comment by joe p -
Mark, I have a business idea that meet’s all of your requirements. The business is focused on secure communications that are easy to use, and offer flexibility with re-guard to type of phone and carrier. I have found a company (not naming names just yet) that has developed software that turns your 3g or edge into wireless VOIP and then encrypts the signal using AES 256 bit encryption. We will host a secure router with a 100 Mbs connection here in Dallas. The end users will both be required to have a compatible devices running our software. To make a secure call you simply touch the icon on your smart phone and log on to our secure sever and a list of your contacts will appear and let you know who is online. (very similar to skype) If the person you wish to speak with is not online call or text them and ask if they can call you on line 2. When they log on you can connect and place a secure call.
This system has several advantages over other systems on the market.
1. because it’s IP based you could be in China with no service log on via wifi and call me here in Dallas and there’s no long distance, the line is 100% secure.
2. the application can be loaded on symbian based phones windows mobile based phones or widows based computers. so which ever you chose to log on from is where your call will be directed to.
3. Your not locked into one carrier..ATT,T-mobile,Verizon etc.
4. If lost your phone you can be remotely locked and or wiped clean of data and the application can be reloaded and up and running same day.
This company has agreed to allow me to be there operating partner here in the U.S. I need money for the following
1. to purchase my first 40 licenses and 19″ rack mounted crypto server. (handles up to 1000 calls simultaneously)
2. to purchase 5 to 10 smart phones
3. to co-locate sever (not much money)
4. to spin LLC in Nevada(I have a name picked out)
5. to make business cards fliers and website
6. small base salary so I can survive 🙂
Here’s how we make our money
I have over a 100% markup on the software licenses and will charge a fee $40-$50 a month for unlimited use of our server. After I sell the first 40 licenses I have negotiated terms whereby I can purchase the licenses as needed! No more digital inventory. This means that after I sell the first 20-25 I’m flat on the initial investment. The next 15-20 go into our bank account and after that I keep rolling the money to by smart phones and licenses as needed and build up capital. Once I have conducted $30,000 worth of business with this company they will allow me to go to a net 30 on software. The routers can be stacked and linked once we pass a thousand users. The software licenses are for 1yr and must be renewed on a annual basis.
My stepfather is the president of the North Texas Private Investigators Association and will allow me to make a presentation to 100-150 of the top PI’s here at once. I intend to leverage their knowledge and client base by giving them a commission on every unit sold and a piece of the month residual from the hosting fee.
Our target market is:
Mergers and Acquisitions
• Doctors, Medical and Pharmaceutical research personnel
• Research and Development
• Oil and Gas industry
• Police and first responders
• Banking, Finance and Stock Traders
• Security Personnel
• Lawyers and their clients
• Defense Contractors
• Real Estate Developers
• Celebrities or Professional Athletes & V.I.P.
• Security conscious people
• Any competitive business or industry that needs to maintain control of sensitive business information
My plan goes much more in depth with tech specs and marketing but this is all I’ll put out for now.
I would be willing to give 30% for $30,000 and a additional 10% in sweat equity to a partner that will assist me in the marketing sales and day to day operations for a minimum of 3 yrs.
Our Profit is roughly $1,000 per unit per year before commissions and taxes.
Mark are your voice and text communications secure? what’s it worth to you to know with 100% certainty that they are?
Let me know what you think?
Thanks, Chase
Comment by Chase -
This year, and in the next few years, almost every publisher of DVDs marketed to businesses or consumers will be looking for and implementing some kind of IP-delivered option. This is a $12 billion market.
We spent 7 years developing the perfect solution and launched it in June under the name “MOD Machine” for XP/Vista/OS X. Our first client has sold over 1,000 products through it with almost zero problems.
We just signed a decent size publisher with 350 titles, so we’ll be cash flow even in 60 days.
We need funding for a sales department to contact DVD publishers and publishers of other content looking for a superior way to deliver fee-based content.
MOD Machine will do to DVDs what iTunes did to music CDs.
Comment by Josh -
02/23/09
IDEAS ARE THE SEED FROM WHICH OUR FUTURE EVOLVES
1. Your children, my children, and their children’s children are inheriting a world in economic freefall, a world full of debt left to them by my generation. This is not the legacy by which I wish to be remembered.
If we the people continue to take this country and our future for granted, we the people will continue to be victims of Class-Oriented economic oppression. Do we want a world where 99% of the population are working for the 1% elite? This is a global problem. Whether you live in the USA or not, Every human deserves a fair share for the work they do as well as a vested interest in the company for which they work.
Unless checked, economic power will continue to cause more death and destruction than all the atomic bombs in every arsenal combined. Click on the site below and see what happens when people don’t speak out, won’t speak out, or sadly, just have no way to be heard.
http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats
The Fed is bailing out Banks, Investments Houses, and Automobile makers. Who’s next? If the government ends up holding controlling interest in these corporations, isn’t that socialism?
Are the countries that ARE buying up our treasury notes, the same treasury notes we are using to fund these so-called bail-outs, not technically becoming the quasi owners? Add these transactions to the stock already owned by these foreign investors(countries), well, we might as well just stamp the American flag with big bold letters, S O L D across each one.
2. We need someone like Sam Walton (founder of Wal-Mart) to step up to the plate. If Sam had run for President, been elected, and applied the same vision to this country as he did for Wal-Mart,the world would see the USA, not just as a military super power. The USA would be the world’s benchmark for human rights, worker’s rights, and productivity. I have never worked for Wal-Mart, owned any Wal-Mart stock or had any connection with Wal-Mart other than as a customer, but I honestly think Sam had the right business model, at least as it related to employees and promoting products made in the USA. Having said that, I don’t believe the Wal-Mart of today embraces the same concepts Sam envisioned for Wal-Mart’s future. Today Wal-mart calls their employees associates and pushes a motivation training program with emphasis on the Wal-Mart Team and team spirit. Sam knew that employees who had a vested interest (stock share) in the company would be vastly more dedicated, loyal and productive than if they were just hourly workers. Sam’s vision slowly fell apart due to his having no control over employee stock retention. When employees had a need for funds, Sam had no way to prevent the employee from selling his or her stock; thus employee owners were reverting back in fact, and more importantly in mind-set, to being just an hourly worker. Sam’s idea, had it worked as well for the employees as it has for the overall Wal-Mart Corporation, would have moved thousands of workers well up into the middle class, as was the case of the first employees who DID NOT sell their stock. They became firmly established in the upper middle class, if not wealthy. This is the type of leadership we need NOW.
3. Social Security is facing a deadline for providing future retirement income now that the baby boomers are entering the picture. Our resources are not going to be able to meet these demands without just printing more and more paper debt. If the government can guarantee certain savings in bank accounts through the F.D.I.C., why not establish a program that would require that every employee own a regulated block of stock (Retirement Account) made up of stock in the company the employee works for and, so the employee will not have all his retirement eggs in one basket, include in this retirement basket high rated bonds and stocks from other non-competing employee-owned companies? In the past for most people, their home has been their largest investment. The employee ownership plan could allow a first home down payment deduction from the retirement account. The down payment could be protected by a priority lien and would accrue interest at a regulated rate that could be paid back into the employees retirement account by the mortgage holder. It seems to me the government could guarantee these programs as they do through the F.D.I.C regulated plans. Like social security, employee accounts will need regulated protection to limit access to the account to first home down payment plans, disability, and retirement. This surely would be less expensive to taxpayers than trying to overhaul and fund Social Security. Most young people I talk with NOW, state they don’t think Social Security will be available when they retire.
Just as we provide student loans to help provide a college education, when the student graduates we should consider providing employment loans that would start the employee ownership package rolling. The corporations themselves could enact scholarship type programs to provide a start-up stock package to attract needed employees. I believe the psychological factor alone would increase the self-esteem a worker will have just by working for his or her “employee owned” company. THIS will go a long way in terms of increasing both the company’s product quality as well as quantity of production and sales. Gone will be the days of the way people think about such things as their work ethic. Each employee owner will have a new incentive to produce and encourage their employee owner partners to do the same. These concepts could unlock, reestablish and promote the ideals and can-do ingenuity for which the American work force is renowned.
The employee could consolidate any existing student loans with the employee stock ownership package, paying for both through a regulated payroll deduction plan. When the startup package is paid for, it would be mandatory that a systematic rate of payroll deductions continue to allow the employees retirement package to continue to grow until retirement. If the employee is terminated prior to retirement, the government could establish policy for an escrow holding account pending re-establishing or transferring the fund with a new employer, including cases of no employment available or disability.
Provisions could also be made in the G I Bill program earmarking a part of the package to provide the funds for the purchase of the employee’s start up stock package for those leaving the military in search of employment.
Think about the effect this would have on startup businesses, where each employee hired is bringing not just his or her skills, but also bringing investment capital.
4. When you THINK about it, why would anyone given a choice want to work for a corporation that has over 51% of its stock owned by outside investors? They could even be outside of this country. These outside and/or foreign investors are electing THEIR CEOs and board members. As the laws stand now I don’t see any way to prevent outside and/or foreign investors from taking control of a corporation, laying off the workers, sending the jobs overseas and selling all the assets, equipment, buildings, land etc. The asset’s alone of some of these corporations are worth more than the price of all of their outstanding stock. Then they, the investor (through the hostal takeover) are free to use the Brand name on products manufactured overseas and imported back into the United States. Why not limit outside/foreign investment in any one corporation to a maximum of 49% or less? It’s not uncommon to require persons running for political office to live in the city, district or state that they will be representing if elected. In this respect I feel our work force and the companies for which they work are entitled to have the same regulated protections and ownership requirements as the politicians that represent them. Why would we want foreign investors owning controlling interests, electing CEOs and board members in our US corporations? We don’t even allow United States citizens to run for President unless they were born in this country. The founders of this country as well as the founder of Wal-Mart both understood these principles. Both had great visions and ideals at the start.
5. A PRIVATIZED NEW DEAL!
The Peter Principle is the principle that “In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His/her Level of Incompetence.” This now seems to apply to Corporations more so than employees. The bigger the Corporation the harder they fall. One way to reduce the devastating effects of a giant corporate failure would be to break it down into smaller component production facilities. In the automotive field, this would be the perfect time. Rethinking the industry is ongoing due to the high cost of energy. More fuel efficient vehicles, alternative power sources and hybrids are the future. Retooling will be required whether the production facilities are the same central mega factories or smaller compact units spread out across the country. Why not construct and locate satellite assembly and fabrication units close to the local Dealerships. Engine parts could produced in units such as piston plants, crankshaft plants, every part a smaller facility located all across the country. I’m not sure what action will be required to get the unions onboard. But I will say this. Robots don’t pay union dues. The technology is available to monitor and supervise each facility remotely from a central location. If the treasury is going to bail-out these corporations anyway, I say attach the funds to employee loans and let the employee owners bring in investment capital to help put it all together. This way we are putting people to work, not just paying out to professional investors. (gamblers)
6. Fiduciary Responsibility & Golden Parachutes
It’s a well known fact that institutional and private fund investors, by virtue of the scale of their collective investments, have enormous influence over financial markets and the global economy as a whole. In 1999 United States public pension funds alone had assets representing 46 percent of the gross domestic product and 33 percent of the New York Stock Exchange’s capitalization. Additional holdings by religious, educational and public institutions, unions and foundations further increase these numbers. As a result, these institution’s financial decisions have a huge impact on society. The collective power of these institutions could be limited to 10 to 30% holding in any one corporation thus reducing their power to control the election of CEOs and board members along with their outrageous contracts that include multi-million dollar bonuses and golden parachutes.
The realities of the 21st century require fiduciaries to be concerned with the impact of financial, social and environmental factors on the performance of their company to fulfill their legal obligations and maximize shareholder value. The change to “employee owned” would require the CEO and board members as fiduciaries, now would have the duty and the opportunity to promote good corporate governance to protect the assets under their care, and because the corporation is at least 51% employee owned the focus would be not just the bottom line.
The employee owner concept asserts that the integration of prudent financial management practices would include the true worth of the corporations assets, including the value of the brand name. The change would also give added direction and incresed emphasis on principles of environmental stewardship, concern for community, and labor rights. Corporate accountability to employee shareholders and stakeholders, which presently are not considered relevant by the financial decision-making process of the bottom lined focused professional investors, now become a priorty. These outside and or foreign investors with no other relationship to the company or employee, other than ownership of its stock, tends to constitute in-fact a single bottom line concept. In order to guarantee long term sustainability. The definition of fiduciary responsibility has to evolve to a more comprehensive view of all aspects concerning the true value of a corporation’s assets and its employees, NOT JUST THE BOTTOM LINE.
7. A PRIVATIZED NEW DEAL!
The Peter Principle is the principle that “In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His/her Level of Incompetence.” This now seems to apply to Corporations more so than employees. The bigger the Corporation the harder they fall. One way to reduce the devastating effects of a giant corporate failure would be to break it down into smaller component production facilities. In the automotive field, this would be the perfect time. Rethinking the industry is ongoing due to the high cost of energy. More fuel efficient vehicles, alternative power sources and hybrids are the future. Retooling will be required whether the production facilities are the same central mega factories or smaller compact units spread out across the country. Why not construct and locate satellite assembly and fabrication units close to the local Dealerships. Engine parts could produced in units such as piston plants, crankshaft plants, every part a smaller facility located all across the country. I’m not sure what action will be required to get the unions onboard. But I will say this. Robots don’t pay union dues. The technology is available to monitor and supervise each facility remotely from a central location. If the treasury is going to bail-out these corporations anyway, I say attach the funds to employee loans and let the employee owners bring in investment capital to help put it all together. This way we are putting people to work, not just paying out to professional investors. (gamblers)
8. Vegas & Wall Street
Wall Street is the BIG APPLE CASINO. Vegas has been ahead of Wall Street gamblers (Traders) for a long time. For instance, if you’re a card counter (a system that gives the player an advantage over the house) playing Black Jack in a Vegas casino, even though card counting is legal (like selling short or certain other stock and option trading is legal), when the pit boss catches onto you, the casino has the right to ask you to leave and even ban you from coming back. Why can’t Wall Street take the same position with their trading (gambling)? When it is determined that any specific type of trading action, legal or illegal, is detrimental to the overall health of the stock market, it could and should be banished.
9. Make no mistake, IT WILL NOT BE EASY!
CEOs and board members as employee owners themselves will re-focus and self generate concern with all aspects of the business, NOT JUST THE BOTTOM LINE. Corporate issues such as social security (in-house retirement accounts) instead of federal social security,in-house corporate healthcare both during working years and retirement, involvement with unions, Worker’s Compensation issues, all these things will have to be addressed. Our government will need to use tariffs to prevent these same foreign (both private and government owned) corporations, who have workers that are forced to work in sweat shops for anything they can get, from dumping (exporting) low cost copies of our Brand named products back into this country. Last but not least, we must keep in mind the Golden Rule. Those who have the gold make the rules, and you can bet, if the 51% employee ownership ball starts rolling, money will be no object when they (professional outside/foreign investors) put their best lawyers and lobbyists in high gear to protect their status-quo.
We need to act NOW. Whether it’s my view of Sam’s idea, or your ideas, or any combination of ideas, doesn’t matter. Just because we think an idea is sound and could work, but think it will never happen, doesn’t matter. What does matter is, will we get our ideas into the hands and minds of those present and future leaders who can and will mold, modify and implement them to effect productive change. The only thing I know for sure is, the economic system has to be corrected and redirected. We should all speak out now, Loud and clear, While we still can. If the new owners of this country take over, the first thing to go will be our freedom of speech. Please whatever you do, don’t JUST think about it. Now is the time to speak out.
Thank you for your time.
All comments are welcome and may be sent to
Wylie Axford
propawn@otelco.net
Comment by Wylie Axford -
I LOVE such a grande approach, I too believe entrepeneurs will end up pulling us through this, and that is the backbone of the
U.S. always has been. This is not to make you single individuals
and him more or less profitable but to help many out there to find
hope and income from new opportunity. Drop the need for privacy this is to make a contribution to our lives, our country. DAMN!
Upsetting to see this going the direction of people wanting money
for their own needs, and obviously Mark doesnt need to PROFIT anymore, he wants to HELP!
PEOPLE STOP AND RE-READ HIS POST.. PUBLIC FORUM FOR GOOD OF MANY
Comment by Nicole M -
Dear Mark:
Thank you for the opportunity to share some of my ideas. I have my degree in Fine Art and if there is one important thing I learned in Art School, its that ideas are cheap. It takes focus, patience and persistence to make them happen plus a modest amount of money. So here it goes. One of my ideas is to build Geodesic Dome Communities. Instead of McMansions. Geodesic Domes are the home of the future. They are the most energy efficient and stabile structure known to man. They enclose the most sq ft space with the least amount of materials. Therefore they cost about half the amount off traditional stick built homes for the construction of the envelope. The envelope can be built by one person who knows how to build them and two good laborers in seven days thus saving money on time and labor. Geodesic Domes can be built very large or small. They can have addditions added to them as needed very easily and quickly. They are hurricane, earthquake, tornado and forest fire proof. I believe that with this new era being ushered in as the “Green Movement” the time is now to begin offering the “Home of the Future” as Buckminster Fuller use to say. The technology is available and peoples minds are opening up. The companies who build these homes would also offer the systems that would go with these types of homes which would be solar panels, wind generators, DC appliances, insulating paint, occupant sensing ventilation, etc. Onsite waste water treatment systems in the form of subsurface flow wetlands shared by multiple units to cut down on the cost per unit. These communities would be sustainable with community farming, shared work spaces within walking distance. They would be built on remediated “Brownfields” not farmland or virgin ground they would be LEED (Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design) certified by USGBC (United States Green Building Council). Please let me know if you are interested in seeing my business plan with financials. I believe this would be a great idea to share with the rest of the country and for that matter the world. It would be able to employ a large number of currently unemployed skilled and unskilled people. It would be creating a great product that would require very little maintenance for a very affordable price unlike many of the currently toxic assets on the Banks Books. These homes would be very healthy and safe structures for families to raise their children and retire in. Did I mention they do not have any gutters to clean. Personally my favorite feature.
Best Regards,
George
Comment by George Brehm -
Mark,
The concept is cops vs x-cons , the newest in MMA fighting.
The response from even non MMA fans is “hell ya” when does this
all start. Never new there was so much opposition to the police.
Red flags are that I cannot land an investor but I only look at
the green flags that every MMA fan would see this. I know because I ask them at the events. I’ll pre-sell the event with fighters
on a card requiring a deposit to fans to secure a ticket and see
what direction it’s going. I’ve also copyrighted and trademarked this ten times over and also as a major-motion pitcure. I have some other plans on getting the tickets sold in spectacular fashion on the vegas strip. We’ll branch out to other cities where they might completely worship the two sides clashing. Your an MMA owner yourself so you would know if this is going to work or if this will remain a pipe-dream concept.
Thank you,Marshall
cxcpro.com
Comment by Marshall -
Mark: I have relatives who are royalty in Nigeria that have access to gold reserves in the National Nigerian Bank. Before we can get the 10 million dollars in gold released, we need to put down a $100,000. deposit. If you want to participate….
Just thought I’d give it a try…
From MC> I think im already doing a deal with one of your 3443 cousins
Comment by mccamman -
To the pot grower above: What you are suggesting is illegal. You must be organized as a non profit to grow in CA.
Here is my pitch: Provide a visual link via skype between doctors and their home bound patients. On the medical marijuana track, the business would send a nurse-aide to the home of the patient in need of a recommendation. The aide would do a health check up and then provide the skype link through a lap top and satellite feed. The doctor would then be able to interview the patient and have the health aid perform any necessary tasks. This will uncork a wealth of Med Mar patients who are too sick or too scared to show up to a doctor’s office.
Start up costs: $15,000.00
Comment by mccamman -
Hello Mark,
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
Don’t you think it’s time performers stop sucking lemons? Why bother sucking a bitter lemon to get your voice conditioned before a performance when you can take a swig of “Perfect Pitch” mouthwash.
I have an idea for a mouthwash which conditions the voice and can be used before a singing or speaking engagement.
The mouthwash contains lemon juice, cinnamon and some secret ingredients.
I haven’t heard of any other product like this before.
Sure, there may be some skeptical folks but who can really prove that current mouthwash products remove 99% of bacteria????
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
btw, if anyone knows of a good way to make the center of a pizza box see-thru while also maintaining the heat index then i’d love to see new pizza boxes which allow you to see the inner circle of a pizza box. we often order 10-15 pizzas and need to know which ones are the veggies…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
also, i have a domain named “Safely Kept”. i was thinking to use it to track environmental issues but am now thinking to provide shelter to pets whose owners have passed away or can no longer keep them. it would be an up-scale facility for pets. the pet owners could pay a monthly insurance premium to ensure their beloved pets are well taken care of in their absence.
From MC> can you show that the mouthwash thing works ? and the pizza box is a great idea, You should check it out
all are welcomed to steal this or any of the above ideas if you think you can make them work.
Comment by Rita -
I have an idea that fulfills all of your requirements and even exceeds the ones listed below:
1. This would be a start up
2. This would not generate any revenue from advertising.
3. It should break even in 60 days.
4. The startup cost would be less than $15K
7. I would, at first, be the only employee
12. You being the investor and me being the guy with the idea, the equity would be 50/50.
13. This is a service, not a multi-level marketing program.
This is in the spirit of being a capitalist to the fullest extent. I don’t know how much time you spend abroad because, well, I don’t have enough time to track everything you do :p If you have ever spent time in Japan, China or Korea and went to order food you might have noticed something. All of the menus that have English for foreigners have the most god-awful spelling in the world. It’s not even close.
I would start first in Tokyo going door to door showing business owners how I could improve the English in their menus for what amounts to very little money. I lived in the city for two years and know it better than most people who have lived there for their whole lives. Not only would we go door to door to restaurants, but we could also advertise very cheaply in local magazines and newspapers. There are new restaurants opening each day, there would never be a lack of places to go.
As the business builds steam, we could hire another person. One for sales and one for correcting the poor English. This doesn’t need to be limited just to menus, signs are also suspect. If you go to http://www.engrish.com you will see what I mean. If someone with the means to fund the enterprise were to go to Tokyo and start this type of business, it would be a gold mine.
Not only would this help Americans who cannot find work here in the US, but it will also help the Japanese economy by giving employees money to spend in it. It’s a win-win for both sides.
I will work my ass off to make both of us money if you think this is a good idea. I can have a much more detailed and specific business plan drawn up if you are interested.
Thank you for your time.
Comment by Ryan G -
. mr cuban . i’m sending this to you again (well) i thought i sent it last week. i know it’s something that you could get going if you have any interest at all in it. i cann’t possibly do anything with it. my company retired me aug 2005 for missing too much time. i had both hips replaced a back operation and stomach operation. BUT this is about fighing forest fires and grass fires. in my opinion at the present we throw things at the fire and run away. where normally if we have to fight anything we get stronger, smarter or more powerful than it and stop it or kill it. this is not an invention it’s something we have. it’s very simple. i would like to tell you about it. tks for your time …lnl… >
Comment by larry n leatherwood -
The Trucking Industry is always in need. Goods need to be transported from one destionation to the other. So we hav a proposal for you:
We have 2 licensed CDL drivers, dispatch, and a broker that we will be signing onto.
What is needed is the downpayments for the trucks,monies for insurance and authority, and the base plates. The cost for those equals to be $10,000 dollars.
The broker is paying $1.80 a mile per driver and you can drive 700 miles a day. We will be paying our drivers $1,000 dollars a week base pay.
After all the expenses we’ll still be looking at a profit. We’ve done this before since I was an Owner Operator before but didnt have my own company.
Your return on the $10,000 after 90 days is the original $10,000 plus $5,000 interest paid by cashiers check, bank cashiers check, or bank transfer.
Our EIN # is 26-3705988
Comment by Trucker -
Mr. Cuban,
I am working on a project that I have called the AppBuilder Tool Suite, I launched this project in March 2006 with some offshore developers and while working fulltime with a small company in Houston. In August 2007 I left the small company to focus full time on my project and have been mostly self funding my project since then. My project was a very ambituous undertaking and I knew that it would be very difficult for me to attract either an Angel Investor or a VC until after I had validated my technology with an actual client. I am now ready to begin showcasing my app to potential clients and am currently engaged in some very interesting conversations that could mean finally gaining some traction with my project. My problem is, like I said earlier, I have been self funding my project and have reached the end of my ability to continue funding it. Here’s a link to a presentation that describes what my project is all about: http://www.rockwellits.com/public/MrCubanPost.pps
what I am asking for is a $100,000 investment and I am willing to give up a 10% equity position. Hope that you will consider letting me be one of your success stories. Thanks and hope I get a chance to discuss with you more about what I am doing.
Sincerely,
Marcus Rockwell
From MC> Looks interesting, but unfortunately , its not an area i have enough expertise in to make a smart decision.. hopefully someone here knows the business and will respond
Comment by Marcus Rockwell -
Hi Mark,
We need between 6-9k to do web marketing for our startup, btwnjobs.com.
The idea was to make lemonade from the lemons that seem to be all around us today – stock market, housing market, job market.
This site is a resource for those who have been recently laid off (over 500k new candidates per month these days, unfortunately), complete with tips, resume advice, job market trends, and networking opportunities (forum coming this week) – nothing new there.
What makes it unique is that when you visit the site, you’re asked to join our informal unemployment tally, and asked if you’d mind being contacted by competitors of your former employer if job opportunities arise.
At the same time, employers can ‘subscribe’ to a particular type of laid-off employee, specifying their competitors as former employers.
For example, Google can set up a subscription so that the moment a Microsoft employee is laid off in Seattle, the Google HR office in Seattle is notified. Or when an accountant from Ernst & Young is laid off in Chicago, the PricewaterhouseCoopers recruiter there gets an email.
The cost is negligible to an employer (a full year ‘subscription’ costs less than posting a job on most job sites), so we are betting that employers small and large, will say ‘why not?’
This concept tries to capitalize on the Human Resources notion that the best candidate for a position at my company is already employed by my competitor.
With your marketing investment, we’ll be able to sign up about 60 employers in the first month, 300 the next month, and would hope to continue to grow by about 200 per month as word continues to spread.
This allows us to break even in 60 days, make a profit the following month, and revenue will grow to 35k/month by the end of the first year, with very few expenses.
Thanks,
Paul
Comment by Paul M. -
Mark,
After 8 years in investment banking, I came up with an idea on how to hedge the single largest asset class in the world…housing. More exactly, home equity. You can see a visual display of how the concept works by visiting http://protequitygroup.com/epm/
By protecting a borrower’s equity in an “Equity-Protected Mortgage” (EPM), we can prevent underwater mortgages, and thus voluntary defaults (aka..a borrower “walking away”). As more borrowers participate, the costs of protection decline, making EPMs more attractive over traditional mortgages, and thus, spurring further participation in a cycle that will eventually lead to regional housing market stabilization.
This concept has already been vetted by one of the largest global banks, and already presented to a couple members of the House Financial Services Committee. Furthermore, President Obama’s Housing Affordability and Stability Plan (HASP) plan enacts a very light version of what we’re doing by providing a $10 billion reserve account. This can be hugely improved upon using the EPM platform. More importantly, it demonstrates that the Fed Gov’t and lenders are open to such a concept.
We are currently undertaking our first round of seed funding. Please let me know if you are interested. Thank you.
Comment by Sam Payrovi -
Something Different, A new sports dynasty @ USC
Hello Mark,
I’ve got some ideas on establishing a men’s soccer program at USC. Title 9 and budget issues are the primary obstacles.
I believe with the right combination of resources a legitimate plan for a team could be presented to Mike Garrett the Sports Director and Alunmi.
It would be a combined effort with the LA Galaxy, the local U.S. Soccer Federation Academy teams, access to sports columnist at the L.A. Times and coverage from Fox Sports. We would also need world class, championship coaching with experience at the MLS, National Team and World Cup levels. These are are within reach.
With some seed money from you the process and momentum can be built and contacts made at USC. Preliminary contacts can be made at any time to gather information.
Many people have tried this in the past without success. UCLA has successful programs for both men and women and USC has a women’s program that is a contender. I understand the recruiting process and and believe a national championship is possible in 2-4 years. I am a Trojan Alumni and could dedicate myself full-time to this endeavor. I believe this is a great way for you to have a tremendous impact in the lives of many collegiate young adults. Additionally, it is a way of partnering the excellence of the Mavericks with that of the Trojans.
I appreciate your consideration and look forward to hearing your thoughts on the above proposal.
Regards,
Jeff Wright
Comment by Jeff Wright -
Mark,
I have not received a response to my 2-14 request
Please tell me if you are interested
Thanks
Comment by Hoyt West -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I have already established and currently run a 5 million dollar paint company that nets me about 400,000 per year. I built it from scratch and now its one of the most recognized multi-family paint companies in Texas and surrounding states. I do not have a partner and I am the sole owner of the business.
A simple explanation of what we do; we paint new construction apartments. If it’s a new apartment complex and you can see it from the highway here in Dallas, then there is a 60% chance my company has the paint contract on it. I say all of this just to let you know that I have the ability to take something from scratch to success, although I do not have any type of college degree or even a high school diploma for that matter.
The above is just to let you know that I am already successful and not in great need of any type of money.
Your offer to fund start ups has certainly intrigued me. The way you have come out and basically said that you would rater invest in people than in the stock market is really very cool, so that is why I’m going to present you with a business opportunity that will intrigue you and employ many people for the long term.
A word of caution, I read your rules, but I’m not very good with rules. My ideas never have the ability to fall within some strict guideline or meet some quick return time.
You could have never pushed Edison or Ford into a corner and told them to make a light bulb and invent a power grid in 60 days, or build an assembly line and create a network of highways in 60 days and make it profitable in 90. My ideal may be too daring and too large for this blog challenge. None the less, here it is Mr. Cuban.
I have noticed that the folks in America that you never really hear anything about or that never need any financial assistance from anyone is food companies. I have never picked up the Dallas Business Journal to read “Food Sales at an all time Low”. Nope, food sells almost as good as water sells.
I believe there are folks that own food companies that also own sports teams. The long term outlook for food is very good. I don’t think anyone is going to downgrade food stocks anytime soon. Last I checked there is a great shortage world wide for food products. Besides God, water and air, I think food is the most sought after commodity on the face of the earth.
Here we go Mark.
1. We will need to buy/lease a huge warehouse down in the much neglected South Dallas area of Dallas. Over close to Tyson would be nice.
2. We will need to hire experts in the food industry manufacturing process to help us set up our plant. We can recruit from already successful companies.
3. We will need to hire workers to make the production lines hum. You already know the state of unemployment across America, the work force is there.
4. We will need to connect to farms and buy from them direct. We can make this happen and run competition with Cargil. Farmers will sell to us I’m sure of it.
5. We will need to get our products into retailers around the world. I can get this done with little to no trouble once are products are ready to go.
The companies I want to challenge are Salsa, ketchup, sausage, beans and many others. All these products can be made in very large batches and be manufactured on assembly lines if you have the right equipment. Basically, I want to make any food product where you put raw materials in one end of our factory and out the other end comes a finished product that is competitive in the market place and makes us a fair margin.
Why you need me – I can build it and make it happen for us Mark. I’ve done it on a small scale and I can do it on a large scale, I promise you that sir. Don’t write me off until you meet me Mark.
Why I need you – I don’t have the millions it will take to make this happen. I will some day make the above company happen, but it will have to start very small scale and I can grow it from there. With you as my backer and mentor I can close down my tiny paint company and begin a journey to take me for “Good to Great”. You have already completed that journey and I’m looking forward to it.
As far as how much salary I want to be the CEO of this company; well that’s up to you. I figure you treat your players very good, so why would you not treat your top business builder with the same type of funds if the returns are as good or greater in the long run. I can make you more money over a longer period of time than any athlete every will and I promise not to show my butt in the locker room, although I may require a signing bonus.
Thank you for allowing me to dream out loud on your blog Mark. I’m sorry that I can’t meet your 60 and 90 day rules, but thank you anyway.
Sincerely,
Ricky James Underwood
Comment by Ricky James Underwood -
Every time an incident happens, whether it be a car wreck, fire, dog bite, death etc. there is a report filed. In order to process the claim and/or determine fault, the insurance companies require the report on the case. They currently have no where to turn except to their adjusters. They pay them on average $25 per hour to sell policies and they end up paying them the same wage to track down reports. This is where we come in. When a report is required the companies simply fill out a report request online or by fax and we locate and retrieve the report for them at a fraction of the cost that they are paying their adjusters. We then send the report back to them and they never had to stop doing their day to day business and were out as little as $5.95. It just makes sense that every one presented this idea can understand in today’s world time = money. Therefore if we can keep their employee’s working they will be on board and happy that someone decided to make life easier for them. I have already spoken with a State Farm agent and he told me “this is the most genius idea I have ever heard of and if you were in business today I would be on board”. That tells me that every other insurance company that this is presented to will feel the same.
It has been a lifelong dream of mine to own my own business. I have finally found a business that I know will turn a huge profit and grow beyond my wildest dreams. Jennifer and I intend to be owner/operators to ensure that we know every aspect of this business and to ensure complete customer satisfaction and the growth that we expect. There is no end to the potential growth in this business but without a firm foundation, it will never get off the ground. This is why we have decided to do whatever it takes to make it work.
The fundamentals of the business are simple. Our business is selling a much needed service to insurance companies. We save them money by doing the leg work that they are paying their valuable employees to do. We free up their time so that they can continue to sell policies instead of tracking down reports. This is a business that is a new concept and as time goes on more and more agencies are seeking this type of service but they have no where to turn because they simply aren’t available. I can only hope that you can see the potential that I see in this business.
I am looking for an investor. I need $55,000 to get this business started and to keep it a float until the first billing cycle. After that it will simply take off on its own. I am willing to do everything. I require nothing but an investment. I will make this business profitable. I will provide quarterly financial
statements to the investor along with a check for 25% of the quarterly profit. At the end of the first year I will give the investor two options 1. Stay on board at 20% and continue to be a silent partner or 2. I will buy you out for the original amount invested and you keep any profits you made during the first year. There is virtually no risk involved. I would hope you can see the potential in my business plan and that you don’t miss out on this opportunity to be a part of something new and exciting.
Comment by Dusty Buckley -
I have to agree with Chris Cafee.
1. Give away your idea to the world
2. Sign a crappy disclosure/funding agreement
3. Sign away control
How about printing pictures of real crap on toilet paper sheets and sell it on this crappy website. I only need 100k to get started.
Comment by crapster -
Mark,
I have created a network – seesense.org – which will connect all positive agents of change.
At the moment, although there are countless agents of change on the internet (all broadcasting – some louder than others) – connecting them in a central portal will amplify and accelerate the change.
The benefits are always positive and the risk tends towards zero.
The vision is here: http://seesense.ning.com/forum/topics/the-vision
A stimulus is exactly what we need.
Thanks for your time.
Mark
Comment by Mark Richards -
I invite everybody to provide criticism, both positive and negative, to the ideas that I will post over the next few days either by posting a reply on this site or by contacting me at: ed_vickery @ hotmail.com
Idea 1: You Are A Star
To create a website that allows users to earn money and fame from their artistic work. Users can post their music, novels, film scripts, videos, poems and art. The key concept is that they will be successful on merit as the masses, i.e. the viewers of the site, will vote on and select the best produce thus highlighting the best performers and granting them more exposure. After a certain time of being on the site for free, those artists achieving the very highest scores would therefore attract enough interest and credibility to be able to charge a small fee to the public wishing to access and download their confirmed quality material. This would cut out all the middle men in the industry and give more artists the chance to make an income from their creativity. It would also encourage more diverse creations as the artists would not have to cater to the commercial mainstream needs of publishing houses and record labels as they would have direct access to their niche audiences. At present it is not the public who decide which musicians or novelists are successful, rather it is a select group of privileged decision makers in the industry. Due to their control of distribution and marketing, they have a monopoly on the markets and although it is in their interests to promote who they think will be popular, they do not have access to all artists and they are not always impartial nor do they always choose the best. However, the site would also attract the industry experts as users as it would be a great place for them to scout for talent assisted by market feedback. Allowing artists direct access to the public through an open medium, would allow the greatest artists to prosper through nothing but merit and give all artists an equal opportunity to get exposure and become a star.
http://www.youareastar.com would be selling a very real product, the art and creations of the public to the public and the artists would receive the majority of the revenue allowing thousands of people around the world to make an income from their talent. http://www.youareastar.com would only take a very small cut from each sale of the highest scoring creations.
The main cost to this product would be the marketing and promotion of http://www.youareastar.com. Your name and this campaign for a great idea might in themselves help such a business take off. I propose a 50% / 50% split of ownership.
Thank you for the time you have given to read and consider this idea.
Comment by Edward Vickery -
Here’s an idea that I would be happy for anyone to steal. It is a short-term business opportunity, however. There are a number of places out there that sell T-shirts with the picture of a monkey and the words “I fling poo”.
I suggest a line of T-shirts with pictures of various over-spending public officials, stylized into a monkey, with the words “I fling stimulus”.
-Tim
P.S. Too bad about the 90 day profitability thing; we’re trying to put together a mobile/wireless entertainment software company, but the business plan doesn’t project profitability until about 18 months out. Other than that, we fit your profile. As for item #11 in your list, I don’t see how people can complain about that, since we would we be thrilled to have the business oversight and assistance (we’re all engineers and artists, so business details like that are just a burden, necessary though it might be, that distracts us from what we really love to do).
It is too bad there isn’t a company like Administaff that handles ALL the non-domain business tasks of startups, since there should be impressive economies of scale with that sort of thing (have a large building to provide office space, common phone, internet connectivity/network support, attorneys, and maybe a set of business mentors in various fields. They could be paid either monthly or by a “cut” of their client companies, selecting only those clients with business plans reviewed for likely success).
Comment by Tim -
I’ll show you the two factors of RSA-2048, you pay me $250,000 when your team confirms that the factors are indeed correct. $250,000 is the original prize amount for the RSA challenge. If, however, you’d like to know _how_ I found the factors on a $300 Intel Pentium dual-core, that’ll cost you another check–four zeroes larger than the first.
Comment by Michel Kosbu -
MC, I give you purewater2go.com — Our product is a water bottle with a filter built in that filters water as you drink. This eliminates the need for throwing away plastic bottles. The product is already patented and thoroughly tested. We are an Addison, TX based company and are looking to expand as rapidly as possible. As you can see from the website, some of our products are out of stock as we sometimes have trouble keeping up with demand. Funding would be used to increase manufacturing, warehouse, and shipping capacity including both inventory and employees to take and ship orders.
We are looking for up to $2MM, and can give away 10-20% of the company or we can do a preferred stock arrangement.
Thank you for your time
Brian
Comment by Brian -
Hi Mr Cuban,
I am a teacher and author. When I taught remedial math at a middle school I developed a better way to teach kids math and science. It was based on the movie Stand and Deliver where a teacher taught his kids calculus.
This past summer I hosted a pilot program where I taught 8th graders to 11th graders how to do logarithms, without calculators. Over 2 days we spent a total of 2 hours learning base 10 logarithms, addition, power logs, and subtraction. All of my students got 85% or better.
The product extends from 2nd grade to algebra 2 topics. It follows the curriculum, it just makes math so easy to learn and use. My favorite part is how it teaches kids to make equations for real life math, not the confusing problems in our textbooks.
I am looking for a business partner to create the website. It will be structured enough so that schools can use it for grades. It can be used with individuals, small groups, or whole class situations. It is ideal for schools in crisis, financially or poor scores.
I expect to move to Dallas to work with a software developer. I have ideas to create social networking intertwined with the education part.
I have spent 5 years and over 12,000 hours developing this and expect it to be running in 2 to 3 months, depending on the website.
PS. You would have naming rights. I think you would like to create a school system for the nation and split the profits.
Comment by david eastwood -
1-Open a school that focuses on teaching character to young low socioeconomic kids in addition to providing them with a real world challenging curriculum that sets them up for success
2-Pay top salaries and let your principal recruit the BEST teachers in the country (Ron Clark types)
3-watch the success and see the profits of changing lives!
Comment by mike -
Hey SLED guy….you cannot buy dvd movies from ANY distributor for a $1 so I don’t know where your getting that number. The average price of a new movie from a distributor is $16.50 to $18.00. Unless the movie is months or years old then the price drops rapidly.
Comment by Denton -
American Ranch & Feed ©
Executive Summary
Introduction
American Ranch & Feed © is a start-up bulk feed business that will provide an essential product and service line to the North Texas area primarily through a store front and secondary via the internet. We have the knowledge and expertise that the customers in the industry have come to expect. We have a proven track record of providing top notch customer service and expertise that is essential to remain ‘above the rest’ in today’s world.
Product / Service
We will specialize in bulk products for animal owners. The main product line includes bulk animal feed which we will carry in 30 ton bulk silos where we weight it by the pound on a scale prior to loading it into the customer’s ‘super sacks’ (which hold up to 1500 pounds) , metal barrels (which hold 300 pounds), or any other container imaginable.
We will also carry a full line of supplies that will complement sales which will include veterinary supplies (vaccinations and worming supplies), feed supplements, and fresh hay from surrounding suppliers and Alfalfa from contracted suppliers, along with a complete line of special order items for the discriminating customer. We have been approached by customers for an alternative to commercial fertilizer-we have suppliers that can supply 100 million metric tons of organic fertilizer to us through port, rail, and over the road transportation and delivered to our site. This implementation will be in Phase 2.
We will use composted manure and add microorganisms to it in order to speed the process of decomposition. Then, we will add micro-nutrient packs to it to make it a complete fertilizer. This type of fertilizer will be much more environmentally friendly and will reverse the tremendous negative impact that commercial fertilizers have had on the land and our environment. We will offer bulk sales of organic based fertilizer from an abundant supply available on the market.
While being complimentary to our main business, this introduction will not only increase sales but allow our customer to become a better steward of the land. Through this complimentary offering of products, its impact will generate an increase in sales while at times will be minimal but as climate changes through the seasons the impact to sales will be much larger.
We will contract with suppliers for hay that is guaranteed to be of the highest quality and has been tested for high nutrient content. We will further market our products to commercial ventures such as show venues and sports arenas. The true measure of our business, our customer’s success in their hay production and animal overall nutrition!
While our responsibilites include strong customer service that we provide on a day-to-day basis at the store to meet customer needs, we will also provide delivery service to our customers. We have the ability to deliver product directly off of our bulk feed truck to customer’s grain silos. We have taken this increasing need of convenience for the customer and developed a marketing plan that will allow our customers to save even more money and at the same time, gain continuous advertising by allowing our name to be associated with their operation through future sales. Our research shows that this will be a tremendous competitive advantage over any competition.
Due to rising fuel costs and tremendous pressure of today’s business environment, the customers we have surveyed about this have expressed a strong interest. To keep our cost down for this service, we will create a matrix that controls not only scheduling of the deliveries but will coordinate a feed quantity use and forecast seven days in advance to project the customer’s needs. This will create a guaranteed continuous supply of fresh feed and on time delivery. Through this sales program and working with our customers, we will be able to forecast our annual product needs to show suppliers. This will allow us to negotiate more competitive contract pricing. By taking a pro-active approach by working with the customer through coordination of their needs, market price, and delivery capability, our customer service will be so far superior to the competition that the projected outcome is to be able to purchase our direct competition and spread our market share through acquisition over time. Our plans will include expansion and control to the surrounding areas through smaller satellite stores strategically placed within a 100 mile radius. With a solid business plan, management of future’s contracts, and cost control, expansion of facilities are planned.
As a corporate steward in our community we will offer a site where local residents can bring their organic compost materials (grass clippings, leaves, etc.) and we will provide the services that will allow for the compost processing to take place. Those that help with the supply will be a member of our program that offers a discount on the purchase of the finished composted materials. This not only provides an essential service to the community but will be promoted by individuals through word of mouth and complement our store sales as well.
We will also be adding an internet store within 6 months for all the non-perishable items that can be shipped such as the veterinary supplies. This will be complimentary to our physical store front. It will also be a central place where our customers can place an order for delivery and provide feedback on anything they’d like. We aim to provide exemplary customer service and by providing an outlet for the customers to communicate with us at their convenience, this will make our company much more competitive and appealing in today’s world.
Target Market
Our customers are equine facilities, cattle ranchers, sheep, goat, and swine farmers. These customers breed, raise, show and sell their animals so they must maintain a competitive edge for continued success in their operation. Our knowledge is absolutely essential to their success. People need an outlet where they can consult someone about their animal’s health.
We are going to send out mailers targeting these customers in a 75 mile radius. There are over 1,100 specifically categorized businesses that will be contacted through initial mailing we will send out announcing our new business.
Competitive Position
We believe American Ranch & Feed © has an extremely competitive edge above our competition in this area. Along with the knowledge and customer service our management team brings to the table, we also have the ability to provide the customers with ‘custom blended products’ to suit the needs of their individual animals. This is a service we will offer that no other competition around us can compete with. By offering bulk feeds, we have the flexibility to blend our products whereas buying in 50 pound sacks limits the blending to the customer having to do it themselves. This is an added service that the competition just does NOT provide.
Goals and Objectives
American Ranch & Feed © niche market is the reason we will work to provide a valuable product line and service. There is an extremely high demand in the North Texas area.
Within 3 months, we will offer organic fertilizers and an organic line of products.
Within 6 months, we will also offer customer internet accessibility to improve service.
Within 1 year, we will have gained 50% of the market share in this area due to word of mouth and print advertising.
Within 2 years, we will have gained 75% of the market share.
Management Team
The management team consists of 2 employees. Amie Field and Debbie Davis offer years of knowledge and experience to the company.
Amie Field
Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness with emphasis in Marketing, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ
Associate of Science in Agribusiness, West Hills Community College, Coalinga, CA
Experienced Business Manager, G-Bar Agri-Products, Whitesboro, TX, 5 years
Ranch Owner, 2 years
Debbie Davis
Attended North Central Texas College to specialize in Animal Nutrition, Equine Business Management, and Greenhouse Management, Gainesville, TX
Equine Breeding Facility Assistant, Tallent Quarter Horses
Equine Business Owner, Saddleback Ranch, 11 years
Management Team, 11 years, SABRE Group/American Airlines
Finances
American Ranch & Feed © has secured a lease agreement for 2 buildings on a prime acre of property located on a major highway in North Texas. It is centrally located in the heart of ‘Horse Country USA’, in the town of Whitesboro, Texas.
We are looking for an investor to provide our initial start-up costs to purchase the following essential items to secure a successful beginning:
There are 2 different scenerios that we would like to present:
Lease Option
Lease (2 months) $ 5,000
Concrete Slab 4 silos (784 sq. ft) $ 3,878
2 – 30 ton split silos $ 19,200
Scale System – silos $ 5,200
Computer / POS Retail Software $ 4,000
Furniture & Office Supplies $ 1,000
Fuel – Bulk Truck $ 3,000
Gravel Drive $ 1,550
Bulk Trailer $ 40,000
Permits $ 500
Inventory $ 40,000
Working Capital $ 26,672
Total Initial Start-Up Capital Required $150,000
Purchase Option
Purchase prime location (Highway frontage) $200,000
Concrete Slab 4 silos (784 sq. ft) $ 3,878
2 – 30 ton split silos $ 19,200
Scale System – silos $ 5,200
Computer / POS Retail Software $ 4,000
Furniture & Office Supplies $ 1,000
Fuel – Bulk Truck $ 3,000
Gravel Drive $ 1,550
Bulk Trailer $ 40,000
Permits $ 500
Inventory $ 40,000
Working Capital $ 31,672
Total Initial Start-Up Capital Required $350,000
According to our conservative projections, we will be making a positive net profit by the third month of business. We anticipate having a third of the customer market that is currently purchasing feed in this immediate area by this time. We have done informal customer surveys and will be generating income the moment we open the doors for business. We are confident that we will succeed.
We would prefer to secure a loan for the amount of $350,000 which we will pay off over a 15 year period at a rate of 5% annual percentage rate. This will generate for the investor a payment of $2,768 a month or a total of $148,200 over the period of the loan in addition to the initial $350,000.
Secondly, we would consider securing a loan for the amount of $150,000 which we will pay off $50,000 in the first 2 years of business with an interest rate of 7%, then $50,000 paid back in the third year with an interest rate of 8%, and the remaining to be paid back the fourth year at an interest rate of 10%. There will be no prepayment penalty. According to our financial sheets, we should be able to pay the entire $150,000 back in a 2 year period at the rate of 7% interest.
Summary
Although the economy today is on a downturn, we are confident in our ability to assist clients by providing a unique product and service to the surrounding communities. People are looking for every possible way to save money and will continue to do so even in good economic times. By gaining the market share and customer loyalty now, we will continue to provide these products and services for decades. We envision American Ranch & Feed © becoming an icon in this rural community and to the entire North Texas area.
Through many years of business management, customer service, and experience in the industry, we know we will succeed! This is our true passion – to provide a necessary product and service to the farming and ranching community and be actively involved in the success of our clients.
Comment by Amie Field & Debbie Davis -
THIS PAGE IS A COMPANY
Hey Mark, I just came up with this idea for a website. I currently have one that I have in making, but this new idea is dealing with Investors and people looking for investments. Both parties will be charged with a fee for their blogs. Since the economy is in the time its in now, sucessful entrprenuers are looking for their next profits for their money and people needing help, will subscribe to launch the “great idea”. The start up is not much, since I already have an awesome webmaster and the server maintence is only $250 a month, so most work is in getting the word out there, in which I can market. I virtually came up with this idea while I was skimmy through the blogs. Hopefully you think this idea is beneficial to everyone. I actually work for the tech services at the Amway Arena, I have plenty of business ideas, but I am only doing one at a time.
Thank You
Michael Irizarry
Comment by Michael Irizarry -
Mr. Mark Cuban,
My name is Ray Jose . I reside in Grand Rapids ,Michigan ,where is a home for multiple automobile plants that is hit very hard with our recent economic downfall. Michigan is probably, if not the worst state that has the highest percentage of unemployment.
I lost my job for 17 yrs with a HVAC company- (Heating and cooling) five years ago due to the , I think the starting point of our economic downfall, at least here in Michigan. I have worked through temp agency’s and other odd jobs to find another niche or ways to support my wife and three boys. It has not been financially easy but I am surviving.
A year and a half ago I started a business called New World Commerce,LLC , a global sourcing agency. I am associated with different types of traders all over the world. I am working with different types of commodities, from copper to grain, sugar sulfur…etc.
My partner , a Taiwanese introduced me to a product called a Fuel Saver. It is a module that helps regulate diesel and gas fuel consumption that can provide savings in lowering a company’s operating cost in diesel or gas. This module is also proven to lower the CO , HC , NOX on Semi Tractors, small trucks, vans,or automobiles. I am confident that this module will be a good addition as part of a solution for our on going global warming planet. The Fuel saver will provide support for vehicle emission and fuel efficiency standard. As we speak, The Fuel Saver is being implemented in country’s like China , Taiwan , Philippines and some parts of Europe. I have also approached some large and small businesses here in Grand Rapids , Michigan and the test data results has been positive. It is encouraging!
I would like to be given an opportunity to share this Fuel Saver to a bigger pool that everyone can benefit from. I am requesting for your assistance to connect me to responsible individuals of company’s that will give me the time of day to listen what I have to offer. I am very greatful for individual’s like yourself that are willing to lend a hand to individuals like myself to have a shot at assisting our country in moving forward to a better economy.
Grace and Peace and Truth,
Ray Jose
Comment by Ray Jose -
Mr. Cuban,
My plan requires none of your money, only some good net working angles. My business plan, which is already off the ground in multiple states, is one that will not only create jobs and encourage that entrepreneurial spirit, but give the ever so desperate auto industry the boost that it has been looking for. After graduating college, I bought into a franchise that provided a service for auto dealers. We would recondition and maintain the cleanliness of our customers used car inventories. Since my introduction into this industry, I have expanded my company to offer a more inclusive service. Today, my company fulfills every reconditioning need for new car dealers, while providing additional profit centers for their businesses.
Example: A dealer takes a car in on trade. My company details the vehicle, fixes any blemishes on the interior (upholstery rips, burns, tears, stains, odors), any blemishes on the exterior (scratches, dents, windshield chips, head lights) and body damage. For one small charge, my company can provide an all inclusive service.
For using my company’s service on their pre owned vehicles, our customers also earn the right to sell our services on their service drive. My company fulfills all work on the service drive for a whole sale price, giving the dealer the opportunity to use their service drive as a profit center. All service customers will now have the option to have their car fixed and the dealer will benefit greatly.
Every dealer in the country uses the service that my company provides; however, most of them sub the work out to multiple companies which is both inefficient and expensive. My company has streamlined the process to create savings and efficiency.
My plan has caught on well, but I believe that it would be extremely advantageous for my company to get the chance to sell our service in front of manufactures. If I could explain my idea to GM or Chrysler, it would allow them to see that their dealers have a number of different options to improve their product and profitability.
If given the chance, my idea would immediately be profitable. I would contact the large network of people in my industry around the country and production could begin. There is essentially no start up cost for each additional operation. Our service and approach is basic and straight forward. We provide a much needed service at a great rate, allowing dealers to make money, customers to purchase a better product, and ambitious hard working Americans to make money.
With your help, I would send my business proposal to anyone in the auto industry who is willing to listen and I believe that any open minded individuals would give my plan a shot.
Thanks,
Nick
Comment by nick -
Mark,
I would like to open up an extreme sports park in the DFW area. It’s main focus would be wakeboarding to start but could expand to mx tracks, paintball, ect. To start off the main cost would be the land and that can obviously vary depending on the actual location. The ideal place would be an old government retaining pond that was put in back in the 70’s that has to remain a retaining pond there for making that land useless to normal developers and making it cheaper to buy. I believe once the land is bought or leased I could have it up and running in a matter of weeks and could expand on it as the business expands. What do you think?
Comment by Stephen -
Hello Mark ,
I live in NW Arkanas in Siloam Springs. We enjoy the Mavericks and someday my fiancee’s son, who is a HS senior in Arkansas may play NBA for you as he signed already a D1 scholarship for next year and has the potential if he avoids injury. Its a road to get there for sure, but its cetainly possible.
I own a small business that has a lot of potential, but right now the economy has put a crunch on developing my plans. Its a wonderful concept , but its been a struggle to get it off the ground, and I readily admit that I need a financial boost to make it work.
A few years ago, I built a small business center . Along the way, two of my leasees dropped their business which is a small Fitness Club and a tanning salon . I changed the name and combined the two into a business that I renamed the Aloha Tans and Fitness Club. Well its been a struggle, making ends meet with that and I feel that I need another concepts to make it all work. First of all I want to add a small sports cafe called Aloha Tropical Cafe. WE would serve all the healthy foods typical for a sports club as well as supplements and healthy drinks. There is a space right beside the Fitness Club that would work out well for this. Along with salads, subs, and some new items for the menu that go with the theme of our sports club restaurant . In the evenings, it would offer some coffees, lattes, capucino, expresso, etc. It would have the capability for the use as an evening internet wireless for students at our local University.
Overall its a great concept that I hope you can visualize it with me, that could within a short time could be quite successful. AS this all comes together it has potential to develop even further.
I am developing my website at this time.
Take care and Hope to hear back from you. James
Comment by James Butts -
Pingback: How to start your own business in 4 hours « Rodger Banister’s Blog
Mr. Cuban,
My company is an upstate NY based, African-American owned Car & Limousine Service. I have a question regarding acceptable information to post; my business plan, in electronic form is in sections spread over a number of formats (word document, spread sheet, and powerpoint presentations); generally I have printed collated an then forwarded hard copies. I’d like to know if I can post: Executive Summary, 1′09 P&L, Operational Development Loan Proposal, and 1st Annual Operational Report? Note that the Operational Development loan proposal is a short-term development piece ( 1st – 6th month, then 6th – 12th month) that will turn profit and add immediate value towards positioning for the long-term.
I do also have a business plan teaser in Powerpoint format, it is a greatly condensed version of the business plan (32 pages in length) that could be posted as well.
I look forward to hearing from you in response and beginning the process.
Gary Thomas (Founder & Owner – Expression Limousine Inc)
Comment by Gary Thomas -
Hey Mark, Wassup?
I will not go into detail about the business I plan to get into with my beautiful wife, but I will say….congrats to you for coming up with this concept. You get to sit back and look at all these business pitches and decide which one you want to invest in. If I had your money and had people to think up things like this, I might buy an NBA team and watch people flock to me and throw ideas my way. I might have a more convincing and entertaining shtick, but my wife and I had a bit of bad news yesterday that will take all of my attention and any additional income to deal with.
Good luck with getting richer and forgetting the everyday people that used to buy Mavericks tickets because they believed in what you could bring to the team. (I still want to see the team win the crown)
I do congratulate you on all your successes, just don’t crap on our chance to make it. Sure, it looks like you are looking for a worthy place to spend your millions, but don’t count us little people out. We may not have your luck in picking a winner, but we can change the world just the same.
In closing, let me wish you all the successes life has to offer and I hope you can do the same for the little guys that paved your way.
Thanks and “Go Mavericks”
Comment by Billy B. -
1. Howbowda Bagel Co. opened its doors on July 31, 2008 at 611A E. Green Street, Champaign, IL 61820 in the campustown business district at the University of Illinois (our alma mater).
Dustin, 24 years old, Accountancy, Dec ‘07
Ryan, 23 years old, English, May ‘08
2. Howbowda Bagel Co. has 17 different types of “steamed bagel sandwiches” on our menu of which generated 53.63% of our 2008 revenue. We also serve bagels and cream cheese, customizable steamed bagel sandwiches, and have a gourmet line of side items. Recently, we have started to cut down on waste by producing bagel chips from our leftovers at the end of the day. Our delivery operation has just recently launched and has been successful so far. We also cater business breakfasts/lunches, special events and have locked down weekly contracts with companies like Volition, Inc. We are about to start a new wholesale operation for a local café, which has 4 locations in the Champaign-Urbana area.
3. Howbowda Bagel Co. took an SBA loan for $123,300 to launch its first store, and grossed that amount within the first 90 days of business.
4. Howbowda Bagel Co. has continued to reinvest itself, e.g. the soon to be launched website, howbowda.com
5. Howbowda Bagel Co. has a 1400 square foot space and pays $4000 per month in rent.
6. Howbowda Bagel Co. serves Boar’s Head meats and cheeses (THE BEST!!). Our COGS is 40% inclusive of 10% automatic waste of all inventory. We will continue with a 40% COGS sold as opposed to the industry standard of 33% because of our college demographic.
7. Howbowda Bagel Co. has 21 employees who are all capable of performing all tasks within the shop (i.e. sandwich preparation, meat & cheese slicing, mopping our eco-friendly bamboo floor (girls mop too))
8. Howbowda Bagel Co. received its initial loan with our parents as co-signers. We have not been operational long enough and the systemic fallout of the global credit markets are now preventing us from expanding this summer. We would like to open a second shop within driving distance of Champaign-Urbana. Depending on the location, funding in the amount of $123,300 – $150,000 would be necessary. We are willing to discuss the location with you Mark as the investor for our project. Our location list is as follows, Illinois State University (visiting next week), Purdue University, Ohio State University (already visited), Vanderbilt University.
9. We project that the second location will run much more efficiently from lessons gained from the first operation. Delivery, Catering, and Wholesale will compliment the retail steamed bagel sandwich shop very nicely.
10. We are ready to grow and are seeking assistance! Our publicity has been great so far, even including a national T.V. appearance on bizkids (bizkids.com) on PBS.
11. Construction of the project will take place this summer and we will open our second set of doors on August 1, 2009 (day 366 of operation).
12. Mark, you will retain a 33% stake in profits for this project. You will receive 33% of the profits for this project only until the day you die.
13. We have some great ideas that we are currently working on: an iPhone application for easy ordering, a green delivery vehicle that keeps our sandwiches warm, and……hopefully we will hear some good news soon and will then share with you some more of our great ideas! Please contact us at dustincanter@gmail.com or dustin@howbowda.com. We look forward to your response!
Comment by Dustin Canter - Howbowda Bagel Co. -
I am A “Treasure Hunter” I Research and Evaluate about 100 Single Family Houses a Week. Of Those, 20 are HOME RUNS. These 20 I offer to an Assortment of Investors Who choose to Take a swing at an Offer or not, I have 2 Crews, But could Manage Much more to Rehab the House and Rent Them out. Me and My Team offers to Manage the Rentals for 5% of Gross rent earned, Only On Homes Bought Through Our Team. There are alot of “MOM and POP” Investors, out there , But No Real Players (systems). HERE is the Business Model. Buy all the Good Deals in Good Areas,Under Market value and Manage Them for a Cash Flow average about $250 a Month. Have My Team Pre Qual,Interview Place and Manage the Properties as One System. I only Go After Homes in Safe, Crime Free, newer Homes in Great School Districts. We are 3 Years Out for Flipping, But are in a “Perfect Storm” for Buy and Holds. Someone with Cash Can Make a Giant Footprint in This Market right Now. This is no New Business Model, But Doing it as a system is not being done right now. Very Fragmented, and Very Local. I keep Up with Tarrant, Dallas, Collin and Denton County, but We could Franchise this to any part of the Country. I also Teach Real Estate Investing in Collin County Community College. I am not going to Bore you with Our Details, But would Like to Meet with You or Your people and You can Pick My Brain. If You saw what I see every day, The Opportunity Would Scream at You. I have Some Homes Myself, And Will get Some more. This is My Passion, and I Love Doing what I do. I am the “Treasure Hunter”, I am the One that goes out and Tours the Homes. Let Me know if You would Like some real Detail, thanks JIM RYAN “Ryan Real Estate Group” RE/Max 972-979-1231
Comment by Jim Ryan -
I pitched the gambling site idea above, i forgot to add on to the end that I would be willing to share all profits with you 50-50.
Comment by Roger Jon Turner -
I have an idea I would like to have considered: I have often toyed with the idea of purchasing a large, fve bedroom home in a college community and renting the individual rooms out to students and other singles who want inexpensive housing.
I think that, under the principle that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, you can get more rental income that way. You also have some diversification, and don’t tie up your entire rental investment with the fortunes of one individual or family.
To avoid the risk associated with bank martgage lending, I would like to have a partnership set up which will own the house free and clear, with no debt.
Limited partners would receive a return ON investment in the form of monthly draws from the net income generated by the rental of the rooms, after expenses, and would receive return OF their investment, together with any capital appreciation, when the house is sold, in a five or ten years after the housing crisis blows over. Alternatively, the partnership could do a 1031 exchange and trade up to a better property.
I would be the general partner, responsible for maintaining the property, screening and renting to tenants. I would also be willing to handle the money and accounting, but, as a safeguard to the limited partners, someone else could do that, too. As payment as the general partner, I would receive a share of the ownership of and profits from the property.
Ideally, I would like to get the bugs in this idea ironed out with the first home. Once the bugs are worked out, I would like to expand, buying more houses in different communities. Eventually, I would like to quit my current job (which I like, but it has limited upside income potential) and do this full time.
I live about 30 miles north of Los Angeles, California, and I believe my present community would be good place to start this. I live near several community colleges, and I believe it is important to own and manage rental property near where you live so you can keep an eye on it.
Unfortunatly, five bedroom houses run at least half a million dollars, although prices are dropping. Conservatively, I believe each bedroom could be rented for $500 to $600 per month, maybe more, especially for the master suite. That should give you a rough basis to figure out what the return on investment would be.
In the past, I have not been able to implement this idea because housing prices have been too high, and I lack the credibility and access to potential investors to make it fly.
If Mr. Cuban is not interested, then maybe someone else is. Maybe someone can tell me what the pitfalls of this idea are, what their experience in doing it has been, if they have any, and what I can do to make it better.
In any event, take your time thinking about it; there is no rush to get started. Housing prices are still dropping, and are not expected to bottom until at least this summer.
If anyone is interested in investing in a start up to do this with me, please feel free to contact me, and I will be happy to give you more information about my background and the area where I live and would like to invest.
Comment by Gerald R. Lampton -
It’s simple. Storytelling is broken online. We’ve fixed it.
Here are some of the highlights:
* Heekya is the Wikpedia of Stories, a social storytelling platform that is changing the way consumers create, share, and discover stories. Free. Fun. Easy. 60 seconds. See it here: http://heekya.com/preview.php
* The Heekya platform and API will be licensed and integrated with consumer-facing enterprises — we have begun partnership negotations with a major wedding website — and have drawn interest from a digital camera company, a major TV entertainment company, as well as interactive agencies and educators.
* We received money previously from Launchbx Digital (ex AOL CTO John McKinley, former Away.com CEO Sean Green, and Julius Genachowski-appointed FCC Chairman by President Obama)
* Before Heekya, I was a writer for VentureBeat.com.
Storytelling is at the core of human existence. We’re building Heekya to unlock powerful stories of people all over the world and empower them to share their story with anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Comment by David Adewumi -
So far all we have is a hold on the domain name registration, but here is the idea. Following Oprah’s show we developed an idea for a web site where charities and regular people could meet to plan charity parties. Anyone over 30 having a birthday party does not need gifts, the site would create a place where the person giving the party would pick a charity for guests to give to in place of presents. Weddings, retirement, christmas, any type of party could be thrown, with a charity benefiting. Simple to set up, but since I am a stock broker and the markets have been difficult, I have not had time to take this any further. Any suggestions from anyone?
Thanks
Comment by nick giallourakis -
Mark,
Excellent idea . . . if more financially-capable people would act as you are, capitalism could end up an impressive phoenix!
One of my business ideas arises from my jealousy watching some of my wealthier friends using a personal assistant to improve the efficiency of their lives; in my area we affectionately refer to these aids as “Alices,” from the popular sitcom The Brady Bunch. However, most of us cannot afford a full-time personal assistant, even though it would be nice to have someone to pick up our dry cleaning, clean the house, pick up the kids from school, etc. For that reason, I propose a business (I would call it “Alice, Inc.”) that would employ personal assistants to serve families in a part-time fashion. The customer would submit to the company their level of interest, be it house cleaning, shopping, nanny duties, etc, and would pay per a graduated scale for the services. The assistant would be assigned according to their abilities to a set of families, with continuity in assignment being priority so that the families would come to trust their aid.
This model is profitable for the employee because they can serve several families without the headache of financial collections or self-employment taxes and is convenient for the customer because the aids will be background-checked and bonded by the company. The company profits by selling contracts for services while paying the employees by the hour.
Startup costs should be minimal, including initial hiring of a few aids, advertising costs, and equipment acquisition costs for specialized offerings. Your repayment would be in the form of a silent ownership with a percentage of profits to be determined through further negotiation.
If you are interested, then I will gladly post further details as I do some research for specific costs. As the model stands at this point, it is mostly an idea. I understand you are looking for those latent business proposals to be open-sourced, so here is one of my many ideas that has sat in my mind for some time. This one, unlike most of my other ideas, should be profitable within your parameters, however, because we have an existing network of customers and employees in each market area, with no brick and mortar initially required.
Comment by Dr. John Owens -
This is really disorganized, how are you going to filter through all these ideas?
Would suggest you create a generic form people can fill out (i.e. w/ data fields for Type of Business, Industry, Business Model Type, Market Size, Target market, Market Strategy, etc.) and then allow people to filter through submissions according to the criteria.
It would make this process a whole lot more viable.. right now I’m just scrolling through pages and pages of archaic barf and don’t have time to read through everyone’s submissions.
Comment by David -
Ok, here goes an honest to God open source idea for anyone to run with, but I would love to helm the ship. On-line poker sites are getting bigger and bigger every day, but there is a flaw in them. Not everyone likes to play poker, and even if you do the idea can get old quickly. How many hours can you sit and press fold waiting for that killer hand? Yet they are still huge. I think what makes them so big is the desire to win money. Just look at the lottery, or as I call it, the “can’t do math tax.”
I want to take more traditional games, and turn them into online gambling opportunities. Especially games that remove the chance from the equation. These could be simple board games at first, Chess, RISK, etc. and hopefully with the right licensing we could move into First Person Shooting games, sports video games, strategy games, etc.
There is existing technology to link players up with games like these, for an example “Gamespy,” we would simply need to integrate a betting system. The “house” (us) would take a cut from each game, as seen in poker sites. If two people wanted to play Quake 3 for a dollar, it would cost each player $1.25 to play. $2 dollars to the winner, $0.50 for us.
I whole-heartedly believe that within 90 days of launch we would see droves of players who are already playing similar games, with nothing to win, occupying our servers.
Thank you for your time.
Comment by Roger Jon Turner -
This does not fit the requirement, as there is no way to get a product started, let alone turn a profit in 60 days, but maybe someone who reads this will be interested:
http://99centnirvana.blogspot.com/2009/02/soweto-shoe-company.html
Comment by Brian McCormick -
Professional SpokesModels
THE GOAL:
To start a company with intelligent SpokesModels that can represent Companies, Products and Causes at tradeshows, sporting events and fundraising events throughout the country.
THE PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED:
With the economy in this shape, there are a lot of intelligent, motivated, and well-spoken people jobless, who could make a wonderful addition to any team. There are also companies that are in need of getting their product, concept, or business out to consumers. This is where both merge.
MISSION:
To bring back what people are now searching for more than ever. A connection. People are searching for a connection with a person, or a product. People are searching for significance. This could be a way for new companies to gain attention instead of advertising or billboards. If consumers are able to feel a connection with a face, representing a product, they will likely feel a desire to be loyal to that product.
TRADESHOWS:
There are different types of people in this world that have different gifts. Some can create brilliant ideas and some can communicate them. For some it is painful for them to talk with others and explain their ideas. If we had a division of SpokesModels that could be trained to be not only the face of a company, but understand the concepts behind a product and deliver that to consumers and other business people, the flow of revenue could increase.
CONVENTIONS:
If there was a medical convention, we could use the individuals with a medical background, if there was an extreme sport event, we would use individuals with that background and use an interdisciplinary approach to matching up the ideal faces to what the companies and events are looking for.
RED CARPET EVENTS:
People like to buy or work with others that they feel are sincere and genuine. If our Spokes Models could work events like the Grammys and the Oscars, taking people to their seats, checking people in, and generally making sure they are having an amazing time, while representing a company like “clairol” or a startup like “…com”, the company could gain credibility and build consumer confidence.
SPORTING EVENTS:
Say the “Mavs Foundation” sponsors a hole in one prize. Maybe they could match a winning raffle ticket with a consumer. “Mavs Foundation” girls could be mingling within the crowd, selling raffle tickets, getting the name and mission of the foundation out there while maintaining intelligent, classy and meaningful conversations.
ONE STRIKE YOU ARE OUT POLICY:
In order to keep a strong reputation for our company, we would have a one strike you are out policy. This means that if the person showed up late, did not have a good attitude, or represents the company in a way that did not meet our standards, they would not be hired again.
NO ONE GETS PAID UNTIL WE GET PAID
The individuals hired would be independent contractors that would not get paid until we got paid. For every hour or event that they worked my company would get paid double.
START UP EXPENSES:
The cost of such a start up would be the website and database where profiles could be uploaded and maintained, as well as people that could manage the oversight of jobs and spokes models throughout the country.
UPKEEP EXPENSES:
The other money that would be needed would be a team to book the jobs and maintain the database.
PROFIT STRATEGY
Begin with March Madness. During March madness, we would contact the traditional sponsors and instead of them advertising in the pamphlets and big screens, they would have spokes Models at the games, talking to people, representing the sponsors. We could do this, by making use of industry contacts to secure promotional contracts for our company. The cost of a website, database, database management, and people to book the jobs at between $5,000-$8,000 dollars. We could turn this to profit in 90 days if we were able to get 22 games, with 5 Spokes Models at each game for three hours making a profit of $25 per hour. That would put us at $8,250 .
PROFITS:
You would get 50% of the profits. For example, if The Dallas Mavericks were having a black tie event where they needed four Spokes Models, to check people in, walk people to their tables and maintain coat check and they were needed for six hours at $50 an hour. The models would be paid $25 an hour, you would get $12.50 an hour for four girls for six hours. That would be a $300 profit, just to book the girls there.
For the larger and more expensive events, such as movie premiers, record release parties, Fortune 500 events, the profits could be in the thousands for one event.
Comment by Tiffany D -
It is so nice to hear an investor that feels the same way about our economy and the power that the investment community has to turn this situation around. I believe investors don’t need to stop taking risks, they just need to make smarter risks and maybe even begin to create investment power groups to lower the risk for each invesor. I believe that social networking can aid in this effort and that is why we have created the Capital MatchPoint, and online social networking matching investors with entrepreners who are looking for funding. When I read your article I felt as if you were the first person who finally understood what I want to do with our site. If you have time, please take a look at my blog, http://entrepreneurfunding.blogspot.com/. Read “Investors this is my call to you” and Entrepreneurs time to pack up and go home…hardly!”., I just want to commend you on what you are doing for the Entrepreneur community and want to help spread the word about what you are doing in any way I can. I would love to interview you for our site and share your views with our members. I believe you can help to start a revolution in the investment community and show them we can be a part of the solution and still make money. We just need to change our investment focus and strategy. I applaud you for what you are doing. We cannot crush the Entrepreneur spirit in this country because that is what it was built on.
Comment by Rainy Suggs -
PLANO TRADING COMPANY
4409 PALMDALE DRIVE
PLANO TX 75024
We invite you to partner with us in crude oil trading. Our focus will be to buy bonny light crude oil and PDVSA crude oil and sell to refineries in USA.
1. We apply to NNPC and PDVSA for offical oil allocation.
2. We get two refineries to be the end users of the the crude oil allocated to our organization.
3. We charter two crude oil vessels to pick up our monthly allocation from Nigeria and Venezuela and deliver to the refineries in USA. This will take 30 days to pick up the crude oil, deliver and get paid.
4. The inital expenses are flight tickets and hotel accomodation.
5. After the first delivery and the refineries pay for the crude oil the company can run herself.
6. Suppose we delivered 2 million barrels to each refinery and the net profit per delivery is $3 million. We stand to make $6 million net every month.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely
Ehi Borha
469 254 9932
Comment by Ehi Borha -
My Comment by bostonVCguy — February 19, 2009 @ 8:50 pm
1st of all…No one is moving out of this mall. This mall is one of top grossing malls in Georgia. 2nd of all there are no vacancies in this mall. 3rd of all, the area around this mall is still expanding and growing at an outstanding rate. The business was closed due to ownership changes and a change in direction…not because the spot was doing bad. When your business is to big, you can not watch everything and everybody. And the building in question is almost Turnkey….just need to put some TVs in it. As far as the market is concern…what real estate market has not suffered at some point not just in Atlanta. I know Boston everyone is not flocking to Boston right now. YOU MUST HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT THE MARKET IS GOING TO RECOVER. It is sad when people like you have no confidence in the market. The investment plan can change to tailor what the investor wants if they are intested and an agreement can be made. I have some investors who are willing to put up the capitol and go for it because they know what I am trying to do and they have confidence and TRUST in my ability and in me. And I know I will turn a profit once I open.
Do you think I would post a plan that would loose money?
Everyone on this blog has a idea,a dream, or business that they would like to see come true. How dare you come on this blog and say that someone will be throwing there money in the trash. It one thing not to like someones plans and have valid legitmate arguments on someone business, but you have neither.
Who are you BostonVCguy? I tell you who you are!
You the guy that says “that will never work”
You the guy that says “good look”..but never takes a risk!
You the guy that says “I wish I could help you out” but has no money or dreams
You the guy that says “I dont want to invest, but hire me if you get open”
You the guy that says “His my card, call me when you open, I can help you then”
You the guy that says “Sounds good, I want to invest but I can not at this time”….but you really have the money!
You the guy that says ” I would like to invest, but i got burned by mom…dad..friend…ex-girlfriend/boyfriend.”
You the guy that says “Its a bad market, wait until it recovers and then I might by interested”
You the guy that listens to a plan and never returns a phone call to say “I wish you luck and I hope you make it”
Im sure everyone on this blog wishes Mark will just look at there idea, business plan…there DREAMS. Maybe to you this all a game and you were just posting to be funny or to destroy some plans. Or maybe you were actually had very legimate reasons to critize my plan.
By the way, where is your plan? Maybe you are to rich to post your plan or maybe you do not have a plan at all. Or maybe you just a disgruntle worker who lost his job. Did your restaurant get foreclosed on? Or did you have to file for bankruptcy? I do not know which one you are you but I can tell you are not here to help.
TO EVERYONE THATS ON THIS BLOG, KEEP ON POSTING YOUR PLANS, IDEAS, DREAMS….THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A bostonVCguy around….you can’t get rid of them….DONT LET THAT STOP YOU FROM POSTING.
Mark,
I hope that one day when Dallas plays Atlanta, you can look me up and MVP SPORTS BAR AND GRILL will be open and successful. Lunch or dinner will be on me.
And to BostonVCguy
FU!
Comment by Ali Madison -
Interesting proposal with some major flaws:
1) What are we trying to achieve in here, to rebuild the economy or the community? Open source is great for many things, but certainly not for creating millions of jobs. You are here to engage people and pick winners based on your rules and money, it is an investment strategy and nothing more.
2) I get that all ideas here are open to everyone, and the fact that idea owner may not always be the best person to execute so this scheme promotes some sort of information completeness and efficiency. Why do you think this would attract the best idea from the crowd? Look at open source software as a life example, the number of successful projects are far less than failed ones. Why do people work on open source? Financial reward is almost the last reason down the list comparing with personal reward like reputation and status. Yes maybe open source ideology eliminates greed to some degree, but we cannot ignore the fact that greed is driving the economy and innovation for many other sectors besides the Wall Street.
3) If you have a particular illness, would you consult the best doctor you know or try to find a solution from crowdsourcing?
4) Yes the long tail is very powerful indeed, but it also has an implicit cost in screening. Look at the number of comments you have here (and many to come), how do you value your effort in searching and screening for ideas that you know very well would not be the next Coca Cola, Intel or KFC? Making it open source means now not only you doing the screening, potentially a lot of people are also doing it. But how are you going to integrate their work into yours to eliminate waste? You don’t have a Web 2.0 model here which means the more people working on it the better the system it becomes. Launching such a scheme without thinking this through is a waste of everybody’s time.
Comment by Johnny -
Mark,
I am president and CEO of Sovereign Energy Solutions Inc.
Every day it seems I am getting angrier and angrier because I have a product and solution that dramatically reduces fossil fuel emissions, which can eliminate our
dependence on foreign oil,And most importantly give energy independence to the people TODAY, Right now!
Obama’s socialist stimulus bill is not the answer to the problem. Energy independence in the hands of the people today is!
I believe with your help we could make energy independece a reality and give power back to the people right now.
when you sell a product that lower’s or eliminantes energy bill’s (heating, electricity,car and diesel fuel bill’s)
That is more than stimulus that is FREEDOM.
Even though we are currenlty a very small company. We are already profitable.
We manufacture and sell a tangible product.
Funding for expansion and marketing would translate into an Increase in sales and would create jobs now, not to mention how many jobs would be available for
technicians and installers for every vehicle in america.
We have a space at the mid America truck show in march ’09 to unveil our product to the diesel market but my fear is that we are severely underfunded.
I would like to request a 5 min audience with you to Demo our energy product?
I know your time is valuable, but in 5 minutes I will be able to show you without a shadow of a doubt what our product does and how it can be life changing for
every American right now! Please see the videos below as proof of that!
What our product is:
Very simply We build On- Demand water electrolysers. We break water (H20) into hydrogen and oxygen or (HHO gas)
Our product is a ZERO emission fuel ( when hho is burned it turns back into water) WATER is the ONLY emission.
Here is a pic of our current product.
Here are a couple videos.
Heating cutting different metals and stone from water!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjPX8syoUW0
Demo of how powerful the gas is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxZzeT2mmB0
There are a multitude of uses for this product.
Just to name a few:
Automobiles- The addition of hydroxy gas increases mpg and reduces emissions
Heavy duty vehicles. We currently have semi truck test that show a 20% increase in MPG and 40% + emission reductions of diesel fuel
Home heating- We have a prototype space heater type http://www.thegreenhomeheater.com
Electricity generation. We have ran a 5hp 8kw generator on HHO gas only
Hot water heater- Please see the torch video above
Thanks for your time
Please feel free to call me anytime day or night
I don’t care if it’s 2 am, REALLY!
here’s my number
Cell 214-576-8007
posting my cell number right here right now
How’s that for open source?
Comment by dean -
Many questions to your rules…
Cash flowing within 60 days of? Initial funding?
Same ? on 90 days to profitable.
I understand the advertising revenue rule but can it be in the advertising and marketing industry? What if we use this start up money to build a company that would eliminate the need for advertising expenditure for service businesses.
This venture will need a large investment and will take 12 months to develop but will generate nearly one trillion in cash in 10 years. That was ONE TRILLION.
Comment by Jonathan -
Hi again Mark,
You have us in a little flurry here at the office! We got excited when our comment was withheld from your blog for a few days, which gave us hope that you might be considering our proposal. Then after you posted the comment, the air was let out of our balloon. But now, our Stimulus plan is featured on SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.net/candees/social-business-hubs which makes us think you may be interested after all?
Are you SURE you wouldn’t like to invest? We know this will work, we’re professional, full of energy, and ready to forge ahead with this project! Best of all, we believe this truly has potential to stimulate economies across the nation and be profitable for all of us as well. Please let us know if you’d like us to do more research or provide additional details to convince you that this project is worth funding.
Best Regards and warm wishes,
Candis Hidalgo and Misty Lackie (We’re the “Go Smart Girls” 😉
Comment by Candis Hidalgo -
Mark,
My idea for your Stimulus program is Maverick Tower; an upscale hotel styled senior independent living /assisted living facility. The target for this endeavor would be the well to do baby boomer who does not want to deal with the rigors of owning a home. Demographically this group is strongly represented in both numbers and available disposable income.
The structure itself would contain approximately 100 units along with all the amenities associated with an upscale hotel; pool and sauna, salon and spa, library and screening room, game /bingo hall, gym, dining area and piano bar. Outside services such as transportation, maid/laundry, personal shopping and pet care would be available at additional cost. There would also be space available for outside vendors to lease offering merchandise that would further enhance the experience (i.e. convenience store, hearing aid/ medical supplies, ect). These outlets would be subject to approval and must conform to the standards set forth by the facility.
Maverick Tower would be open to anyone 55 or older who wishes to enjoy the convenience this type of lifestyle would provide. I am sure many players have older family members who would benefit greatly from this not to mention all of the other people that you have in your employ. It would offer a great environment for people of diverse backgrounds to socialize with others who share similar interests and are at the same point in life. Tenants would be required to pay an up front entrance fee along with monthly fee that would be locked in for 12 months and increase 5% per year.
Mark, I have done extensive research on this and have found that the occupancy rates on senior facilities as at 90% or better. I have a background in community planning/ new home building and am very excited about this venture. Considering the fact that we are all going to be old some day I would hope you would find this as interesting as I do and consider investing in this project.
Comment by Brittany Johnson -
Mark
After I get my business up and running, I have found documenting with pictures and video helps in the training. When people see for themselves how to do everything step by step it is easier to implement. I would also be willing to post these for training of anybody interested in my proposal. Attention to detail is critical in this type of business. I have left out specific recipes as these should be influenced by locality. The prices of local foods and distributors changes from location, state, and personal preferences. My personal experience is that pre-packaged food ends up costing you in the long run. They may save time, but they cost you customers and repeat business. Pizza is a great example, what makes these people think the crust and canned sauce they buy isnt purchased down the street??
Comment by Denton -
I really got a good laugh at the business plan about selling marijuana! What a riot!
Comment by Tina Langely -
I posted this yesterday and received the [wordpress] email, but I cannot find my post now.
Here it is again, please let me know if you have any questions:
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dfnhdp9z_1dbpxzk5f
Gamecues.com
Comment by Todd Resnick -
hey mark another idea,
what do you think about for sale signs that people place in their cars – i think one that is normal on one side and glows in the dark on the other side so it can be flipped over at night and people can actually see the sign. it would include a glow in the dark marker that can be used to write the price and contact info on the glow in the dark side would be great for someone who is looking to sell a car. i think most of the big retailers would be willing to carry it.
Comment by hilton -
for some reason my business plan didn’t post was it recieved?…i got notification and 2:31am Feb 20,2009….hopefully it did
Comment by Masai Henry -
Mark,
I have started a company called Set Outfitters. The plan was originally to provide craft services for film, TV and commercial production companies. I started the company after generating cash flow from selling California rolls at local festival. All my equipment was purchased from Craig’s list and IKEA. I worked on several movies and commercials last year and was able to use the experience to develop operating systems and promote the company the same time. I soon realized that there was a huge void for good catering in the industry and created something called the crafty combo. I am now a turnkey operation for any production manager looking for meals & craft services. This also allows me to take on low budget and independents. I have landed some great accounts and have benefited from consistent work and repeat business. I am a one man show who has had some great help from my wife and her best friend. We have been able to cash flow 70% of sales and are tracking 26% comp store sales.
I am also the Chef for the Dallas stars and provide meals after practices and games. I also feed some visiting teams post game meals.
I am at the point where I would benefit from an investor with the following Brands:
Set Outfitters (craft services & catering)
Team Outfitters (Team meals, Game meals, Plane meals & TMR team meal replacement safe pre made meals the players could take home and heat up on days off)
Race Outfitters (Nascar has 42 race days and only two caterers one just does BBQ)
Outdoor Outfitters (Catering for Hunting & fishing trips)
Industry Outfitters (catering for oil rigs, large office complex and businesses)
I have opened over 50 restaurants, ran 70 + restaurants and worked for some of the industries best from Brinker, Central Market, Nordstrom and many incubator concepts. I have the resume and background to grow
Thank you for your consideration,
Adrian Creasey
Comment by Adrian Creasey -
Hi Mark,
YourPianoCoach is an online, video lesson site where I train students to be a contemporary, gospel style piano player.
I currently play the piano for my church and for all of the choirs and I’ve played for 38 years. I have many people that have asked me for lessons but I turn them all away.
I realized that the old method of teaching piano is flawed and I do not want to do it that way anymore.
My method is to teach the same way you learn to talk. First mimic me and then later I’ll teach you what you doing and what chords you are playing.
YourPianoCoach will be a site that you go to and watch a video of me playing a song and teaching it to the student. This way, you can learn on your own speed, at any time of the day or night.
This is vastly different than the free videos you see on YouTube, because I’m not teaching just a single lesson. I am coaching piano students to learn to play just like me, so that they can in effect become my replacements in a similar contemporary, gospel church setting.
I am in the process of making this happen, but funding from you would speed the process up greatly.
I am asking for $3,500 to buy: a piano keyboard, a video camera with the boom stand and money to pay a web developer friend.
I would be able to be profitable from the beginning since I would have almost no costs, other than the hosting fee for the website. I am selling me and my experience.
I would pay back the loan at a monthly amount, plus a investment percentage.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks,
Scott Harpole
YourPianoCoach
Comment by Scott Harpole -
hi mark here is my idea, i live in a place where there are a large number of apartment complexes. i would provide a service where for 10$ a month i will collect your trash twice a week and dump it in the appartment dumpster/trash compactor. all you have to do is leave your garbage bag outside your apt or i can even ring the bell and pick it up that way this will help the customer take out the trash regularly. not much in startup costs maybe a beatup old truck to put the bags in to make it easier on me. not glamarous but should be profitable.
Comment by hilton -
Mark,
Your creative vision is inspiring! Good ideas un-manifested help no one. Good ideas shared can drive progress and innovation.
My plan is not likely to meet all requirements listed above, but certainly helps to address a number of issues that seem to be stifling this economy (Housing, Energy, Jobs, Health). I figure it can not hurt to put it out there.
I read a couple of ideas above that involve investment into real property. One Mr. Dean seems to be asking you for an initial investment to help him leverage into greater debt and become a land lord. He suggests that he will make necessary improvements on properties in need. I would say this is a good baseline business model, but is too self-serving and offers little improvement for the community.
Esther of Roswell NM proposes a not for profit aimed at community beautification. I like the concept of non-profit, but the improvements suggested offer little real lasting value.
Here is an Idea that I have been kicking around (for about two years now).
As suggested by M Dean, we take advantage of falling housing prices (Auction, Foreclosure, Short-Sale). We will purchase each property in full. We focus on properties in disrepair, looking very specifically for a certain type of property.
Sales of these types drive property values in the area down. We attempt to counteract this thru immediate reinvestment. Below is the quick pitch. Understand that this is designed for the AZ market but can be modified and implemented nearly anywhere.
Green remodels of 2-3 bedroom, 1950’s-70’s, slump block construction, single family homes that are located in Central Phx/Scottsdale/Tempe. Must be area of higher density, no suburbs.
Properties will be stripped down til just the blocks (Ext. walls) are remaining. Materials such as interior framing, older (inefficient) windows, roof trusses, concrete driveway, tile and/or carpeting, cabinets, old plumbing and electric, and more will be repurposed, reused, or recycled.
Product is to be a new Green Urban Environment that takes full advantage of the time, energy, and money savings offered thru the use of new green materials. Ex: SIPs, Solar electric/water heating, rain water collection/retention, flex-tube plumbing, concrete/recycled glass counter-tops, etc.
Redesign incorporates upside-down floor plan concept. This allows for better natural airflow, more natural light, and less work in relocating existing plumbing; all of which equal to major savings.
Exit strategy will not…WILL NOT…be a FLIP business model. The Flip is used by those looking to get in, get out, and maximize profits. Often maximizing profits comes at the cost of skimping on quality of construction. I intend to build a name (brand) that can be identified with a quality product.
Having said that, upon completion, if there should be a party interested in purchasing, there would be no reason to turn down a good offer. Aside from that, the strategy is one of establishing entities for residual income. Properties will be rented as co-op space. Common areas fully furnished, and all amenities included at a flat rate. A rate that beats the rental rates of the area.
Let me go over this part again, it is important that we understand. One individual (renter) leases one unfurnished bedroom along with the use of: all amenities (Electric, Water, Premium Cable, High-speed Wi-Fi Internet, etc.) and all common areas for a flat rate. Lease agreements allow for maximum flexibility, month to month if requested. This, combined with the premium living environment, will make us extremely competitive within the existing rental market.
Returns are conservatively estimated to be 9% ROI.
(conservative = rented @ 80% capacity and going over budget in construction by 15%)
Maximum profitability is closer to 13-14% ROI (calculated annually). This does not include adjustments for increased equity.
In the end, we win, the community wins, the city is happy, the residents are happy, the earth is better off, we create work for a number of subcontractors and suppliers, and we leave behind a shining example of how homes ought to be built.
I suggest that this is best achieved thru a two headed approach. First, a non-profit that conducts the acquisition and renovation phases. Offers tax incentives and greater access to grant opportunities.
Second, a for profit that acts as holding/property management firm buys the property with the intention to hold and rent for 5+ years.
I believe that the establishment of two completed properties would afford the momentum necessary to make this a self-perpetuating program. The key is to focus multiple projects in the same neighborhood. Each completed project increases values for the entire neighborhood.
Please respond with with any suggestion.
Comment by Richard Trayer -
@ camaeron smith: With spanish technology, not far away from Pamplona (in spanish), they did a performance quite interesting related with eco-energy from gym bycicles http://www.ola19.com/2009/?p=454
Best wishes and good luck to everybody from Barcelona.
Comment by Dr F -
Mr. Cuban,
I have a business plan to produce and sell reusable, injection-molded plastic coffee filters to replace the disposable pods used in pod coffee machines. I have already produced full working prototypes of a reusable, refillable pod that fits the common Phillips Senseo coffee makers.
Currently, there are over 14 million units that have been sold by Phillips, as well as other companies that employ the same type of coffee pod in the market. The average cost for a bag of 14 coffee pods in a grocery store is $8, for a per-cup cost of $0.57 each.
In contrast, the equivalent amount of coffee required to fill the reusable plastic pod filter with premium store-bought coffee is $.08/cup.
The end-to-end cost of producing 50,000 plastic reusable coffee pods commercially is between $0.20 and $0.35 each including the cost of tooling. If packaged in a plastic tube pack, two per pack, with a cardboard overflap for presentation in a retail store / grocery store / other outlet, the percieved market value is at least equal to a single refill bag. Conservatively, about $7.99 but in market testing people were comfortable with a value up to $9.99 and a solid perceived economic and ‘green/eco’ value.
The cost of directly marketing the packaged units, or getting them into a distribution channel is currently unknown. I would value your guidance on this issue as an investor. Whole Foods, for example, took in $20 billion dollars in revenue in 2008 and is a viable distribution outlet for these filters.
Since the prototype is already developed (I have mechanical prototypes available for review) the cost/profit breakdown is as follows for an initial run of 100,000 units with 5 employees to handle production, coordination, marketing and distribution to food outlet stores, groceries, markets, and online distribution.
Expenses
Item Unit cost(dollars) Subtotal(dollars)
———————————————————
100,000 filters 0.35 35,000.00
50,000 packaging 0.30 15,000.00
5 employees ~3,000.00/mo w/health ~15,000.00/mo recurring
office ~1,500.00/mo ~1,500.00
insurance unknown
distribution unknown
TOTAL 66,500
Revenue
Expected time to produce 100,000 units of the filters in packaging is expected to be less than 30 days. Once the reusable pods are packaged and boxed ready for sale and distribution, it is expected that a production run can be sold in less than 30 days if a distribution channel is agreed to and found such as a supermarket chain (Wal*Mart, Whole Foods, Raleys) or retail kitchen outlet.
Item Unit price(dollars) Subtotal(dollars)
———————————————————
100,000 filters 7.99 799,000.00
THE BOTTOM LINE
—————
PRODUCTION COST (60 days): $ 84,500.00
REVENUE : $799,000.00
NET INCOME (90 days) : $732,500.00
REQUESTED INVESTMENT : $90,000->120,000
ROI : 25% of net 90 day revenue
Ongoing value : 33% ownership of company
I propose that you, Mark Cuban, would become a full 33% partner in the company (“The Cuban Cut”) and receive a direct 25% cut of the revenue received in the first 90 days as repayment. I am looking for business guidance, and am looking for an investment sufficient to meet the production and operation cost of the company for 90 days and a target of producing 100,000 coffee pods. If the initial goal is met, this standard brick-and-mortar solid goods company will continue to produce resuable filters for other machines, employ and hire new talent, and continue growing into a larger traditional goods company.
Comment by Martin Bogomolni -
Mr. Cuban,
As I was looking on line for a small business loan, my husband was reading the sport page and came across your article and could not believe what he was reading, that you would be helping people in need, like us.
My husband and I were both drug addicts, ex-gang members living dysfunctional lives. But for the last 15 years we have become productive individuals and we both have worked very hard.
We have had a dream to be able to open a café of our very own, where we would be able to give back by working with convicted felons helping them with temporary employment, while introducing them to a new way of life.
So we were given an amazing opportunity to open up a café, but with the economy as it is, it does not seem that it this can happen. We have been saving money and this is just not enough. We need start up financing. We have come so far and would hate to lose such a great opportunity that has been offered to us. So I’m hoping and praying that you would consider us. I would be truly and very grateful and so thankful if you would allow us to be chosen.
Respectfully,
E.L
Comment by E.L. -
Wow, most of you are completely missing the point, not only of Mark’s request, but business in general. It’s not the idea that’s most valuable – it’s the ability to execute and Mark is trying to help by supplying funding. Consider the steam engine, car, pc or search engine. For most products or services, the idea isn’t near as valuable as the ability to successfully execute it. If you’re scared that posting the idea publicly will mean you lose the opportunity, then you need to come to grips with the reality that you’ve just got an idea, without the ability to execute, and that just isn’t worth much. Pass the idea on and look for something that you can execute. If Mark’s money will make the difference, i.e. that’s all you lack to execute, then post the idea and make it happen. No one remembers the person who came up with the car first. They remember Ford because he made it accessible. I think business novices think the inventor got all the credit and the cash. That’s rare. It’s the person who figured out a way to deliver the product or service into buyers’ hands.
Comment by Levi -
Mr. Cuban,
The break even point income wise for my company would be 45-50 days and well profitable between 60-75 days. I am very excited about the car club that I have started. It has not opened officially yet because I do not have the proper resources to complete all the tasks. It is a nation wide car club that offers sponsorship in each state. I have over 30 interested sponsors and a dozen or so that have joined as official sponsors. My goal before the website goes public is to get 108 total sponsors throughout all 50 states. My company has very little in cost for start up and would love to give you the full plan in break down via email or how ever you would prefer. I dont know how often or if you even get the chance to read these blogs with as many that must pour in everyday. But if your stimulus plan is to boost the economy then I think my plan offers more than just my company profiting I as well plan to help boost the profit of all my sponsors. The more that I am able to provide my sponsors money the better interest that the have in my car club and in return the more advertisement by word of mouth, providing me more paying members and in return for more paying members the more that I can offer my members making a big circle effect. I am trying to provide you with as much info as possible still leaving my ideas still unknown do to the ammount of people who could read this and take any ideas leaving me unable to use them.
Thank You and I hope to hear from you soon to intrest you even further into my plan.
LR
Comment by LR -
Running water (ie such as rivers and waterfalls and ocean tides) can be used as a continuous source of energy. Think the wind turbines placed (like a water wheel) in a river or waterfall using a wheel (ie water wheel) attached to the turbine. It was done in Pomona in 1897. Think how much energy escapes us in Yosemite falls (the wheel can be unobtrusive).
Comment by Marvin Goldfarb -
I posted my business plan and links and it doesn’t show up. What to do?
Comment by Todd Resnick -
Problems with the above restaurant plan.
Claim: “In order to survive in this volatile market you must have 4 key features to ensure success….HIGH VISIBILITY, LOCATION, TRAFFIC and NO COMPETITION”
Contradiction: “As the thousands of patrons are leaving the mall it is impossible for them to miss MVP’s.” It is not a good location if everyone else is moving out, that will decrease your foot traffic, not to mention the fact that there is probably a corelation between the business failings in the area. Moreover, you claim that “Due to unforeseen circumstances the venue had to close in early November.” Perhaps the closure was due to less revenue generated from less traffic which in turn caused them to have the inability to pay loans and mortgages. May I ask how you are going to turn a profit in an industry with tightening profit spreads in an environment where discretionary spending is declining at spectacular rates in a location (Atlanta, GA) which has a 26 year high in unemployment at a rate of over 8%.
You plan on opening a restaurant with everything you state with seed money of 250K? Where do you get a number like that. I find it highly unlikely that an intialy investment will even cover a quarter of the startup costs of a restaurant. Not to mention you are only offering to pay a 25% interest if the intial investment isnt paid back in 2 years? What are your projected cash flows that show you will be able to pay this back. How can you possibly make such outragous claims that the only outcome will be MC making 25% on his investment. I would offer this, his downside risk is the full amount he gives you becuase when this fails to to foresight his downside risk will be 100%, that would be the full amount when this horrible idea fails. Not to mention, his only upside is 25%, and that is only if you dont pay him back in 2 years. Hell Mark, i will save you 700,000, just give me 100,000 and i will put it in a trash can and burn it.
Comment by bostonVCguy -
Mark,
With over 1700 responses to your unique stimulus plan, you are no doubt being inundated with proposals from all over the nation, so I figured I’d get in on the action:
When a guy gets off work, he wants to quit thinking about slumping sales-this and imminent recession-that. He needs a way to take his mind of these tumultuous times, sit back, relax, and be entertained. But with a salary freeze on at work, his 401K down, and the threat of layoffs in the near future, how does he keep himself sane and entertained without breaking the bank?
SLED. SLED is not an original idea. In fact it’s an obvious rip-off of Redbox, the automated DVD dispensing machines located at McDonald’s and Wal-Marts nationwide offering DVD rentals for $1 a night. However, unlike Redbox, SLED machines are strategically and conveniently located right where thousands of people are everyday: at work on large corporation campuses. 25 Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the DFW area alone, not to mention the numerous other major corporations with locations in the region. So, a SLED machine is placed at, for example, Texas Instruments headquarters on Forrest Lane, workplace of 3000 employees. When 5 o’clock rolls around, our guy stops by the SLED machine on the way out the door, picks-up a DVD for the next night or two, and heads home with the evening’s entertainment in hand–and for only $1 a night. After he’s finished enjoying the movie, he simply returns the DVD when he walks in the door the next morning.
Each SLED machine costs about $10,000 to purchase and $100 per month to operate and maintain (electricity and internet connectivity). Each machine holds 600 discs for rent, and up to 100 discs for resale (discs previously rented out), all of which are purchased for about $10 each from distributors. If the SLED can accomplish having 400 of these 600 discs rented out every night for the first 50 nights, revenue of $20,000 will be achieved inside two months (400 discs x $1 per night x 50 nights). 20% of this revenue ($4,000) goes directly to the host corporation. As time goes on and new titles arrive, discs are taken out of rental circulation and made available for purchase from the SLED. The revenue generated with these sales covers the first two months’ machine operating costs. With $10,000 in machine purchase costs and $6000 in initial DVD costs, the SLED breaks even in two months. After the first 60 days, with the machine paid for and rental rates commensurate with the first two months, profits are generated simply from the rental and resale of DVDs.
The SLED machine capitalizes on the captive market on major corporation campuses, by offering affordable entertainment at a time when budgets are a little tighter than usual. I need approximately $16,000 in total initial capital in exchange for 50% equity. I tried my best to keep the overview of the business model as succinct and straightforward as possible. Thanks so much for your time and the opportunity to get in on the business pitch frenzy.
Best,
Sean March
Comment by Sean March -
Hi Mark,
My partner and I started our company out of my parent’s garage four years ago. We sell many of the tools, equipment, and disposable items that are essential to the operation of repair shops in the automotive/tractor/motorcycle/military industries both here in the U.S. and in Canada.
We are started with only $5K and we moved from the garage to the larger location. We grew too fast and before long we were generating $60K a month in revenue but believed that as long as we threw all that money back into the company it would keep growing. We eventually needed more inventory than our supplier could provide and while we were setting up the orders with our current vendor, we were still paying the salesmen even though we had no inventory for 4 months. We’ve been in the hole ever since. Over the past 4 years, we have put together a smooth system from the moment a salesman picks up the phone to when the AP dept of that company is sending us payment.
We are looking to outside sources now because we are in the classic entrepreneurial “squeeze”. We have $60K in orders waiting for inventory that we can’t fill because we have to pay in advance for the product and even with the economic downturn the past 6 months, the past 3 months have been some of our busiest months in the past 2 years.
We have an average of 1000% markup on each item with many of our orders being repeat happy customers. We believe an influx of cash would allow us to fill our current orders and allow us to launch the next phase of growth which we can send you more details should you choose to look into us more closely.
We have a website, we are a c-corp, we have a 4 year history, the customer base, the experience (through 4 years of blood, sweat, and tears), and the only missing piece to the pie which would show immediate gains across the board is an influx of cash to consolidate some of our high interest credit cards that we are paying too much money in interest a month on and allow us to launch the phase that will allow us to skip the most expensive part of the training program for new salesman and yield immediate results. We feel we have met every rule you placed on this blog and hope that you can give us a chance to present you with our business plan so you can see if this is a company that you can make a difference with.
Thank you for your consideration,
Adam & Boris
Comment by borisais -
Mr. Cuban,
My business is a start up business in Pittsburgh, PA. After reading your rules I believe that my business plan is worthy of being funded.
It is an oxygen cafe. If you are unfamiliar with what that entails the information concerning their growth and migration from Japan can be read in my business plan. But to say it is “just” an oxygen cafe would to do it a disservice as I intend to fully encompass and package relaxation as a sellable commodity.
It has a definite product and service it sells and will reach its break-even mark at 60 days and be operating in the black in 90.
I understand that funding will be provided monthly and am confident that the numbers will continue to grow. The breakdown of what the products cost compared to what I will sell it for is also in the business plan.
Everyone works, didn’t plan on it being any other way.
BUSINESS PLAN: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfqbf9cn_0ffhr43fp
I understand that you give no promises and therefore I will take not expectations. I also understand that the money goes into the bank of your choice.
The breakdown of the equity you receive is at the end of the business plan in the conclusion.
I hope you to hear from you soon Mr. Cuban,
Sincerely,
Tony
Comment by Tony -
. mr cuban .i don’t know why we don’t fight forest fires and grass fires. right now we throw rocks at it and run away. you know if we are going to fight someone we usually get bigger or stronger or get a big stick and beat them. and, there is no reason why we don’t fight fire with fire. its not an invention its something we have and is very simple how could i think of it? i don’t have a pot to pee in or window to throw it out. BUT<<.. YOU could if you have the desire. and, i don’t need anything… tks for ur time…( lnl )…
Comment by larry leatherwood -
Money Needed: $500
Mark,
I am a student at the University of Washington and like many students am in the Greek Community. Our Greek system is located a block off campus and very far away from our student work out facility. Not only is my fraternity far away, but the entire Greek system is far away from the University of Washington workout center, the IMA (Intramural Activities Building). Whether it is due to inconvenience or laziness many Greek students do not walk to our workout facility and thus do not workout. I have done extensive research and have come to the conclusion that people are willing to pay $1 dollar for a ride to the IMA and back or $1 for just a ride back to the Greek system from the IMA. My business plan is to rent a van and run a shuttle service from the Greek Community to the IMA and back from 10AM until 6PM. I chose to end at 7PM because that is when our Night Ride shuttle provided by the University begins to run.
The reason I believe this business will be successful is because our Greek system is comprised of over 2800 individuals, many of whom whose limiting factor to visiting the IMA is the long walk.
The $500 that would be loaned to me would go towards renting a 24 person van, paying the driver, creating fliers, and paying for gas. I predict that the ridership for the first week will be 250 total rides which will increase over 4 weeks to level out at about 450 rides per week. The total expenditure per day would be $60 for paying the driver and daily gas expenditures.
You would make %15 of total monthly profit after the full loan amount is paid back 3 months after the business starts. The van service would only run monday-friday during Fall, Winter, and Spring quarter. During Summer vacation, spring break, and winter break the van service would not run.
Thanks,
Alex
Comment by Alex -
Mark,
To be honest I am not even sure if this blog is really held by you or this is another joke but due to the other 1700 plus messages I am going to take my chances. I own a technological company which produces innovating products which then is sold to big companies to put their name on it and provide it to the public. I currently have to major products that I do not want to see put on away by a big corporation. One is saline, alkaline battery recharger and the other is a rotary engine that works with compress air. Both products have been introduced to big corporations. If going green in both sense of way in a plan of your future contact me,
R/S
Crisor
Comment by Crisor Boyard -
Mark,
Thank you for investing in us! Here is my proposal.
Idea:
New type of Geothermal Turbine that can utilize lower pressures and it’s not affected by effluent contaminates. Turbine can use wells that were capped because of lower temp/pressures and or had too many contaminates. In Geothermal power generation, current turbines must have “clean “steam (sand and other materials) and higher temperatures BEFORE it’s sent to the turbine. When steam is cleaned, much of the original effluent energy is lost so steam must be “regenerated” before being sent to the turbine. The new turbine doesn’t need clean steam and high pressures. The effluent can discharge back into the earth so there is very little environmental impact-a closed loop system. Since the turbine is not large, operates at a lower speed and has few parts, various types of generators can be attached.
Use:
Electrical Power Generation. This turbine can be used worldwide.
Design:
This design is simple with very few parts. Turbine can be built here in America and has minimal maintenance.
Development:
Testing can be done after prototype. Several different sizes can be built to accommodate various geothermal wells.
Income and Cost:
Sales based on demand. Cost of actual construction is based on materials used. Turbine materials would be based on well specifics (type of steam, size of well, temperature, pressure, effluent, particulate matter etc.) could easily be well over initial cost. Material costs are minimal and are based on current materials available. Turbine could be built for around $20K (including cost of R&D). Sales would be at least double.
Comment by Chuck C -
Mark,
My idea would be for manufacturing of modular home based alternative energy components that would be sold through building material distributors, (i.e. Home Depot, Lowes, etc.).
Please contact me for further information if you are at all interested.
Comment by Tim Crumbaugh -
In today’s economy companies are looking for streamlined, cost effective ways to protect their assets, intellectual property and customer trust. Everyone knows and has heard about all the security breaches in the past resulting in millions of lost credit card data and intellectual property. There are a number of solutions out there that pieced together CAN provide quality security measures but recently Data Loss Prevention solutions have become the “must have” in Corporate America. There are a number of companies out there that raise their hand when asked if they do DLP but in reality only 4 or 5 that do it uncommonly better than everyone else. And there are thousands of companies that partner with these vendors and also make the same statement that they are best versed in this technology and can “walk” customers through the myriad of choices. In reality there are very few.
This technology is a $57 billion marketplace and for companies that experience breaches the cost to answer to and recover from these breaches typically ends up costing the company on average $227 per record breached. Add up the most recent HPS breach….Quite a bit of money…
My goal is to start a company that focuses solely on this technology. But more than focus. Understand the space, the types of customers, their needs…what they would buy if they could build the perfect solution for their own environment.
I have been working in this space since 2005 when there were only 2 companies focused on this technolgy. In 2009 there are now 60. 5 of those companies focus 100% on DLP technology and have agressive roadmaps to improve the technology. In reality there is maybe 4 companies in the US that are high level partners with these vendors but there are NONE that, like their vendors, focus entirely on DLP. I would like to start that company and be the foremost leading expert as a DLP solution provider. The average sales cycle for a 500 employee company is 30-45 days. The shortest I have seen is 21 days. The average deal size ranges from $80k – $250k. This company’s startup would require very little. An office space. a few phones. Highly money motivated people who are not afraid to pick up the phone and ask their clients difficult questions. And someone to show them exactly how to solve their client’s problems and make money at the same time.
If you would like more info on the technology or my experience please contact me. Thanks for the opportunity.
Comment by Sean -
Dear Mark~
I have a small human development firm that specializes in inspiring intrinsically motivation for individuals and organizations. I can use an infusion of funding to remain solvent after fours of operation.
Imagine if you could accomplish the things in life that really mattered most to you: to be in complete control of your destiny. To finally understand the awesome influence of your desires and establish a plan that will empower your intrinsic motivation to make the desires a reality. No more asking “Am I really ready to take a chance?” and “What is my purpose?” or “Should I follow my heart?” Instead, you will learn to embrace your purpose, your dreams and your desires using a Personal Vision Table® that will clearly identify your vision, belief and behavior necessary to make your dreams a reality.
Attend Visions of Empowerment and you will:
Develop your personal vision and appreciate the immense influence it has on your life
Understand the power of your of your intrinsic desires
Identify and develop the behaviors that will support, help and ultimately achieve all you desire in your life
Be given your Personal Empowerment Map to use as your “GPS” as you begin the journey of evolutionary change toward vision accomplishment
Start down the path of consistent goal development and accomplishment beginning with the final product visualized
Develop your Personal Vision Table that will identify the needs, commitment, behaviors and steps necessary for making your dreams a reality.
Are you were you want be in your life? If someone asked you to tell about your goals, fears, and personal effectiveness what would you say? Are you personally empowered? Stop the influence of factors outside of you in the external environment. Understand why you react to situations and other people the way you do. Build an awareness of your unique strengths with the DiSC® behavioral profile. Learn to identify environments that are most conducive to your success in your personal and professional life.
Attend Transition Toward Personal Success and you will:
Develop a personal Disc® self-development behavioral profile
Learn to appreciate your own unique strengths
Discover more about your goals, fears and personal effectiveness
Acquire new skills to adapt your behavior to meet the needs of any situation
Learn to identify the environment that contributes most to your success and goal accomplishments
Understand why you react to other people the way you do
Learn you can change yourself thereby changing your environment
I have nine motivational weekends scheduled from March 28th through November 21, 2009. The 3-hour Visions of Empowerment is $390 to attend and the 4-hour Transition Toward Personal Success is $520 to attend. If I have piqued your interest and you would like to see my business plan, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks for you time and consideration.
Best regards,
Reginald A. Randles, MAOL
reginald@jrrandlesent.com
Comment by Reginald Randles -
It seems every place I go shopping someone wants me to sign up for their club card. Sure the benefits of having them are nice but as a consumer I only have so much room in my wallet to carry them. It has come to the point that I no longer accept them and miss out on the bonuses or discounts they provide. So my thoughts were, why doesn’t someone centralize all this demographic data and offer a single card that companies could hook up with to track their data. This way the consumer carries one card but can use it at many different locations. The only data this card would provide to the company is the demographics of the card holder (through a unique id number). The company use this number to track their own data in house (much like club cards work now) or join a service that could provide this service (for small business).
Comment by James -
Hi Mark,
I have some 5 lots I want to purchase for $500,000
and sell the 5 lots for $1.5, I ready have buyers but I
need a loan to purchase it first. it’s in a very good
neighbourhood.
Thanks
Ursula
Comment by Ursula -
I am looking to start-up an indoor playground for children under 5. The faciltity will have some ball pits, big tunnels kids can climb through w/ slides and little wok areas where kids can do activities like paint/color/draw. This place will get the kids away from the tv during the cold winter months and the hot days of summer. It will aslo serve as a place for birthday parties and class trips for day care centers and elementary schools
This WILL NOT be a day care, which will eliminate some of the costly licenses.
Initial start-up costs will be around 50k. This money will be used to construct the area to its needs and to buy various indoor playground equipment. After the initial costs the company will be running on very low overheads.
By charging $10 per child per visit, offering yearly/family discounts packages and reserving dates for b-day parties. This will be breakeven in 90 days.
Comment by Joe -
Hi Mark,
First off, thanks for doing this. There’s a real shortage of billionaires taking an interest in what’s happening at the base of the pyramid…
Re: our Company, the BusinessCatapult.com, think of it as a social networking platform for investors w/ a deal flow management system imbedded in it. Though still in beta, we’ve around 1,000 investors currently accessible to entrepreneurs from it. As you might guess, these folk are from all over the Internet, as do the entrepreneurs they’re connecting with. However, BC marketplace development is primarily through local ‘Channel Partners’, which are professional associations that work w/ entrepreneurs, business incubators and other similar organizations.
As it says on the BC home page:
“The goal of the Business Catapult is to enable the creation of new forms of wealth through collaboration. To get this done, the Business Catapult does not manage an investor network. Instead, we provide the tools for investors to form and manage their own networks. The result: better deal flow, better deal flow management, and opportunities to develop new relationships with other investors.
We make the right people and the right deals more findable, faster.”
Bottom line is that the BC’s a Main St. initiative, not a Wall St. one. Angels & entrepreneurs are everywhere. Our goal is to make them more findable faster. So far, so good.
Re: timetables, we’ve been working on the BC for about 2 years, but it’s leaving the ground *now* w/ a small host of brand name client organizations in tow, so we should hitting the markers you’re identifying in the time frames you’re wanting.
Re: the funding, we’re self funded so far, but we’re always interested in talking w/ ‘smart money’ folk like yourself that can help us along.
We’d love to talk w/ you about what we’re doing!
Best,
Kevin Johansen, founder
Bio: http://www.Linkedin.com/in/KevinJohansen
Comment by Kevin Johansen -
Pingback: Cloud Droplets #62- Clouds and Drugsand Rock n Roll | IT Management and Cloud Blog
Mark,
(Please allow me a few brief paragraphs as a lead-up)
I’m one of two partners at a software development company doing bespoke webapps for people, mostly in Ruby on Rails. There is often a long-standing relationship with our clients in which we provide IT consulting, etc. as well.
We’re bootstrapped and currently profitable. Our current bottleneck is just that we’re so busy with projects that growth is slowed…i.e. we’re ignoring tons of opportunities for new work because we’re saturated with our current work. With things like they are, I make a fine living and will continue to do so, and the company will continue growth (~100% growth last year, but we’re still very small).
Something I’ve noticed is that our company (and other similar companies whose owners I know) has been affected negatively exactly zero by the current economic situation. I felt confident going into this economic slump that our company would not be impacted, and if anything we’ve just gotten more and better projects.
There’s a large push we’ve observed to automate processes to survive the current slump intact, and with an initial investment of <$250k (to be paid out incrementally monthly, if necessary) we could hire five new employees today, and ultimately ~15 in the year. One of our primary products is an online Insurance Calculator for insurance underwriters, etc. This is a custom bit of software that would then interface with the rest of our system. Often these companies are still working from a paper table lookup book, I’m not kidding you. These contracts tend to evolve into long term working relationships with companies that have been around for 100+ years and are not going anywhere.
Should be able to guarantee a first-year return of ~30% over what was put in. If it failed to provide at least a 100% return by the end of year 2, the investment would roll over to a loan with whatever APR makes you happy and doesn’t frighten us away.
The 250k number can easily scale up to 1M. I don’t think, with the particular market I outlined, that it can scale any further.
We would gladly open source the part of the software that the companies’ adapters hooked into, as well as provide them (if necessary) with a website built on an open source CMS (http://www.ansuzcms.com)…any updates they subsequently paid us for would be merged into both of those open source projects.
Comment by Josh Adams -
Hi Mark-
I have a micro cap internet company that partners with large companies in the USA, only seven employees, ramping revenues, profitability this year, technology recognized by Dell and PC Magazine. Have raised almost $5M since start up in ’05 but need a small amount of cash to get to EBITDA positive cash flow.
Not sure if you would consider OTCBB type of investment?
Thanks-
Mike
Comment by Mike -
Hey Mark, This is my plan. I have the experience to pull it off. If you want to see the location, its great! I live in Atlanta, GA..well right outside.
1.0 Executive Summary
MVPs Sports Bar and Grill will be located in the highly populated Mall area. In order to survive in this volatile market you must have 4 key features to ensure success….HIGH VISIBILITY, LOCATION, TRAFFIC and NO COMPETITION. This location more than satisfies this criteria. MVP’s will serve as the premier venue for sports entertainment in the area. I plan on having a great atmosphere, great food and top notch customer service in order to maintain my clientele. This venue will house over 30 flat screens, 5 100″ screens, and a game room. I will also have a private game area that can be booked for intimate parties, functions, and birthdays. The menu will be reasonably priced so even the modest consumer can come and have a good time. MVP’s will be showing every major sports event from football to tennis. We will even show the most popular pay-per-view events.
This location used to be Seafood Sports Bar. This venue had much success because of the TVs, food, location, and size. It was the only sports bar in the area. Due to unforeseen circumstances the venue had to close in early November. MVPs will continue where they left off. This free-standing building sits right in front of Mall(the 6th largest Mall in Georgia). There is minimum buildout required which makes this a great business venture. As the thousands of patrons are leaving the mall it is impossible for them to miss MVP’s. With our aggressive marketing strategy and excellent service MVP’s will be able to bring former clientele back to the area.
I am asking for $800,000 in total investment capital. The investment capital will be enough to sustain the business a minimum of 6 months up to a year and a half. Investors share will be determined by the ammount they contribute. The initial investment strategy will be to funnel all profits back into operations for the first three months. After the third month, investors will begin to profit share based on their initial contribution. After two years, if the full investment has not been repaid through monthly profit payouts, 25% interest plus principal will be paid on the initial investment to satisfy the investor. At the minimum every investor will receive their initial investment plus 25%. The following are potential investment opportunities and potential profit sharing. As long as the operating cost are covered, profit sharing will take place.
Mark,
I have been told that I did not need that much capitol to open. To get the doors open, I would need an intial investment of $250,000. The rest was cash flow for the business to operate. I guess you can determine the cash flow, if you were to get involved.
I have a business plan but it was too large to upload. I can send it no problem if you interested.
Comment by Ali Madison -
Hi Mark. We met back in the early ‘90s. I shared an apartment on The Strand in Manhattan Beach with another guy, and you came to a few of our parties. I guess you’ve done OK for yourself since then.
I am the CEO of Vubiq, Inc. (www.vubiq.com). Vubiq is a millimeter wave technology company, focusing on developing wireless solutions in the internationally unlicensed 60 GHz band. Working with IBM for the past few years, we have developed the world’s first and only fully integrated 60 GHz radios on a small (10×10 mm) ball grid array (BGA) package. These radios are capable of transmitting video and data at multi-gigabit per second speeds. To complement this RF capability, we have developed an elegant yet simple baseband solution to achieve a modulation technique that allows for the wireless transmission of uncompressed high definition video at 1.485 Gbps. This baseband solution uses no software and no FPGAs – it is a hardware solution using inexpensive components, and a clear low cost solution for production volumes under 1 million units (at which point the investment in an ASIC begins to have an economic advantage). In our labs today, we have a working prototype sending uncompressed high definition video wirelessly at 1.485 Gbps.
What we are doing right now is building a product that we will introduce at the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) Conference in late April. This product, focused squarely on professional and broadcast video, will allow for wireless transport of uncompressed, high definition SDI video (SDI is the standard format in professional video – its cousin in the consumer realm is HDMI). It will be housed in a standard sized outdoor security camera enclosure, and will send video across the link at 1.485 Gbps with a range up to 100 meters.
Here is a list of features:
Uncompressed HD wireless video at full bit rate (1.485 Gb/s) using 60 GHz unlicensed spectrum provides:
1. Zero lag for applications that have sensitive time critical requirements
2. Transport of multiple lower bit rate video streams (such as multiplexed ASI and multiplexed SD)
3. Applications where video quality degradation cannot be tolerated
4. Ability to edit raw streams without the problem of MPEG or H.264 coding getting in the way
5. High security requirements where low probability of intercept (LPI) is important
6. Ability to provide multiple links in the same local area without interference (leveraging the extremely high re-use factor at 60 GHz)
7. Due to high isolation (re-use) and high antenna directivity, multiple link networks and repeating nodes can be created for complex network topologies
8. No radio license required – 60 GHz millimeter wave spectrum is allocated as unlicensed internationally (harmonized regulations)
No product of this type exists in the market today, and the early feedback from end users and dealers in the professional video market has been extraordinary, with some dealers placing orders immediately from a cold call. Our distributors in Japan tell us that the immediate market for this product there is in the thousands of units, and with a price point of $15,000 per link, the near term revenue opportunity worldwide is significant.
Over the following months, we will expand our product line to include additional variations on this theme, including a portable version able to be affixed to an ENG camera. Every time I go to a pro basketball, baseball, or football game, I notice that each professional shoulder camera requires two guys – one to hold the camera and shoot the video, and the other to wind and unwind the cable along the floor. Not only is this expensive, inefficient and clumsy, but I once saw a Laker Girl trip over one of those cords – who knows what kind of a lawsuit she slapped on Jerry Buss for that! There do exist wireless products for these transportable cameras, but their two major negatives include: (a) Compression. Since they use a frequency much lower in the spectrum, compression and uncompression of the video is required, which affects picture quality, adds latency, and makes on-the-fly editing more difficult; and (b) Cost. These radios sell for about $75,000 each, significantly limiting the addressable market. Our price point for a competitive radio will likely be one-third of that. Yet another product that we will add to the line will include HDMI functionality, to bring wireless uncompressed HD video to the prosumer and high end consumer markets, and possibly over time into the mass consumer market as well.
Our intellectual property position is strong. We have one issued patent, and nine others in process. These patents cover both the fundamental underlying technology and application-specific developments for such areas as RFID, Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN), 60 GHz waveguide designs for longer range links, and, of course, wireless uncompressed high definition video transport.
Regarding the stimulus we will make to the economy, in the short term it would involve the hiring or contracting of US companies and individuals whose expertise is required for the software and hardware engineering, board layout, fabrication and assembly, and other requisite outsourced work. Over the longer term, Vubiq will be hiring more and more engineers internally for the development of an expanded product offering in this wireless HD video market, as well as for other areas of focus as mentioned in the above paragraph. Because 60 GHz is internationally harmonized as unlicensed spectrum worldwide, we anticipate a significant percentage of our sales will be exports – we have already sold our 60 GHz Development Systems to companies and governmental entities in Japan, Singapore, Germany, France, Norway, and the UK. All of our critical components are fabricated in the US, and because of their uniqueness and complexity, that should be the case for a long time to come. Our total revenues in 2008 exceeded $500,000, and we anticipate rapid growth over the next few years as we apply this disruptive technology to a number of target markets.
While one might consider this business a candidate for being “the next big thing,” and thus outside of your scope, the reason I am submitting this is because due to the timing of the NAB show and the orders that we anticipate coming in before, during, and after that show, we are confident that Vubiq will become cash flow positive within 60 days of funding, and concurrently profitable. What is needed now is funding to get us there, which includes the cost of components, board layout, fab/assembly, and equipment; as well as covering other necessary costs of doing business. The total three-month funding requirement is $750,000. Beyond that point, we anticipate that internal cash flow will fund additional product development in not only this market, but our other target markets as well. In return for this investment, you would receive shares in the company to reflect a $20 million pre-money valuation of the company, fully diluted. (Our Series A round in September 2006 was set at a $10.5 million post-money valuation.) You would also have the option to continue to invest in the company at the same valuation up to a total cumulative amount of $3 million, and this option would be good for 12 months from initial funding.
Thanks for your time and attention.
–Adam
Comment by Adam Button -
Pingback: The The Latest at BB State, and TMM Marathon Chat « Regarding the Underdog…
I’m starting an advisory firm that will help managers/owners of sports organizations by talking them out of desperate and/or ill-advised trades for aging, formerly great All Stars in exchange for good players and multiple first round draft picks. Please let me know if you know anyone that might be interested.
Cost is $10,000 per month.
Comment by Joe -
I like Jeremy Fisher’s idea. Please come to Huntington Long Island and start the first one there so I can join.
Comment by Carrie Segal -
I have two partners, we own two sandwich shops. We have been in business for seven years, and are just now becoming profitable. We opened # 2 in an existing restaurant that lost its lease. We have been open since December, and are turning a profit. The original store has taken a long time to become profitable because we had very little start up capital, and have had to struggle for every dollar. We would like to open our new stores in high visibility, prime areas so we can have high sales from the beginning. Our restaurant is successful due to hard work and word of mouth. However, we have come to the conclusion that to make money in this business we need multiple high grossing locations. We already have a loyal following, but we are off the beaten path.
Thank you for your consideration,
Benson
Comment by BTurner -
THIS WEB-BASED PROGRAM HAS BEEN DEVELOPED OVER A FIVE YEAR PERIOD.
OVERHEAD:
MINIMAL; ALL THATS NEEDED IS AN IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY ON STAFF AND SEVERAL PARALEGALS AND A SEVERER BASE CAPABLE TO HANDLE HACKERS AND A VERY LARGE VOLUME OF CALLS;
ALSO NEEDED WOULD BE A CONTRACT WITH A FULLFILLMENT HOUSE TO HANDLE PACKETS TO CLIENTS;
THEREFORE:
The following is an abbreviated summary of the immigration and naturalization WEB-BASED database that has BEEN developed for an Internet commerce application:
While employed as a immigration paralegal, I recognized a real, and often desperate, worldwide humanitarian need to simplify, and to provide easily understood guidelines and assistance regarding immigration and naturalization administrative procedures to the general public in an affordable, simplified, anxiety free format.
The idea was to develop and, we have done so; “an immigration information web-based format that operates in a Q & A format, so that; a person seeking this info would not be reading scrolls and scrolls of information but rather be able to access very quickly the information needed to take one through an immigration procedure rather quickly; getting immediately to the information they actually needed through a professional interview type format. The program is developed and operates in a format that will give the user a feeling of being interviewed by an immigration paralegal and/or attorney who specializes in this field AND again NOT by reading scrolls and scrolls of information on websites or accessing endless telephone prompts, nor standing in lines to receive simple administrative information.
Rules, regulations, policies, etc., change frequently. Therefore, myself and a retired immigration official developed this database.
The wording within the database incorporates and combines the concepts from; (1) the legal point of view; (2) the government(s) point of view; (3) the applicant(s) point of view; and, also, (4) includes practical and helpful suggestions based on years of experience by a paralegal and INS (CIS) employee. The format/information has been written and developed in a user-friendly and easy to understand format rather than a legal and very technical language, without losing the legal terminology necessary for immigration administrative procedures.
In addition, the database is not designed as any type of deceptive trade practice, scam or exploitation of the public.
The, as yet unnamed, database is solely owned by the two developers; according to all rights granted under common law copyright. This database has not been published in the public domain.
The following are areas developed:
NATURALIZATION; PRESERVATION OF RESIDENCE FOR NATURALIZATION BENEFITS; REENTRY PERMITS; ADVANCE PAROLE; REPLACEMENT OF I-94/I-95 ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE DOCUMENTS; REMOVAL OF CONDITIONS ON PERMANENT RESIDENCE; VISA REVALIDATION; CHANGE OF STATUS (all classifications); EXTENSION OF STAY (all classifications); STUDENT VISAS; FAMILY PETITIONS (all preference categories); FIANCÉ PETITIONS; and SPECIAL PROGRAMS.
The information database has been programmed into and is accessed through a hyperlinked, menu driven format, and questions with “YES / NO and I DON’T KNOW” prompts.
Once the user clicks on one of these prompts, he or she receives the information needed and continues with the process of receiving information until the program realizes another problem area for the user or has to ask the user another question in re to the problem area or the actual procedure the user has chosen, whereas, the user then clicks on “yes/no/I don’t know prompts and the information database continues to guide this person through the procedure.
There must be at present over 3000 websites dealing with immigration law, including the governments CIS site, BUT, no one has developed a site that operates as this one does or even comes close in comparison.
Why this system is so superior is simply; the hypertext linking format. It is very complicated and very difficult to explain in written narrative. For instance, within the areas listed above; once a user makes a selection into a particular area from the MAIN MENU, a Sub-Menu then appears. This sub-menu allows the user, depending on what stage during their immigration process, to select the item or appropriate area, (if you will) that fulfills that immigrant or nonimmigrant immediate need. For instance, lets take a person going through a naturalization process. He or she has already prepared an application; and then discovers our website. If this person visits the website, he or she would find the following SUB-MENU items under NATURALIZATION: General Information, Form Preparation, Filing and Mailing Instructions, Notice of Actions, Interview Preparation, etc.
This person could choose FORM PREPARATION to verify and check over their application to determine that it was completed correctly. Our database will take the user through the application line for line. During this process questions are asked by the data base re complicated areas of law. The user will click of the same type of prompts mentioned above. In addition, information that the person may not be aware of may be discovered even if they had already been to an immigration office or attorney. Once the application is completed, the person could then click on Mailing Instructions to make sure the applications are MAILED AND FILED with the correct service center. Of course while visiting this area, they would have discovered that this submenu will have additional selections such as; NOTICE OF ACTION, INTERVIEW PREPARATION, APPROVAL/DENIAL, etc. Each area (sub menu) may have up to 35 selections. You can also be pursuing a remedy in a particular area and a problem arise such as a humanitarian need which would involve a person having to leave the USA. In addition to the initial application being filed that person may now have to enter into another process and file for; “ADVANCE PAROLE,” or REPLACE A LOST OR STOLEN DOCUMENT, whatever the situation, the database will then link out to whatever area and cover almost every case scenario, if not all.
In addition, there is a glossary and an appendix with addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers and telex numbers, as applicable, for each individual procedure. Moreover, the hyperlinks will guide the user to the exact contact points for the specific procedure identified within the database that relates to the specific user as stated above; and, will return the user to his or her exact place in the database. The information for visa applicants is country and consulate specific. Definitions of terms that cannot be reduced to other wording; or, are required administrative definitions, are included within the glossary for easy, hyperlinked access and return via collapse to tag programming.
Customized packets have been designed and cataloged within the database to facilitate the anticipated use of a fulfillment house and/or contract mailer firm; or, use by a paralegal to prepare a completed file. These packets have been designed by a graphics programmer and are specifically related to the individual user and the specific procedure he or she requires. The packets include a form cover letter to be addressed to the proper office. The cover letter lists the required documentation to be submitted for the identified procedure. Required government form(s) are also included, along with helpful information for an applicant not familiar with government, administrative procedures. The packet documents can be ‘tagged’ by the user in the database for compilation that is specific for the user.
The database has been designed in a way that it is easily updated as changes to the immigration laws, regulations, policies become effective.
The database can easily be amended to include such functions as expansion into legal representation by a law firm; a worldwide attorney referral program; furnishing packets, forms, etc. electronically; submission of applications electronically and other formats as technology progresses. In addition, the database in whole, or in part, could be marketed in disc form, with available updates to be downloaded as required.
Profits, for example could come in the form of: “memberships.” or ” charged on a procedural basis.”
Further, the database does not forget to inform a client of document(s) that may be needed for a particular process, that is often the case when an attorney is retained.
Potential clients for this service include: US employers; immigration attorneys for use by paralegal in interviews and preparation of a client file; other attorneys not experienced or familiar with immigration or naturalization requirements and procedures; US citizens petitioning for alien relatives; nonimmigrant visitors for business or pleasure; nonimmigrant and permanent resident visa applicants IN OR OUTSIDE the United States; permanent resident applicants for citizenship and undocumented aliens. Included within these clients are ones who are required to make several types of applications over a period of time to achieve a desired status.
The potential client base is vast, worldwide and is not affected by economy fluctuations.
NONE OF THESE SITES COME CLOSE IN COMPARISON. FURTHER, NONE PROVIDE THE INFORMATION OR OPERATE IN THIS TYPE OF FORMAT. MOST OF THE OTHER SITES ATTEMPT TO SELL SOME TYPE OF BROCHURE OR SEEK A RETAINER. MOST ARE NOT USER FRIENDLY, INCLUDING; THE GOVERNMENT CIS SITE.
This product would fulfill a tremendous humanitarian need, and, has a domestic client base of over 34.5 million and untold numbers worldwide. I would not even know how to begin to project the numbers and the potential abroad.
My partner and I are now ready to place this product in the market place. There is now and has always been a devastating public need for such a program. We do not want this product to be put into the market place without the necessary support system and the right management team in place, therefore we seek a partner in this venture to successfully see it through. We know that a solid foundation with the correct people on board could make this a very profitable venture for all.
Neither of us have the experience in business and/or marketing; we need guidance and sponsorship in order to either; (1) form a partnership or corporation to market this product together, or (2) to sale or place this information system into the public market.
Very conservative projections of the product if placed in the market indicate third year revenues in excess of a HUNDRED MILLION. The Immigration and Naturalization Website (CIS) receives in excess of 700,000 users per month. Sources indicate the Regional Service Center in Dallas Texas receives more than 10,000 applications and telephone calls per day.
In order to market this product correctly we should even acquire CIS endorsement. In addition, you did not want to hear about revenues generated from advertisers, etc., however various ethnic business would advertise on this site since it would attract so many immigrants and non-immigrants of all nationalities if made available on the Internet.
Large numbers of immigrants and non-immigrants could receive work authorizsion fastor thought INS (CIS) processing, these people could enter into the job markets quicker and legally. The administrated process through the immigration service is so slow, not user friendly sort of speak; our custom packets and database enable a person in need of such authorization to properly obtain the necessary evidence and with the use of our packets to file the applications properly so they would be processed faster and could be working and paying taxes legally, therefore helping our economic situation in the US.
I have attached several articles to substantiate need which I am sure you are already aware of, and, these situations have not changed, the department of CIS has just about closed there doors and its become increasing more difficult for the public to obtain information they need in a user friendly manner.
Contact Information:
Gary Rombough
Cell: 972-670-5120
Home phone/fax: 972-937-6572
Posted on Sun, Feb. 29, 2004
Subject: US Office of Citizenship
Posted on Sat, Jun. 05, 2004
I M A G E S
Alfonso Aguilar
Immigration agency aims to be customer-friendly
By Diane Smith
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
DALLAS – Ask Juan Fuentes whether he’s satisfied with customer service within the government’s immigration services. The answer is a solemn shake, “no.”
Whenever the Tyler father of three makes the two-hour drive to Dallas to iron out immigration issues, he braces himself. There will be red tape and the sense that despite being a U.S. citizen, he’s not going to be treated as one.
“We just want respect. We deserve it,” Fuentes said in Spanish on Friday while waiting outside the Dallas district office for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. His wife, a legal permanent resident, was getting her Mexican passport stamped so she could carry proof she is documented while in this country.
Fuentes’ view of the immigration services is exactly the type of image Alfonso Aguilar, chief of the newly created U.S. Office of Citizenship, wants to eliminate in upcoming years. Aguilar, in his first visit to the Dallas district Friday, outlined the office’s goals during a news conference with Spanish-, Asian- and English-language media.
“We want to become a customer-friendly organization,” Aguilar said.
That means working to streamline services while promoting a sense of civic responsibility among legal immigrants — who, like undocumented immigrants, have been coming to this country in large numbers in recent years.
Texas’ foreign-born population was estimated at 2.9 million in 2000, according to census data compiled by the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. More than 900,000 of Texas’ foreign-born residents are listed as naturalized citizens — people who have passed a government test and other requirements so they can be sworn in as U.S. citizens.
Aguilar said technology, a mandate to process naturalization applications faster and efforts to bring immigrant communities to the table are helping change the government’s image. He touted the Dallas district office’s ongoing effort to improve services.
“In many district offices, lines are disappearing,” he said. “In two years, you are going to have a very different perception of immigration.”
The new Office of Citizenship has 30 employees — 20 in field offices across the country, including one in Dallas.
Tomas Zuniga, acting supervisory citizenship outreach officer, said the work ahead includes meeting with churches, schools, universities and social service organizations.
“One of the first things we are doing is assessing our needs,” said Zuniga, explaining that each region’s immigrant communities are different, reflecting diverse needs.
The North Texas region has immigrants from countries that cover the globe, including Mexico, El Salvador, India and Vietnam.
Another issue the office has to surmount is misinformation that often keeps immigrants from trusting the agency. Rumors of potential raids often circulate. Zuniga said immigration authorities recently had to dispel fears in Irving when fake fliers bearing an immigration government logo announced an upcoming door-to-door search.
“We are trying to remove these perceptions,” he said.
But perhaps the highest hurdle will be getting customers such as Fuentes to buy the agency’s message. Fuentes said he tried to make an appointment online using a new electronic system that the government is promoting. But he became frustrated and made the journey to Dallas.
He said he didn’t feel like a valued customer, adding, “It just gets worse.”
Office of Citizenship
This division of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was created under the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Mandates include promoting instruction on citizenship rights and responsibilities. Immigrants will be given resources to help them during two key periods: when they first become legal permanent residents, or green card holders; and when they begin the U.S. naturalization process. For example, immigrants may get information about available English-language classes in a specific area through this office.
——————————————————————————–
http://www.uscis.gov/
Subject: Immigrant Phone System
Posted on Sun, Feb. 29, 2004
Lawyers attack phone system for immigrants
By Ann M. Simmons
Los Angeles Times
A customer-service telephone system run by immigration authorities is frustrating and inefficient and in some cases has provided such bad advice that clients have been detained or deported, according to immigration lawyers pressing to have the service scrapped.
In June, the Department of Homeland Security cut off telephone access to immigration offices around the United States, where most applications for citizenship or changes in immigration status are decided. Instead, the department’s Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services directed the public to use a toll-free National Customer Service Center telephone system to resolve immigration-related problems.
But lawyers say that contractors without proper knowledge of immigration law staff the phones and that the new system is making bad service worse.
“It’s the No. 1 source of aggravation among attorneys and the general public,” said Jeffrey Goldman, a Boston immigration lawyer who has been bombarded with complaints from frustrated clients.
Telephone operators at the service center have been unable to provide meaningful assistance and in some cases have provided wrong information, leading to delays and rejections of applications, said legal specialists at the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Washington, D.C.
“The system is utterly inadequate for problem resolution,” said Bob Deasy, who leads a liaison group that links the immigration lawyers’ group and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. “What needs to be done is the restoration of means for direct connection of the caller with a problem and the center where the adjudication resides.”
Officials at the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services maintain that the new phone system is working “quite well” and that the agency’s monthly customer-service surveys show an average 80 percent satisfaction rate, spokesman Russ Knocke said.
“It’s definitely intended to be more effective,” Knocke said in a recent phone interview from Washington, D.C. “It empowers our customers to be able to speak with a knowledgeable customer-service representative. Busy signals were common before.”
In the past, customers could make inquiries at the immigration service center where their case was being processed. Now all calls are channeled through a toll-free number that feeds into offices where, critics say, clerical-type personnel respond to queries from prepared scripts. Information officers are on hand to field more complex questions. But issues that cannot immediately be tackled are referred to a specific service center, which has as long as 30 days to respond to the customer in writing.
In a survey last year, the American Immigration Lawyers Association received complaints from people who had reportedly received incorrect advice from the hot line, such as where, when or how to file for a benefit, or whether to remain in the United States or leave under given circumstances. In some cases, the group said, such mistakes led to loss of immigration status, arrest and deportation. Seventy-nine percent of the survey’s respondents gave the telephone service unsatisfactory marks.
In one case, an unidentified customer who called to inquire about how to renew her green card was sent a form that she completed and sent in, the lawyers group said. Failing to get a response, she called the hot line a few times and was told each time that the case was pending and that everything was fine. It subsequently came to light that she was supposed to file an additional form but had not, lawyers said, and as a result received a notice of termination of her residence status from the immigration department.
Subject: Immigrant Populations
Posted on Sun, Feb. 29, 2004
STAR-TELEGRAM/RICKY MOON
The Arzates — from left, Alma, Tony, Sabrina and Antonio — moved to North Texas from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, about four years ago for better job opportunities. They hope to buy a house in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area because they like the schools.
STAR-TELEGRAM
Melting pot
Immigrants are flocking to suburbs
By Diane Smith
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
More and more immigrants are settling into suburbs around Fort Worth and Arlington, a trend that has developed since the explosion of the immigrant population in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Fort Worth-Arlington metro area’s immigrant population grew little throughout most of the 20th century, but the area became an “emerging gateway” during the century’s last two decades, according to The Rise of New Immigrant Gateways, a study being released today by The Brookings Institution. Dallas, Atlanta, Washington and Orlando, Fla., were also described as emerging gateways.
“Immigration is going to continue. I don’t see any signs of it slowing down,” study author Audrey Singer said in a telephone interview. Singer is a visiting fellow at the institution’s Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy in Washington.
In 1970, the area had 9,459 foreign-born residents. By 2000, the U.S. Census listed 193,473.
Suburbs in the region had 3,520 foreign-born residents in 1970. By 2000, that figure was 55,442, according to the report. Singer said the numbers cover all the suburbs of Fort Worth and Arlington.
“Jobs have moved to the suburbs, there’s good housing in the suburbs and there’s good schools for their kids,” said Singer, who wanted to study why cities that didn’t historically have diverse populations wound up with immigrant communities by the end of the last century.
Understanding such trends helps local and state policy-makers address grassroots needs. For example, does a school district need to hire more bilingual teachers? Should a city print information in Vietnamese? Should it invest in public transportation?
Mapping settlement patterns also helps show how immigrants are changing the cultural landscape and how Americans are reacting to the shifts, she said.
“We love them. We hate them,” Singer said of immigrants. “But right now there’s an overlay of uncertainty both for the immigrants and, in some communities, towards the immigrants.”
She said the concerns became more pronounced after 9-11, when the issue turned from opening borders to securing them.
The 2000 Census showed an immigrant population of 31.1 million. Experts estimate that there are also 9 million to 10 million undocumented immigrants, who don’t all show up in the census.
Singer used foreign-born figures from the U.S. census, so her study includes naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents and undocumented immigrants.
In Fort Worth-Arlington — as in Dallas, Orlando and Atlanta — Mexicans were the most numerous foreign-born residents listed in the 2000 Census. The figures also point to greater diversification among the immigrant groups moving to the metro areas, a result of rapid immigrant growth in the 1990s, according to Singer.
For example, the Fort Worth-Arlington and Dallas metro areas listed Koreans, Indians, Vietnamese, Chinese and Salvadorans among the top 10 foreign-born groups. Orlando listed Haitians, Colombians and Cubans.
Before the last two decades of the 20th century, North Texas had Mexican-Americans, African-Americans and Anglos, said Caroline Brettell, professor of anthropology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Immigrant population growth in the 1990s also spilled into cities such as Euless, Haltom City and Hurst, which boast a diverse mix of immigrants from Latin America, Asia and Africa.
“There’s a whole world,” said Francisca Anaya, a 30-year-old Mexican resident of Euless. “We all come with the same interest — to better our lives.”
Experts agree that immigrants are drawn mostly by jobs.
In Fort Worth-Arlington, as in Atlanta, a major airport hub fuels job growth, said Brettell, who is working on a study titled Immigrants, Rights, and Incorporation in Suburban Metropolis.
Also, more jobs shifted to the suburbs as corporations moved to North Texas, Brettell said. As more people moved into the suburbs, immigrants filled the increasing number of service and home-building jobs. Word filtered back to Mexico and Africa that the area is attractive, she said.
Brettell said that while Mexicans typically came in search of service-sector jobs, Indians responded to the need for high-tech workers in the 1990s.
The area’s Vietnamese community experienced an upswing propelled, in part, by refugees who gained full citizenship and brought family members into the country, local immigrant-community leaders said.
“They like to live in the suburbs because it is less populated, the traffic is better and housing is better,” said Tom Ha, spokesman for the Vietnamese American Community in Tarrant County. He said Vietnamese immigrants are drawn to Fort Worth, Haltom City and Arlington.
The Arzates left Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, about four years ago for better job opportunities in North Texas. They lived in Fort Worth for about six months before setting their sights on the suburbs.
“When we moved here, it was because my husband’s work was nearby,” said Alma Arzate, a 31-year-old mother of two who is trying to get a work permit and whose husband is a Mexican-American.
The Arzates now hope to buy a house in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area because they like the schools.
“We have aspirations and goals,” Arzate said in Spanish.Lawyers attack phone system for immigrants
By Ann M. Simmons
Los Angeles Times
A customer-service telephone system run by immigration authorities is frustrating and inefficient and in some cases has provided such bad advice that clients have been detained or deported, according to immigration lawyers pressing to have the service scrapped.
In June, the Department of Homeland Security cut off telephone access to immigration offices around the United States, where most applications for citizenship or changes in immigration status are decided. Instead, the department’s Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services directed the public to use a toll-free National Customer Service Center telephone system to resolve immigration-related problems.
But lawyers say that contractors without proper knowledge of immigration law staff the phones and that the new system is making bad service worse.
“It’s the No. 1 source of aggravation among attorneys and the general public,” said Jeffrey Goldman, a Boston immigration lawyer who has been bombarded with complaints from frustrated clients.
Telephone operators at the service center have been unable to provide meaningful assistance and in some cases have provided wrong information, leading to delays and rejections of applications, said legal specialists at the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Washington, D.C.
“The system is utterly inadequate for problem resolution,” said Bob Deasy, who leads a liaison group that links the immigration lawyers’ group and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. “What needs to be done is the restoration of means for direct connection of the caller with a problem and the center where the adjudication resides.”
Officials at the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services maintain that the new phone system is working “quite well” and that the agency’s monthly customer-service surveys show an average 80 percent satisfaction rate, spokesman Russ Knocke said.
“It’s definitely intended to be more effective,” Knocke said in a recent phone interview from Washington, D.C. “It empowers our customers to be able to speak with a knowledgeable customer-service representative. Busy signals were common before.”
In the past, customers could make inquiries at the immigration service center where their case was being processed. Now all calls are channeled through a toll-free number that feeds into offices where, critics say, clerical-type personnel respond to queries from prepared scripts. Information officers are on hand to field more complex questions. But issues that cannot immediately be tackled are referred to a specific service center, which has as long as 30 days to respond to the customer in writing.
In a survey last year, the American Immigration Lawyers Association received complaints from people who had reportedly received incorrect advice from the hot line, such as where, when or how to file for a benefit, or whether to remain in the United States or leave under given circumstances. In some cases, the group said, such mistakes led to loss of immigration status, arrest and deportation. Seventy-nine percent of the survey’s respondents gave the telephone service unsatisfactory marks.
In one case, an unidentified customer who called to inquire about how to renew her green card was sent a form that she completed and sent in, the lawyers group said. Failing to get a response, she called the hot line a few times and was told each time that the case was pending and that everything was fine. It subsequently came to light that she was supposed to file an additional form but had not, lawyers said, and as a result received a notice of termination of her residence status from the immigration department.
Subject: Immigrant Populations
Posted on Sun, Feb. 29, 2004
STAR-TELEGRAM/RICKY MOON
The Arzates — from left, Alma, Tony, Sabrina and Antonio — moved to North Texas from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, about four years ago for better job opportunities. They hope to buy a house in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area because they like the schools.
STAR-TELEGRAM
Melting pot
Immigrants are flocking to suburbs By Diane Smith Star-Telegram Staff Writer
More and more immigrants are settling into suburbs around Fort Worth and Arlington, a trend that has developed since the explosion of the immigrant population in the 1980s and 1990s. The Fort Worth-Arlington metro area’s immigrant population grew little throughout most of the 20th century, but the area became an “emerging gateway” during the century’s last two decades, according to The Rise of New Immigrant Gateways, a study being released today by The Brookings Institution. Dallas, Atlanta, Washington and Orlando, Fla., were also described as emerging gateways. “Immigration is going to continue. I don’t see any signs of it slowing down,” study author Audrey Singer said in a telephone interview. Singer is a visiting fellow at the institution’s Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy in Washington. In 1970, the area had 9,459 foreign-born residents. By 2000, the U.S. Census listed 193,473. Suburbs in the region had 3,520 foreign-born residents in 1970. By 2000, that figure was 55,442, according to the report. Singer said the numbers cover all the suburbs of Fort Worth and Arlington. “Jobs have moved to the suburbs, there’s good housing in the suburbs and there’s good schools for their kids,” said Singer, who wanted to study why cities that didn’t historically have diverse populations wound up with immigrant communities by the end of the last century. Understanding such trends helps local and state policy-makers address grassroots needs. For example, does a school district need to hire more bilingual teachers? Should a city print information in Vietnamese? Should it invest in public transportation? Mapping settlement patterns also helps show how immigrants are changing the cultural landscape and how Americans are reacting to the shifts, she said. “We love them. We hate them,” Singer said of immigrants. “But right now there’s an overlay of uncertainty both for the immigrants and, in some communities, towards the immigrants.” She said the concerns became more pronounced after 9-11, when the issue turned from opening borders to securing them. The 2000 Census showed an immigrant population of 31.1 million. Experts estimate that there are also 9 million to 10 million undocumented immigrants, who don’t all show up in the census. Singer used foreign-born figures from the U.S. census, so her study includes naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents and undocumented immigrants. In Fort Worth-Arlington — as in Dallas, Orlando and Atlanta — Mexicans were the most numerous foreign-born residents listed in the 2000 Census. The figures also point to greater diversification among the immigrant groups moving to the metro areas, a result of rapid immigrant growth in the 1990s, according to Singer. For example, the Fort Worth-Arlington and Dallas metro areas listed Koreans, Indians, Vietnamese, Chinese and Salvadorans among the top 10 foreign-born groups. Orlando listed Haitians, Colombians and Cubans. Before the last two decades of the 20th century, North Texas had Mexican-Americans, African-Americans and Anglos, said Caroline Brettell, professor of anthropology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Immigrant population growth in the 1990s also spilled into cities such as Euless, Haltom City and Hurst, which boast a diverse mix of immigrants from Latin America, Asia and Africa. “There’s a whole world,” said Francisca Anaya, a 30-year-old Mexican resident of Euless. “We all come with the same interest — to better our lives.” Experts agree that immigrants are drawn mostly by jobs. In Fort Worth-Arlington, as in Atlanta, a major airport hub fuels job growth, said Brettell, who is working on a study titled Immigrants, Rights, and Incorporation in Suburban Metropolis. Also, more jobs shifted to the suburbs as corporations moved to North Texas, Brettell said. As more people moved into the suburbs, immigrants filled the increasing number of service and home-building jobs. Word filtered back to Mexico and Africa that the area is attractive, she said. Brettell said that while Mexicans typically came in search of service-sector jobs, Indians responded to the need for high-tech workers in the 1990s. The area’s Vietnamese community experienced an upswing propelled, in part, by refugees who gained full citizenship and brought family members into the country, local immigrant-community leaders said. “They like to live in the suburbs because it is less populated, the traffic is better and housing is better,” said Tom Ha, spokesman for the Vietnamese American Community in Tarrant County. He said Vietnamese immigrants are drawn to Fort Worth, Haltom City and Arlington. The Arzates left Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, about four years ago for better job opportunities in North Texas. They lived in Fort Worth for about six months before setting their sights on the suburbs. “When we moved here, it was because my husband’s work was nearby,” said Alma Arzate, a 31-year-old mother of two who is trying to get a work permit and whose husband is a Mexican-American. The Arzates now hope to buy a house in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area because they like the schools. “We have aspirations and goals,” Arzate said in Spanish.
Comment by Gary Rombough -
Mark,
Kids come home and ask their children “do you have any homework?”, and the child is vague and gives a yes or no. The report card comes and shows that their grades are not what they had expected and the child is full of excuses. My business would send an alert to parents (phone txt or email or both)everytime an assignment was missing, or a low grade was received, whichever service they select.
Schools across the country have different levels of technology implemented for parental access to their childs performance, but I know of no alerts. This gives families an opportunity to raise grades before it reaches the permanent report card.
What we are providing concrete accountabiliy, time savings, and better parenting.
Wade
Comment by Wade -
My idea doesn’t fit all your criteria, but I wanted to share it in hopes that others will do the same in their community. I would like to form a non-profit foundation that will assist in fixing up as many rundown properties in town as possible, depending on volunteer availability and funds. This would involve hiring a director and assistant to be responsible for recruiting volunteers, fundraising, and contacting homeowners to get permission to paint their home, clean up the yard, fix fences, etc. It would also involve the homeowner and require them to put some sweat into it as well, which will hopefully give them “pride of ownership” and encourage them to keep their property up a little better. The only thing I need right now is…money, to get started. I live in Roswell, NM and we have a great base of volunteers, but just need a jumpstart.
Comment by Esther -
We are a C Corporation and We specialize in cleaning up after tragic circumstances, suicides, homicides, natural deaths, work place accidents etc. This type of service will always be needed and mostly unaffected by current economic conditions. Most of the work we perform is covered under insurance.
We have a proven track record and are looking to expand our markets, which is going to take more payroll, supplies, equipment and marketing expense.
I will break it down to your guidelines at the end of this “ideal amount”.
The ideal amount would be $550,000 which would be used for;
244,400 for initial year payroll of 4:
1st Person: Full time internet marketing rep focusing on starting local campaigns in the new markets and expanding current internet presence.
2nd Person: Full time trained biohazard field supervisor, this person would actually do the jobs in the new market and hire and train new employees to sustain the new market after it is established.
3rd Person: Outside marketing rep this person would go into the new local market to establish relationships and municipal accounts.
4th Person: This would be office personal to process claims, create invoices, answer 800 calls and work closely with insurance adjusters.
$96,000.00 would be used for two new utility vans and graphics for the vehicles.
$75,000 for marketing $25,000.00 for each market.
$15,000.00 for supplies $5,000.00 for each market.
$48,000.00 for building rent and utilities in two new markets for one year.
$3,000.00 for incorporation expenses in additional states.
$10,000.00 Business Insurance for a year including additional states
$25,000.00 existing debt to be paid off.
The expansion would be in three stages dedicating 4 months to each market total time frame 12 months.
After each market is opened we expect to conservatively realize $660,000.00 (we did 359k last year in our local market alone) the first year after expansion. The second year we expect to realize $990,000.00 and then growing 20% in each market year after that.
The investment wouldn’t need to be made all at once it could be broken down per market.
The home market would be the easiest to expand $139,767.00 we already have a vehicle and office in the home market so we wouldn’t need these additional expenses.
The business would have operating expenses covered and be debt free so 100% of the income could be used to pay off the loan (if that’s what it is) or on an equity investment we would start realizing a profit from the very next job.
We are willing to give up equity 10% for the minimum amount of $139,767.00 or up to 50% for the full amount.
DM
Comment by DM -
Outsourced IT: In most companies the IT department is an expensive bottleneck. Getting them to make you a simple web form could take months. What if the marketing department wants to put a form on the web, and they can now do it themselves in 5 minutes? You can take practically anything users still depend on IT departments for and find a way to automate it while empowering the users, and you will have the enormous force of their present dissatisfaction pushing you forward.
We will have the option to host on our infrastructure, or download software modules that can be hosted on open source software.
Proposed time frame: We can have a prototype in one month, taking orders within two months, and generating revenue by three months.
Funding requested: 150k
Return on investor money: The investor will receive 100% of profit untill the initial investment is realized, and then 33% of the profit thereafter.
This concept is not new, it is taken largely from Paul Graham’s post on “Ideas We’d Like to fund”. However, with the timing the the economy and the unique blend of skills, experience and desire that my business partner and I share, I know that this could not only be a profitable venture, but one that would create jobs, empower users and do a small part to move forward.
Comment by Don L -
Hey Mark,
With your vision, we could invent a new product that combines some solid money making stalwarts of the past. I propose a stand alone money making machine for bars, restaurants, night clubs, public places, and malls that combines the old photo booth business with the new cell phone and internet generation. These stand alone machines probably would no longer be enclosed in a booth, and instead would be closer to a computer and camera. It would take a digital photo, send to multiple cell phones, upload it to their social networking pages, and print an old fashioned photo strip. We will bring the socially connected generation to the photo booth.
What do you think?
Thanks!
Daniel
Comment by Daniel C. -
Dear Mark,
We at Intelliun are looking for all “Server Ready Projects” … or more accurately … “Code Ready Projects”. Someone please inform Washington we don’t use shovels in software technology.
Intelliun is a software technology company that started toward the vision of Rapid Application Development in 1999. We use our own technology to deliver enterprise class web applications in 30% of the normal development cycle time. Our goal is to NOT write any code at all to produce rich web applications for our clients. Our secret sauce is available for review on our website at http://www.intelliun.com.
It dawned on me today after working with a potential client with a start-up business concept where we are evaluating an equity for development services deal, that others posting to your program might be also be interested. We could actually partner with you on a project to get a web service into sales mode in one month to target hitting the cash flow number requirements.
My review of the first half of the posts identified the following ones that easily fit our capabilities:
– ibd on 2/10 @ 11:18 am
– Rod on 2/10 @ 12:54am (he stated 6 month, give us 2 or less)
– David Greenbaum on 2/10 @ 3:19pm
– Nicholas Creel 2/10 @ 5:21 – We created a health care practice management/EMR ASP/SaaS application for a start-up. We have the rights to its deployment and would like to partner.
– Justin on 2/10 @ 8:18pm
– Andy on 2/11 @ 1:22 am
– Luke Keith on 2/12 @ 1:45am – we already have what he needs…we probably could have done the rich application for $50K.
Like the intent of your program, we’d like to have some people come back that have been affected by this unfortunate economic down-cycle.
All interested parties can get a hold of me via email.
Peace… Thor Nickell, Dir., Business Development … tnickell@intelliun.com
PS … We are located in North Dallas
Comment by Thor Nickell -
I will be drawing up a more ‘formal’ business plan, but I wanted to post this brief right away: I want to expand my consulting business and specialize in teaching starting entrepreneurs how to navigate the internet safely and economically. This would be done via normal classrooms, video conferencing and one-on-one tutoring.
I’ve become aware that there are a lot of talented, intelligent people out there who are focused on things other than Building the Perfect Website; and they should be. I have a client now who makes the most wonderful, homemade quilts – but can barely check her email. I have taught myself most of what I know, and I know how intimidating and confusing the internet is for beginners. It doesn’t help that many IT professionals make assumptions about a customer’s knowledge level and needs that may not be true.
As I see it, the internet could do so much for older people, for people who live in rural areas, for people who think they aren’t smart enough, and so many others, but they need help figuring it out. I believe that I am qualified to provide the assistance they need.
I would have very little overhead; I already have a office with a classroom area and high-speed internet, so I’m close the ‘break-even’ point already. I know there is a need for this service; all I need to do is advertize. I’m confident that I could make this profitable in well under the time allowed.
Any help you’d care to give me would be money well spent, and much appreciated.
I will post more details shortly.
Comment by Morgaine O'Herne -
I represent a company that sells to grocery stores. I’ve noticed that most of these stores (and other big-box retailers) immediately recycle or compost the cardboard boxes shipped to them from suppliers throughout the world.
Free boxes become the material inputs of xobox, a revolutionary recycling company. We need an initial investment of $60,000. This initial investment will be in the form of a low interest (6.75%) debt, convertible to 25% stake in the company in year 3.
Sources:
1. Mark Cuban
Uses:
1. $15,000 1 bio-diesel pick-up truck.
2. $ 7,500 6-month lease-hold for commercial warehouse space (until cash flow positive).
3. $ 7,500 advertising and web development budget
4. $20,000 3-month wages/benefits for two employees (until cash flow positive)
5. $10,000 one-year insurance, professional fees, licensing, office supplies, initial utilities and other operating expenses
xobox will haul the boxes retailers receive on a daily basis, saving these retailers money by reducing their monthly utility costs: decrease in electricity costs from box compacting and decrease in ‘hauling away’ costs.
In addition, xobox will keep these boxes in circulation, reducing even the need for recycling the corrugated cardboard. This is true recycling.
Now, xobox will rent affordable, centralized commercial warehouse space in urban areas with high residential and commercial turnover, i.e. where residents/businesses are moving at a rate exceeding the national average. Xobox will rent or sell recycled boxes to these ‘movers’ for $0.50 and $1.00 respectively. Only credit card transactions will be accepted. If the box-renter does not return the boxes after use, his credit card will be charged the ‘sale’ price.
The average big box retailer receives 250 shipments per week (a low estimate). In each metropolitan area, xobox works with 20 retailers. Each week we will receive 5,000 boxes.
From a market analysis of one such metropolitan area, we find approximately 500 home-renters or owners moving each week on average. With each residential mover renting/buying an average of 10 boxes per week, xobox exhausts its weekly inventory and earns between $2,500 and $5,000 in weekly revenue. This equates to average annualized sales of $195,000, working in only one city.
After an initial investment of $60,000 (as mentioned above), xobox will operate without sales for two months while we:
1. locate and secure a long-term lease-hold on a centralized commercial warehouse space no smaller than 1,000 square feet.
2. draft and secure recycling contracts with 20 big box retailers within a metropolitan area with high residential turnover. Xobox already has the first such city in mind.
3. Secure an LLC, DBA, insurance, etc.
4. hire one warehouse foreman, one box sorter, and one truck operator = total 3 employees.
5. Build-out warehouse space to fit xobox needs.
6. Begin building inventory.
7. Hire web-developer/designer/social media expert to create Yelp, Google, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, etc. accounts and to design and build interactive user-friendly web site.
8. Run press release in all major local media outlets.
9. Invite ‘greenies’ and other local dignataries to ribbon-cutting.
10. Initiate operations.
11. Begin selling boxes.
WORKING IN JUST ONE CITY
Monthly Costs: $10,000
Rent: $1,250
Insurance: 150
Utilies: 350
Wages/Benefits: $6,667
MSG&A: $1,000
Maintenance: 333
Depreciation: 250
Average Monthly Revenue: $12,500
Monthly Pre-tax income: $2,500
Annual Free Cash Flow: $24,000
(adding back depreciation but excluding debt service)
More detailed financials are available upon request.
I think this is a good idea. Actually, I’ve only just made this up on the spot. I wandered on to the blog and thought I would participate.
If anyone is interested in doing xobox with me, send me an email.
Cool idea for a stimulus plan, Mark.
Comment by Max Keeters -
Business Idea Summary:
My SaaS Mobile Internet Platform Idea is now ready to be marketed to all NBA Franchises.
Mobile Marketing Solutions has launched its new Mobile Provider Platform, built-from-scratch in Dallas that houses our fully-loaded Mobile Site Builder called “Mobile Web Publisher”.
Priced below $9.00/Day plus Text Message costs for Retail, Restaurant, Entertainment, Hospitality and Sports Franchises.
My business idea link follows and thank you very much for your time, feedback …
http://www.slideshare.net/wgboren/mobile-internet-idea-for-the-dallas-mavericks
(S-Corp 10% ownership is now available to purchase from the Dallas founder/entrepreneur for funding rapid-growth)
Comment by William -
I’m a college student in Dallas, Texas. I have an idea for your stimulus plan: buying in demand electronics wholesale and selling them at market price. It’s simple practical and has room to grow and broaden.
I’m sure you know about the practice of drop shipping. Buying products from a company or warehouse and having them shipped directly from there to the buyer. I have looked into this some and there are several businesses that will do this. I could also be able to have the shipper advertise my services to the buyer and the buyer assume the product came directly from me.
Even though the economy is in recession, the need for electronics is always up. Wholesale electronics like laptops, desktops, hardware, gaming consoles and accessories are still very much wanted.
The selling source of the products will be through Ebay. There, prices can be negotiable and there’s the ability to make more of a profit.
I know this isn’t a million dollar deal and it doesn’t need 100K start up but this can be a profitable idea. This is a small time business but can bring in profits factoring in the given amount of investment and time. I am sure that this will show profit with in the 90 time frame.
For instance: Buying a 120 ipod wholesale and selling it for 150 (125% profit)
Please let me know what you think.
Thank You
Ben
Comment by Ben Fontenot -
No business that will be profitable in 90 days needs your money. My business plan is to continue to have this much common sense. I can’t believe no one else does it.
Comment by Bill Johnson -
Hey Mark,
I have the web application that will leave craigslist saying “how the hell did this happen” and eBay wondering “why couldn’t we come up with this first?” The answers to those questions are, of course, they are not as smart as I am and they did not adapt to the needs of their customers in these bad economic times. They didn’t provide consumers with a way to keep shopping, even when their savings accounts and paychecks have disappeared. They didn’t come up with the greenest, most socially sustainable e-commerce idea to date. They didn’t think outside the box.
I understand your rules for this open sourced funding proposal, and that you have said you will strictly stick to those rules. I also understand that you are a very smart man, and you did not get into your position of fine stature by dumb luck. You will understand then that the sort of idea that will have multi-billion dollar companies cringing 2 years from now is not something to be taken lightly, and should not be made public for all the world to see.
I currently have a very fine web development team looking at the prototype I have created, and I am confident that with your help we can launch the site in one month, become cash flow positive within two months, and with a little discount from the development team on the up-front cost of building the site, be profitable in 90 days. Then of course that is just the beginning.
Shoot me an email if this sounds remotely interesting to you. I can then privately show you the idea and business plan. I promise it will be worth your time, and that it will be our little secret that you bent the rules on #8 (1/3 my age and my lucky number).
Best,
Tyler
Comment by Tyler Johnson -
I think this is perfect. I have always believed hard work pays off. My business is growing every year and in this economy. I will be posting my plan in the coming days and look forward to the comments from everyone.
Comment by Geoff Stone -
This is a re-post to clarify and make sure I followed all the rules. Also, I think we can do more with less.
———–
Mark,
I own a small IVR and voice mail service bureau based here in Dallas. http:\\www.diamondvoice.com.
We want to take voice mail up to the next level by adding Voice to text, converting voice mail to text for delivery to email and mobile devices. This means using Speech recognition servers to covert audio voicemail messages to text.
We have an existing national customer base in a variety of voice and call processing services. We own our source code and have been profitable for 15 years. Our gross revenue grew 18% last year.
We are not the first with this idea, but our competitors do not have an established, profitable customer base from which to offer service. We already have market share while they are giving away service to get market share.
We’ve done research with our own customer base and more than 65% would use and pay for the service.
Investment: $200,000 to add this capability to our existing infrastructure and market the service.
Time to market: 30 days.
Money is made on every voice mail message converted.
1. Existing business
2. No Advertising revenue
3. CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days easily since all of our overhead and operating cost are already covered from existing business, so the first sale is profit.
4. Profitable within 90 days for the same reason as number 3
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. Agreed
6. Once the enhancement is on line, there are no additional production costs except as dictated by volume… which then pays for additional capacity
7. Everyone must work. No problem
8. You must post your business plan here. Done
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own. Agreed.
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. Agreed
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows. Agreed
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money.
20% equity in existing business.
13. No multi-level marketing programs. Agreed.
14. If you contact me separately, whether via email or the contact form on the blog, your request WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. It must be posted on this blog. Agreed
Thanks for your consideration.
Comment by Joel Black -
Mark,
Some of the best companies in times like these provide services. My proposal is for carpet and hard surface (tile) cleaning with future additional services in duct cleaning and counter top polishing. The inital cost for equipment would be $4,900. Thanks and take care!
Comment by Ron -
Here is my contribution to the effort. I plan to finalize manufacturer/fulfillment agreements in the next two weeks. Ancillary revenue will come from DTV component products.
DTVmaverick.com
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12605566/DTVmaverick
Comment by econ365 -
I am an Irish woman living in Dallas.I began making Traditional Irish Shortbread cookies 3 years ago in a Dallas bakery. Last summer saw the 1st production run in a commercial facility in Chicago. There will be future Irish products hence the name “Rachel Gaffneys Authentic Irish Goods” I am building a brand rather than building a bakery. Central MarketStores (8) are among my customer base. I have 2 sweat equity partners that both have backgrounds with Coca Cola,Frito Lay,Carnation/Nestle.I have already spent the time building the foundation for this company and have secured several tv spots etc. In fact my next one is on good Morning Texas on March 17th. We will indeed be marketing me. I have the team in place,all FDA guidlines are stringently followed,I look forward to hearing from you…..
Rachel Gaffney
Comment by Rachel Gaffney -
We are a small, family owned business. We have a brick & mortar store in the mall here and operate 6 web sites. We started in 1994 by borrowing $1500 on a credit card and growing as we had cash flow to do so. The problem is, we are getting so busy that we are getting behind in packing orders and getting behind on being able to update the web sites with the new styles for 2009. We are almost into prom season (we rent tons of tuxedos), but we need to update our prom and bridal shoes with the new styles. We have a lady who has worked part time in the summer for several years now, and she wants to quit her job in the school cafeteria and work full time. My daughter and I are receiving a salary of $200 each two times each month; her two children work a few hours each week for $6 an hour (both teens); her husband works part time at no salary, and my husband works at H&R Block and does our books for no salary. We have built this business through the blood, sweat, and tears of our two families. My son-in-law works for Wonder Bread as his main job, but they are cutting his salary by $200 each week plus all the other employees to help them get themselves out of bankruptcy. My husband’s tax job only lasts until April 15, and his other job repairing music instruments is for a small business that has warned him they may be closing up shop soon. We need to grow our business to where it can support two families plus some extra help. We cannot grow right now because we have more business than our two families can handle. Are you interested?
Comment by Janet Hills -
Situation:
We are in the beginning stages of raising private capital to fund a real estate holding company. The current market conditions are presenting the single best time in any of our lifetimes to acquire real estate.
Mission:
To purchase bulk packages of bank owned properties at significant discounts. After acquisition, we will renovate the properties and sell them on owner financing, rent to own, or simply lease the properties to qualified applicants. On properties that are purchased prior to the bank foreclosing, a modification of the note with the existing homeowner can be done. There proposed exit is 8 to 10 years, when the market has fully recovered. The exit will be by either:
1. Owner finance mortgages refinance.
2. Owner finance mortgages default. The holding company would the renovate the property, and sell it on the open market.
3. Discount the owner financed mortgage and sell it on the secondary market.
4. Sell the leased properties to the tenants.
5. Work on getting the rent to own occupants qualified for a mortgage, and cash out.
6. Renovate and sell the rent to own and/or leased properties on the open market when vacated.
Execution:
We have personnel in place to execute this proposal. A small management fee would be paid to our existing company for managing the assets. 75% of the ownership (recommend a LP structure) would be transferred to the investor (in this case Mr. Cuban) or investors if multiple investors are utilized.
Administration and Logistics:
We have the operational personnel on board. We have the contacts within Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. All properties would be in the DFW Metroplex. All documentation, contracts, and forms would be completed on Texas Real Estate Commission forms.
Command and Control:
The General Partner would be owned by the primary shareholders, and a board of directors would be in place.
Why do we need financing:
The current credit market has made our local banks dry up. The rates, terms and requirements are not conducive to this play.
How much Capital is needed:
The amount required is approximately $7MM. This will fund the bulk purchase of $5MM, the projected renovation of $1.5MM, and the soft costs associated with vacant real estate.
Experience:
I am one of the top 10 franchisees of HomeVestors, the “We Buy Ugly Houses” company. My partners are experienced Mortgage Bankers, Hard Money Lenders, Title Attorneys, and Real Estate brokers.
Jobs:
This venture will directly create/stabilize a minimum of 200 jobs, as well as:
*Increase the DFW area tax base
*Clean up neighborhoods
*Provide quality, affordable housing
*Save some from foreclosure
Cash Flow:
The business will break even cash flow 60 days from acquisition of properties, and will produce a minimum of 8% cash on cash return after 90% occupancy is obtained. When coupled with appreciation, the ROI is projected to be more than 18%.
The current acquisition numbers are:
Purchase price = 55% of lender’s current BPO. (Note: BPO’s are typically 15% less than true value in a repaired condition.)
Target BPO is $100,000. The monthly rent/mortgage payment for these houses is typically $950 – $1,000.
Renovation is complete within 30 days. Marketing time is less than 45 days, on average.
Comment by Tim Herriage -
Mark Cuban,
well here are the docs for Dinner & a Movie “Delivered!”
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddh6cph3_1dh7c4ksr
please feel free to ask any questions
Comment by Denton -
Who are you, what is your nationality, and were do you get your funding.
Comment by Shane Ross -
Pingback: Varia « Authsider
Pingback: Authsider
Mark:
I have an idea for a busienss that I think would work well in
this environment. I have over 25 years experience in assisting
companies reduce their overhead. This covers areas such as
taxes (real estate, employment and state and local). I also
work with cutting overhead on items such as capital equipment
purchases, freight, supplies, telephone, and receivables
management. We also provide assistance in liquidiating assets.
All costs to the end user are based strictly on a
percentage of savings. If no money is saved no fees are paid.
Fees are based on the following schedule:
$10,000 or less- 50%
$10,000 to $49,999.99- 33.33%
$50,000 and above- 25%
Please note my biggest refunds for clients have been with
a newspaper chain and a textile manufacturer both of whom
received tax refunds exceeding $500,000.
With regards to your reqeusts here are my answers.
1. Startup
2. Not selling advertising
3. Cash flow- I understand
4. Not a problem
5. Understand
6. A minimal amount of start up costs for office, phones,
etc. No physical product (inventory) is needed.
7. Will start business as S Corporation
8. I have a contact list of over 40K prospects just here in
the metroplex.
9. I will contact prospects via phone, e-mail and personal visits.
10.Help and advice at your discretiion would be appreciated.
11.Your bank. Okay not a problem.
12. Your equity in the first three years of the project
would be 25%. I have the option to buy you out after
the third year for a third of the equity in years four and five.
13. No MLM
I look forward to hearing from you.
Solomon Maxwell
Comment by Solomon Maxwell -
I posted this yesterday and received the [wordpress] email, but I cannot find my post now.
Here it is again, please let me know if you have any questions:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd75zwk_7gk5xkvhk
getstrategic.com
Comment by Jon -
Mr. Cuban,
Thank you for the opportunity that you have made available to us all. My business plan is this: buy depressed real estate in a good area for the purpose of renting them out, the initial investment by yourself would be 100K as a personal loan, (acting as a CD at 7% interest compounded daily for 10 years)
I intend to purchase one property in the coming months and I would use the money you loan me as leverage to secure mortgages on as many as 4 more properties at present interest rates, some of them might need work but I have contractor experience so that would not be a problem.
This has potential for cash flow profit in as little as thirty days as some of the properties that I have located already have tenant residents whose rent would more than cover the monthly mortgage and other expenses.
Thank you in advance for the time that you have taken to review my plan, I do hope that you will decide to assist me in this venture.
Sincerely,
Michael Dean
Comment by Michael Dean -
Mark,
In November of 2007, my family went to go pick up some extra food from a local food establishment to deliver it to a local food bank. Since then, we have recruited over 1200 volunteers to do the same once a month for 90 minutes, using our website at FoodRescue.net
We have 40 chapter presidents in 17 states and we have scheduled an estimated 2.5 million dollars in retail value food rescues, or 750 per month. We are a 501c3 not for profit as of Dec. 2008, and we have one employee, whose salary is not fully funded.
You are most interested in ROI, and the fine for criticizing an officials haircut would be greater than the amount it would cost to insure the continuation and growth of Food Rescue. The story of 1200 citizens who have never met doing a tiny thing to make a big impact in their communities is moving large food establishments to begin the discussion of the absurd 27% of food wasted in our country daily.
You can give $20,000 to add food to a food bank, or you can give $20,000 to a group that will put 2 million dollars of retail valued food that already exists but needs to be saved in the food pantry each year. Did I mention this started in November of 2007 with one pick up?
Thanks for the opportunity to share my vision for helping people in need. I know the intent of your idea was to make a lot of money, but I also know you read your blog, and I thought you might have an interest in our story.
FoodRescue.net
https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhqbmsr4_1rmdb9sgs
John Williamson
Founder/Food Rescue
jw@foodrescue.net
Comment by John Williamson -
I would just like to borrow an 0pen source unlocked phone development kit (i.e. G1) to port some applications business and personal. One idea is a mini web based ERP connector. I have already building my web based ERP package for the server.
Comment by Davi Jordan -
I’ve posted a venture plan on scribd. The link is http://www.scribd.com/doc/12548346/Ducks-Poker-Room-Venture-Plan. I recommend downloading it in .Docx form in order to maintain the formatting and graphs, but the information is essentially the same regardless.
It is a charity poker room to operate in Mid-Michigan. We will help non-profits obrain a charitable gaming a license, assist in the planing and promotion of their event, guide them through the regulations and processes necessary to hold a Texas Hold ‘Em fundraiser, provide professional equipment and a unique location,
and connect the non-profit organization with experienced, trained dealers that can maximize profits. We charge charities 50% of the revenue they earn during the event.
Comment by Steve Cronk -
Hello Mark, I’m a bootstrapped, one-man startup attacking a annoyance that all sports fans have faced: missing a great game on TV because you gave up on it too early, or just didn’t know it was on. I’m an MIT CS dropout and I’ve built a technology that can guarantee no fan ever misses an Instant Classic. The 250-blurb is below. Thanks.
(Just realized I previously posted this on the “Update” entry and not this main one. Apologies for the double post.)
—–
RUWT? Sports (ruwtsports.com) is a sports technology company working to ensure that no sports fan ever misses an Instant Classic. Our core product is RUWTbot (ruwtbot.com), a patent-pending method of using statistics to determine in real-time whether a sporting event is exciting.
areyouwatchingthis.com marries this engine with television listings to send free alerts to sports fans whenever they need to hustle to the couch. By parsing television listings nightly for every cable and satellite provider in each ZIP and Postal Code in the U.S. and Canada, this sports-aware notification system can send email or SMS alerts that are customized based on the sports you care about, and personalized with why the game is worth watching (No-Hitter, Overtime, etc.), and the specific channel number you need to turn to to catch the finish.
thesportsbarproject.com uses this technology to help Sports Bar owners keep their TVs on the most exciting games and their patrons in their seats. Sold via monthly subscription, managers gain access to a tailored, online dashboard listing the most appealing games for their clientele. Instead of scrambling between TVs, remote in hand, they receive a full schedule of which channel each TV should be on at any time.
The long-term goal of RUWT? Sports is a presence in the Living Room. Whether its triggering an automatic recording in the closing moments of a thrilling game, or silently shifting back your recording of American Idol because a game went into overtime, it will improve the TV watching experience for all—sports fans and non-fans alike.
Comment by Mark -
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Well Child Center will fill a gap that currently exists in child health care services by providing immunization and physicals that are needed and required by the state and federal government and mandated by the local school districts. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), the federal and state government will continue to support the health and welfare of children and it’s citizens through immunization compliance. Every year the CDC strives to increase the rate of immunization to 90%, but as of yet has not been able to achieve this goal. The anticipated time frame for achieving this goal is 2020. This of course is only for documented citizens as numbers for undocumented immigrants are difficult to obtain. In addition the CDC is working with the state governments to close the disparity in immunizations between minority populations and white populations.
• WCC is to provide a niche service that a regular medical clinic does not wish to provide since it disrupts the daily flow/routine of their medical practice.
• The first clinic and all other clinics will be located in areas that will be easily accessible to the low income families.
• The hours of operations will also reflect the schedule of school children and working parents.
• The principal has over 25 years experience in this venue.
Since this type of service is required by the government and mandated by school districts and the population of low income families is 308,200 in Dallas County, WCC will have a high rate of success and profitability beginning in the first year of service. We are projecting a profit of 27% the first year and then continued growth each year there after.
This project will require $225,000.00 in funding. This will complete one clinic, as well as working capital for the first six (6) months. Projected income from operations and growth will be adequate to satisfy a significant ROI per year, as well as the return of principal by 24 months or sooner, depending on the structure of the arrangement with the investor. The clinic is projected to generate $675,000.00 in revenue its first fiscal year. With projected operating expenses of $315,000.00, we should see projected net earnings of $360,000.00 before any distributions (EBTDA). The ROI to the investor can be significant and still allow a quick exit strategy, depending on the interests of the investor. Growth and expansion of the business will, in part, be limited by how aggressively the investor pursues his returns.
This plan is an efficient business model and, along with the vast experience of the primary principal, it will prove to be successful. A complete business plan with monthly and annual projections is available.
Comment by Tanya Ogle -
Hi, Am Krishna from Bangalore, India.
Is it considerable if my idea is for the Indian market?
Since i have many innovative ideas, but nothing like this
to take off.
Comment by krishna -
Hi Mark Cuban,
Here is my business plan:
http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dcgmtvg3_0fbxtgxf5&pageview=1&hgd=1&hl=en
I thank you for the opportunity to be part of the Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan and I look forward to hearing back from you. Feel free to contact me by phone or e-mail with any questions you may have. Thank you.
Comment by Amir Langroudi -
Business Plan: http://www.screencast.com/t/u8No32y33B6
Demo: http://www.littleye.com/investordemo
littleye is a SaaS that allows parents to monitor and manage their kids online. It’s easy for parents and transparent to kids.
We are a two person company (a developer and a marketing/sales person) with a team of offshore developers – doesn’t get any flatter than this. I have funded the company myself as the founder to create a 100% stable product, profit model and ready for the market!
Give us a jump start Mark!
Comment by Sandra McIntosh -
Mr. Cuban,
I submitted my business plan and other information and haven’t had an acknowledgement that it was received, reviwed or being considered. How do I find this out?
ED
Comment by Ed Burns Sr -
I wont give in, I can put 250 people to work in 50 states. We need you help. Please go to
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd274gdm_0g78n3ghp
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pjaZMG-KUWPjBB20-9r-ETw
Thank you
Comment by Hoyt West -
Mr. Cubin
Please see comments from feb. 14th at 1:44pm. This is an entry from my employer. He is a great bussiness man with great drive. Anything he gets involved with is successfull. I have worked for him since he opened the doors at his embroidery shop 5 years agao. He is very modest in his decription of his current business. It is not fairly successfull It is very successfull and could triple with your help. He is dedicated to his employees and to his customers. He has the best character of anyone I know, or have had the plesure to know throughout my entire life. If you talk to him you will see for yourself
Comment by Ron Droddy -
Good Morning Mark,
I submitted the Ice House in Justin; car wash in Roanoke. Could you please provide some feedback on what you think? I know the Ice House and the Car Wash would make a profit.
Thanks,
Ruby
Comment by Ruby -
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Private Company inter business in Mali- Involved in all possible domains that will help human development regarding human rights and a canal to spread the Gospel. In this Company, my idea is to start first by opening a transport agency to help the society. Hope this dream will be one day or another fulfilled for the benefit of the future generations…
Comment by Tim Yattara -
Pingback: Have You Heard About Mark Cuban's Economic Stimulus Plan? | Free - Money Tactics
I want to share this idea more with hopes that it will inspire others than raise funding.
The idea is based on micro-services and micro-pricing that will be received well in a bad economy.
My wife recently started a part-time photography business. She charges a flat rate of $60, shows up for 1 hour, shoots pictures and mails them to you on a dvd. obviously it has been cash flow positive from the start and has been well received for parties, events, and parents. She doesn’t do any professional staging, hence the business name Life Unstaged and simple website http://www.lifeunstaged.com.
We’re not going to get rich off it, with travel and editing she nets about $25 per hour. But there is room for eventual price increases and she has made enough to pay for business cards, flyers, website and some advertising, all while doing her day job.
This gave me the idea that micro-services and micro-pricing are going to be key to fixing our economy. It’s not about employing a few people at $50K plus per year, it’s about a lot of people finding a way to earn $10K-$30K per year in total or extra income. I think there are several opportunities for this such as:
1) Flat rate plumbing/handyman services (advertise your prices for the top 5 services you offer).
2) Business Meals: Get a contract to make lunches for small offices and save the employees 30%-40% on daily lunch expense.
3) Resume/Interview consulting: Review peoples resumes and give them interviewing tips for $50 per service.
4) Cash flow review: Charge $75 to spend an hour going over someones monthly expenses and show them where they can cut out costs.
5) Computer Support: Charge a $75 flat rate to set up hardware or solve home computer issues.
I saw a proposal on this thread for puting household inventory on the internet for insurance purposes. I thought that was one of the best and simplest plans in the thread. But I think the real opportunity is to charge $150 to come out to the house and do the photography and upload it for them.
I think there is still demand for services, but people would like to strip out the frills and strip down the cost. They can easily spend $60 for photo memories of their childs birthday party, but most aren’t interested in spending $600.
If I were to try to turn this into a real business my goal would be to supply filler work to hungry sub-contractors and become the Walmart of services by offering micro-services and micro-prices in a micro-geography.
Comment by J. Gradis -
Business Plan: http://www.screencast.com/t/u8No32y33B6
Demo: http://www.littleye.com/investordemo
littleye is a SaaS that allows parents to monitor and manage their kids online. It’s easy for parents and transparent to kids.
We are a two person company (a developer and a marketing/sales person) with a team of offshore developers. I have funded the company myself as the founder to create a 100% stable product, profit model and ready for the market!
Give us a jump start Mark!
Comment by sandra mcintosh -
To the guy who wants to write an ebook – You’re on the right track looking at the book as a lead generator, but there is no need to give anyone a chunk of your income. I wrote my first how-to book in 3 months and made money in the first week. My only cost was time and the domain/website so I broke even after a few sales.
I have free reports you can read that will help you create and sell information products online. No opt in or email address is needed – just take whatever you want withe the understanding you’ll donate money to the charity of my choice after you start making money.
Here’s a link:
http://www.nalroo.com/fordad.html
If you aren’t capable of doing it on your own I also have a membership site with video tutorials and a step by step plan. That’s explained in a free ebook at:
http://www.nalroo.com/fordad.html
Terry
PS here’s an opportunity for someone to take and use. Ideas are easy implementation is what matters and I’ll never do this. Make up small coin operated vacuum cleaners and install them in gas stations near the pumps. When I fill up the tank, I empty the ash tray and wash the windows and then stand there for a few minutes picking my nose waiting for the rest of the gas. If there was a cheap vacuum cleaner by the pump I’d also quickly vacuum out the car.
Start up costs would be less than $1000. You’d need vacuums stuck into key locked metal boxes with coin operators on them. The biggest hurdle would be getting power to the vacs. So you start with stations that already had power on the gas islands.
Find a station and split the revenue. If it’s profitable, you either put together packages and sell them to gas stations, or do more revenue sharing agreements with other stations.
PPS If you do this I buy my gas at the Arco on Country club and the superstition freeway in Mesa AZ.
Comment by Terry Gibbs -
Mark,
Thanks for the offer to help under-capitalized businesses like my own. Our company supports one model of popular classic car, which is becoming more popular all the time–selling new and used parts for them, servicing them, restoring them, and selling the cars too, on consignment. We’ve been in business for over 25 years, and are a household name to those who own these particular cars, world-wide. The problem is we don’t have the capitization to keep up on orders, keep adequate inventory, hire enough mechanics to keep up on service, rent enough storage space for cars for sale, or hire the help necessary to enable the business to grow. It’s stagnated, but could be so much more than it is, like so many other companies that do the same thing with other models of cars and do it so well because they’re well-funded. Anyway, if you fund us, you will receive up to 49% equity in the business (depending on your funding amount and your interest in the business) and be able to participate in the profits as the company grows, or you can lend us the money for say, a 10% return–and you will be paid back through a set portion of our daily credit card receipts, like a merchant account cash advance is paid back. We look forward to your favorable reply.
Comment by Ben Miller -
http://opensourcefunding.qrimp.com/home
Comment by PJ -
Dear Mark,
I own an all natural beverage company that produces a soda line and a lemonade and iced tea line. I also graduated from Mount Lebanon High School a few years after you. Both products I manufacture are all natural and sweetened with cane sugar. The lineup consists of 9 single serve SKUs. The products can be found in the Northeast in stores ranging from pizza shops to supermarkets, such as, certain Whole Foods locations.
I’m looking to raise my first round of capital ($250,000), as I have self-funded the business until this point. I want to use this money to strengthen my success within my current markets and then replicate this success throughout the United States. The main uses of the money would be for outside salespeople, working capital, marketing, point-of-purchase materials and grocery channel packaging. The business is currently breakeven, but I am the only full-time employee. My lack of capital has stymied growth.
My company has been around for ten years, but until April of 2008 the main focus was on the local distribution of not only our own two beverage brands, but as a distributor of other products, such as, chips from other manufacturers. At the beginning of 2008, the business reached a critical point and I had to decide if the business should be a brand company or a distribution company. The company had maximized its revenue in local distribution with the resources it had at the end of 2007 and would have required additional trucks, more third-party products, larger warehouse space and many more employees to take the next step. I looked at the successful sale of Vitamin Water, Izze, Fuze, Sobe, NutriSoda and Nantucket Nectars and realized the value of my company was in its brands. Distribution companies sell for as little as 1/3rd their total revenues, while brands can sell at upwards of 10 times sales. In fact, I recalled an article about Nantuckets Nectars, where it was mentioned that Nantucket Nectars started a distribution company in the Washington DC area and they were so distracted that it almost bankrupted their whole business until they exited it. I already had other distributors carrying my beverages, but had given them very little support and thought now was the time to help them sell our brands.
Between April 2008 and January 2009, I relinquished my local beverage distribution to two Anheuser-Busch and Snapple distributors and began working with my other established distributors. These moves along with selling my chip distribution business in November 2008 allowed me to exit the distribution business and move fully to the brand building business.
What is remarkable about both brands are that they have been around for a long-time with minimal marketing and sales support, yet they still sell. The soda line is ten years old and lemonade and iced tea line is six years old. What other consumer brand can survive this long with essentially no marketing? The most spent on marketing was $4,000 in 2002. The past three years there has been less than $500 a year. This shows the brands have “legs” and only lack the necessary financial backing and infrastructure to allow these brands to grow quickly.
I know your focus is on technology, but I hope you are open to looking at consumer products.
Regards,
Tom
Comment by Tom -
hello mr. cuban,
my stepmother sent this to me she taught entrepreneurship at a local tx college. i think what you are offering makes perfect sense. a similar scenario happened to me. i am an automotive technician. i was living with (now my wife) a young lady who had no income, i worked all i could but had made many mistakes as a “young” person. i got a job next to another business owner who respected my abilities, even though i did not respect him. i later found out he was a honest hardworking self made man. he offered me a similar opportunity. basically after short while the question was broached why i did not own my own shop. we lived paycheck to paycheck one car could not afford rent or food even. if we had extra 10 dollars for wal-mart it was a miracle. i explained i had no money, he asked how much would it take. i said 10,000.00 (ten thousand) an enormous amount to me then, more than i had ever seen. he said ok and wrote me a check. not only did he help me financially, but helped me to grow. learn morals and ethics, fair business practices. i know how a few acres of commercial property, a beautiful house. YES i still work all the time. i am actually still at work now 11:30 at night, but have to make hay when the sun shines. here is how i did it, i think.
i knew/know how to fix cars. i started with 10000. dollars. i rented a facility with no signage in a aggressive (meaning strict as far as signage is concerned) “town” area similar to addison tx. i paid one month down and a one month security deposit. leaving me with 6400.00 i then bought paint, computers, carpet, doors deposits for phone and utilities leaving about 3100. i then made on the computer some “fliers” offering a very inexpensive oil change and advertise in a local pennysaver. i tried to get customers in and out, me alone. i ttreated them well and fair. charged good money for great work. honest and reliable. i tried to look vehicles over and suggest other services but always told the truth about the severity of need. i slowly added equipment and bought things that helped me to make money, ie state inspection equipment, service machines etc. etc. i paid rent on time every time.
the man i was leasing to was a worm, lied and raised rent as i made more money, violating the lease, but i slept at the shop,bled there ate there, so i could swallow a little pride and deal with it. later he fell ill and retired, selling me the master lease for 20000.00 dollars sayiing if i didi not buy he would sell to his neighbor for 1 cent. so again i paid. i never complained to the landlord and always did what he asked, i improved the building for my business and did not expect him to pay for it, it was my responsibility not his. years later he decided to sell me his property for 50,000.00 dollars less than he was offered 1 year prior with was about 50% of its appraised value and carried the paper on it.
all the while i was still working, 6 days a week sleeping at the shop (just like tonight) sometimes 5 days a week. working sundays if needed. nothing was unreasonable, i needed to eat. this was my job. i decided i needed a tow truck, same guy that helped me start helped me get a tow truck, carried the paper just like the intial amount( that was a loan at 8%) this intrest rate was the same 8%. once again i offered employment to another person with the ability to maybe own a piece of said tow truck. 20 months later sold the truck because unable to find a reliable employee or person that WANTED to work for something.
crazily enough i then decided i needed a car lot to sell serviced and repaired vehicles with warranties. people did not trust car sales people and no one wanted to be honest about selling cars. once again an employee problem. i tried to do it myself, but was unable to do both and now have gotten kinda spoiled and am not as pleasent to customers as i once was. still nice but much much less patient. so closed the car lot.
decided to open a body shop in the detached part of the shop 01-08-08 employees still are the #1 difficulty. but shop is doing ok.
recently during this downturned economy i have been very close to being in dire straits. i could always go back to the guy that initially helped me but wanted to make him proud of me and show him that his help and faith was not in vain. i started to take the time and go back to basics, be calmer and more patient with my customers, have some faith and work work work. things are looking up. i do not employ alot of people currently it is only 4, but that is some. what you are offering is an opportunity to change someones life. all you ask in return is a little oversight? return on investment either by stock or intrest? are you a non-profit or trying to be a motivator. people need to open their eyes and pay attention to what you are offering. some of the comments are so disrespectful it is a disgrace. i am sorry. i so appreciate people like you and what you do, and what you have done for me.
god bless
chad
Comment by Chad -
The above was posted before the documents were published to the web.
Please use these links:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dms2s3x_2hmvw7rd4
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dms2s3x_0htq3p7d3
Comment by Angela Meek -
Mr. Cuban, thank you for all you have done.
My idea will revolutionize the way homes are built and water conservationism as we know it. Every municipality between Florida and California will have to re-write their city ordinances.
Wind turbines will be an after thought. This concept is “green” and links two existing technologies already available in most homes today.
Venture capital requires a patent attorney, advertising, and blue-collar labor costs.
I expect this will be standard issue in ten years anyway. No, nobody else is doing this.
Best Regards,
Jay Langley
Comment by Jay -
Mr. Cuban,
Why not invest in our future? Sure the return may not be immediate but it would definently be lasting. I have 22 children in my 4th grade classroom that haven’t seen our state capitol and many will never have the chance to visit our Nation’s Capitol. If we sent them to see our country at work and give them the tools they need to be successful…well…the future will hold great returns. I would love to take them to our state’s capitol in Texas and hopefully, take them to the Nation’s capitol in DC. Just a teacher that loves her job and kids in her room. Thanks so much!
Comment by Allyson Price -
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Hi Mark,
Thanks for this opportunity.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dms2s3x_2hmvw7rd4&hl=en
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dms2s3x_0htq3p7d3&hl=en
I look forward to your comments.
A. Meek
Street Shadow Inc.
Comment by Angela Meek -
HEY MARK CUBAN!!!!
I’ve had this great idea for a new type of trash can that is easy to load and unload even the fullest garbage bags. I hate emptying the trash at home, it is so hard to pull out, then the bag isn’t even quite full yet! This idea eliminates all the hassle. In fact, I wish I had one right now!!!! I call it the “Trash Cannon”!
I will be happy to tell you more about it if you are interested. Please let me know. Thank you! If you can fund it, I will build it!
Comment by Gary Brookens -
HEY MARK CUBAN!
I’ve had this great idea for a new trash can that is easy to load and unload even the fullest garbage bags without all the hassle! I HATE emptying my own trash at home. I have an idea for an upgrade to keep it clean and simple, in fact, I wish I had one of these right now!!! I would love it! I name it the “Trash Cannon”!
I will be happy to share more of my idea if you are interested. Thank you!!!
Comment by Gary Brookens -
It has often been stated that the online poker world is like the Wild West. On line poker is a new territory where thousands of people transact business in the form of playing poker. And like the Wild West, innovations in technology provided solutions to problems which arose in an unrestricted environment. DealGuardian™ is a solution to one of the biggest problems in on line gaming, and one which the players should demand in order to make the games they play fair, unbiased and safe.
Read the Secure Card Dealer, LLC Business Plan here:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d23pfbq_0cqbzktfr&invite=hhqkrgr
Regards
The SCD Team
Bill, Nick and Steve
Comment by Bill Schoonmaker -
Here goes…
Renewable Energy Outdoor Media
Instead of retrofitting an existing facility (such as the AA Center) with an outdoor media solution that requires connection to a meter for power, install a solution that has a self-contained battery system and uses the sun and wind to produce electricity.
Retrofitting an existing facility will require trenching, electrical infrastructure installation, and repaving…just to get power to the unit.
Currently, my company (3 month old start-up) represents a unit that is made by Panasonic and has been used at such venues as the Athens Olympics where they installed multiple units to supply security lighting and remote security cameras. These units are almost completely unknown in the U.S. but provide not only useful functionality such as security lighting and remote wireless security cameras but also an OUTSTANDING advertising platform! The units cost around $16k each.
The applications are endless….parking lots, universities, parks, office buildings, lakes and beaches, stadiums, LEED developments, etc.
The revenue stream:
Sell the units directly, anywhere in the U.S..
Sell the advertising space for the client.
You could also do long term leases on the product to cities and counties.
Renewable energy, functionality, and marketing opportunities for added revenue? Sounds strong!
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Scott
Comment by Scott Martin -
I.E. Teach people to fish rather than give them fish.
Comment by Steven -
In order to take advantage of all the great proposals and create jobs, there will need to be more investors brought in here.
You are just one guy and will do only so many deals. There are many people w/ cash on the sidelines and money to invest in small businesses but many of them do not know the process a prudent angel investor follows.
Mark and others, please post some good resources on proper investing, (due diligence, deal structure, legal, accounting, decsion making process etc..) This would make a good blog, separate website or even money making venture if you put together a low cost investment system for others.
Mark, you could share your investment process knowledge and create many more savvy investors.
The key is duplicating yourself by sharing your knowledge. That will be a bigger contribution than you doing a few deals w/ your money.
That would be a fun, rewarding project to head up.
Comment by Steven -
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12565556/Designer-Plan
February 17, 2009
Mr. Cuban,
As a result of seeing an article in the Dallas paper today, I am forwarding a business plan. January 2008, Silhouette Patterns, was asked to present to Vera Wang, the idea of designer patterns. We did so. After 7 months of negotiations, Silhouette Patterns, stepped away from this designer knowing the idea would work, but not with this particular designer. We are currently meeting with other designer/celebrities about the same idea, knowing we can make this work for all involved.
JoAnn ETC Stores, 1.9 billion strong, has agreed to retail the patterns at an agreed wholesale amount of 1.2 M per month placing the designer patterns in 200 of their 900 stores. Other ideas include designer fabrics and sewing machines. TV shows like Project Runway have made sewing popular and the current patterns available to the mass consumer are antiquated.
This is just an outline, I would enjoy meeting with you and filling in the gaps, answering any questions you have.
Thanks for this opportunity.
Sincerely,
Peggy Sagers
Silhouette Patterns
Comment by Peggy Sagers -
Pingback: The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan — Ontiveros & Co. Blog
Mark,
This proposal is actually for my wife, who is much more talented than I am, but nevertheless, does not read blogs very often.
My wife graduated from film school at UT, where she specialized in video editing. After school, seeking to make a little money, she undertook the task of operating her own video editing business. Her idea is simple: everyone with a video camera has a crapload of priceless family footage; however, because the footage is unorganized, and generally not put together well, people would rather pull their fingernails out than watch a half hour of family memories; therefore, working within different pricing models, my wife takes video, photos, and music, and edits people’s stuff. While the idea is definitely not new, the market for this type of thing is quite small.
Obviously, the greatest competition for these types of services is iMovie, final cut, and/or any other movie editing software worth a nickel. What my wife noticed, however, is that many people are unfamiliar with how to operate those programs. Within the group of those who actually know how to use the software, only a fraction have the time to sit down and produce quality work product. Furthermore, the market segment interested in this type of service is the upper-middle class to the high class from cities across the US.
The company would make the most money by attracting a large number of consumers who are repeat-buyers. My wife has designed several programs and plans, such as plans to send finished dvd’s to grandparents, and as gifts to others
Here are the hurdles my wife faces: her computer sucks really bad, and that costs her LOTS of time as she uploads footage and goes through the editing process. Second, getting her advertisements out to the proper demographic with an example of the work product she is capable of producing so that they can see that there’s a real difference between the crap they can produce and the quality she can turn out. Other than that, she has the capability to earn a great income for herself. She’s a stay-at-home mom (by choice, of course), so time is not an issue. She’s also got some talent, although in this business there’s not a ton of work to farm out.
I’m sure i’m forgetting some things, but i’d be interested if you had a response to the post…
Comment by Troy -
Mr. Cuban,
The break even point income wise for my company would be 45-50 days and well profitable between 60-75 days. I am very excited about the car club that I have started. It has not opened officially yet because I do not have the proper resources to complete all the tasks. It is a nation wide car club that offers sponsorship in each state. I have over 30 interested sponsors and a dozen or so that have joined as official sponsors. My goal before the website goes public is to get 108 total sponsors throughout all 50 states. My company has very little in cost for start up and would love to give you the full plan in break down via email or how ever you would prefer. I dont know how often or if you even get the chance to read these blogs with as many that must pour in everyday. But if your stimulus plan is to boost the economy then I think my plan offers more than just my company profiting I as well plan to help boost the profit of all my sponsors. The more that I am able to provide my sponsors money the better interest that the have in my car club and in return the more advertisement by word of mouth, providing me more paying members and in return for more paying members the more that I can offer my members making a big circle effect. I am trying to provide you with as much info as possible still leaving my ideas still unknown do to the ammount of people who could read this and take any ideas leaving me unable to use them.
Thank You and I hope to hear from you soon to intrest you even further into my plan.
LR
Comment by LR -
Mark,
Great site, with the idea of ‘next’ capitalism! Love it..
So here is my idea, for the thoughtful; I want to start a internet stamp collecting business, with turn around in less than 90 days.. Buying and selling stamps with knowledge is similar to stock exchange, except its not at its record breaking low’s. With a 10K investment per quarter, there would be a great profit involved..Each stamp collection is bought in wholesale auction prices as a whole, my/our company will take this collection and turn it for double maybe even tripple its price. Im in the process of making a business portfolio with all specifics on yearly revenue, profits, possible losses..Currently i work with a company that makes over 500K a month making a little less than half in profits. I have the knowledge and the work ethic to make this work, all i need is the capital.
Comment by Brandon S. Taylor -
Hello Mark,
My story is alittle different so I hope you understand.
I’ve was working and paying the Attorney for my new Patent. A few months ago the decisiion from the Patent Office said there were a few changes needed.
I had a work accident in 2005 and have been in a wheelchair, no longer able to work. The Patent Attorney says it will cost another $2000 to fix the paperwork and to have a Patent Pending. The problem is that I can’t afford to pay now. I don’t want to loose the Patent, but what choice do I have?
Then you came along (thank God!) and maybe you can help! I can’t afford to have a Business plan done because that costs another $2-5000! I would love to enter this plan for your viewing, but as you can see, it’s quite impossible for me to do so.
I have a disabled son and the invention I made back in 1972 was for him when he was just 2 years old. Having Cerebral Palsy and Cystic Fybrosis put me in a difficult position because there weren’t any sitting chairs that he would stay in. So after many trys with what was on the market back then, I made a product that worked well for him. I was a stay at home Mom back then to care for him and keep him alive, so not to place him in an Institution that the Medical profession said I should do. He’s now 32 and well because I didn’t do that.
I wanted to start a business here in Rochester, NY to market the product and build from there. The local Business Office would invest money to start manufacturing if I came up with the first $50,000. That also put a damper on things.
Mark, I did my homework. There is a newborn child born every 6 minutes around the world. The Johnni-Seat would help new Moms as well as the disabled in Hospital Units, Premie Units, Pediatricians offices, for Physical Therapists, Cerebral Palsy Centers as well as Day Care Centers. This product would enhance two industries: Baby Industry/ Medical Profession.
If there is any way possible that you would care to be of assistance, I’d be more than welcome to share half of the profits with you! I need to take care of my Son as well as myself now since I’m an Independent Mom that would like to pay for our own medical bills and now rely on government funds any longer.
Thank you for listening,
Carol L.
Comment by Carol L. -
LION CANYON PROPOSAL
MARC:
Here is the deal.
OPTION 1:
Lion Canyon sells 100% of 2,640 acres, Congress Mine 1,590 acres. Investor assumes Lion Canyons position in escrow. Bender property 70 acres, Investor assumes Lion Canyons position in escrow, Bassett property 85 acres. Investor assumes Lion Canyons position in escrow. Price 400mm.
To effect option 1, Investor deposits 10mm in escrow with Arizona Escrows in Phoenix, Az. Lion Canyon delivers the deeds to 2,640 acres and escrow positions to the above additional properties within 5 working days. Investor then deposits 390mm additional to escrow in 48 hours and deal closes. Lion Canyon has the funds necessary to close attendant escrows held in escrow until those closes are finished. The Investor takes charge of 100% of properties above and Lion Canyon is 100% sold out and 100% paid out. All fees and charges owed by Lion Canyon shall be paid from escrow. Lion Canyons Mine Manager, Steve Scott will stay as Mine Manger for the entire project if Investor desires.
OPTION 2:
Investor deposits 5mm in the escrow, Lion Canyon brings all the deed, etc and purchase contracts for Congress and Basset and Bender (same acreages as above) and the Octave Mine in 5 business days. 100% of the property goes to Investor/Owner in this option also.
The escrow closes in 48 hours, 18.735mm more goes to escrow and the money is transferred to Lion Canyons Bank. Making a total of 23.735mm. Agreement is signed between Lion Canyon and Investor that Lion Canyon has 20 year operating agreement for 50% of the operating net. All deeds transfer to Investor/Owner.
Lion Canyon puts the Congress (1,590 acres) into operation and does location testing on 2,640 acres of Lion Canyon. Lion Canyon also puts the area that the 34 lbs of nuggets were recovered from into production at this time. The Octave Mine is also acquired. This takes 90 days.
When all location testing is finished, Investor pays 76.265mm for purchase of 2,317 additional acres, and location testing of same and to put 8 sites into operation. Four sites on 2,640 acres and four sites on 2,317 acres. In nine more months, these sites will be in full operation. 100% of the net income of all sites including Congress goes to Investor/Owner until even then 50/50 agreement becomes in force. A complete cost breakdown will be provided before expenditure of funds.
With the initial 10 sites in full operation for 3 years, Lion Canyon will sell the operating agreement to the Investor for an amount agreed to by third party evaluators. (Investors option) (Probably 2-5 Bn). Then they will own 100%, operate 100% and collect 100% of income. OR, Lion Canyon stays until the 20 year period expires.
In any case, the full amount for option 2 is 100mm. 23.735 to commence and 76.265mm for 2,317 acquisition and eight more production sites in 120 days after trance two is funded.
OPTION 3:
Investor pays 100mm to Lion Canyon as Forward Purchase and receives 100% of the output of all of Lion Canyons properties (current and to be acquired) for as long as the operation is active (50yrs min), for a 20% discount. Target production is 400,000 oz/yr.
First deliveries start 90 days from funding to be delivered to Dubai UAE at an address to be supplied by Investor. Or any other location desired.
CARL L. NICKELSON
MANAGING MEMBER
LION CANYON LLC
cc:
DATE__________________
Seymour Sacks, Esq.
SACKS TIERNEY, P.A.
A member of Meritas Law Firms, World Wide
4250 N. Drinkwater Blvd. Suite 400
Scottsdale, Az. 85252
480 425 2622 T
480 426 9922 F
YON PROPOSAL(S)
Comment by carl nickelson -
I propose you buy the Cubs and I get 1% ownership for encouraging you to persist with the purchase. Keep fighting Mark, you can do it!
Comment by Brandon Walker -
defensivedrivingdonate.com
A texas defensive driving site that would donate a portion of its profit to a charity that the user chooses.
People can take a defensive driving class in the state of Texas to get a ticket dismissed once a year.
It’s a 40 million dollar industry(Allegedly).
All defensive driving classes are required by law to cost $25 dollars, so you cannot compete on price.
The defensive driving sites online do not differentiate themselves from one and other, (with the exception of “comedydefensivedriving” which is obviously probably not funny) instead they use ppc advertising and battle for higher search engine rankings.
The “donate to charity” marketing angle can be used in a number of ways to generate publicity, and to acquire links to bump up the serp ranking.
The online class is required to be 6-hours long, so you cannot offer a shorter less painful class.
No one about to take a 6-hour long defensive driving class expects to enjoy it, why not take the one that gives a little to charity.
A Sexydefensivedriving.com will most likely not get approved by the Texas state defensive driving class panel.
Thanks for reading Mark, GO MAVS!
Comment by Jake -
Hey Mark,
How many times have you seen a group of people go to the gym, attend an exercise class and leave?
This business idea is one yet to be seen and comes free in a list produced by a mastermind group of business enthusiast Seth Goden. Basically it is a gym that only has different exercise classes all day and all week long. I think that it would be important to have classes from early morning to late evening ranging from Yoga, Dancing, and Kickboxing. I have expanded this idea with some of my own personal marketing ideas and niche possibilities that I believe will make this new concept the next CURVES. I will be pursuing this idea either very soon with your assistance or on my own in the next 2 to 3 years, that’s how enthusiastic I am about this idea being extremely popular. I have a list of some of the businesses features below, if you want a complete business plan please contact me.
Description of Business Features
-Membership-only business with full access to any class available.
-8 Times slots daily allotted 5-7 days a week from early morning to late evening with multiple instructors to teach in their qualified field. (possible classes could include Taebo, Kickboxing, Yoga, Dancing, Meditation, Pilates, Aerobic Exercise, etc.)
-Minimum 5 people per class or it will be replaced with more popular style of fitness. Instructors will be paid per class, however attendees will pay a monthly membership cost to have access to any class.
-Separate room for childcare that also includes exercise interaction appropriate to child’s age. This way the parent and the child can improve on better health during the same time slot.
-Fruit smoothie and health supplement bar for rest and social interaction before and after classes.
-Personal marketing ideas that will contribute to referral and immediate word of mouth advertising (contact me directly for details, this style of marketing has never been done in a fitness gym)
-Major monthly overhead would only include building rental or purchase, employee compensation, start-up advertising, fitness products (yoga mats, supplements) and miscellaneous (membership cards, etc).
Take a look at the numbers
Since the average number of attendees for fitness classes can vary, the minimum 5 class attendee rule will ensure a constant “finger-on-the-pulse” of trends and at the same time keep profit margins high. The following numbers can be manipulated as needed to achieve a different goal and this is just a low-end possibility but for an example let’s take the 5 day week, $100 per class instructor fee, with only one exercise room approach. This will include a monthly membership of $75 per member with 8 classes per day. This is 200 members ($15000 per month in membership fees), 40 instructors ($4000 instructor overhead monthly), Childcare/Front desk employee cost ($2000 monthly depending on number of employees), 3 room rental space for exercise room, childcare, and smoothie bar ($2000-$4000 rental monthly overhead). Even though this is just a rough example (taxes and other overhead removed) there still remains $5000 in membership fees and that’s if we can only book the minimum number of attendees! Margins on supplement sales and fitness products are extremely high (over 100% in some cases) and they weren’t even included.
Your return on Investment
From the very beginning you will receive a percentage of membership sales. You will also receive a percentage of all supplements and products sold. I am confident that the business will grow quickly and will need to expand. When franchising becomes a possibility, you will receive a percentage from the sold franchises as well as a cut of the royalties as long as the company exists. As far as I am concerned, if you help build this business by financing it, you are a direct owner and with that assistance comes permanent investment payoffs.
If you are interested in more details please contact me. I can send you a full business plan and include the innovative marketing ideas that I have come up with. Also, I can include a personal qualifications sheet that will help you get to know me better.
Comment by Jeremy Fisher -
MARC: went from 22 acres to 2,640 and 1,590 under option
WANNA control your own destiny? Own the gold mine not gold stocks. I can increase the size of this 1,000 acres per year if you desire. See the 34 lbs of nuggets in pic with old guy (ME), also 170 lbs of fines recovered in the test. Recovered from less than 1/2 acre, less than 9 ft. deep. Bedrock is 95 ft here.
READ LION CANYON PROPOSAL ALEX II FIRST. This gives you info about where we can go from here. We have 8.3 Bn in the ground. perfect set up for P.E. or H. F. either one. We can also have the mine owned by offshore entity. The Caymans is a possibility. Also UAE.
LION CANYON will sell or J.V. per the attached memo.
Or do a forward committment for 100mm and 20% discount for 100% of output for 50 years, minimum.
Please note that initial production target is 400,000oz/yr.
PIC OF OLD GUY LATER IF ANY INTEREST
CARL L. NICKELSON
MANAGING MEMBER
LION CANYON LLC
Comment by carl nickelson -
Mark,
Here’s my idea again presented with additional information omitted the first go round. But before I begin here’s a couple questions: Are you truly prepared to thoroughly review each of these peoples ideas? It seems like many are placing their dreams in your hands (instead the world cruel and not-so-cruel are getting ahold of it). I see you respond mostly to a very minimal amount of ideas that mostly relate to online/internet ideas. I’m not internet saavy, but can get through the basic phases. I’m certain internet based businesses will makes lots of money, but I’m also certain that it will be for those who have access and capabilities to own/operate/and have the need to function. I on the other hand believe the more urgent need would be found in helping the majority (not into building internet pages etc) find work in the community. How about placing peoples names in a lottery for random VOLUNTEER/ COMMUNITY SERVICE work done for a chance to win something. Initially, this sounds aweful, but how many do you know will volunteer without any incentive? And for the person who’ll respond that: self-worth is the incentive, my question to you is: how many are doing do in your community? Ok, i knew i’d get to my second question. Are you planning a “GRAMMY style” ceremony for those choosen to receive your assistance. Red carpet, champagne and all. LOL (sorry, just dreaming here). Final ~ Here’s my pitch:
i’d like to start an indoor fleamarket in my hometown. i see them popping up throughout texas and believe my hometown should be included in this type of trading. i’ve traded on ebay for 8 years and know how beneficial it is for us blue collar workers to trade moreso than going out purchasing new. i’d like a warehouse to rent space for trading products. i’m a shopaholic and my apartment is outgrowing me. please allow me this opportunity to put my true talents to use. p.s. i hope this is the “contest entry page”… lol
jb
Comment by Jai — February 15, 2009 @ 1:21 pm
Added info 02/17/2009 17:10 – I’ll need a warehouse,4- 8 employees which consist of two cashiers, secretary/accounting person, floor monitors/moving assistants and janitorial crew
Anyhow, who’d thunk this type opportunity would be dropped like this? I apologize for not having this information available the first go round.
Mark, honestly many people can have an awesome business idea, but not necessarily know how to crunch figures, know the logistics, etc. I simply realize the flea-market business consistantly stays busy and helpful to the middle-class folks. I’d love to be able to throw a figure out there and promise it’ll turn a profit within 90days. You’ve excited and crushed me all in the same breath. Hope you meet your accomplishments in this forum.
P.S. This is the second biggest thing happening to me (celebrity wise) than getting a call to be on the Oprah Winfrey show. Please take my offer serious even if it’ll make a few more dollars than others.
Thanks so much for your valuable time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jai (Jacki Brown), Fort Worth TX
Comment by Jai -
UR INCORRECT.
DM2U has proprietary software for the POS,complete software for ordering on line etc, grand opening Mar. 1, 2009
Comment by carl nickelson -
I look forward to your feedback on getstrategic.com
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd75zwk_7gk5xkvhk
Comment by Jon -
My name is Robert Krogstad. I have a patent pending on a hand-operated (pedaled) lawn mower using bicycle components (shifting and gearing, etc.). I have developed a model for an easily replicable lawn care business using this mower. This mower is applicable for a growing trend of smaller lawns and eco-friendly care of those lawns.
The replicated business will generate revenue from lawn care and service. Startup costs, which include the mower, business license, advertising, phone and miscellaneous tools equal $1,400. Seven lawns per week at $25 per lawn generates $700 per month. To make this operation entirely environmentally friendly, no gasoline vehicles may be used to transport the mower or get to the job. This will be accomplished through foot travel or travel by bike. In this case, operating costs are zero. Breakeven, based on these conditions is estimated at 60 days. After breakeven, the next 30 days will generate a profit of $700.
This is a seasonal business in most of the U.S. So, say, during the months of May through October, $2,100 will be generated in profit, beyond breakeven. From this, $1,400 in startup funds may be repaid. This model may be franchised.
I can send a drawing of the proposed lawnmower to you through email if you provide an address.
Best Regards,
Robert Krogstad
Comment by Robert Krogstad -
Great concept. I would strongly encourage everyone to think about these two words: “be concise.”
Comment by Doug Van Riper -
This plan is simple and it will work. Find an existing product and change the way it is marketed.
Shaved Ice Beverage Business Summary
On a hot day in July have you ever wanted to sit in the shade and have something cold to sip on? Something like a snow cone or better yet a shaved ice cone covered with your favorite fruit flavor. That would be great but where do I get one? Answer: At your local Sno-Ball Shaved Ice store.
Business Strategy
Take an established product, known and enjoyed by most people and change the way it’s marketed. Construct a free standing building, easily recognized, with accompanying picnic tables and shade and sell shave ice snow cones in all the favorite flavors. Repeat in locations where ever the climate is warm to hot at least seven plus months a year.
History
Sno cones or shaved ice cones have been around for decades but are mostly marketed in venues that attract large crowds and are just one of the many products offered. This strategy is designed to bring the product out to the public in the communities where people live. Has this approach ever been tried before? Yes, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, etc. Build something that works and repeat, repeat, repeat.
Product Description
The base product sold through Sno-Ball LLC will be Shaved Ice Fruit Flavored Cones topped with tropical fruit flavored syrups. Variations will include multi-flavors, cream toppings and vanilla ice cream. Twenty-five or more different tropical flavored syrups will be offered. See Attachment A for complete listing of vendor available flavors
Keys to Success
The keys to success are:
1. Sno-Ball will be the first business of its kind in the community is serves.
2. Locate each store near a major city roadway, next to housing developments, community pool, golf courses, schools, parks, and close to major restaurants and motel strips. Ideal locations will be medium size strip malls with visibility and easy access from these primary roadways.
3. The product will be made from Shaved Ice topped from a variety of high quality tropical fruit flavored syrups.
4. Expand Sno-Ball into surrounding communities by choosing locations that will maximize the exposure, profit potential and enjoy a significant competitive advantage.
5. Sell in communities that experiences warm to hot weather at least seven months of the year which is ideal for flavored ice refreshments.
Start-up Summary
Start-up costs will be approximately $30,000 per store location that includes reusable supplies, SnoWizard ice shaving machine, block ice maker, facility construction, inventory, permits, and other expenses associated with opening this business.
Pricing Strategy
Shaved Ice is a product that yields a considerable profit in terms of cost to produce at $0.12 for a small cup to $0.30 for an extra large will be offered at the following prices:
Small $1.50
Medium $2.00
Large $3.00
X-Large $4.00
Break-even Analysis
Estimated monthly fixed expenses for a single store including rent, labor and utilities of $5,100 would require approximate 80 cups/day sales generating approximately $5,550 with a gross profit of $5,150. This requirement of only 10 cups per hour should be easily obtainable.
Sales Forecast
Estimating monthly sales of $11,250 (165 cups/day), Cost of Goods Sold of $925 and fixed expense of $5,100 yields estimated profit of $5,225 per month.
Jobs Forecast
Each store would support between 2 and 3 full time employees for the operating months of March through October of each year.
The Proposal
1. Investor funds start up and initial operating cost of 5 stores in year 1 – $250,000.
– Each store cash flow break even within 60 days of operation – actually in month 1
– Each store profitable within 90 days of operation – actually in month 1
– Jobs created – 10 to 15 full time seasonal jobs
2. Growth achieved through reinvestment of proceeds
– Add 5 new stores in year 2
– Add 10 new stores in year 3
– Add 20 new stores in following stores through year 7 for a total of 100 stores.
– Total Jobs create 5 – 10 full time positions; 30 – 40 full time seasonal
– Annual sales to reach $10M
3. Investor equity position of 25%
The Big Question
Is there a store somewhere that is performing at these numbers? Yes
– In my home town of Friendswood, Texas – “Sno-Beach” is a single shaved ice store that reportedly does $100,000 / year.
– Equipment vendor in New Orleans reports sales often reach $1,000. per day.
Comment by Bryan Smith -
I submitted a comment about my idea, but I have not seen it posted yet. Oh well, I tried.
Comment by Randy L. -
Website is up in a bare bones fasion, i don’t pretend to be a programmer. right now it’s free, but you could charge prospective students a small fee per school or a monthly rate to browse.
a lot of students from NYC and LA know people who travel across the country for college, but a lot of people have no idea what they’re getting into. an open forum for students to rate their colleges honestly and anonymously.
obviously not a goldmine of revenue, but overhead is low and the upside potential exists in law schools/ business schools/ etc.
Comment by wyll -
From Pittsburgh….
I own GiftCards.com – we sell Gift Cards. We have been selling them for a few years. I have a 20,000 sq ft building in Greentree. I employ around 50 people. We generate 8 figure revenue. We are able to print 4 color photo’s on demand on Visa or Mastercards. I also own Swapagift.com – and we are now selling discounted gift cards. We have 500 locations across the country where we are buying peoples unused gift cards – which in this economy, is of great interest for people needing cash.
I’d like to grow out the 500 locations to be 5,000. I’d also like to invest into an ATM type machine to accept the unused gift cards in grocery stores. We have the engine to grow this to 9 figures within short period of time.
I’d be happy to talk with you if you find this interesting.
Jason
Comment by Jason Wolfe -
Our business is in a sector of the Medical IT space that is about to explode according to third party research firms. It’s an very strong business plan with an experienced entrepreneurial team. The stimulus package has strengthened already good long term prospects and we meet the quick road to profitability, positive cash flow and other parameters mentioned above.
The business is stimulative because success means creating well paying employment opportunities for low skilled workers in an economically hard hit area of the country. In addition, it will contribute to more efficient and effective health care, even for segments of the population that is usually unable to take advantage of the benefits of the Internet. For example, we hope to have Amish as beta testers.
“…all completely public for anyone to see and/or download.”
“I also expect that other people will steal the idea and use it elsewhere.”
Our plan cannot have that kind of exposure. The project has been in development for quite a while and now needs money for launch. We have strong competitors, but our service delivery and marketing models are far superior. First mover advantage on those models is important and they cannot be posted in a way that tips our hand to established competitors early on.
So Mark, if you are willing to look at an opportunity with an NDA, please get in touch. kawinaorg at g mail dot com
Comment by Steve -
Mark,
My partner and I own the rights to turn a classic 1960s comedy TV series into a feature film. And when I say ‘classic’ I mean classic. It is still referenced every day in our country. The show? ‘F TROOP.’ I have a Native American tribe that wants to finance it at least in part. So, interested in the next ‘Get Smart?’
Bob
Comment by Bob Logan -
Reference to posting on FEBRUARY 17, 2009 @ 10:09am:
Mark,
*****STUFFED CHICKEN WINGS*****
Thai-rrific is located on the southwest corner of Webb Chapel & Forest Lane. 3068 Forest Lane #212 Dallas, TX 75234
http://www.thaidallas.com or http://www.stuffedwings.com both websites have information on the restaurant.
I am also posting my business plan, along with my projected cash flow. The projection was on an estimate that each store that purchased sold roughly 500 to 800 a month. Thai-rrific sells about 400 – 500 a month. However, we are a really small mom and pop restaurant.
Also, I wrote the business plan and the cash flow by myself. So it may not seem as professional as other ones you might have encountered.
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?docid=dhq9ddcd_0ckf8gjcj
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pNGh9R7vqqbb2AOWgh9z0Rw&hl=en
Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
Kyla
Comment by Souvanna Kyla Phomsavanh -
http://docs.google.com/Edit?docID=ddg2dmc2_1dvwmfhhm
Comment by Jeff -
Please excuse the above misspellings.I was overwhelmed with sharing the vision.
Comment by Peggy -
Hello Mark,
As an asstma sufferer i know what it feels like when you forget your inhaler at home when you are out and about doing your regular daily things. What i propose is an asthma keychain inhaler that can be placed in your car keys so you can be assured you will always have it with you. you can sell it to pharmaceuitcal companies that produce these inhalers.
Comment by Jimmy -
Regarding the “locking hinge” – the hinge side of a door is the worst of all possible points at which to try to inhibit its movement, thanks to leverage. If the door isn’t locked and the hinge won’t open, I guarantee you I can rip that hinge (and its partners) right out of the frame with very little effort just by pushing on the door. It would be far, far weaker than the live latches and deadbolts that the poster notes “can just be kicked in.”
There are solutions for that on the market in the form of what are called security strikes, along with a whole host of various products that brace a door against being forced open. (Yeah, I used to be a locksmith.)
Comment by Beau -
To Brian, “I’m reading things about licensing agreements, building manufacturing facilities, 8-10 employees, etc. Apparently not many folks have had to have licensing agreements or facility leases reviewed by a lawyer, nor have any idea what that costs.”
Actually some of these businesses already have lawyers and licensing agreements. I do music licensing every day and in our world it turns around in a matter of hours. We own the intellectual property and license it, that’s what makes it so attractive.
into a lease.
Your point is well taken though.
Comment by Michael St James -
Mark,
Please help me with this one. I worked in San Diego for a year and the Padres stadium was next to my hotel. I would go on to their Padres marketplace and buy tickets from season ticket holders who couldn’t attend and print the tickets at my desk. The seller could list for a fixed price or auction but I never had to meet them in person since the Padres sponsored it and you just printed the tickets. I attended once every couple weeks because I could get good tickets near first base that otherwise would be unused. If I went to the ticket counter they would stick me way out in the outfield because they couldn’t access these tickets. This is a much better model than StubHub and as I am sure you noticed it doesn’t benefit anyone when seats go unfilled to a rather mundane regular season game when a season ticket holder stays home. Why can’t all teams in all pro sports do this? FYI I also noticed prices could be well above face value what separates this from scalping? The fact that it is team sponsored?
Bottom Line
If a season ticket holder doesn’t want to attend they should be able to quickly tell the team and the team lists the ticket and the ability to print online. They get a credit and the ability to donate all or some of the proceeds to charity. No ticket should ever go unused! Fill the stadium with fans that will inspire your team to win that otherwise mundane game. How can you give 110% when the lower level is sparsely filled?
Benefit
Maximize profits and at least win 2 games as a result of thrilled fans cheering the team to victory.
Comment by Brian Echard -
Mark,
I would love any feedback on my proposal…I believe Dinner a Movie “Delivered” is a solid business…and does not exist anywhere…any questions?? I can answer anything you might ask.
Many thanks
Comment by Denton -
Start a bank that doesn’t charge a ridiculous interest rate. I’m not sure what a current “reasonable rate” is but if it was 5%, then make it 2.5%. That way all of that “hard earned” consumer income isn’t distributed to some fat cat corporate guy and can be distributed somewhere else in the economy. 🙂 Thank you, you can make my check out to CASH. Peace!
Comment by Quentin Flowers -
Hello Mr. Cuban,
God Has shown me that we are to partner in an out reach ministry through a vision that he gaven me.This Ministry include a Theatre, a lecture hall, a Sanctuary and a food pantry.I have already been shown the exact platform and geographical location
where this will manifest.I am not asking you for money. I just know with every fiber of my existance and Spritual Being that God has called your hand to this project. I have already seen it in the Spirit Realm and I am certain that God will reveal this to you, if He has not already done so.The ministry is Bible based and it’s mission is to direct individuals into purpose. In this purpose they will know what is freely given to them by the creator.Many will identify and access the field of surplus, health and wealth as they pin point what is truely their. We will speak soon. Thank you for your time,
Your partner
Comment by Peggy -
Mark,
Here is my concept for recreating my current retail store and surviving the economic downturn. It is a more personal and fun approach to acheiving beautiful design for your home.
Pure
Simply│ Beautiful │Living
Our Mission:
“To bring beauty and simplicity to a complex world one home at a time.”
The Pure Story:
It’s really simple. Beautiful environments inspire. Everything speaks…from natural fabrics, to eclectic accessories to fine furniture for your home.
At Pure, “Once upon a time”… is now. Design that includes your personality and the balance in life you want to achieve. At Pure, we design from the inside out. Pure│Intrigue© is a fun tool we use to identify your unique design style. A combination
Personality/style test that formulates a style plan for each client. All of the items in our store or on the web site are labeled/categorized for their style fit. This tool is used in conjunction with a web site store that is shopped by personality style rather than product category and a physical retail store where we offer a more hands on approach. In addition, the physical store offers seminars to assist our clients in finding themselves. These can be everything from creating a visual collage of what you want your life to be, to organizational ideas, fashion makeovers. Think combination design and life coaching.
Why?
As the current owner of a retail home design store for 8 years I have found that customers want their lives to be a certain way but the design/personal decisions they make take them in the opposite direction. My best customers have opened up to us on a much more personal level and let us into their lives. Now more than ever my customers are looking for inspiration and control at the same time. They are demanding more of their current home and the items in it. They are looking for function, happiness, inspiration and joy from their home to share with their families and friends. I am packaging the experience of my best customers in a fun test that people will enjoy taking and sharing the results with friends while achieving a beautiful personal home for themselves.
In addition we would provide a recycling program for our store and others as the proud founders of All Things beautiful collaborative. A consortium of designers and retail stores committed to bringing beauty to the lives of others by repurposing new and gently used furnishing and accessories to local women’s shelters and designated non-profit organizations.
Comment by M Smith -
Business Summary: Our goal is to develop a site which helps to improve communication between individuals – whether it is at personal level or corporate level.
Stage: Early stage Start Up (4 months old). At present We are redesigning site navigation to make it more user friendly.
Market: Corporate users or group activity members.
Marketing: Direct marketing is best for this product.
Cash Flow & Profitability: Can meet cash flow and profitability guidelines.
Investment: We are no in real urgent need of any investment. We need someone who can help us market our product. Percentage of ownership is negotiable.
Best regards,
Jig (Founder, Developer, Architect)
Comment by Jig Shah -
Mark,
You are so right about what this country needs right now!
The economic stimulus that this country needs must come from the private sector. It must come from wealth creation from people creating value through hard work, innovation, and imaginative solutions to real problems. This is the way it has always worked. It is the ONLY way it will ever work.
To drive this innovation, we need a new model for leadership. We need a model of leadership that is accountable and authentic. We need a system that can re-teach the planet on the true way to lead people in times of either feast, in times of famine, and anywhere in between. We have seen enough poor leadership in the past and we seriously need a model that brings in accountability and authentic practices and behaviors.
In this super-connected world, we need a system that creates growing leaders to spread the word on the best leadership practices that instill real motivation, get real results, and is fully accountable to everyone in the organization. We need an innovative platform that can grow leaders that come from any place, any generation, and any background. We need a system that encourages growth in personal leadership effectiveness that is independent of each participant’s experience level so that people and their organizations can thrive.
When we have a best-practices architecture in place and have the ability to spread it across this nation and the world, then we will be truly giving back on a daily basis as true servant leaders.
Linked 2 Leadership, a group of over 6,200 members on LinkedIn is poised to be that next-generation leadership platform. We are building the Leadership Collaboratory. We focus on Leadership Development, Organizational Health, and Personal & Professional Growth.
What we need is financing from a partner in EntrepreLeadership.
We are the ultimate combination of social/business networking and leadership development. We have the solution that includes the Leadership Greenhouse, a safe place to learn and grow; The Leadership Playground: a safe place to cross-pollinate leadership tips and learn from experts in others industries and specialties; The Leadership Test Kitchen: a place to try out new recipes for leadership success for future issues on the horizon. And oh, so much more!!!
—————————————–
See the Linked 2 Leadership solution at:
http://www.tinyurl.com/EntrepreLeadership
Password: leadership
—————————————–
You can either view the plan on Scribd or click the link to see the super-cool SlideRocket version.
More insights at http://www.linked2leadership.com or at http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/77155.
You can view me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/tommyland or at http://www.twitter.com/tomschulte
Mark, let’s make this happen!
Tom Schulte | Executive Director | Linked 2 Leadership
CEO | Recalibrate Professional Development
Atlanta, GA USA
tomschulte@recalibratenow.com
Comment by Tom Schulte -
AlphaClone is brilliant and they are looking for $$ (or were a month or two ago).
Comment by UpAssets -
EXFUZE SEVEN+ PRO
Liquid supplement just receive approval by BSCG (Banned Substance Control Group).
ATHLETES OF ALL LEVELS WILL FLOCK TO THIS!!
Recovery is INCREDIBLE from workout AND injury! That’s from my own personal use.
Don’t need money, only exposure. Product is simply phenomenal!
Comment by Justin -
I’m a patented online trading platform in the final stages of capital raising with 24 angel investors to date, having raised $1.8 million last year. I’m a six year operation with a working system that has just begun to experience revenue within the last few weeks. My platform will revolutionize the markets by introducing a ‘Smart Limit Order’ that will give traders new powers, that once experienced, they will never go back to a straight limit order. The system will create transparency in a non-transparent market, by showing liquidity values for all equities, currencies, bonds and options. I will completely eliminate the need for a human broker when executing ultra-large orders, i.e. a million shares.
The SEC loves this technology and has called me a “a giant shock absorber” expecting the technology to create ‘more efficiency’, ‘more volume’ and ‘more liquidity’ in the markets. “What Google is to online search and online advertising, this patented technology will be to online securities trading.” Expecting to be trading 300 million to 700 million shares per day within 24 months at $0.01 per share ($5M per day revenue), this company expects to be worth 100x in two years and 1000x in five as it expands this ‘Smart Limit Order’ technology to currencies, bonds and options. I am selling shares @ $4.12 per share, $10,000 minimum investment, with no plans to go public or sell out for at least five years, during which time I will issue quarterly profit sharing to investors.
Comment by Steve Chenoweth -
Hello mr cuban
I have an idea that meets all of your criteria, however i cannot post my proposal on google docs because the file is too large. How else can i present my idea to you.
thank you
Comment by Lionel -
Mark, While I still hope for my Phase II funding on SJM to go through because that is already in motion and has such a high probability of success, here is another idea for everyone to kick around. Maybe pick a person from each city to do one.
———
The Break Room
Release* Refresh* Relax
Lost your job? Boss so bad you wish you did? Bad Break-up? Didn’t make your sales numbers?
Then stop by the Break Room and release all that tension, refresh and relax.
The Break Room is an urban based oasis of release where you, your friends or even your whole office team can come in and pick from our lovely collection of dishes, glassware and other breakables and then go into your own room and huck ‘em at the wall! Imagine, hurling a plate at a steel wall –hearing and watching it explode into tiny pieces while jamming out to your favorite music?
Just imagining it makes you feel better doesn’t it?
The Break Room is a medium sized venue in Urban Centers with two custom sound dampened rooms and a refreshment area (Coffee/Tea/Pop Shop with Wi-fi and pre-baked items). Customers purchase packages from the menu, such as a box of 10 plates for $30 or a pack of 5 vases for $30, jump in a pair of provided overalls and proper eye gear and then enter the room, plug in their MP3 player and break away.
Initial Location: Downtown Denver to expand nationwide.
Executive Summary Breakdown:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhgn9bk3_58dxqm4jck
Comment by Michael St James -
Mr. Cuban, I present http://www.raiseforpraise.com
This is a website that Churches can use to sell original faith based designed t-shirts.
This direct to garment idea had been suggested in these 1,000+ posts but they all miss the mark. Our company has no merchandise licenses to obtain and doesn’t rely on other t-shirt companies to create the shirts as part of my business plan is to purchase a Brother GT-541($20,000). I am a graphic designer/web designer so no need to go anywhere for the designs or website.
How it works:
Churches use our website to sell top quality/quality designed faith based apparel.
Churches pay an initial fee to join and have their own store set up.
Although each Church will have the same designs for people to choose from, each shirt will have their Church name and store website on the back.
How we and the Church make money:
Printing the shirts ourself our cost is about $3 a shirt(approx. $2 a shirt and $1 of ink per the Direct2shirt website http://www.direct2shirt.com/images/GT-541-ROI-Large.gif )
We charge the Church $8 for each shirt sold. Our profit is $5 a shirt.
The initial cost for the Church to join is a one time flat $1500 fee, of which the Church will receive 100% profit from their first 100 shirts sold. If they sell their shirts for $20 each then they make their money back plus make a $500 profit. They also get a custom store front that compliments their Church and 5000 full color flyers to help them promote their shop.
Initial Profit Breakdown
$1500 initial fee – 100 t-shirts($3.00ea.)= $1200 – 5000 flyers($137)= $1063.
$1,063.00 profit from each Church that signs up + $5 for each t-shirt sold after the initial 100.
Once the 100 shirts are sold we then begin to take out our $8 for each shirt(plus shipping and handling.)
Even if they Church sells their shirts for $10, they still make $2 profit without having to do any work or hold inventory.
Why would they use RaiseForPraise rather than go to cafepress or similar?
1. The Church knows that RaiseForPraise is faith based and Church orientated.
They know their customers won’t be subjected to questionable content.
2. No set up or uploading involved. We take care of everything.
Although they can add their own design if they would like, they don’t have to worry about coming up with designs.
3. If you were looking for faith based design where would you rather go Cafe Press or Raise For Praise where you know your money is going to help your Church.
4. The Church knows that they can get $8 t-shirts for any event they want – Awana, Summer Bible School, Festivals etc.
There are over 400 Churches in Arlington(my residence)alone. If we get 5% to sign up that is $20,000.
Jobs are created from marketing to the Churches locally and nationally and printing of the shirts.
I own the domains http://www.raiseforpraise.com, http://www.raise4praise.com, http://www.raysforpraise.com and http://www.rays4praise.com if it’s decided one name would be better than the other.
Comment by Adam -
Mark,
12 clean slides including P&L. Thanks for the opportunity.
http://www.slideshare.net/Liberator/heylu-investor-deck
Comment by Ben Richardson -
Really people? Looking through these business plans, I can spot maybe 2 or 3 that could meet the requirements in my experience.
Read them again people: 60 days break even, 90 days PROFITABLE.
I’m reading things about licensing agreements, building manufacturing facilities, 8-10 employees, etc. Apparently not many folks have had to have licensing agreements or facility leases reviewed by a lawyer, nor have any idea what that costs.
Perhaps I can help. If your business plan does not meet these criteria, think again:
One man show, perhaps a family member partner at best.
Low cost, easily obtainable supplies/equipment.
Run from an already-owned space (home, vehicle, other business, etc.)
To break even in 60 days, your focus has to be minimal expense, maximum customer acquisition, outstanding service. Rinse and repeat.
I’m not saying the above are bad business plans, but they are most certainly not what was being requested.
Comment by Brian -
Pingback: How I Roll » Two Cool Things from Around the Net
Mr. Cuban –
Thanks for the opportunity. I’ve uploaded our business plan to Scribd.
* the business has been in the works for nearly 2 years
* we’re 6-8 weeks from launching, but have run out of funding
* mature, experienced team with a successful record & lots of skin in the game
* innovative model leveraging current trends of telecommuting, broadband access, and entrepreneurialism
* direct and indirect job creation
* hot location in downtown Austin
* high end design & architecture
* proprietary supporting software is in testing
* already raised $800K
* excellent ROI
* tremendous opportunity for future growth
Business plan:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12294052/LPC
Comment by Julie G -
Hello Mr. Cuban,
This is not just your typicall smoothie/ice cream parlor. This franchise is unique and can generate a lot of business, if it is the proper location. As a Dallas resident, I have in mind where we could start. I will along with any suggestions you have,ie. revenue, equity, etc. . . Thank you
Comment by Joseph A. -
Pingback: The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan - Update I
I love this. I have been trying to find ways to meet you to present my plan to you for several months. Great thing is, making the plans public. If a person has a business idea that is patentable it makes it even more beautiful. TraffiCare International is patented. Our service is so unique, in fact, that we have been featured on almost all FOX affiliates nationwide. We have also been featured on the Fox News Channel America’s Pulse with E.D Hill.
Mark, you have to see this. We are changing city government all over the nation. The best part about our business is that it has a reverse effect on negative economy and city deficits CREATING jobs. Our plan is in standard power point and on video.
I heard you read all your comments. I hope you get to this one.
Comment by Troy Simpson -
“You must post your business plan here on my blog where I expect other people can and will comment on it. I also expect that other people will steal the idea and use it elsewhere. That is the idea. Call this an open source funding environment.”
Well, that eliminates 99% of the good ones.
Comment by Guerrilla Billionaire™ -
Using Ethanol By-Products As Deer Feed
If you don’t like hunting, this won’t appeal to you. Otherwise, read on.
Currently, by-products of ethanol production is used as a cattle feed supplement and many such production facilities are located within easy distance of feedlots for this purpose. The mash that remains after processing is available in either a “wet” or “dry” form. This mash has tremendous protein value which is a prime component of antler growth in deer.
Hunters in states where baiting is allowed typically used shelled or on-the-cob corn as deer lure. Fifty pound bags this past season cost around $7 per bag (here in the NC/SC region). As ethanol has taken off, hunters have seen their corn costs rise.
The concept is to package the mash for sale to hunters. The wet version has a shorter shelf life and the dry costs more due to the drying process, but the bottom line is it could be offered for less than 50% the cost of bagged corn. A packaging and distribution facility would be required.
Deer feed, lures and food plot mixtures are big business. I eat everything I harvest and having a trophy rack on an animal would be a bonus.
Comment by Chip Hunnicutt -
System for Enabling Payment of Micro Fees for Web-Based Information and Services
The purpose of this business proposal is to create a more efficient way for web-based service providers and their potential users/customers to engage in fair compensation transactions. It is often said that web users don’t want to pay for content/information. However, the reality is probably that they are willing to pay if 1) the price is low enough, and 2) there is an efficient and convenient way to pay for it. Much like iTunes. So this business plan entails creating a universal web-based system for conveniently and efficiently paying for content, which will then be able to be low priced because many more people will buy it. For example, someone may not pay $2.00 to read a news article but may be willing to pay $0.05. There is currently no way to process such a transaction efficiently, conveniently, and economically with a credit card.
This business will lead to increased economic productivity because it will facilitate and increase the efficient exchange of information and services, which has a knowledge-building effect. Web-based information and service providers will be able to provide more and better (more useful and interesting) content because they will be paid for it, and users/consumers/customers will be able to have more information and services available to them, and at a very low cost. Perhaps even some cherished newspapers will be able to survive.
There are several ways this system could be implemented, the most likely being some sort of prepaid or periodically billed system with micropayment transactions. For example, charges could go through cell phone companies – to make a payment you just enter your cell phone number plus a special code. As smart phones become the center of our digital life, it makes sense for them to be a transaction hub as well. There are other ways it could be done.
Comment by Dan R -
Mark,
Another idea that I have for the Brooklyn, New York area as well as the city. I am sure on your trips to MSG that you noticed the high demand for taxis. I was thinking about starting up my own car service business but here is my main selling point. Instead of the usual call for a car or just going outside and flagging down a taxi, I will offer a Texting feature where people will be able to text the car service number with their location and where they want to go and what time they want to be picked up(of course we will also have the normal phone to receive calls like an ordinary car service). After a text is sent, a confirmation text will be sent back to the number stating the Confirmation #, Time of pickup and price with the option to Confirm Y/N?
In response the person will text back a Y or N to confirm the car service order and then I will have a car sent to that location. My main target is people going to bars, clubs, and other events where talking on a phone is restricted or sometimes even impossible. I will advertise by handing out flyers by surrounding clubs and bars on “packed” nights to spread the word of the service. Please let me know what you think. Thanks once again. Go Mavs!
Comment by Andrew Julia -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I recently started my company before you offered this opportunity, so some work is already in progress. The company name is Stone Planning Corp and it is registered in Texas. I would like to know if you would be willing to adjust some of your requirements if presented good reason for doing so.
Concept:
The Oracle Corporation supplies medium and large businesses with the best database software currently available and provides quality ERP software which I believe is second in sales volume only to SAP. Every year thousands of companies use Oracle for their database, financial or manufacturing software and go through a process of installing or upgrading this software to stay on current release versions. As a part of the project life cycle, they create full sets of documents meant to take this project through to completion in an efficient manner. The problem is, in most cases, the documentation is recreated in part or full every time the company goes through this project process. This is very costly in terms of project timeline and resources. Having been a software implementation consultant for 10 years, I estimate for the average small scope project, the first four weeks are spent preparing these documents. Even at a discount consulting rate of $90 an hour for one project management resource, the investment would be $14,400 just for this phase of the project. My company is creating pre-made project management packets for Oracle installs and upgrades which would be sold for $5,000 per packet. These packets would supply all the documents needed for the full life cycle of the project and would require minimal customization. They allow companies to save costs and jump-start their projects. Other services we plan to include in the future are:
•Packet customization services for an hourly rate and expenses
•Project consultants for an hourly rate and expenses
•Project Packets for other ERP systems such as PeopleSoft, JD Edwards and SAP
•The project packets are sold for one-time-use only but reusable lifetime licenses could be purchased for a separate fee
Investment Request:
I would like to request an investment from you in the amount of $20,000. This money is for the following purposes:
•Procure a computer server which has the capacity to run a demo version of Oracle software
•Engage a hosting company which will set up the server and install the Vision demo version of Oracle.
•A hosting contract to maintain the server for a period of 12 months which includes hardware maintenance, availability service level agreements and software maintenance.
Agreement Terms Requested:
I would like to request adjusted terms based on a few points I hope you will find reasonable. Please keep in mind Mr. Cuban’s total investment would be $20,000. I have personally invested $5,000 to date, plus about 300 labor hours at no salary. I plan to invest an additional $5,000 and additional labor hours if Mr. Cuban agrees on his part.
•Upon selling of any project packet, Mark Cuban will receive the full proceeds of all sales until $25,000 has been paid to him (initial investment plus $5,000).
•If no packets are sold within a 12 month period, no monies will be repaid to Mr. Cuban or Mrs. Stone and the Stone Planning Corp will discontinue business. In my opinion, this is the price of investment because every investment has some inherent risks. I believe the risks are very low and I believe with the number of business associates Mr. Cuban comes in contact with, a referral from him of only 5 businesses would result in full ROI. Mrs. Stone also has contacts within the industry that will supply referrals.
•Mrs. Stone will receive no salary or profits from any sales until Mr. Cuban has been repaid however, she will continue to supply all the labor required to run the business.
•Mr. Cuban has rights to view all company documentation including financial records, Mrs. Stone’s resume and work experience and all Stone Planning Corp intellectual capital documents before making his investment decision.
•Upon repayment of the invested money to Mr. Cuban, the Stone Planning Corporation and Mr. Cuban may discuss further agreement terms related to partial ownership of the company by Mr. Cuban, potential referral fees for Mr. Cuban or other investment opportunities.
•The money will be repaid to Mr. Cuban as sales are made, which most likely would not be within the first 90 days. This is due to a few reasons: 1) The project packets are currently only complete to about 75% what is needed for them to be market ready. The remaining items needed for the project packets are on hold until the demo version of the Oracle software is available and then some additional labor hours will be needed to complete the packets. 2) Due to the nature of the contract with the hosting provider for the server and software, they are unable to provide the service until most likely 3 months from contract signature due to timelines for procurement of the hardware and resource availability to set up the software.
•Stone Planning Corp will be solely responsible for the contract with the third party hosting vendor and any legal requirements therein, unless Mr. Cuban wishes to participate.
I sincerely thank you for this opportunity.
Stephenie Stone
President
Stone Planning Corporation
Comment by Stephenie Stone -
I have opened a new restaurant The Turkey Hut, 1901 S. Jupiter Rd., in Garland (across from Raytheon). We are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We specialize in NO BEEF – NO PORK. All of our main menu items are turkey, chicken or fish-based. My son has designed formulas that make turkey taste, look and feel like pepperoni, italian sausage, ham, pastrami, etc. We offer deli, pizza, hamburgers and daily specials (i.e., meatloaf, chicken pot pie, smothered steak, Chicken Parmigiana, catfish, shrimp, etc.) all done with down-home southern cooking. We only opened December 22, 2008 and are realizing improved sales everyday – it’s all being done by word of mouth right now. We’ve upgraded the kitchen, and dining areas all on a shoe string budget. We have a large room attached to the restaurant that we want to use for local musical talent. The next step is our liquor license (all the paperwork is completed, they changed from one year to two years upfront for their fees)and more metroplex advertising. Right now most of the workers are family/friends and have worked up to 16 hours a day for little or no compensation because we know this is a great location and much needed niche.
Comment by Kathy Stokes -
Hello Mark, just another idea:
As mentioned in my previous post, I live in Brooklyn, New York. In my neighborhood there are not many, if any, mobile car washes. I hear that mobile car washes make a decent amount of money in European countries. I was considering moving the idea to the Tri-State area and trying to establish a mobile car wash where I can provide car washing service packages. For example, for an annual fee of $150 (just an example not actual fee) I would come once a month on a set day (which could be changed) to perform the car wash. If I am able to attract customers on every block and sign them up for the annual fee this business could boom. As with my other idea, start-up costs are very low and once the equipment is purchased the money will sure follow. Thank you for reading.
Comment by Andrew Julia -
How about this idea:
Currently, I live in Brooklyn, New York. In my area there are may pizzerias, however, when looking for a good burger your left with the fast food places and a diner(which make pretty bad burgers) as your only choice. I was thinking about opening a burger shop that was a newer version of a Johny Rockets type of burger shop where burgers, mini burgers, fries, shakes, and many other products are sold. I am looking to have more a counter-order type environment with a sit-down and delivery option. I have scouted a few possible locations by new condos that were just put up. With the economy as bad as it is, people will need a low cost source of food and my burger shop could provide just that. The start-up costs are not too expensive and the potential gain (with a good location) is massive. Please let me know what you think of this idea and if you like it I will look further into the details surrounding a possible location and estimates on start-up equipment and construction. Thank you for your time.
Comment by Andrew Julia -
Mr. Cuban My name is Alvin C. Young owner of Young and Associates.
We are a Telecom Consulting firm trying to reinvent ourselves.We have contacted China associates and would like to be a reseller of their TV converter boxes.Changing analog tv sets to digital for the forth coming digital conversion.Our Conversion boxes will bring in instant cashflow. All our boxes would be dropped shipped to the subscribers homes and paid by credit card or PayPal,80 percent of the business would be drop ship and 20 percent would be local installs in the major cities in Texas. What do you think?
Comment by Alvin C. Young -
HOW CAN FIND MY PLAN ON THE BLOG TO VERIFY IT WAS POSTED?
THANKS
Comment by DONNIE HARDIMAN -
Mark,
My wife’s family are owners of the company which website I have listed. A very technically capable company, that I managed for several years before my wife’s return to work. (We mutually decided that it was best for all concerned that we not be employed together, so I left and now work as a Manager of Capital Projects for a major transit authority).
My idea is for a service that local cable companies can provide to homeowners, apartment dwellers, businesses etc, that is now monopolized by the likes of Verizon and other telephone companies. This technology would require some engineering and could be accomplished with the resources I have access to, prototype manufacturing and testing as well as a buy-in from the cable companies. So you see, it is a midly complex scenario, not one that would be profitable in 60 days. If you give it a year to develop and be implemented, the technology would have the capacity to generate substantial revenue. Please contact me directly at the email address provided, so that we may communicate in a forum that is not so conducive to pirating.
Sincerely,
Bill M.
Comment by Bill M. -
Mark,
I have built and monetized a bunch of businesses over the last 8 years … including one to Cisco that leveraged Linux and open source to change the paradigm for VoIP and packet switching, one to Level 3 and another to Internet Secrity Systems prior to their purchase by IBM.
I’m an ex Army Ranger (Captain) and have dual grad degrees in engineering from GA Tech and business from UC Berkeley, but despite all of the things that I’ve managed to accomplish as a serial entrepreneur, I simply don’t have the forum or global reach that you do through your various online and offline pulpits.
I think what you’re doing here is great, but I also have another bold large idea that I’ve attempted to get in to the TARP discussions on the Financial Services Committee in Congress. I lived 5 years in Silicon Valley, 7 years in Newport Coast and now live in Austin. I have talked to a few Texas Congressional leaders, but have yet to get any action against my idea and would like for you to consider a discussion with me on this.
I too believe in investing in the entrepreneurs that have the ideas that create the companies that create the jobs that create the wealth. Invest in innovation and the world changes. Period.
I have asked Congress for $5 billion out of TARP … not even 1% of TARP #1 … to allocate $100 million in each of 50 cities in the United States. Angels and serial entrepreneurs in each of these cities will then invest $250K to $1M in each of 150-200 local companies that pass a base level of scrutiny from those that have actually been involved in building real businesses before. No government officials involved other than the initial money going in to the companies for the American taxpayer to then receive their equity stakes.
I fully expect that many of these businesses will flame out miserably and die over time. However, I also expect that many will receive additional funding from high net worth individuals, VCs, corporate strategic investors and private equity funds … while many others will become profitable and self sufficient on their own with the initial funding.
For this to deliver returns to the American taxpayer, only a handful of all the investments would need to later become large public companies. There will be small wins through M&A and other wins through creating lasting companies of value. However, even if all of the $5 billion went to zero … which it NEVER would … it would still be 100% better than adding another $5 billion to Citigroup’s balance sheet for the next wave of FAS 157 mark to market accounting write downs.
This was done in Silicon Valley with a $100M back in the late 90s / early 00s. $300K was put in to about 350 companies, including major flameouts like GirlGeeks.com and other “.com” companies that became miserable failures. However, the fund had investments in my company, Vovida Networks, that were bought by Cisco and created nice investment wins/returns. Additionally, the fund invested $300K each in to Plaxo, Napster and even little old Google. The fund returned more than $100 million on Google alone and ended up delivering 4-5 times the $100 million with all of the other cash outs, stand alone companies and IPOs.
If this were done across the country, then I know that the American taxpayer would get a fantastic return on the money. Your idea is another great way to address this. However, just imagine the ideas and innovation funded through a “think BIG” $5 billion stimulus program targeted exclusively at entrepreneurs and innovators.
Would love to see this given more serious consideration and know that you can get much better access to the mainstream media and press than I will. Thinking big is not the problem. Getting Congress to act, however, is because all of this isn’t a nice sound bite despite small businesses representing a massive chunk of jobs in this country.
Finally, this idea could be adopted within individuals “NFL” cities at the mayoral level for just their city or statewide at the governor level for just their state. We could think local and act nationally very easily. Just need a real forum to do this and I see you as that person that can influence this. Hell, I’ll happily serve my country again as the national director for such a program.
Comment by Alan Knitowski -
Mark – an interesting experiment for sure… Why not make it a series or a doc?
Take the 5 most promising ideas and entrepreneurs, seed them, and follow.
60 days to turn a profit adds pressure and stakes.
Entrepreneurs are real and characters. No ‘Benefactor’ network stuff in there. You don’t even have to go on camera.
WeMix provides music and soundtrack.
I’ll shoot it and give HD Net first window.
We split back end 50-50.
Comment by matt apfel -
Mark,
Keep in mind, as you push hard for business to reach certain financial levels in such short periods of time, there could be some aggressiveness on the entrepreneurs end to reach your milestones. You will probably want someone to take a look at any financial results down the road as you test the ‘break even’ and ‘profitability’ requirements you specified. I personally deal with M&A work here at EY, but can link you up with the right people. And if its something we can’t help with we have relationships at many smaller firms. You’ll need someone to substantiate the results you are seeing. Unless you have visibility into the bank account, not sure how you get comfortable.
Comment by Kevin Muskat -
First off for the guys trying to buy games over seas….your overhead & purchasing will kill you. If you buy from all local U.S. companies titles they have in their garbage…yes they all have them, you will find thousands of nearly finished games. Good example was House of the Dead, it sat in Sega of San Francisco garbage or dead projects for quite awhile. Me & my cohorts played it and told them how good it was and well look at how far it has gone.
2 John Couture…your numbers make no flippin sense, World Cyber Games is being disbanded because nobody was watching the shows. So the pro circuit in gaming is on the brink of death right now, also you stated your getting a 4000 sq ft building in high traffic area “in Tampa” for a dollar or less a square foot….SURE YOU ARE. The national average is 9 to 15 per square foot. Also your going to pay yourself nearly 3000 grand a month when your business hasn’t even broke even yet. When you start out you had better be expecting to pay yourself “donut” until you’re making the money necessary to stay open. Let alone make your projections.
Comment by Denton -
Here’s an idea: Blackmail Insurance
User can come in and create an account (for $) that allows them to upload pictures, encrypted files, etc. The user also configures a list of email addresses that should receive these files if they don’t log in. They then have to log in every x hours/days/weeks (configurable) in order to prevent those files from being sent to a list of email addresses.
Would need servers in at least several countries that mirror the files/information, to avoid problems in case of regional issues.
Thanks,
-Tom
Comment by Tom -
Mark,
****Stuffed Chicken Wings****
Thank you. I have a Thai restaurant, Thai-rrific, that’s been family operated for 7 years. We have been written up on the Dallas Morning News, Star Telegram, and D Magazine several times. D Magazine has voted us “Best in Neighborhood” 2006 & 2008. We were also written up in the D Magazine’s February edition of “Cheap Eats”. We have a product which is unique that I wanted to bring to a wider market.
Our unique product is the Stuffed Chicken Wings. They are grade A wings that have been de-boned by hand, and re-stuffed with flavorful ingredients. I have created a manufacturing facility to produce these specialty wings.
However, the restaurant has been funding this facility, and with the slow economy. I have not been able to get this new business to the level it should be.
I have been selling to smaller restaurants and bars already. However, I cannot approach bigger clients because I am short funded. I cannot hire workers and go into full production to supply a larger demand. Initially, it would create 4 new jobs. If I can land the bigger accounts, then it would create roughly 8 new jobs. This facility would not require a manager because I will be overseeing everything, in between my sales meetings.
The great part about my business is that the competition is minimal because it’s labor intensive. It also requires specials skills to make the product. I already have a head start on the potential competitors, should anyone see this posting and attempt to mimic the product.
1. It would take time for anyone to perfect the technique.
2. We have a proven recipe.
3. I have a facility that is ready to go.
4. I’m almost done with my FDA licensing.
5. I have made initial steps in contacting distributors.
6. I have support material for the product. website, tabletents, flyers
This is a product that can be a “new sensation” at the state fairs this year. The best part about the product is that it is very versatile. It can target any market. We will be targeting bars, restaurants, hotels, catering, sports venues, etc..
Thank you for your time, Mark
Sincerely,
Kyla
From MC> Where is the restaurant located ?
Comment by Souvanna Kyla Phomsavanh -
mission statement
take advantage of the vast amount of disposable money in the bank accounts of millions of college students by offering a high profit margin product that is cheap to buy ,sells for a profit margin of approximately 75% OVER COSTS AND TASTS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND BETTER THAN ANYTHING THEY COULD POSSIBLY TRY TO MAKE IN THEIR DORM ROOM. “MR G’S COLLEGE TOWN POPCORN”
THE REASON :
I MADE HOME MADE STOVE TOP POPCORN FOR MY SONS FRIENDS (HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS) I ENDED UP MAKING A WHOLE SECOND BATCH ) . THEY HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA POPCORN COULD BE MADE THAT WAY AND HOW MUCH BETTER IT WAS THAN ANYTHING THEY HAD EVER GOTTEN OUT OF THE BAG IN THE MICRO-WAVE.
THE PRODUCT : THE PRODUCT IS STOVE TOP POPCORN SOLD IN STORE FRONT LOCATIONS .THE POPCORN IS MADE TO ORDER AND IS READY IN 5-7 MINUTES . IT SERVED HOT RIGHT OUT OF THE POT (NEVER STORED IN BULK ). THE POPCORN WILL BE SERVED SLATHERED IN REAL BUTTER AND SALT.(WE WILL HAVE TO OFFER IT DRY TO THE DOOGOODERS BUT VERY RELUCTANTLY).
PACKAGING: IT WILL COME IN THREE SIZES EACH PACKED IN BAGS THAT ARE IDENTIFIABLE AND WHEN BROUGHT BACK ARE EXCHANGED FOR A NEW BAG AND A DISCOUNT PROVIDED FOR THE NEXT ORDER. THE BAGS FOR FEMALES WILL RESEMBLE DENIM JEANS. THE LARGE WILL BE DESIGNED AS A FAT ASS GIRL . THE MEDIUM WILL BE A BUBBLE BUT AND THE SMALL WILL BE AN HOUR GLASS FIGURE . A VERSION OF BAGS FOR MEN WOULD BE NFL NBA MLB NASCAR BAGS .ALL BAGS WILL HAVE THE MR.G’S LOGO WORKED INTO THE DESIGN. THE DOOGOODERS WILL HAVE TO ACCEPT A DIFFERENT BAG DESIGNED WITH THE DOOGOODER MR G LOGO
THE MARKET :
COLLEGE TOWNS AND ONLY COLLEGE TOWNS . THE AMOUNT OF DISPOSABLE MONEY IS VAST. THE RECESSION WHILE AFFECTING THESE TOWNS HAS NOT HAD THE DEVASTATION IT HAS HAD ELSEWHERE . THIS IS MOST EVIDENT IN AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN HIT HARD BY THE RECESSION HOWEVER THE COLLEGE TOWNS IN THESE AREAS ARE NOT AS AFFECTED.
THE PROFIT :
A QUICK SUMATION WOULD BE THE BAGS WILL COST AS MUCH AS THE PRODUCT ,HOWEVER IT IS NECESSARY TO HELP CREATE THE CULTURE.
DRINKS WILL BE ANOTHER HUGE SOURCE OF PROFIT . IF WE’RE GONNA MAKE THEM THIRSTY WE SHOULD OFFER THEM SOMETHING TO DRINK.
THE STORES WILL BE AT A OPERATING PROFIT IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WHO WORK IN THEM WILL BE TAKING A CHANCE WITH US AND GETTING PAID BASED ON THE REVENUE OF THE STORE. THEY WILL SHARE EVENLY APPROXIMATELY 15 TO 20% OF THE REVENUE . THE STORE SHOULD OPERATE AT A 50% GROSS PROFIT
ROI :
DEPENDS ON THE PLAN WE DECIDE ON . MY PLAN IS TO OPEN 6 STORES IN COLLEGE TOWNS WE IDENTIFY AS THE BEST MARKETS . THE AMOUNT OF MONEY NEEDED TO DO THIS ABOUT $150,000 PER STORE TO GET TO THE OPENING DAY .PLUS MARKETING AND INITIAL OUT OF THE GATE EXPENSES OF $50,000 PER STORE .I HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH LICENSING COSTS FOR USE IN OUR STORES AND ON OUR BAGS. WE WILL OPEN THE STORES AND BEGIN TO CREATE REVENUE FOR TWO YEARS. WE CAN EITHER AT THIS POINT FRANCHISE THE BUSINESS AND GET THE INITIAL INVESTMENT BACK BY SELLING 6 OPERATING FRANCHISES AT ONE AND A HALF TO TWO TIMES THE COST AND YOU WOULD HAVE THE OPTION OF GETTING YOUR INVESTMENT AND RETURN AND GETTING OUT OR WE OPEN 10-12 MORE STORES AND START OVER. I WOULD BE COMPENSATED BY THE PROFIT THE STORES CREATE BY TAKING 50% OF PROFIT AND REINVESTING 50% + I WOULD GET THE ROYALTIES ONCE WE FRANCHISED IF YOU OPT JUST TO TAKE THE PROFIT FROM OPENING STORES AND SELLING THEM TO FRANCHISEES.
IF YOU HAVE A DIFFERNT PLAN I AM WILLING TO LISTEN.
I BELEIVE THE SHEAR PROFIT MARGIN FROM THIS BUSINESS IS THE DRIVING FORCE. THERE IS POPCORN OUT THERE BUT NOT LIKE THIS AND IN THESE SPECIFIC LOCATIONS.
Comment by larry g -
I like this conversation.
Here is what I have been working on Mark.
InformationCenters.org CityInformationCenter.com Denovaco.com
These initiatives are designed to [potentially] create jobs for local web services, tourism, and social media for business fields, and to help modernize main street businesses across the U.S.
Tourism Opportunities
Tourism is a clean, green industry. It can be a homegrown, out-of-your-backyard type business, such as a furniture store that specializes in using locally grown wood. Tourism can also be a community promoting its local history through an annual event. For the most part, tourism development does not pollute the environment, does not require a large highly skilled labor force, nor require additional housing and school facilities for a community. Tourism can be developed by local, creative people with the foresight to undertake projects within a community’s reach. Tourism also lends itself to part-time and seasonal employment and provides opportunities for retired individuals and summer holiday students who are searching for summer jobs.
Social Media Opportunities
Using Social Media for business to network, contribute, and participate online is providing freelance, part-time and full-time employment opportunities for individuals who are searching for jobs in this field. Social Media Consultant – Helping business leaders to understand, leverage and embrace social media. Social Media Coach – Helping individuals from starting position level to executives understand the new social changes. Social Media Teacher – Provide training and education to help others leverage the new media. Director Social Media – A leadership position in a company overseeing the execution of social media plans. Social Media Manager – A management position, managing the execution of social media plans, public and branded communities and orchestrating the relationships. Social Media Community Manager – Managing the online community of a company and keeping the dialog between and amongst members and the business. Social Media Analyst – Reviewing and analyzing community and eco system dynamics, creating early warning systems and manage ongoing reporting. Social Media Assistant – Helping the social media teams to work on all aspects of the social engagement with the market. Social Media Systems Support – Helping your company to manage and update the various public spaces and places, integrating them with the own branded community and managing mash ups. Social Media Community Content Manager – Providing and coordinating social media content assignment and distribution. Ensuring that the available content is accessible to the community. Social Media Budget Manager – Review analyze explore the best leverage of the diverse space to navigate your budget and resources in the financially most effective way.
Good Business
Good Business and Using The Social Web
Much Less About Pushing
Random Advertising
Marketing
Selling
Phone Calls
Email
Search
Much More About Listening and Learning
Creating Better Customer Experiences
Creating Your Brand
Being Helpful
Being Smart
Being Independent
Being Good
Being Social
Finding The Extraordinary
Buying What’s Recommended By Others
You can see what is envisioned so far and you can help with an open business model being creatively applied and in a collaborative way.
Thank you for your post.
Tom
Tom Swift
Denovaco and Company
Comment by Tom Swift -
Pingback: Wikinomics» Blog Archive » Open Source Venture Capital
Three ideas (one that is good):
1. A company that trains people on how to prevent from being ripped off by Multi-Level Marketing companies. To attend, you just need to sign up two of your friends, and if they sign up two friends, your admission is free.
2. Sell Softdrink flavored water. Diet Coke flavored water, Sprite flavored water. The TV says people like water AND flavors.
3. (for real now) Social Product Design: This small movement is being ignored by investors and it should explode in the near term. Instead of companies doing product development and design, a company could save money and boost demand if they empower users to create/design thier own products online and the company sticks to producing these products. Right now, you see it in the Design-your-own shirt, and design-your own toys, like build-a-bear. This principal coould be scaled up to pretty much any company that produces a product. The Idea: There can be one of two ways to capitalize on this. 1. Target a specific industry (clothing for example) Create a web based software system that would allow ‘designers’ to make thier own collection. Partner with a factory and through a main website, or social network widgets, create micro carts that would allow these designers to ‘sell’ thier designs to thier friend networks. You can do it all through drop shipping, so that there is no inventory to store and nothing is created until an order it made. Make money by either taking a percent of sales, or a monthly fee from said designers. Once the clothing site takes, off, replicate accross other industries. 2. Create a software package that a company can use as a plug-in to thier backend. In this option, you would be acting like a partner to the company and would either sell them the software package or take a % of sales. Again, once you hit your milestone in one industry, scale it accross other industires (which is really just a group of competitors if you think about it). That would probably take the creation of a new software package for each industry. You also need to look at the challange of injecting orders into a real-time or near real-time production line.
This wouldn’t be the end of how we buy/sell today, but it would eventually adjust the market dynamics toward self creation and away from company designed. As a programmer, I know that the ability to actually make this work would be doable. It’s finding the right partners in the beginning that would be the challange.
One last point: I think you should ad to your requirements is working with the right people. – I’ll be suprised if you don’t get 1000’s ideas. They are a dime a dozen. In my expierience it’s who you work with that matters. That makes a company great. It could take weeks to hire the right workers and that takes away from your 90 day idea.
Comment by Skip Howard -
I am one of those people who had their plan disappear. Unfortunately it’s posted now, no comments, no email, no agreements. Crushing.I hope the others got an email. Good luck everyone.
Comment by Michael St James -
I’ll accept your challenge. More to come.
Comment by Chris Davis -
Just a comment, I love the “American Maverick” brand concept. I think people would pay at least a little premium for genuine made in USA product. Actually making things should be one of the things America does best! Put me on your marketing mailing list!
And don’t stop at underwear.
Comment by Eastern D -
Pingback: The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan - DealBook Blog - NYTimes.com
Pingback: Matrix Effect Human Capital Plan Matrix Matrix Dereshiwsky | Carvalue
hm.. well since our car industries are tanking why not start promoting hydrogen fuel cell cars into the market now? A deal would have to be made with the car companies to promote this shift from gas guzzling cars to cars that do not emit 0 carbon into the atmosphere. In turn, hydrogen fuel cell stations can begin to build a solid customer base with a rising customer base. This would solve the car industry problem and promote environmentally friendly practices throughout the world. Of course, this will take decades to completely transform our gas mongering habits, but what else are we going to do with this 800 billion+ stimulus pack now? Might as well start the car industry from scratch and let the dying one fade into oblivion.
Comment by Just a tip -
OK,
Here is my idea.
http://blog.jcutrer.com/misc/commercial-residential-asset-preservation-service
This business idea would…
* create 1,000s of jobs nationwide
* preserve property and home values
* counteract increasing crime rates
* be a legitimate expenditure for TARP funds.
Comment by jcutrer -
very nice
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=304570281&id=304570278&s=143441
Comment by Johnny Depp -
Five Dollar Bargains Summary
CONCEPT
5 Dollar Bargains is an online and mail order business, designed to fulfill consumer’s desire to buy goods and spend money with reasonably low cost. Founded with consideration for today’s tough economy, $5 will be cost of every product we carry. Our goal is to satisfy consumer’s desire to shop without emptying their wallets.
PRODUCT
Our products are largely divided into three categories: essentials, gifts, and luxury. Essentials are items such as towels, soaps, and boxer shorts. Gifts are teddy bears, scented candles, and journals. Examples of luxury items are silver rings, pearl charms, and Hawaiian necklaces. All items are sold for $5 flat; items are purchased at average price of $2.50. We do not sell anything fragile, heavy, or expiring. Initially, we plan to offer 100 products in addition to Item of the Week, introduced every Monday.
REVENUE
Revenue will be generated from sales of products. Each item sold will generate $2.50 in profit.
KEY TO SUCCESS
1. Extremely low overhead
Five Dollar Bargains does not maintain a physical office or warehouse. Products are kept with UPS and shipped by UPS. Virtual Office will be used for meeting and conference calls, and answering service will handle customer service calls. 800 order hotline will be sourced out for cost reduction. Once initial merchandise procurement is handled, our monthly expense will be less than $4000.
2. High profit margin
Average cost of our products is half the sale price.
3. Item Selection
Our competitive edge lies in our ability to secure quality merchandise as such low cost. Our buyer/owner has traveled all over the United States for last three years. Many of our products are regional specialty items.
4. Management team with over 10 years of marketing/sales experience
Our management team of three boasts combined experience of over 50 years in marketing/sales.
FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS
Capital of $94,700 is required to start this operation. Equity of 189,400 shares of Five Dollar Bargains Inc., a California Corporation, will be issued in return for investment. Company will turn profit in less than 90 days.
For a detailed business plan, please contact me via email.
Comment by Ashley Seo -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
My name is Racquel Hartman, I have been running my own business since 2003. My company manufactures and distributes edible cake decorations for wedding cakes. Last year, while I was talking to distributors in a trade show, I met the Vice President of Product Development of a high-end Swiss food product distribution company. I presented him my products and he got interested. He asked me how I dry them and told me that he had been trying to look for a manufacturer to dry some fruits and vegetables for them a certain way. He wants it undistorted and not wrinkly because it will be used as decoration for desserts, salads, etc. According to him, he’s been looking for a company for years. Well, long story short, I was able to do what he was looking for.
After a year of going back and forth with samples, specifications, etc. He finally gave me a three year contract to make 10 palletes of fruits and vegetables every month. That is 1,040 cases total each and every month beginning May 15, 2009 until July 15, 2012 and is automatically renewed. Expecting that my husband and I have a personal line of credit worth $65,000 with Bank of America, I accepted the offer. When we went to the bank to withdraw the money to fund the construction of a commercial kitchen and buy the necessary equipment for this project, we were told that the credit line has been closed. We were never advised about them closing the account.
I asked the agent of the bank if we can re-open the account or apply for a business loan, but unfortunately, they declined because we had to short-sale a property and it was reflected on our credit report. I have approached 7 other banks but so far none of them even took the time to look at my signed contract. We were immediately turned down. No bank will lend to us right now, period.
I tried asking family and friends, ex-bosses, even my students and my husband’s boss….yes, his boss. I wouldn’t even mention how awkward that whole conversation was, but I thought there’s no harm in trying. He was very interested in investing but he also declined because they don’t have a lot of projects going on and he doesn’t know until when our economic crisis is going to last which affects his business a lot.
I even went back to the VP of the company to ask him if they can finance the kitchen, but he said that they don’t do that. The most that they could offer is to pay 50% deposit when they issue their purchase order which they never do for any company. Their payment terms is always 45 to 90 days after the invoice date, but for me they will make an exception. I told him thanks, but at the back of my head I was thinking….well, that’s not enough.
So, now, I would like to ask for your help before I throw my hands up in the air and give this opportunity up. Here are the financial details in a nut shell: The contract is worth $576,000 in 3 years or $16,000 a month for 36 months. On my calculation, my overhead expenses are going to be in the range of $6K-$8K a month (not including the loan payment). That will leave me with $8K to 10K of gross income a month or $288K-360K gross for 3 years.
I need a loan for $65,000 payable in 3 years . I can afford to pay 8.5 to 10% interest rate per year.
The contract is suppose to commence on March 1, 2009. I am running out of time. The company requires that I get the first order to them by May 1, 2009 to make it to their annual catalog launching which is on May 15, 2009. This means, I should be drying the fruits by now. I thought, if I get a loan from you, I can rent an hourly commercial kitchen and make the first batch of products there while my kitchen is being done to make it on time.
I apologize that I cannot post the signed agreement publicly because it says on the first part, “Confidential Agreement” and I do not want to be sued. But if you can give me an e-mail or a mailing address so you can review the documents, I will be more than happy to send it to you.
Mr. Cuban, I know that my business proposal might not be as outrageous as many of the other businesses that other people have posted on your blog. But my business is sincere and I am committed to it. I already have a signed contract, a multi-national distributor and sure income. This beats any business plans or projections. I have a product, I have a distributor, I have a sure sale. All I need is a commercial kitchen. I hope you could lend a hand.
Looking forward to your reply.
Best regards,
Racquel
Comment by Racquel Hartman -
Mark,
My idea doesn’t require much funding but would require some of your clout. Here’s the deal, the other day I went to buy some boxer briefs and I always go out of my way to buy American. I could not find any made here in the store. So, I did an online search and I found a few made here that ranged in price from $8.99 for a 3 pack to $29 a pair.
I say that we could go to a US textile manufacturer and have them make your basic boxer brief in white, grey, and black to start. Then, you (Mark) announce that they are going to be produced (I’m thinking the brand name could be American Maverick) and they could initially be sold online. We would then offer an exclusive to the first national retail store that would carry them. There wouldn’t be much cash outlay up front. I think the buzz would move the first round of product. The product would be priced at a 30% margin online and a 10% margin when sold to stores (who could then mark it up for their profit).
For every million dollars profit generated, we could then tackle another easy product to bring back to the US to be produced. There are tons of easy things: bubbles (kids bubbles are produced in China, they can’t make non-toxic baby formula and we trust what they put in bubbles), kids sleds (a piece of plastic with two notches cut in it), CFL light bulbs, water shoes, etc. Any of those products that could be produced at a 10-25% margin would create real jobs for Americans and could likely use excess manufacturing capacity at existing plants. Using that capacity reduces capital outlay and still creates/preserves US jobs with next to no overhead for us.
I would be happy to do the leg work of finding a plant in the US to make it if you would endorse it. Your cash outlay would be well under $50K and I’d give you 90% of the business (rather you’d keep 90% and give me 10% of the business since it is your money and your clout being used to start it). It would make a good PR story when a US plant adds a third shift to ramp up production to make the product after it takes off. My best guess is that we would need to sell about 2,000 3-packs per week by the end of the second month to be cash flow break even. As soon as the first National Chain agrees to sell them, the company would be wildly profitable (next to zero overhead and a positive gross margin — net margin would be roughly equal to gross margin) but it is likely that we’d need to find a bank to fund the ramp in production given that a retailer is probably going to pay net 30. We could always delay the National Chain’s introduction or introduce in one metro area at a time if cash was the problem and credit is tight.
Please drop me an email if you have any interest. I can do some more work defining the plan and figuring out the actual cash needed.
MJS
Comment by mjs -
Niche-market apparel company has been building brand for three years. Target demo is predominately rural early teen to mid twenties. Action sports oriented with roots in rodeo/bull riding but appeal is broad enough to have also drawn in wakeboarders, mountain bikers, surfers, etc.
Started internet direct. Now retailers are on board, they’re moving product and excited. Just secured first orders with largest retailer in segment. Trademark is protected. Customers are loyal.
I’ll continue to personally capitalize and grow incrementally. Major outside capital brings expansion of the line and the potential for status as a long term industry leading brand.
Comment by J Austin -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I am an 18 year old ballkid for the Dallas Mavericks, I have had the honor to rebound for you before actually. I have lived in the growing town of Forney for several years and founded my own basketball league, the SBA, which is now in need of a new home since 80 players is far too much for my full-court painted driveway. I had an idea for an event center that hosts many events, providing entertainment to our boring small town, housing events that are otherwise sent to other larger nearby cities and towns (Mesquite, Terrell, Dallas, etc.). I have really done my research Mr. Cuban, I have contacted the business park that is willing to house us, a church to have services on Sundays, even gotten my school to sign up to maybe have next year’s prom and school dances there, we just need an investment. Here is my business plan, please tell me what you think. I am including all but the floor plans which are still in the works, but will be included next week. I saw this opportunity and something told me I need to grasp it, so here is my idea. Again, thanks so much for your time and please give me your feedback so I can improve on it, and go Mavs!
Ryan Girardot
http://docs.google.com/View?docID=dfbws5pg_0gkhpxjdb&revision=_latest
Comment by Ryan Girardot — February 14, 2009 @ 1:58 am
Comment by Ryan Girardot -
Hello Mark,
Developed software product, generating revenue
Pitch:
– Helping our customer (tutoring center) generate revenue, save time, increase customer satisfaction and be more competitive.
– Helping students preparing for standardized tests, analyze their learning patters and identify focus areas
The summary is available at http://www.slideshare.net/omniraju/biz-plan-summary
Look forward for you feedback.
Regards,
-Raju
Comment by Raju Gupta -
Hey Mark,
Here is my business http://www.tbcroasters.com and http://www.highergroundsinc.com. We are an established cash flow positive and profitable wholesaler/retailer of high quality, sustainable, organic and fairly traded coffee. We have been in business since 1993.
Even though we have strong brand recognition and a proven track record within our industry, we are faced with a great challenge for increasing market share. So far, our strategy has been to pick off individual accounts that meet demographics one by one. Although sustainable, this approach is simply to slow. It has taken an extraordinary amount of time and resources while yielding incremental return.
WE NEED FUNDING!
The beauty of the American Economy is that you will always have a competitor. Here is mine http://www.espressoasis.com. For the last decade, sit downs and correspondence with the co/owner have stalled. Location scouting makes it clear that the acquisition, upgrading, and re branding of these existing locations will create significant cash flow as well as gain primo market share.
To meet criterion #2 and #3, it is imperative that we get an account like mine in another market. This will drive the rest of the plan. One, but certainly not the only tactic is by purchasing EspressOasis. There are other great accounts, but there are none packaged quite like EO.
Once the institutional account is secured, we purchase a piece of commercial property in the same market and vicinity as every medical center account that meets demographics. For example, we purchase a piece of commercial property in Columbus Ohio in the same neighborhood as the Ohio State Medical Center. Once the property is secured, we dedicate half the space to a TBC Roastery Cafe. The other half to our nonprofit – Gamers
The roastery café will follow our existing TBC model with some tweaking. Revenues would be generated by retailing specialty coffee by the pound and cup in the shop while wholesaling for our own institutional account i.e. Ohio State Medical Center, local shops, restaurants, markets, cafes etc… The kiosk in the medical center will be the economic engine that gives us our 60 – 90.
Gamers is education in the form of real-time gaming. I believe real-time gaming in its essence is a social event. I believe it is also one of the only things that can hold a kids attention span. And there is no better reward. The space will be integrated but separate from the café. It will be WI FI hot and filled with PC’s, consoles, and big screens all dedicated to real-time gaming. The gaming offered will be bundled, portaled, and repackaged using existing popular games on the market. And just like hoop, the kids que up for their turn at the hardware by writing down “next” with the tutor. Yes, this is an after school program. The tutor will be drawn from the local substitute teacher pool. There is one price to get in and be able to stay through the hours of operation with a catch – every kid has to check in with a tutor and spend one hour in study hall.
Revenues will be generated by selling slide cards similar to Metro Cards for access to the gaming portion of the café as well as from grants, endowments, and fund raisers. The cards will have money appropriated on them by all existing traditional means and by incorporating cell phone technology (e.g. Estonia where they use their cell phones to pay for parking meters).
There is no mysterious path to profitability here. We simply reproduce and execute an already proven plan and working model. I just want to take this model to other markets and blow it out into Education.
In closing, if you offer a financial hand, you become my partner – 50/50. However, the business I have already built is for my family.
This is the new economy. So let’s get a stimulating.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
William F. Trager, Jr.
Comment by William F. Trager, Jr. -
Mark,
MAUI GUARD is an opportunity focused on people traveling to high destination spots and protecting valuables during activities. This idea will be a lot of fun.
When traveling to these locations around the world, travelers have limited ways to protect their valuables while participating in activities such as water and beach play. Travelers want to feel safe leaving their things unattended on the beach, in their car, or even their hotel room.
MAUI GUARD will provide safe boxes or bags that can be securely anchored around trees or seats in cars… more details on how this works and the crime rates in these areas will be given if intrested in concept.
-These can be rented to travelers staying local or coming off of a cruise. Also available for purchase on site or online.
-Deposits will be taken by credit cards or prepay with cash.
-These security boxes and bags can be manufactured easily in large amounts for a small cost.
-Rental cost will pay for product with two or three rents. (Depending on length of rent.)
-Purchase cost will make a margin of 75%.
-Specific color will be used for branding and familiarity.
Strategic locations will be used to begin with a sales force of friends and family in it together. As success is achieved, MAUI GUARD will expand to popular locations around the globe. Marketing will target hotels, information booths, activity and travel agencies (including online), and cruise lines.
As you can see, with low overhead and a kiosk in the sun, MAUI GUARD can be profitable very quickly. A detailed outline is available upon request. Thank you.
Comment by Nick -
Hello Mark, you have an awesome idea here to help alot of people out during these hard times! So here is my idea, I know you are from the midwest also or atleast have an awesome nba team down in dallas!! I am from south dakota and as you prolly know we don’t have alot of things here as you guys would have down south, but one huge thing here is tanning, everyone loves to stay nice and tan year around, and the few places we have here is always packed and always have to wait to tan, sometimes the wait is 15-25 minutes long, i know when i go i want to get in and get out quick, so i have come up with plans to open up a tanning salon and hair salon in one place! The tanning part would have atleast double the amount of beds as any other tanning place here in town and same as the hair salon, one thing i have always thought about for advertising is “we guarantee no wait, or its free” and also get a “dream team” of girls to promote the business and get out in the community as the “dream team” girls to promote the business, I have aton more ideas for this thing to get going and i really think it would rock, when it comes to the money part and things like that, let me know what you think would be fair or both of us!! I have areally good name for the business already…..”CUBAN TAN”
Comment by James -
Mark:
A pretty darn simple idea that would not take very much start up $$$, but one that could probably be pretty profitable quickly…
Doctors are among the least-impacted groups in this current economic climate…
Most doctors offices tend not to have very good websites (in my experience trying to find practitioners online)…
My idea is to start a service called “OneClickMedic” that would provide doctors a way to put their office online with basic information like address, contact info, the services they provide, a picture, blog/news, etc. for a one-time construction fee and then a monthly fee…
With my web building skills, I would be able to create several templates for the doctors to choose from and then I would input their info and even get them a domain name and search engine placement so that they could be found even more easily…
This would not only help doctors find more business, it would help people seeking medical attention find practitioners in their area as I would make a home page that would provide a geographic directory of all of the doctors in a given area (county, area code, etc.)…
Costs would be the cost of hosting (and additional web-builders if we got to the point where we would need more labor than just myself) and revenue would come in from the doctor offices paying their start-up and monthly fees…
Ask yourself, “what does MY doctor’s website look like?” and let me know if you’d be interested in helping me pursue this project…
Thanks a ton for the chance to pitch it, good luck with everything.
Chuck
Comment by Chuck -
AIRPORT MINI OFFICE CENTERS:
Freestanding kiosks offering self-serve copy, web access, fax, wifi, and basic printing. Other services offerings could be studied such as charging stations or the sale of accesories.
Located in airports catering to travelers and even airport employees that usually work odd shifts sometimes over 15 hours that need these services.
Faxes and copiers function much like a payphone accepting credit card payments and tokens. Staffing is minimal since equipment would be self service. Staff would just maintain equipment. I am in Miami, and work at MIA, that would be my choice to startup. MIA at present has a very limited wifi program and hardly any decent net stations. MIA is currently completing a billion dollar expansion and by 2012 it will be American Airlines 2nd largest hub, and the world largest gateway to Latin America.
I can see dozens of these kiosks in all major airports, or since you mention a flat business model perhaps just an office center in MIA.
Concept #2
A spanish language discount travel booking engine such as Travelocity, orbitz, or hotwire. I have a domain name registered that fits the business perfectly. In the US, Spanish is the 2nd most common language and hispanics are the largest minority group. We need to have a travel site that caters to that demographic.
Concept #3
A childrens after school art academy/activity center. A place where children can receive after school care with a focus on the arts. It would be a monthly membership schedule, weekends we would host birthday parties and summer camps. Much like the My Gym concept. This is an excellent resource for parents who need day care for their children and want an art program rather than perhaps, karate or soccer. My wife is a certified teacher and holds a Master’s in Fine Arts. We are currently looking at locations.
All these concepts except #2 (to an extent) would generate new jobs, as well as providing a valuable service.
Thank you.
Comment by AC -
Hi Mark,
Just curious if you will comment on all business plans posted or what criteria you are looking for in a posting to comment on.
Thank you
Comment by Ron -
Pingback: adrianMott.com » Blog Archive » Dallas Mavs Owner Mark Cuban Offers ‘Open Source’ Funding to Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Mark,
Thank you for doing this; there’s a lot to learn from your experiment.
I run a hedge fund that spins off enough cash to let me engage, time permitting, in other creative pursuits. I recently formed a small “do-tank”, which is like a think-tank, except we focus on things we can actually do something about. We frame problems of interest to us (whether societal problems or just personal peeves, every problem is fair game) and then attempt to solve them cost-effectively. The more shots on goal, the better, to keep it interesting. The basics of entrepreneurship still apply… we try to kill the ideas as efficiently as possible and only continue with those we can’t invalidate. If we figure out how to make a profit, so much the better. The good thing about prioritizing results over profits is that we are perfectly happy if the best solution calls for someone else to commercialize the solution. So in that regard, we share some of your filter parameters. So far, the projects range from a fashion website to a collaboration with DoD on search visualization algorithms (way more interesting than it sounds).
Recently, we discussed doing something similar to what you have done… cast a wide net inviting people to propose small problem-solving projects. Even if we didn’t find feasible projects, we thought it would be a great way to identify creative yet pragmatic people for our group. There was some debate as to whether this approach would work… after all, the best entrepreneurs succeed against all odds, not because the path was shown to them. Maybe rolling out the red carpet would even dissuade good people from coming at all. Your project has definitely tested the concept and, at least in our opinion, has demonstrated that one can find a few good plans in the mix. Consequently, we now have a few ideas for how to tweak the process to identify ideas/people in a more targeted way. Specifically, what we hope to find out is if this approach can identify not just viable ideas but also effective people. If you have a chance to post your thoughts on that question, please do.
best regards,
Peter
Comment by pk -
I thought I posted this a few days ago but can’t find it on the page so I am going to repost it just to make sure.
My business is related to computer/console gaming tournaments and I have posted an executive summary on google docs.
Cheers –
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df4bwksh_0h72b8fcz
Comment by Victor Couture -
I have an idea that has to do with advertising but doesn’t sell advertising. In fact the basic premise is FREE for everyone and anyone can copy me. It is called the Clickboard and is like a banner but not the same in that it does not immediately redirect you to any site. Clickboards are more like coupons and discounts that you can collect anywhere on the Internet but remain on the page you are on. Promoters can use Clickboards on the final click to allow them to connect their promotion to any website they want. However I make the money if they want to connect the savings in the Clickbaord to Clickboards.net where users can manage their savings and promotions under their individualized profile. So this is a Social Shopping Networking Utility. Users can then redeem the savings online or in the stores using a Clickcard. Go ahead read my blog at http://www.advertual.com.
Comment by acgrindl -
Mark,
I own a small IVR and voice mail service bureau based here in Dallas. http:\\www.diamondvoice.com
We want to take voice mail up to the next level by adding Voice to text, converting voice mail to text for delivery to email and mobile devices.
We have an existing national customer base in a variety of voice and call processing services. We own our source code and have been profitable for 15 years. Our gross revenue grew 18% last year.
We are not the first with this idea, but our competitors do not have an established, profitable customer base from which to offer service. We already have market share while they are giving away service to get market share
We’ve done research with our own customer base and more than 65% would use the service in some form.
Investment: $350,000 to add this capability to our existing infrastucture and market the service.
Time to market: 30 days.
Return on investment: 35%
Our organization is very flat! My brother does the programming and customer support. My wife handles the books and I clean the toilets (as well as sales and marketing) We have resellers and use contractors for other software and audio work.
Thanks for your consideration.
Comment by Joel Black -
Mark,
I am in a rather unique situation, in that my wife and I are co-owners of a doggie day care and boarding business that is profitable. So, you might ask why I would be writing on a blog for the first time looking for funding. Our other business partner, who has an aversion to actually working, would like to sell her equity in the business for $350,000.00. We own the business, but we are in a national franchise system and pay 7% per month on gross.
My wife and I work an average of 65+ hours a week running, building and promoting the business so we are not afraid of hard work. We have been open since May of 2006 and for the first year and ½ we worked seven days a week to personally build our relationships with our customers and conserve labor costs.
Last year we did over $500,000.00 in sales and netted around $61,000.00. Add in the $24,000.00 she took in interest expense and the net rises to around $85,000.00. This is after all costs including salaries. I have corporate tax returns and profit and loss statements I would be happy to share with you should you decide this is a venture you might be interested in. We had a profit sharing agreement that she refused to honor so my wife and I did not see any of those profits as she took them for repayment of initial investment without a discussion. Rather than get into litigation that would only hurt the business we would rather bring in a different partner or obtain funding at an agreed upon interest rate.
The majority of our sales are for the services of doggie day care and boarding. We do very little retail sales. Even in this economy our sales for January were $11,000.00 more than January 2008. My wife and I have an incredible relationship with our customers and had 99 dogs in there at one time last Friday.
We foster dogs at no charge for various rescue organizations to give back to the community and recently signed a promotional deal with The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz Arena 2 football club to build an adoption center at their arena and hold adoptions at every home game this year.
What we are proposing is a 50% equity stake in the business with a 50% split of net profits monthly starting the first full month after the new LLC is filed or if you do not wish to be a partner in the business a loan of $350,000.00 at a mutually agreed upon rate of interest.
Currently we have 8 employees the majority of which are high school or college students and will increase our staffing level as the year progresses to meet the higher volume levels we experience until the end of the year. January and February are traditionally our slowest months although as I stated before January income was up significantly from 2008.
We provide a viable service to the community and you will make money should you decide to join us.
Comment by Kevin Houghlan -
Pingback: Open Source-ish Funding by Mark Cuban « Social Mode
Hey Mark,
My wife came up with this idea. Start an auto repair shop especially for women. There are some many repair shops that take advantage of women. My wife would work the service desk and translate the it makes a clicking sound. I would work in the shop on cars and assisting other techs. I have been working on cars and trucks since high school. The word of mouth would be our best advertising. You know how women talk! We could also hold classes and teach women how to do simple things like check the oil, trans fluid, brake fluid, coolant, and tires. Teach them what to look for or listen for to know when they may have a problem with there car. There are a lot of women that do not have people they can trust to help with car issues. They would trust another women (my wife) helping them with there car problems, and know that they are not getting taken for a ride. The target base is huge for this. Help me get this off the ground, and you can have 20% equity in the company.
Comment by Kent -
Hi Mark,
Did Tiffany play music to your babies while she was pregnant?
Nuvo has designed and developed Ritmo, a patent protected modular music belt for the pregnant mom.
Our company is a design house for consumer products in the pregnancy and juvenile markets. The key to succeed in today’s world is the combination of innovation and designs. This is the area where we excel.
We have experienced the economic slowdown first hand when our facility (bank) shut down our line of credit when we were prepared to go to production.
We showcased our products in a large industry trade show and received orders. We also have interest (beyond the phase of “I’m interested” but before a PO because we do not have a delivery time-line) from the largest maternity chain the US and a number of distributors (France, UK, Belgium, and Israel).
We require funding to produce products that will be sold across the country in a market that is (relatively) recession proof.
Nuvo has a comprehensive business plan and pro-formas, and moreover the capabilities, skills, and experience to make it happen, but we need funding.
Please visit our website and we look forward to hearing from you,
please contact me at gali@nuvo-group.com
Comment by Gali Bar-Ziv -
Business Summary: Employee Vita is the first and only vitamin company that creates “occupation specific vitamins”. Current vitamins developed for teachers, nurses, firefighters and truckers to help them with their unique health needs that they experience in their line of work. Sold on e-commerce site http://www.employeevita.com.
Stage: Start Up (11 months old)
Why Would Anyone Care?: One dose (two vitamin tablets) provides customer with all daily vitamins and minerals, increased B-vitamins and proprietary blends of herbs for their unique health needs. For example, Teacher Vita has blends for Immunity, Energy, Stress Support and Mental Clarity…all in one. No more confusion on what to take, saves money by not having to buy multiple vitamin supplements and more convenient than taking five or more vitamin tablets or capsules.
Market: US consumers spent $21.5 Billion on supplements in 2005 and keeps growing with workplace wellness being a larger focus and supplements being more mainstreamed. 6.2 million teachers, 3.4 million truckers, 2.4 million nurses and 1.1 million firefighters. In macro sense, anyone can buy since we cover several health ailments!
Marketing: Direct marketing is perfect due to targeted audience. Great opportunity for “Word of Mouth” due to work environments.
Cash Flow & Profitability: Can meet cash flow and profitability guidelines.
Investment: $2 Million investment requested. Percentage of ownership / payback time line negotiable.
Best regards,
Brett Waslefsky, Founder
Comment by Employee Vita -
Business Proposal:
Mr. Cuban,
As someone who resides in Texas, I am sure that you are very familiar with the wind farms that line the skies of West Texas (and the rest of the world). These turbines must be cleaned often to ensure maximum efficiency. Currently this process is done by a man physically climbing the turbine! As a result, there is a long waiting list and delay for turbines that need cleaning. Are you telling me that in the 21st century there is no better/faster way to clean these turbines? I think not. I would like funding to continue the process of developing a technology that could clean the turbines. This is a growing industry that is not going away anytime soon. Although the man power would not be necessary to “climb the pole” they would still be needed for operation, design, selling, etc…
I am a motivated MBA student that is graduating in May. It goes without saying that this is a tough time to be coming out of school. I would love to give myself and some classmates the opportunity to take this on upon graduation.
Please let me know if you would like further details and would like to see the business plan in full. Thank you,
Price Pritchard
Comment by Price Pritchard -
Mr. Cuban,
Here’s an executive summary.
Angel Personal Medical System
http://www.angelpowered.com
What Is Angel?
The Angel Medical System is a web-enabled personal electronic health record and mobile device for individuals.
The Angel Medical System’s sole purpose is to ensure the owner gets the correct immediate medical care.
In an emergency your medical records are always somewhere else. With Angel, you carry your important medical information with you all the time.
The ‘golden hour’ is the time an Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) or first-responder has to assess health problems and maximize their effective resolution.
After the ‘golden hour’ your potential health risks increase up to 1200%. When you carry an Angel, you carry the medical information that EMTs need the most during your golden hour.
Angel also includes support for commonly requested records like Living Wills, DNRs, and consent forms.
Take Responsibility for Your Medical Treatment.
Primary Revenue Stream:
Sales of Angel Mobile Device and associated services
Secondary Revenue Streams:
Add on products including
* Nutrition Manager
* advanced iPhone Application
* Health Condition specific Editions
Co-branded/White Labeled Versions licensed to Grocery chains, Pharmacies, Schools and Clinics.
Current product prices available here:
http://www.angelpowered.com/order/order_form.html
These are priced at a 40% margin for cost of materials and accounting for one year estimated service.
Vitals
Angel Technology LLC was formed in 2006 with personal funds
Core products developed in 2006
Beta products provided to 20 beta testers, general success
Attended World Health Conference in 2006 to roll out to doctors
A handful of units sold in 2006/2007
Company put on hold in mid 2007 due to lack of Funding/lack of white label partner
Continued angel investor and friends and family pitches
Product has been in the hands of several high profile celebrities, top goverment officials in health policy, key leaders in health care reform (inquire for names)
Employees
3
(1 developer, 1 sales and marketing, 1 business development/medical specialist)
Operating Costs
Roughly $30,000 a month for labor, technology infrastructure, legal
Does not include inventory, which is purchased on demand (when sales come in)
Break Even Path
1200 units a month at $50 each (covers cost of mobile device, voice system, servers AND operating costs)
Does not include advertising. Path to be adjusted after funding based on advertising plans.
Risks
HIPPA scares some users away from using non-hospital sponsored products
Doctors/Clinics are not 100% into empowered consumers due to legal claims
Consumers difficult to convince to fill out medical information when not under pressure to do so
Product Differentiators:
Medical Jewelry cannot provide same level of life saving information
Your information, your way – usb key, cell phone, voice response, paper, iphone/ipod
Product and Service Enhancements with Funding
Native iPhone Application
Improved Voice Response System
Integration into social networks and Google/Microsoft health products
personal Genetrics extension for personalized dna testing from 23andMe and Navigentics
Marketing and Business Development with Funds:
Initiate and execute white label implemenations
Get Economic Stimulus grant from Federal goverment to do wide scale tests (there’s money for health IT in the budget)
Execute Co-marketing with industry sources and consumer brands
Attempt to get on QVC and HSN to batch sell units
Equity Proposal:
25% of company based on short term funding
More equity possible on longer term commitment
Alternatively a profit sharing agreement can be worked out.
Thank you for your consideration,
Russell Smith
russell.foltzsmith [at] gmail [dot] com
Comment by un1crom -
Mr. Cuban –
The business idea that is incredibly exciting and inovative is Live Sports Enhancement.
Nobody wants to drag an AM radio to a Mavericks game. But fans of the Mavs, Red Sox, Pistons, Cubs, Yankees or Steelers could PAY for a live signal via bluetooth, provided through a transmission of mobile towers. Live Sports Enhancement is simple, users pay a one time charge for a passcode (or subscription) to listen to THEIR broadcaster of THEIR favorite team while putting a bluetooth in their ear at the live event. The benefit to the consumer is an enhanced way to see their favorite team take the field, court or ice while listening to a familiar voice call the contest. It is a charge that true sports fans would not blink to pay another $12.95 for.
I got the idea of sitting through numerous Pistons games, and wishing I had George Blaha in my ear calling the game.
The company has no real investment in equipment. All that is needed is an infrastructre of agreement between the NBA and said company. Also broadcasting rights between teams and said company. This could be paid per sale of transmission in order to keep variable costs in order. To develop the business plan, an interest from an owner as yourself to provide the roadmap is necessary. My background does not come from sports management. The potential to take this idea to NBA, NHL, NFL, EURO SOCCER, etc. is endless. The idea is also very simple to market: “Are you the ultimate sports fan?”
Live Sports Enhancement is something that all true sports fans can subscribe to. The possibilities are endless. Please let me know if you would like to help develop/invest in this new idea.
Thanks!
Rob Merollis
Comment by Rob Merollis -
Brent, drop me a note with your info.!
miweiser@gmail.com
Comment by MIWeiser -
The Hub is a Non-profit Organization (NPO) start-up to enrich education for Students (age 16 or older), Participants and Worker Retraining Programs. It includes hands-on, distance-learning and mentoring provided by entrepreneurs, educators, industry professionals… (Original Date: February 12, 2009 and Revisions Date: February 16, 2009)
Business Plan and Executive Summary Updated Link:
http://www.slideshare.net/wgboren/the-hub-business-plan-and-executive-summary-february-16
Thank you very much for your time, feedback …
Comment by William -
Pingback: Opportunities for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs « Faruk’s Blog
Hello Mark thanks for the opportunity to share my business story. We are a small construction company specializing in custom homes residential remodels and commercial construction. We are very excited about the future we have been in business almost 2 years and have worked very hard during this horrible economy and our efforts are slowly paying off. We are not your average builder we are one of the few companies in Orlando Florida actually doing spec homes and selling them. Thats right selling them! Our last closing happened 2 months ago and everyone called us crazy! The house was on the MLS for 60 days! We are presently building another spec home next door to the last on a great small spring fed lake near downtown Orlando. Our business plan is very simple we build one of the nicest homes with such upgrades like granite everywhere, travertine marble floors, real hardwood floors 3/4″, custom cabinet built ins, Paver driveways and sidewalks. The best part is we are selling our homes for much less than a typical home the same size would sell for. We shop all materials personally finding closeouts, deals on everything normally seen in high end million dollar homes. Our business plan also includes paying 100% out of pocket for any land or lots we need to purchase so we are lien free before starting construction. Presently the home we have under construction in paid for 100% out of pocket no liens and we are ready to drywall. We are looking for parners willing to invest in projects where we already have up to 50% of our money in the project. Banks have stopped lending and we are looking for alternative plans to finance projects with one of the most exciting new construction companies in years. Contact me for our website and also for more information on what sets us apart from any other builder. Our partners could make a guarantee of between 10% and 12% return and be in the 1st lien position to absolutely protect there investment. They will be paid at closing first!
Mark I hope you can see value in what we are doing, my partner and I are so excited about where our company is heading and would love to have you take a small chance on building our dream!
Comment by Tony Moore -
Mark,
This is a different type of request. I have a telephone collection/museum that needs a new home. It is located in Corsicana, Texas. I am in bad health and can not give it the attention it needs to be profitable. I own the building and all of the items on display and in storage. It is over 200,000 items if you count the small parts and pieces of telephone equipment and phones. My building is getting in bad repair and I can not affort the $47,000.00 for a new roof. Do you know any one who may be interested in buying the collection and moving it to a larger city to get more vistors? It started out as hobby and just grew. I used to travel a lot, buying items on each trip.
Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.
Don Capehart
903.875.8667 cell
903.872.0440 home
Comment by DON CAPEHART -
Hi Mark,
Thanks for your post. I think that small businesses are going to play a key role in restoring our economy as they often have the agility and innovation in their business practices that enables them to flex in a tough economic environment.
I invite you to check out the business plan and summary for KidCheck, Inc., our web-based SaaS company which publicly launched in October, 2008.
Our site is http://www.kidcheck.com.
Our docs can be viewed at:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhqmdjwt_16hdg8jchk
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhqmdjwt_24f5pwhvts
Comment by Brad Hennessy -
Creating jobs NOW is a great idea. We need to stimulate the economy in ways that are immediate and can catch the fall we are in. My question was whether or not a NOT FOR PROFIT endeavor that seeks to improve the employability and social capacity of inner city youth by improving their quality of life would be something of interest to you.
I am a 28 y/o Iraq combat vet and non contact Tae Kwon Do instructor in Buffalo, NY. I am already in the process of creating a sustainable opportunity for youth in the inner city to practice TKD surrounded by strong, select, positive role models in the absence of equitable parenting / in the presence of questionable ‘gang’ authority.
I understand that this project breaks just about all of your rules, but it’s a decent idea with a greater profit than immediate cash.
1. It is a start up.
2. There is NO cash from advertising.
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days (sorry)
4. It must be profitable within 90 days. (again, seeking a greater profit than money)
5. “Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops” With a modest monthly stipend in a run down city like mine (Buffalo, NY) the numbers going in don’t have to be big to make a long term difference.
6. “You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered” It’s a service. There is little to no overhead, save for facility, insurance, and compensation. The costs are all ongoing, not upfront. I’ve already invested all of those dollars.
7. “Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else”
We have a saying in our association, “Everyone exists in the shadow of the mission”. One is the visionary, one is the leader, all are hands-on involved. Call it the soldier in me, but to throw out another cliche: “one team, one fight”.
8. The plan is simple. Receive enough investment from outside or inside sources to make the effort logically sustainable for the first six to twelve months. Apply for Tax Exempt IRS status, followed by a mad, wide choke initiative for Federal, State, or charitable funding for the next twelve months, and repeat.
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own.
‘Nuff said.
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont.
We already have a board of advisors. Stand back and look out.
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows.
Excel sheets in your inbox monthly, verified by bank statements.
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money.
If you so choose, the return on your money can be had over months 12-24 in the form of repayments. You can also take deposits in your Karma bank via report of children’s clinical evals, but those deposits aren’t good for US currency. 🙂
13. No mult-level marketing programs (added 2/10/09 1pm) Hah! No way.
Costs: $6720.73 year one operating costs (no comp) includes advertising, insurance, printing, registration, equipment, and facility rental.
$12,000 year one comp for manager/employees One grand a month salary is NOTHING. Doable in this case by this Veteran’s Disability income. Thanks Uncle Sam.
Project will be twofold:
1 Maintain open enrollment classes to attract all ages to the art of TaeKwonDo and create a growing base of selected adult role models. Because this is a MA school, we can be selective on who is involved.
2 Host free-to host 7 week introduction to TKD classes at local Community Centers (already in progress) to ‘cast nets’ for urban youth possessing the motivation to improve themselves and their futures. Offer sponsored membership to the club and work to retain them through their vulnerable teen and early adult years.
3 Simultaneously build a comprehensive after school program run by TKD black belts encompassing mindfulness, meditation, positive action, and self affirmation.
Again I know this is more of a long term strategy for economic (and of course social) improvement, but hey… I’ve been shot at, I know what it’s like. These kids deserve a chance to rise above their urban destiny and make their own future.
Mahalo.
Comment by philipB -
here’s an idea, no business plan, but it seems like a good place to post it.
a forum for fans of sports to broadcast their own play by play and commentary live during any sporting event, and for other fans to listen to any of hopefully many choices of commentators.
could be anyone, from a regular ol’ fan to a famous personality.
would need (i assume) to get some sort of license with the leagues. and also someone who knew how to set up the logistics/systems side as well as have some sort of relationship with sports.
perhaps people would pay to be a member of the forum, to create and/or listen to feeds, or maybe a subscription fee, or perhaps in full violation of this funding project, advertising.
i think with the popularity of podcasting, and the inability (for the most part) of broadcasters to put compelling commentators–not to mention frank language that the vast majority of the people watching are using–this could be a success. and create jobs.
if this makes it on the page, hope someone can do something with it.
thanks for the opportunity.
Comment by mark -
Mark.
Thank you for the opportunity to make you and me some money. I have a great business plan that can quadruple the investment in 60 days and keep growing from there. I have a lot of apparel manufacturing experience, both overseas and stateside (LA) and also a lot of experience selling t-shirts to fraternities and sororities. With that said, please consider these two questions:
1. What does a sorority girl/fraternity guy buy at least 15 of a year?
Answer: T-SHIRTS (from sorority parties, functions, etc.)
2. What does that same sorority girl/fraternity guy wear when she or he is not wearing one of those 15 party shirts?
Answer: Fashion Branded T-SHIRT (Ed Hardy, Juicy, etc.)
Premium Greek Outfitters will merge the two concepts and take the store to them. Because of my vast experience in design and manufacturing, I can do this business all by myself and the product will have 400% markup in it and still be a bargain!
Please read biz plan below:
PREMIUM GREEK OUTFITTERS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.0 Executive Summary
PREMIUM GREEK OUTFITTERS (from now on referred to as PGO), upon formation, will be a new apparel manufacturing company that designs, markets, sells, and distributes premium brands of clothing, marketed to fraternity and sorority groups across the nation. The clothing items will be purchased from premium blank garment manufacturers in the USA and decorated in the greater DFW area. As the brand grows, PGO items will eventually be manufactured in the greater Los Angeles, CA area (and overseas) as volume allows. PGO merchandise will be sold directly to fraternities and sororities via mobile stores (retail), to local university spirit shops (wholesale), through a webstore (retail) and at local and national Greek conferences (retail). Fraternity and sorority merchandise is a multi-million dollar industry, but noone has created a brand of clothing that uses the individual fraternity and sorority logos as the branding elements. PGO will enter into a licensing relationship with Affinity Marketing Consultants, Inc. who administers the use of trademarks for North America’s leading fraternities and sororities.
COMPANY OVERVIEW:
Premium Greek Outfitter’s goal is to become a successful and highly profitable incubator for a premium brand of clothing marketed to the national greek community. Fraternity and sorority students typically have a high level of disposable income and are very passionate about their particular greek organization. A large part of their wardrobe during this time in their life promotes their fraternity or sorority. However, when they are not wearing a “party or promotion” shirt from their fraternity or sorority, they usually will be wearing designer (premium) clothing. PGO will be the first and only company that will combine the premium designer fashion elements of clothing with the fraternity and sorority logo branding elements. Examples of premium designer fashion elements would be allover prints, rhinestones, foil prints, flocked prints, etc. PGO will create a fusion that will be met with an amazing response that will in turn create a very profitable company and brand. The founder of PGO understands the ingredients necessary to create, design, market, sell and distribute premium brands of apparel with the desired reaction being a profitable company.
The key ingredients for success for PGO are design, sales, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, customer service and accounting. Each element is described in detail below:
Design: PGO will follow the trends of the designer brands of clothing aimed at the 18-28 year old man and woman and incorporate the fraternity and sorority lettering, crests and branding elements into the fashion pieces. For example, a multi-million dollar brand that is very popular right now is Ed Hardy. The design techniques that Ed Hardy is capitalizing on is washing techniques on the clothing items with oversized waterbased (tattoo inspired) designs with splashes of foil and rhinestones. PGO would follow suit on a couple of styles and use similar techniques, but would incorporate the individual sororities branding elements (for example a dolphin for Delta Delta Delta or a lyre for Chi Omega). See edhardyshop.com for an example. A balance of trendy and conservative design elements will always be present when designing individual items in order to be able to have something for everyone. The owner of PGO has relationships with the same factories that produce the world’s leading premium brands and has the design and manufacturing experience needed to execute all design and manufacturing.
Sales: PGO will use many avenues to market and sell it’s product. The key ingredient to the success of PGO will be taking the store to the actual sororities and fraternities. This will be done by setting up a mobile stores using gridwall displays units that can be set up and torn down within a matter of minutes. See example below:
The average size of a fraternity and sorority is 80 members. These groups have weekly chapter meetings and all allow guests to come in and promote/advertise a product or service that is relevant to them. The store will be set up in a 10’X10’ area outside of their chapter (meeting) room while they are in a chapter meeting and members will shop the store when it is over. Universities also allow vendors with relevant products to market within their common areas during school hours. This direct selling approach will require a great deal of coordination and travel cost, but the profitability of this approach is worth it and will be explained in the attached spreadsheet. Email lists will be compiled at each school when selling via mobile stores and all students will be kept in contact with through an email marketing campaign. The second phase will be the webstore where students can shop online and their items will be shipped to them. Ads on facebook and other social networking websites where fraternity and sorority students frequent will also be used to draw them to the webstore to shop. The third element of sales will occur via mobile store at local and national leadership conferences where officers of the individual fraternities and sororities attend to participate in national meetings, etc. National vendors can set up and sell at these conferences and the average size of these conferences have 300-500 attendees. All three of the above mentioned sales avenues (on campus, webstore, conferences) are very profitable because the wholesale channels are bypassed and goes straight from manufacturing to retail. The fourth and fifth sales channels are wholesale to local spirit shops and to the individual fraternity and sorority webstores hosted on their national websites. Having 5 sales channels will ensure success to PGO. If original funding is available, a vending trailor could be converted into a mobile store which could be stocked and could go from campus to campus allowing the greek students to shop on the spot.
The attached spreadsheet called PGO Cashflow highlights these sales channels using the following titles:
Direct Meeting Sales
Common Area Sales
Webstore Sales
Conference Sales
Wholesale Sales
CUSTOM ORDERS:
Another highly profitable sales avenue is custom chapter orders. Promotional fliers will be passed out to officers (recruitment officers, tshirt chairs, social chairs) and custom orders will be encouraged. The competition for custom orders in plentiful, but a very small percentage of the competition knows how to print with all of the techniques that PGO will be using (foil, flocking, rhinestones, waterbased printing, etc.)
Marketing: The marketing of PGO will be done through email marketing as lists are built and through specific trade magazines marketed to the individual fraternties and sororities. The goal of marketing will be to build brand identity and to drive members to the webstore. Eventually PGO will have a mobile stores that will travel to spring break destinations where product can be sold.
Manufacturing: In the beginning, PGO will utilize blank garment manufacturers and will utilize local print shops until demand and volume requirements are high enough to make clothing items from scratch in LA and overseas. The founder of PGO has relationships with many of the best manufacturers for tops/bottoms/headwear in the los angeles area, where the majority of premium apparel is manufactured, but also has many contacts with factories overseas in South America, Asia, India and Turkey. One of the challenges of such a brand concept is the wide array of the fraternities and sororities that are represented across that nation, which would translate into many different styles of clothing items. One of the keys to expediting this challenge is to utilize sames styles with different imprints. For example, we may manufacture 2000 of the same t-shirt, but print these 2000 t-shirts will be decorated with 10 different designs (200 each) for the individual fraternity or sorority.
Distribution: Inventory will have to be maintained at a location to be determined for shipping to the salesman on the road visiting schools and also to individuals that make purchases on the webstore. This can be set up very easily with some organization by style number, color and size.
Customer Service/Accounting: The owner of PGO is seeking a partner that has an existing customer service and accounting department that can handle these needs. However, staff can be added as demand and profitability increase. Most issues can be resolved by contacting the owner on his mobile phone and via email through the website.
Ownership: The founder of PGO, Michael Brandon, desires to enter into a partnership with a like-minded entrepreneur and the split of ownership is open.
Initial Capital Requirements:
To return investment within 60 days, $20,000 would be needed to provide for product and marketing materials. Each meeting will generate between $1000 to $2000 in profit (at a 400% markup) and the goal is to sell at at least 6 meeting per week.
Comment by Michael Brandon -
Add me to the “hate it” count.
The Cuban Stimulus plan follows that stupid adage that “Ideas are a dime a dozen but implementation is priceless.” I, for one, have learned that irregardless of what happens during the implementation phase there’s a huge difference between good ideas and bad ideas. And good ideas are highly valuable. A good idea can either be successfully or poorly implemented, but a bad idea cannot be saved by any amount of good implementation.
To be successful you need BOTH a good idea and good implementation. Why should someone who’s talents are in the idea area be discounted in favor of someone who’s talents are in the implementation area? Why should the gifted people with ideas not benefit from their intellectual property?
Unfortunately many geniuses who come up with great ideas are taken advantage of because they are naive idealists. With your so called stimulus plan you are merely continuing the exploitation of the gifted.
You’re a jerk Mark.
Comment by Christian Swanson -
Dear Mark –
Just a word of warning. The people sending in their business plans are leaving themselves wide open for a scam. There are hundreds of scammers looking for contacts like these. I know because I put a proposal for a TV series on an early search company for investors and I got taken for $10,000.00 from a fictitious company in London. Actually, their business address and telephone numbers were forwarded to Nigeria, the scam capital of the world. If you need details, I and my lawyer can supply them.
Please find a way to protect these people.
All the best, Gloria Michels
Comment by Gloria Michels -
Hello Mark,
First of all, thanks for the opportunity. I too believe that the creative minds of entrepreneurs will lead us out of this recession. I currently have a small business that I run part time. It is called Wireless Connection Professionals.
WCP is a dealer of wireless office electronics for small, medium and large businesses.
Right now I specialize in office headsets but I have access to a much wider product mix including telephony, networking and videoconferencing equipment. My mission is to become a leading provider of wireless office electronics by offering great service, low prices and installation services. My vision for the company is an expansive organization involved in all stages of the industry including design, manufacturing, sales and service.
The structure is unique because I have very little overhead costs. I do all my business online through a free website and I have all merchandise drop-shipped from my distributor. This is sufficient for now but I feel the business needs three things to grow at a more consistent pace. The first is a more professional website because like the old adage says, “you get what you pay for” and the website I have now (www.wicopros.com) is evidence of that . The second is a reliable employee who can run the business when I am at work. The last is operating capital on-hand to place large orders that must filled before payment is received. These three additions would not greatly affect my low overhead costs or my low prices. I realize that this may not be a major investment but this also means that a major capital infusion is not required to get the company off the ground.
I am willing to adhere to any rules you place on my company for providing your assistance. I can offer you 50% of the profits from each sale made until you are reimbursed.
Comment by Matthew Nervis -
Mark,
Many of the ideas presented here are not productive because they don’t directly or indirectly “create more with the same resources” or “create the same with less resources”, which ultimately are the two ways to create wealth and growth.
My business concept “Masscollaboration.com” is devised as a way to tap hidden human knowledge resources in order to increase economic productivity. Specifically, the concept is a knowledge-sharing business.
Current knowledge-sharing tools include:
– Yahoo! Answers on the low end, which is often frivilous.
– Innocentive on the high end, which is just for big scientific endeavors only.
– Ask Metafilter in the middle end, where great knowledge is shared but which for various reasons tends to be limited to the geek crowd.
In Korea there is a site called KnowledgeIn which does a better job than any current US site in drawing out knowledge because it is structured in a way that draws more participation and serious input.
As currently visualized, Masscollaboration.com would offer knowledge seekers (individuals, companies, and other organizations) the option of paying a financial reward for knowledge. Alternatively, a system of “recognition points” would be used for knowledge seeking postings that don’t pay a financial reward (after all, a lot of people enjoy recognition and the satisfaction of contributing to a successful effort).
This business can be conceptualized in various ways, including as a dynamic version of Wikipedia, or as a knowledge-selling version of eBay, or as a pay-for-knowledge version of Google AdWords, or as a “knowledge wanted” version of Craigslist.
Ideally what the business would achieve is more effective AND more efficient sharing of knowledge.
It would make money by taking a cut of the knowledge-seeking rewards.
Comment by Dan R -
Ts wrote:
> What happened? I submitted my plan at 2 am this morning. It is not here. I received an email from wordpress regarding the comment notification so thought it was posted.
From MC> means i want to spend some time looking at it and see if i have any comments
Ts’ comment still hasn’t appeared and that was 6 days ago.
Mark are you keeping the good plan’s out of the comments section and interacting privately? (might explain the dearth of decently put together proposals). If so, is that honest?
Comment by utunga gray -
Mr. Cuban here is my plan.
I live in California Central Valley where the foreclosure problem has been one of the highest in the nation and I would like to make a difference in my community by generating jobs.
I work as a car salesman and I have been doing it for about for four years. The car business is good, but I like to entrepreneur myself in the side of financing. I have many clients that come to me for a purchase of a car, and it is unfortunate that I have to turn a lot of them away because banks are unwilling to lend money right now. I like to be able to provided car financing for good people, hard working people but with challenging credit. So this is my plan.
20 deals per month @ $12,500 per deal for 3 months.
So the total investment would be $750k divided in 3 months.
We usually pay from 10% to 20% to a finance company just to buy the deal. I would charge a flat fee of $1500 per deal.
The APR for this kind of loans is 21%
This basically translates in over $400k in 3 months and over 4 million in 1 year.
I am sure that I can pay all the money borrowed in less than 6 months and I feel very optimistic about this business that I will make grow to a larger scale.
Comment by Alejandro Cabadas -
DemandSports (www.DemandSports.com) is already profitable – and ranks #4 on Google for “Online Fitness Videos” (and #2 on Live.com) – See for yourself – http://www.google.com/search?q=online+fitness+videos. I am willing to give you a significant % of equity to stimulate growth in return for your investment.
We already have over 260 Online Streaming Fitness Videos that are sold via a subscription-based model, each ranging from 15-45 minutes. We have Pilates, Yoga, Kickboxing, and hundreds more.
All videos are produced by an outside production company for a 20% royalty – which I could negotiate down if there was a chance for a huge upshot. Expenses and customer service costs are negligible.
This business has huge upside!!! We have never paid for advertising (other than a few CPC campaigns) and ALL current traffic is purely organic – over 1200 unique visitors per month and over 5500 pageviews.
Average revenue per month/per member is $15. Subtract $3 in royalty fees leaving $12 Gross Profit per month/member.
GROSS PROFIT:
1000 members = $12K/month = $144K/year
5000 members = $60K/month = $720K/year
I just need help getting this in front of the right audience via a paid marketing effort or PR. The upside is huge and we can realize huge gains.
5000 Members should be EASY with the right cash injection to get the word out.
Would love to see you comments on this Mark!
DemandSports
Comment by DemandSports - Online Streaming Fitness Videos -
How to submit a serious proposal?
Comment by Matthew Anderson -
For your consideration:
I’d like to build a land mapping software system.
The software would show land, with all roads, terrain, borders and political information available, but this system would highlight on Legal Land descriptions.
Land is surveyed and each parcel is filed of public record. We would create a layer with Jeffersonian coordinates, tax parcel information, and federal lands.
They system could be entirely web based, and maintained by a small staff. The most intensive work would be the updating and alteration of changing land descriptions.
It would be of great use to many industries, most importantly Energy, Public Services, and Construction.
Licensing would provide revenue, as well as small revenue figures from online advertising.
Existing software is available to build upon, both open sourced and licensed. All other data exists dispersed in many public databases. The collection and maintenance of this data could provide future revenues as the Venture’s completed database could provide information for outside clients.
Thank You.
Comment by Andrew Halbe -
Good luck guys. Great ideas.
Comment by Joe Tester -
Hi Mark, I’ve had ideas of different avenues of Real Estate ever since I started in 1991 but it’s always been a lack of funding that stood in the way. The big ideas change with each market but I have no doubt each would have made money during the right time.
Right now it’s pretty easy for me to see that leasing and property management is, and will be the near future of profiting through owning housing through investment, here’s why.
1. Foreclosures are widespread (usually the owners were victims or ARM loans but otherwise pay their bills), this means that these previous home owners will be out of the home buying game for a good 3 years because a lender will not lend to them, they become renters, usually of houses.
2. In many areas that I have found, and know where to find (that’s where I come in) foreclosures, resales, and sometimes new homes make great under-market purchases that can be purchased, held for medium term equity and leased for cash flow, while also creating a property management company and all the ancillary repair companies associated with such.
3. Knowing that a 2 bedroom apartment rents for about $1.00 per foot, people are flocking to 3 bedroom 2 bath 2 car garage detached homes with a yard that presents so much more for much less. And in the coming few years, rents will increase with further demand. This is a great time for “positioning”.
4. Homes lease within 5-20 days which gives immediate cash flow. The rental market for single family homes is the strongest up to the $1350/mo. price point so homes targeted would be purchased under $150,000.
Company creation and Employment potential;
At start up, this is a company of less than 5, or at minimum 3, in property management and acquisition. Plus our own contractor (also our company) and a few subs for repairs to make ready homes for lease, and further on call for additional repairs if needed. As growth continues we gain a foothold and advertise the property management company while further actively listing resale homes for lease under our umbrella of management and repair company.
This is immediate cash-flow with potential of marketing property management for other currently leased homes by individuals as well as expanding our general contractor business beyond our own properties.
Your equity would be defined in each cashflowed home, cash flow of repairs outside of owned properties, as well as equity upon sell of some, or liquidation of all homes at any point as deemed most profitable timing as the market improves.
I have the basics set up with websites already and am working the same plan on a small scale, this is a matter of that extra boost to get rolling.
http://www.robpurifoy.info
http://www.thehomeheroes.info
I hope we can do some biz… Thanks!!
Comment by Rob P -
Pingback: The Corner Office mobile edition
Mark,
My background: Law School, Master’s in Tax Law, Business Development, Tax, Finance and Operations Consulting to Entertainment, Real Estate and Corporate Clientele.
My idea: The launch of a real estate firm which utilizes both tax credit investors (institutions that MUST lend according to the CRA Act) as equity partners and the issuance of municipal bonds for debt side to generate a new kind of reinvestment in communities: Triple Net Retail Centers which are developed with the community truly in mind. Retail Centers who must employ local community members, who bring businesses in that the community is excited about, and who are obligated to contribute beyond the basic property tax that every real estate holder has to pay, but instead must pay an additional community tax where the expressed purpose is establishment of a budget for a non profit which is designed primarily to fund other local business owners.
Essentially, it extends the model of public finance for real estate entrepreneurial efforts into the commerical real estate market (which will tank) and outside of strictly low income housing.
Comment by Alan -
Hello Mr. Cuban,
WOW, what an idea! I think this is a great way to help other potential entrepreneurs, like yourself, get started. Kind of like the pay it forward concept. And help the economy all at the same time!
Well my idea is simple and it can be done ALL over the nation by anyone and everyone who reads this. In fact some have already been established for years. My idea is miniature golf. Indoor black-light miniature golf to be exact. The concept is simple and meets your 90 day limits. First off each course must be located inside a mall, because the traffic is high and your target market ranges from 3yr old to grandparents. A site of about 4000-5000 sq ft is adequate.
Next would be designing, creating and decorating your course. Now this does not have to be too complex of a course in the beginning because over time you can adjust and up-grade and then become more elaborate. Initial funding would just be required for basic designs. (designs and construction can be done by individual since contracting labor can be expensive, depends on one’s abilities)
Next thing would be acquiring all necessary equipment to operate the business, ranging from cash register/golf clubs/balls, any relevant material. There really is not much to it when it comes to stocking the business since all the materials are staionary and do not need to be replaced or added to in the immediate future. (no constant replinishing, equipment is reusable)
Advertising is optional since your location can be key. Yet minimal advertising possibly through school districts for A-B Honor roll rewards is a concept I think would be fair and fun for all entities involved. Advertising at one’s own cost after first quarter. In the initial funding a sign would also be a good item to budget for.
Employees are as follows: Owner/founder and staff for running locations from 9:45 to 10:15 during mall business hours. Usually working on a shift schedule with 1/2 employees in the location at all times.
As stated before this concept in novel for anyone to get involved in and can be fun for all. I have a young daughter who loves for me to take her to play when I see her. I have a friend where I am from in Texas that owns two and has inspired me to start one on my own. I am away from my daughter because I have decided to continue my education after losing both my parents over the past 2 years. I have always wanted to open my own business but sometimes we have to focus on more important matters to reach the goals we originally intended.
Repayment would be done by the end of the first quarter, if not sooner. Payments can be arranged daily or weekly or monthly through deposits or account which is set up for initial funding be used as same acct for business. Where you can monitor activity and retain starting capital. There are a few more details not much to getting this off the ground but not much more.
Thank you for your time Mr Cuban. I hope this strategy proves to make some sort of impact. I know my idea is small but its a start. I have other ideas as we all do but like your MICROSOLUTIONS this is going to be my stepping stone to (not as great as you)something great!
If you are interested in helping me out then I’d be happy to meet or talk to you since im only a couple hours to the south of you. Also IF you do feel like this would work in your plan then I already have a location with a major mall(SIMON) that has told me once I start they would like for me to go into a sister mall across town.
Thanks again for your time and the opportunity.
Best regards,
Paul Lizama
Comment by Paul Lizama -
Hi Mark,
Used to work with your wife…when she wasn’t your wife. Nice lady–you lucked out!
I’m near bankruptcy so I’ll just give this idea away for someone to steal…won’t be the first one. Besides, it’s the best idea on here, but cannot meet several of your criteria…
Here’s the deal: every major city and surrounding counties now have these humungous mountains around them…from where we’ve piled our trash the past couple of decades. The land can’t be used for anything else, because of the bacteria, gases, etc.
So, let’s just start building all of the windmills we can get our hands on, and start generating electricity for the municipalities that have these eyesores in their counties.
The municipalities can use the electricity to power their street lights, to recharge NEW electric cars for their staffs, to pay for city and county electric bills, etc.
Any excess power could be sold back to the utility companies–for profit.
And then, we could lower the property tax bills for the constituents, because tax dollars wouldn’t be needed to fund many of these items in the city and county budgets.
Buy windmills, and generate some cash on these garbage dumps.
Go Bulls!
Comment by CSBC -
Hi Mark,
We need your “mouth” more than your money! Since 2000 we’ve had over 30,000 customers BUT NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT US. Just telling Dallas Maverick fans about us would probably double our business, at no cost to you.
We MAKE our products here in Milledgeville Georgia. We, is me and 1 other full-time employee and 1 part-time worker. We’re 100% internet and ship to 50 States, 20 foreign countries, and we even have bouquets in Iraq! We get lots of “…she cried…” testimonials, with lots of repeat customers and referred customers.
http://www.justpaperroses.com/Anniversary-Gifts
We make stuff, sell it, and get paid for it. So far cumulative sales are about $1.7 million. Since all orders are via credit card, we have NO RECEIVABLES – cash flow break even within 60 days and profitable within 90 days is not a problem as well as ADDING AMERICAN JOBS quickly along the way. A 100-fold increase in business to about $35 million in annual sales will require about 50 employees.
The organization is flat – me, and workers. I’ll always be the “overflow” worker getting my fingers busy making product when necessary. You’ll have to take my word for it for now, I am a benevolent employer – I overpay and underwork employees, and if an employee needs to leave early to take kids to the dentist, they go. We don’t have a timeclock and the day we have a scheduled employee “meeting” is the day I quit. My only daily “metric” is all orders have to be at the door by UPS pickup time and we haven’t missed an order yet.
Your “mouth” and advertising money will get us going higher and higher and we’ll see results immediately. We can start out as a “news story”…a business that Mark Cuban is backing… and that will cost $0. Advertising is so expensive – I can afford to advertise, but I can’t afford to be wrong! Next year maybe “we” will do a SuperBowl ad? I want to be able to say “we’ve had 3 million customers and EVERYBODY KNOWS ABOUT US!”.
Besides direct advertising money, your money would be required for short term working capital – bigger facility and more raw goods inventory.
We’re averaging 450 orders per month so a simple compensation to you could be a commission of 13% of all gross sales over 5400 orders per year. Heck, to make it simpler I could even “grandfather” you in for 13% of all sales so you start out from day one with $3K per month. Our revenue was 14% higher in 2008 over 2007, and so far we’re running about 17% ahead in 2009 over 2008. We just set some records and since no steroids were used, they are official – 230 orders received in a week, 2/1 to 2/7 and 91 orders shipped in one day – Tuesday 2/10 (in 2001 91 orders was a good month!). While our year round business is Wedding Anniversaries, we do get a spike for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
I look forward to creating (jobs) with you!
Jeff
“Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes!”
From MC> Watch for an email from me
Comment by Jeff Block -
Mark, we appreciate the opportunity that you are offering!
We are the future of today’s creative youth. We don’t like advertisements and we don’t care much about what you’re selling. We will find a way to make this profitable! Business plan coming soon! Until then…watch us organically grow. welovecreativity.com
Comment by WeLC -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I have a great idea! I’m very worried about the transparency issue. BUT, this is the goods on the stimulus plan, and Clearly the winner. I would need secrecy to move forward earlier than anticipated. This would be lucrative for you, and a stimulus plan that would help women and men all over the world, and definitely the right market timing. I appreciate the opportunity from you, and hope we can speak on this matter as soon as possible. Go Red White and Blue.
DONNA SHOUP
Comment by donna shoup -
Mark,
My idea that needs a jumpstart is…
I (and my group of co-owners) want to purchase a technology hub (like a datacenter) from a business that currently owns it. They do not know what to do with it, and they simply have their multiple business’ IT centralized there. Depending on their price, I would like to purchase the assets with an agreement to continue providing them services for 24 months (at their current price). In return, they receive same service (probably better) with SLAs etc… During that time, the breakdown of the monies including operational costs and salaries of existing employees would show a profit the first month (minus the purchase price investment).
I would want 12-24 months to double the revenue (or more) by repeating the service to other companies. It is boutique style IT service (hosting, IT network service, backups, processing etc…).
This will work if I can get the initial investment.
As the funding partner, instead of payments on the initial investment (like a loan), you are a 25% partner receiving, from day 1, 25% of all profits. It is in our best interest to grow, to keep the operating cap, and it is in your best interest (and the current customer’s) that we grow to raise profits.
We should be allowed to buy you out once our group has enough funding in the bank to sustain operations even if a hiccup were to occur.
Comment by KdS -
“There will be a standard agreement, you can take it or leave it. Once I have done the standard agreement, I will post it here for all to see.”
Over 1,400 comments and the “standard agreement” has not been posted. Does this mean you have not found a plan worthy of investment? Or still working on the agreement with the lawyers? Ultimately, it’s the deal we make with YOU that matters. Posting our plan to the site does not really matter because most people who read it will probably (A) Not understand it; (B) Not know how to capitalize on it; or (C) Too lazy to do anything about it.
Comment by econ365 -
My idea is to create a blog and possibly infomercial selling a set of videos that teach people how to make money through creating different online applications for the iPhone or Facebook. Development and syndication of the blog and videos would roughly cost between $15-20K initially.
With funding, you would receive 25% equity.
Comment by Brent -
I have tried and tried to get this posted , can’t figure this
website out. What makes it and what doesn’t. I’ll try again .
A website for the Business Traveler :
thehappyhourlocator.com . All I would need is a modest amount for
personnel and up-grade in software. Thanks,Maybe this will make
it.
Comment by John Harvey -
Mark,
Great idea! Outstanding leadership! I think you are onto something great that will help millions of people.
I am a fellow entrepreneur and have enjoyed a fair amount of success. Nothing to the degree that you have. Here is where I stand. I am 53 years old, and have founded, owned and operated 21 businesses, over the last 30 years. Of those businesses 5 were and are corporations. My latest venture is the one that needs a jump start. I have launched another corporation to compete with Ebay. The name of the new company is BidRox.
It is an online auction site similar to Ebay. It is fully operational and ready to be promoted. I was an Ebay power seller for about 1 year and 3 months. During that time I learned a lot about their operations and saw a lot of internal problems that will likely destroy or diminish their market share over time. I also believe that Ebay needs a strong competitor to level the playing field in the auction company arena. I am a little hesitant to post my complete business plan here, but since that is the rules here it is. We are incorporated in the state of Texas. Currently there are two small investors and we have not officially launched, even though we have done some small amounts of advertising. For this venture to succeed and grow as fast or faster than Ebay we need a national advertising campaign launched by dividing the US into five marketing sections and blanketing each section with Television, radio and internet advertising in each section for a week at a time. There are other ways this can be done this is just one of them. We do not want to overwhelm our severs, but simply add more as our web traffic increases. This will allow us to control our server growth with little or no interruptions in service. This will drive both buyers and sellers to our site in large numbers. The fact that it is an
auction site for any person to buy or sell just about any product excluding a few items, will help with the economic growth throughout the United States and eventually around the world. People can sell items they own or buy and resell items that will make them a profit. Tens of thousands of people can start their own online business through our auction site, with little or no upfront cost other than their time. If they currently have a job, they can subsidize their income with this. Businesses that are/or not struggling can list their inventories for sell here, without the enormous costs associated with other auction sites. Our current strategy is no up front listing fees and a 5% final value fee only. This means the buyer does not pay a dime for his or her listing until it sells. ( Other auction sites charge a listing fee and various other fees whether or not the item sells. Great for the auction company, but not so great for the seller.) On Ebay for example it can cost as much as 13.75% of an item’s sell price by the time it is sold and paid for.
We will not police the auction site like Ebay and PayPal currently does, instead we will use sophisticated and automated web crawlers that will find sellers that may be breaking the law or trying to scam people. Buyers and sellers will determine for themselves whether or not they want to do business with each other based on feedback and star ratings. We will adhere to all of the laws of each state and the United States. Each new customer has to agree to those same rules in order to buy or sell on our site. We will contact customers and or businesses and warn them of a potential breach in our site rules.
They will be subject to termination of their ability to buy or sell on our site if they continue to break the rules and or laws, and could be subject to being reported to the proper authorities. We will be successful with the slow start word of mouth and small advertising that we are currently using, but we would be much more successful much faster if we immediately launched a national advertising campaign to promote our website and business strategy to help folks be successful. We will eventually outperform our competition with a much more advanced auction system, and automated systems that will control our web content. We have a computer software engineer/architect that will come on board with us as soon as we reach a financial level that will sustain us enough to hire him and his team. Once hired they will start building the advanced software needed to outperform our competition. My intentions are to grow this company as rapidly as possible by selling 49% of the stock in the company to one or many investors. I also intend to take us public in the next 18 to 24 months. At that time we will do a 10 to 1 stock split. We currently have 14,000,000 shares for sale at $1 per share. Total shares in the company is 30,000,000. Using Ebay’s growth from startup until their five year mark, as a guide, we intend to either match or excel past those figures in the same period of time. It will mean that a $10,000 investment in our company will turn into $2,000,000 at the five year mark. Currently I am the President of this corporation but I am completely running this company by myself and am doing all the promoting, webwork etc. I will do whatever it takes to assure the success of this business venture. If I need to be customer service, webmaster, janitor or salesman I will do it. I am a good leader and never ask anyone on my staff to do anything I will not do myself. We currently have enough funds to operate debt free for the next 24 months with no income. I believe that would mean that we already meet item 3 of the rules. The plan and ideas are negotiable if they need to be and I will accept outside counsel if it is needed. The reason that we need additional capital is to promote our auction site on a national basis as previously described. It is quite a challenge to be profitable in less than 90 days, but I am up to the challenge and believe I can do it. I have given a small number of shares of stock to all four of my adult children and to several friends and business associates. One of my goals is to assure that they have additional financial security from ownership in BidRox.
I look forward to working with or for you.
Thank You for this wonderful opportunity.
Sincerely and at your service,
Michael Orsburn
Comment by Mike Orsburn -
My idea is for an employment website called Workforce (“prequalified applicants delivered right to your computer screen”) that centers around:
1. Virtual job fairs where the employers/potential employees can chat in instant message, share resumes, and even video conference in real time.
2. Conducting and recording online interviews via video with potential job candidates, as well as conducting interviews that take the place of the initial interview that is a waste of an employers time. This allows the employer to meet a candidate face to face after already seeing qualifications and a resume, possibly having a brief instant message conversation, and seeing an in depth interview recorded online with questions that had been prescreened by the employer.
3. Potentially cutting down on the online presence of headhunters and employment agencies that supply very vague and deceiving job descriptions in order to attract applicants.
4. A much more personal job search and does not focus on sheer numbers of applicants (largely unqualified if unchecked) but focuses on delivering targeted employees that are visually presented to the employer having already been qualified by us.
Site could be up in one month and sales could be going on the whole time of development. Video conferencing can also easily be handled prior to the site being finished.
Thanks Mr. Cuban.
Comment by John Giannuzzi -
Company: Astrum Network Security
Investment: 1.5 Million
Ownership – 30%
Product Development – Complete
Product: Identity Based Encryption Appliance
Models – 4
Debt – less than 50K
Use of proceeds – Expansion of sales, engineering and operations.
Product:
Astrum’s ASTsecureDLP family of appliances is hardened identity based encryption appliances that ties an organizations global data and access policy to its users. With the appliance tied to the network data path, ASTsecure firstly ensures that access to the most granular data is authorized for access based upon a users identity and then proceeds to retrieve or store, in encrypted/decrypted triple des format and at wire speed, the granular data according to a users access rights. ASTsecure works independently of applications and is agnostic to file servers and databases, and fits seamlessly into existing network infrastructures. The combined benefit of ASTsecure identity-based encryption system ensures organizations are in strict compliance with industry regulations or corporate governance for information access.
ASTsecureDLP Solutions in the first fully integrated policy driven identity based encryption (PDIBE) hardened appliance. ASTsecureDLP tied identities found in all connected systems together throughout the business and offers policies to ensure compliance of the business to the regulations and/or corporate standards while serving hardware based encryption.
Key Management:
The keys are secure inside the ASTsecureDLP appliance and easily managed by a key management system. Access the keys requires a quorum to access the program through card readers and password protection thus ensuring that no longer will a rouge administrator have access to the server alone.
Through the use of identities and encryption around policies ASTsecureDLP continually audits not only who authenticated to a system at what time but also where they went and whether they were authorized to accessing critical data.
Benefit 1
An ASTsecureDLP solution offers policies to ensure compliance to even the strongest of regulations of encrypting the data. Having policies tied into the business through an appliance allows for personnel to concentrate on the business rather then becoming security experts to interpret regulations
Benefit 2
ASTsecureDLP solutions offer a way to control identities throughout the business. Along with policies this is a strong way to ensure that proper procedures are followed when creating and deleting identities as well as protection from back door accounts being added to the network for future exploits later by non authorized users.
Benefit 3
ASTsecureDLP solutions are able to encrypt and decrypt data throughout a variety of storage devices. The connections are made through an encrypted channel without the need for any code on storage devices. This allows the encrypted data to flow through an encrypted channel allowing data which resides on SANs, NASs and regular file servers, no matter what the platform, to all adhere to encryption and decryption policies based on each individuals right to view the data.
Benefit 4
ASTsecureDLP solutions provide an auditing component which follows each authentication and authorization throughout the employee’s daily activities. This level of auditing provides compliance reporting data and so helps find where and when individual users try to access inappropriate data access on the network.
Benefit 5
ASTsecureDLP solutions uses a very advanced access method to the encryption keys themselves and keeps them locked in the HSM card inside the appliance. Accessible only by a predefined quorum and protected by reader cards and passwords disallowing rouge administrators from using the key to gain access to data they should not be able to see. This key management program ensures key security.
Benefit 6
ASTsecureDLP solutions leverage a card reader attached to the appliance to activate the appliance. If at anytime data breaches are suspected to critical information all that needs to occur is to remove the operational card from the reader and the encryption and decryption if data will halt. To restart the appliance simply replace the card into the reader and the ASTsecure Appliance will start encrypting and decrypting critical data again.
Astrum was founded with the premise to get the best available resources from a diverse background that has three key foundational understandings.
Hardware
Enterprise Solution based Architecture
Security and Encryption
patent applied for.
Patent Information
U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial NO. 60/000,341
Title ASTsecure Configuration Manager
Comment by David Bunn -
Mr. Cuban,
Thanks for extending the opportunity to submit. This is my 3rd attempt to get this to actually post. I am extremely passionate about this, as it provides a platform for other innovators to get their shot.
Please see the details below, as this company is already up and running with one cotract in and 2 international agreements on the table. Love to tell you more. Based on your interest, a 20 minute phone conference will fill in any blanks for you. Sorry to be short, but I am between flights, busting my ass to get this over the hump!
Executive Summary:
The services provided by BiopackUSA fill critical voids in two primary business sectors: Smaller, or start-up product development companies and established companies that outsource their packaging and fulfillment. The timing of these services is ideal, given the current economic challenges that span all markets. BiopackUSA was created to save clients time and money by utilizing our core competencies and resources, as it relates to product fulfillment and commercialization. There has been an initial private investment of $220k that has been used over the over the past 9 months to prepare for launch. We are now at the gates, the doors fly open…and we lose our funding. We are months away from a snowball effect of epic proportions.
Marketing Materials:
All branding and marketing materials were completed 12/18. There will be ongoing modifications and updates to these materials moving forward, however the bulk of the work is complete. Moving forward, advertising will be minimal, as the word will spread quickly once we are plugged into each market segment.
Target Marketing Plan:
Bio.Org Incubators:
The initial marketing push will involve presentations to all of the “BIO” agencies in OH, PA, MI, KY and IN. These agencies are information hubs for all biotech related start-up companies. Our service offerings fit nicely into theirs, as we would provide much need resources to their clients.
Virtual Companies and VC Firms:
Venture capital firms and Virtual Biotech Firms will also be targeted heavily. VC groups will take every precaution to protect their investments and give their benefactors the best chance possible for success. BiopackUSA services will provide the experience and know-how for these “new” ventures, saving countless hours and thousands of dollars.
Established Markets:
It is estimated that over 80% of packaging, across all consumable/topical product lines, is outsourced to direct component manufacturers or packaging distributors. Once outsourced, the end user tends to lose track of current costs and/or general price increases, primarily due to time constraints and other priorities. BiopackUSA will reach out to all companies that outsource to competitively source their packaging to our suppliers at no fee. We will only get compensated if we identify savings for the client, at which time we will ask for 20% of the total amount saved as a “one-time” fee. The client will then continue to save from that point forward. This could amount to periodic invoices that could range from $2000 to $50,000, depending of the amount of savings we find.
Foreign Branding Opportunities:
There are numerous opportunities in which foreign development companies with existing products would like to expand distribution to the USA and Canada. Our services can facilitate “turnkey” fulfillment relationships, to include marketing and sales. Biopack will obtain exclusive rights to the product, then sell these rights to the US based sales/marketing arm for a residual percentage of gross annual sales.
Offshore Tooling/Proprietary Products:
Due to our relationships with overseas manufacturers, BiopackUSA can provide custom injection mold tooling to create custom packaging components for our clients. Significant profit can be achieved on the tooling itself, while a rebate program can also be put in place with the manufacturer to compensate BiopackUSA based on “net new” business.
Independent Assessments:
Prior to entering a long-term agreement, BiopackUSA will provide status assessments for startup companies, which will be requested by the agency that is funding that company. These are generally 2- day assessments at a rate of $1,800 per day.
Financial Overview:
The infrastructure of this company was designed to run lean, with minimal overhead to maximize profits. The variety of revenue streams will allow for tremendous growth very quickly. In fact, based on conservative forecasting, the company could feasibly double each year.
The former private investor has withdrawn, due to his inability to fulfill the original contract for operational funding. His losses in the automotive dealerships has made it impossible to continue. The funding lost totals $250,000 to be spent on sales force expansion, general office admin and standard overhead costs. While the company is generating money, the lack of funding to propel Biopack into the market will dramatically slow the growth rate.
This business plan fosters high profitability with limited risk. The market has been identified, now we need to have the ability to get in front of our prospects.
Future Expenses:
Marketing costs should drop significantly after Q1 due to the completion of our materials. I do anticipate a slight increase in travel/entertainment costs, which will be in direct proportion to the increase in client base. The net expense increase should be relatively insignificant.
Additional funds for an office manager/procurement assistant will most likely be required in late Q1/early Q2. This individual will handle all inter-office functions, as well as supplier/vendor relationships and sourcing. It is my estimation that securing 3-4 contracts would result in a need for this individual. Estimated salary range is $30K.
Adding one additional sales professional would also accelerate the revenue growth rate significantly. Expected costs for a technically proficient and seasoned sales person is estimated at $75k-$95k per year, which would include a vehicle, benefits, etc.
Thank you again for your time and consideration on this matter.
E-mail with any questions,
P. Reimer
Comment by P. Reimer -
Oh ya, i forgot to mention, that letting people vote on ideas would be a mess. People would create puppet accounts to vote on their ideas and downvote everyone else’s.
Comment by Tommy -
It looks like someone is attempting to make a separate site for hosting the ideas (from one of the links to my scribd page with my plan).
I hope so, I think it would help, especially threaded comments.
Some software you might use: reddit open-source, pligg, salesforce.com (like mystarbucksidea.com), inkling markets, or even some forum software would at least allow conversations.
Grabbing all comments from here into a database is relatively simple.
Comment by Tommy -
I made a post on Feb 12th and it was removed the following day… I’m not sure if I did something wrong but it was up and now it’s gone.
I’m still getting the emails?
Comment by Craig Spivey -
Here is one of my ideas. A shredder that will have a document feeder for a multiple page capacity shredding! How many times you find yourself on top of the shredder waiting for each page to go through? How many people would buy an “easy shredder”? I will post again another one in a few days…Thank you
Comment by George D -
HONOR BOX CHIROPRACTIC
Executive Summary:
I’ve been running the Honor Box payment system since October 2001, one month after the 9/11 tragedy. Despite its contrarian nature to traditional business principles, the concept has been profitable for me since year one and it generates a tremendous amount of goodwill from the local community.
The Honor Box System is a simple way to overcome all financial obstacles that may prevent a patient from receiving the full benefits of chiropractic care. All Hawaiian Pacific Chiropractic patients have the right to set their own fee after the first visit. The standard adjustment fee is $40. However, all patients must privately examine their own financial situation and if paying $40 for their adjustment is affordable or if one of the pre-payment programs is within their budget, then this is what should be paid. However, as it is with many individuals and families in Hawaii during these challenging times, if the standard fee is too expensive and my pre-payment programs cannot fit into their budget, for whatever reason, all patients may pay a lesser fee using the Honor Box. The Honor Box fee is decided by the patient at whatever amount which he or she determines to be the most honest, reasonable, and affordable amount that gets as close to the $40 standard as possible. Honor Box payments are made anonymously. We do not track, record or monitor what gets paid into the Honor Box.
Right now, I am running the clinic by myself in a 1200 SF space. I am looking to expand to a larger space so that I can train and hire three associates to join my Honor Box team.
The Current Numbers:
In 2008, I averaged a patient volume of 1100 visits a month.
Since October 2001, the average fee received for a chiropractic visit in my clinic is $18.00.
My monthly Gross income comes to $19,800, on the average.
My monthly overhead (not including taxes) is budgeted at $13,500.
The Projected Numbers:
With four doctors working the same system, I foresee that within 90 days after a new clinic is up and running and the new team is trained–
Monthly patient volume will be 4000 visits
At the same visit fee of $18.00, the Gross should be $72,000.00
The overhead should increase to $53,500 (Due to added payroll, new marketing costs, repayment of loans and leases)
Profit each month: 19K
New Expansion Costs:
Lease and build-out of a new 3600 SF clinic = $100,000.00 (My father owns a construction company so the building costs will be low)
Advertising blitz of new clinic = $20,000.00
Seeking a total of $120,000.00 from Mr. Cuban
Payback:
I have no idea as to what kind of return Mr. Cuban is looking to get from this unique project. He can propose the terms, should he agree to help. The return of the principal plus the necessary interest gains can be paid in one lump sum about 36 months from receipt or on a monthly payment agreement.
Other factors to consider:
The brand strength of Dr. Shiraki, “I got you back!” (slogan), and the “Who’s got your back?” (jingle), and the Honor Box is extremely strong in Hawaii and very top-of-mind.
Not only will acceptance of this plan generate an economic stimulus but a positive local force in health care that could spread nationally.
The question is not if the Honor Box can work, it has been in operation since 2001. The challenge is how to expand the concept and enlarge its influence!
The long term goal of Honor Box Chiropractic is to franchise.
Thank you, Mr. Cuban, for reviewing my proposal. I know this is a longshot, but I think you and I both love the longshot.
Peace and Aloha!
Comment by Dr. Reed Shiraki -
Hi Mark,
I run a non-profit organization, Global Youth Connect, (www.gyconnect.org). I work with schools in the US and abroad, many of whom had planned to implement our programs for their students, but can no longer afford to b/c of budget cuts.
Would you consider creating a “Non-Profit Stimulus Plan” so that social organizations with strong plans for sustainability and positive ROI can continue to positively impact communities??
Thanks!
Julye
Comment by Julye -
Just out of curiosity Mark, why require it to be cash flow break even in 60 days? Any business big enough to be worth your while is not going to be break even in 60 days and anyone who can’t get enough money to start a break even in 60 days business on their own probably is not the cream of the crop. Why not make it break even in 3 years and get some real proposals?
Sean
Comment by Sean -
Hi Mr. Cuban. First of all I would like to thank you for the opportunity you’re giving people with great business ideas to actually follow through with their dreams. My dad has told me all of my life the only way to get ahead is to work for yourself and through my observance over the past few years, I have to agree with you that the only way to fix the mess we’re in is for people to get out from under the thumb of the corporations and show the world that we can make it without them. It’s getting to the point now that if people don’t step up and take some sort of control we will sink. We can’t have people sitting around unemployed and taking advantage of the federal funds available for long periods of time because eventually those funds will run out. As the job market depletes, I completely agree that the only ones who will survive are the self employed.
I’ve spent a number of years working for other people and going through lay offs. It’s exhausting. My dream is to own and operate a specialty florist business. It would be home based in the first couple of years to keep the overhead low. I would cater to consumers planning special events like weddings, banquets, private parties, etc. I’ve taken classes at a local community college here in Dallas, Texas for floral design so I do have some experience and I’ve been doing extensive market research over the past couple years. I’m in the process of finding out where wedding and special occasion venues get the florals from and I would begin by giving them a business card and brochure to offer my service to them if they do not have a florist onsite. There are a number of basic supplies I would need to acquire to begin the business such as basic floral supplies, business phone and fax, p.o. box, delivery truck, office supplies, dba, tax id #, etc. I have some knowledge of tax laws as far as deductions and those type things. The flowers themselves are something that you would only buy after a deposit has been paid by the consumer and the deposit is non-refundable because flowers are not returnable. There is usually a mark-up of 3 times what the product costs the seller. There are also certain items like vases, arches and pedastals to name a few that can be purchased by the business owner and rented to the consumer at a percentage of what the product costs.
The way a business like this would operate is simple. There would be a free consultation between the professional and consumer. At this time, I would prefer to meet with the consumer at the venue of the event. There we would discuss what the consumer is interested in and how we could dress up the facility. There I would give them the estimate of how much the job would cost. During the consultation there would also be the opportunity to upsale specialty items to the consumer. At that time if they’re happy I can take the deposit then or they can take a copy of the estimate with them and call me at a later date. Once I have the deposit and/or rental fees, there will be a contract in place for both the purchase and the rental. The florals wouldn’t actually be purchased until a few days before the event to preserve the life of the flowers obviously. The remaining balance would be due upon delivery of the flowers or a week prior to the event. I would need to have a helper to help me do the set up of the florals at the venue depending on the size of the venue. I would also have to take care of removing the sold items from the location depending on what the rules are for that location and if there are any rental items involved.
After a while I would like to see the business grow and double or more the amount of business I would have as a one woman show. At that point I would need to hire more designers and delivery staff. This is my dream and floral design is the only thing I’ve ever tried that just feels right. It’s more crucial to me now than it has been in the past to start this business because I’m stuck in a job that was full time and then it’s gone down to 3 days a week and I’m just absolutely exhausted with working for someone else. I plan to do this with or without help but if I have the help it would make it alot easier. I’m not sure how would be a fair profit for you, the investor. I would think maybe 10-20% of a job. We could work out a payment plan as well so that I could pay you your money back. Thank you for taking the time to read over my idea and I hope to from you soon and I look forward to the possibility of your help. Thank you so much, Amanda
Comment by Amanda -
Check out http://www.policypitch.com.
Policypitch.com is ushering in a new era of participatory democracy by literally bringing the power to effectuate change to the people. Policypitch.com is a crowd-powered platform that allows ordinary citizens to pitch new policy ideas for the local level, collaborate with others to refine and promote their policies, and transform that online communication into real world action. Our goal is give ordinary citizens a direct voice in local government and enable them to influence change in their community.
Comment by policypitch -
“Maverick this is Goose – do you copy?”
Hi Mark, This blog rocks, thanks for doing what you can:
Business Description: President Obama recently stated in a town hall meeting Feb 10th 2009 that the HealthCare industry is still a paper trail infrastructure and his plan is to integrate this into a database infrastructure by 2010. This creates an immediate demand of service. My plan is to use SOA (service-oriented-architecture) to implement this massive switch. There are few competitors and no extreme focus on the HealthCare industry. The market is huge and driven by the President himself. The technology is not expensive just complicated for those unaware. Strategy summits are currently being held to meet the CEO level in order to sell this service.
SOA can also be used for the Brady law background check for purchase of firearms pulling all available information.
Thanks,
Lloyd
Comment by Lloyd Cohagen -
The pitch:
Companies seem to ignore the single largest online advertising venue available: their own regular external emails.
You have a website.
You send emails.
Why not make every email and every sender part of your marketing effort?
No other marketing or advertising medium is as targeted as an email between people that know each other (as opposed to mass emails). These emails are always read and typically kept.
WrapMail offers a solution that is server-based (i.e. compatible with all email clients), has a complete back-office with a WrapMaker, reporting etc and only charge $5 per user per month.
The potential/markets:
WrapMail Business©:
Solution wraps external email in clients own branding. Solution includes WrapMaker and Report Generator in back office – Customer Control Panel. Requires the client to have their own domain and send emails from an email client (such as Outlook, Notes, Thunderbird, Mac Mail or Entourage etc).
Solution is offered as either shared hosting – WrapMail PRO or dedicated hosting – WrapMail ENTERPRISE (the latter requiring installation at client’s data center on client’s hardware where the first routes all emails through WrapMail’s hosting facility).
Pricing: $5 per user (email sender) per month + one-time activation (and installation charge if on dedicated server).
World market: 1 billion corporate email accounts, $60b residual annual market.
Key clients: Verizon, Toshiba and Nortel.
WrapMail EDU©:
Solution wraps student emails. Solution is offered free of charge to colleges and universities. WrapMail will insert 3rd party approved advertising in up to 25% of the wrap. WrapMail further will offer a 25% revenue share with the educational institutions.
Students will have the ability to customize parts of the wraps with their image, text and links to sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter etc.
(This solution will also be tested towards Government; WrapMail GOV, same principles).
Estimated advertising revenue: $0.05 per email total (5 ads @ $10 CPM)
US Market: 18M students sending an average of 2 emails per day – 36M emails x 5 cents ad revenue per email = $ 657M residual annual market
Key client: Broward College. Close prospects: Miami Dade College, NOVA and FAU – MDC has 160K students and have recommended starting with WrapMail.
WrapMail Lite©:
Web-based email system comparable to solutions offered by Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail etc but with a Wrap facility as the differentiator. Prefabricated templates that are available for the specific networks (MLM, eBay, Real Estate etc) where users customize with their image, text and unique links.
Pricing: $4.95 per month or $49.50 per year
Market size:
MLM: 50M Network marketers worldwide (estimated) x $49.50 = $2.5b residual annual market
Real estate agents: 5M agents worldwide (estimated) x $49.50= $250M residual annual market
eBay Powersellers: 1M x $49.50 = $50M residual annual market
Social Networks: unknown, 100M+ – free solution at http://www.wrapmail.com/social
Missing kids:
WrapMail is making a strong effort in having emails search for missing kids offering free RSS feed of Amber Alerts and/or feeds of all missing children from the database hosted by the Center for Missing and Abused Children. See: http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/cover082907.htm
Comment by Rolv E Heggenhougen -
Pingback: Mark Cuban y su plan stimulus
Dear Mr. Cuban
My idea would be one that would help others to accomplish there dreams but also bring in a profit.
I have always wanted to establish and build buildings for other individuals. For example I want to own a building that is like a one stop wedding shop, were individuals could rent out space in the building but everyone that rents from me would be related to weddings… spas, salons, tailors, seamstress, shoe makers/repair, cake decorators and bakers, cateres and so on. i believe this would give the at home business and opportunity to to one day own their own shop and be in a place that cliental come in seeking them and they would not have to go seeking cliental…I want to establish buildings that can be broken up and space can be rented/sold for a profit and help others accomplish their dreams while I get to accomplish mine.
Thank You for your Time
Denecia Timms
Comment by Denecia Timms -
Hello Mark. How about this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpg15xlzAXI
I think you might like it and it’s totally up to all criterias. Please take a look at brief video demo, then I’m ready to go in details.
Comment by Denis -
THE IDEA: Hispanic Specific Bottled Water. FIJI for the Hispanics
CONCEPT: Over the next five (5) years gather as much market share of the Hispanic population buy building an extremely profitable brand in water. Get the attention of one of the “players” in the beverage industry and get bought out.
WHY THIS WORKS: Direct from a VP representative from one of the “players” in the beverage industry who spoke at my college… The big companies want to buy up Hispanic water and juice companies that have captured big market share.
WHY ME: I’m young, fast paced, already have inital contacts in place, and will get this done. Water is THE most purchased beverage in America and Hispanics are extremely loyal to their brands. I’m a no bull guy and this is a no bull make lots of money fast and long term idea.
Comment by Joe Scott -
MONETIZING WEB 2.0
Mark,
I have been cultivating this idea for a while. Would love your help to make it a reality. Thanks for the opportunity.
Problem
Social Networking Sites have a difficult time monetizing their product other than through Advertising.
Why? – The focus is on gaining members (users) and then figuring out how to make money after the fact. Basically, build it, get users then somehow figure out how to monetize it. While the numbers are impressive, when compared to the revenues they disappoint.
Solution:
A social networking site that:
-Influencers want to be a part of and are incentivized to do so.
-Allows (paying) companies & organizations to reach & interact with “influencers” directly.
– Provides incredibly valuable data and market research for companies and/or their representatives.
Product:
Grass Roots Millennials – A social networking site that is by invitation only for Millennials (High School level). Additionally, the site is focused on the “influencers” within this group.
How we will do it?
Gaining Users:
-Identify Top High Schools in a particular market (Purchasing Power being a top consideration)
– Isolate the top 50-100 individuals – through online survey advertised in school paper and subsequent focus group.
– Influencers are identified and invited to the site/program with the incentive of free products & merchandise, compensation & networking access to like individuals across the country.
-Users earn points for filling out quick questioners (IE– Are these shoes “hot or not), surveys and product trials. Accumulated points are earned and then can be traded in on goods and services or possibly college tuition.
Generating Revenue:
-Company will directly market its services to advertising agencies, marketing research companies and vendors of products & services.
-The sale of limited partnership interests based on geographic territories. Parent company receives 50% of the revenue from sales efforts of the LP. The Limited partner receives their 50% much like a commission for generating the revenue. The limited partner’s percentage interest in the Company is based on a formula with the amount of users (ie millenials) they generate for the site as a whole.
How we Scale it.
Viral – New members can be admitted when invited by 3 existing members. For example, each School will have a candidate board, where members can nominate, second and ulitmately offer membership to candidates.
– Franchise / Partnerships – Geographic Markets are sold as a Franchise or limited partnership interest. These Limited Partners perform their own direct recruiting.
Funding Basics:
1,200,000 Early Stage Funding
40% Equity Share with Preferred return.
2 Board Seats at your discretion, 2 at mine, and 1 mutually agreed.
Comment by Jon V -
Break-even in 60 days and profitable in 90? An insurance business ought to do the trick. With the upfront float, you’re profitable from the get go. I would recommend an insurance business focused on providing insurance to at risk home-foreclosures, bankruptcy, or other current crisis where current insurance companies do not participate yet there is huge demand and need. Simple business plan would allow a homeowner who is at risk for foreclosure to purchase foreclosure insurance ensuring that if a bank were to foreclose on the property, the insurance company would continue to make the home payments on behalf of the homeowner. Likewise, if an employee loses his/her job, the insurance company would continue to pay a portion of their salary (like unemployment). The float provided up front from insurance along with a well calculated and analyzed pro forma financial statement should prove a short-term (and probably long-term) business.
Comment by James -
Hi Mr. Cuban.
I posted an idea on Feb 11th about the character call centers.
I was thinking about the idea all weekend and trying to figure out which is the best way to go forward with the idea. I know you mentioned about having to get a licensing agreement and also getting with a licensing company, however, do you think that I should perhaps take this idea to walt disney? I don’t know if they even take outside ideas. I know that this would be a challenge, but i think the idea could at least sell because i know that it would definately be profitable.
Any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Gloria
Comment by Gloria P. -
Hello Mark,
Here is an idea that would be a moderate – high risk venture.
The idea: An “electric car” Manufacturing facility. Unfortunately, I know nothing about the car industry, and I have
no idea what the start-up cost would be. I’m simply throwing the
idea on the table and hoping someone has the background and knowledge too at least try. It has failed in the past, but I think the time has come for this to be an excellent opportunity.
Watch the “Electric Car” video, not for the pointing of fingers theme, but merely for the concept. And, reguarding your clause about advertising, this would gain so much free PR from the get-go that it would be a mute subject at the beginning. A venture of this magnitude would generate thousands of jobs: manufacturing, dealerships, sales, services, etc. There would also be several different routes for a return on your investment;
just call in the lawyers. Here is my thought on stimulating the sales and promoting the vehicle. Work with our government leaders to create a Tax right-off for anyone that turns in a fossil fuel vehicle to purchase an electric vehicle. Then, properly dispose/recycle those vehicles. More jobs! It can be
done, but it would take a team of individuals. Just a thought….
Comment by James Worley -
Hey from West Texas,
I live out in Pecos Texas, home of the best melons in the world! What I am thinking is there is mainly just 1 cantaloupe farmer out here and he mainly sells to Blue Bell since they got a contract with him and that leaves a gap of people in the Metroplex and further w/o the delicious Pecos Melons. there used to be a ton more people that farmed out here but in the earlier 1900’s there was a big flood and a lot of people left and now there is opportunity. I currently own 30 acres of land out here that has not been farmed since probably the great Depression and I could get a profit from farming cantaloupes within 80 days of planting the seeds. You can get around 10,000 cantaloupes per acre, which you can sell for 50 cents to 1 dollar each, so chance of making 5,000 to 10,000 per acre. What it would cost is a lot of work which me and my wife and parents are all willing to do, and we need a tractor with the attachments which we could get for around 5,000 for a used one, up to 20,000 or more for a new one, or you could get really fancy and pay more, but I don’t see that as necessary, I would rather make more profit first. And the seed runs 125 dollars per acre, and we could use drip irrigation at a cost of 100 dollars per acre. chemicals, fertilizer and pest control may get up to 300 per acre, so we are looking at 525 dollars per acre plus the tractor and to put in a water well that would be good for 10 acres would cost around 500 dollars, so 50 more dollars an acre for a cost of 575 per acre with a return of 5k-10k per acre in 80 days after putting the seed in the ground.
As you probably know, almost everyone in Texas knows of Pecos Melons, when they can find them, so selling them will not be a problem. After 80 days, we just box them up and take them to the stores, I imagine selling them as fast as we can pick them. I talked to a trucker and he said he could take a truck load to Fort Worth for around 700 dollars, and say that load had 20k fruit that would be wholesale 10k-20k dollars, that is just around 2 acres worth!!! Anyways, please consider, it would help our family tremendously, and you would get paid plenty in return. We are not greedy, we just see this opportunity and we want to fill that gap. We will be willing to pay 25 percent of all our sales this spring and summer if you cover all the costs. We know that is a lot to promise in return but without your help this will not be possible. Please consider the Luper family in this.
P.S. I have a background in Pest Control (certified applicator) and in produce, me and my cousin used to go to the farmers market to purchase produce and sell to the stores, so I know how that works.
Comment by David Luper II -
My husband and I had planned to start a small trucking company using disadvantaged youth,and he is presently driving himself. We had planned to get a grant to train ex cons and recovering kids to drive and put them in one of our trucks. Eventually they would be able to be owner operators themselves.
Also, we were going to help them learn about owning a home and/or going back to school to learn another trade or improve their business skills.
Unfortunatly Bush happened.. Our perfect credit ran up from 8% interest to 30% making it impossible to keep up even thought we had NEVER paid a bill late for the entire time we have been in business or the entire time of our married life over 25 years.
Our retirement is almost gone, so we can’t borrow from from it, and we can’t even borrow on the house that has good equity.
We have had many idea’s that would help us and help others including housing projects…
I too don’t want to put all our ideas out there for others to get a jump on that can finance them themselves.
Comment by GS -
Mr. Cuban,
I just moved to Dallas, Fort Worth for work and decided to branch off an existing company Premier Bathroom (As Seen on T.V.) I was in sales for them for 4 years in southern California. I started my company; Freedom Living Baths 3 months ago as I believe that this product should be more affordable. I sell a walk-in bath tub made entirely in the USA (made in Georgia) that only has a 1 ½ inch entry into the tub with a chair that is molded in and you enter and sit down and shut the door and you may either fill it for a relaxing bath and or it has a hand free shower head if you would rather. The entire tub has a lifetime warranty from the manufacturer. This is the only tub on the market with this low of a step. This tub is geared towards our ever growing population of elderly and handicapped people. (I do work with more than one manufacturer and if this particular tub does not fit the individual, due to size or other restrictions I can still help out the customer with another tub.)
Now, because each person and household is unique this is an in home sale driven business. Elderly and mobile challenged people can’t go out to shop around. I have figured the price on the Princess (the name of the bathtub) to include hydrotherapy, an inline heater and Jacuzzi water jets with one grab bar for stability. We use certified plumbers and electrical contractors (available in all 50 states) to remove your existing bathtub and install ours with the finishing touch. We have just built a small web page ourselves (cost efficient, but very crude at this point) http://www.freedomlivingbaths.com With the complete package I can easily be ½ the cost of the competition and the company is still profitable.
I want this company to be duplicated as mini dealerships across the United States. I have the availability to create the same thing in each city. As the baby boomers reach retirement age there will be more of a need for this product. I have the advantage of the tub being made in the United States and employing only US citizens.
My dilemma: the ability to get leads and keep the cost down. I have tried door knocking, brochure posting and flyers, I bought a list of phone numbers of people 65 and up that own their own home, and have good credit, this has not proven positive results for national growth. I am compiling information to go pay per click for our website. Another avenue is a local zip code search company, where you pick the zip code and your key phrase and you are guaranteed to be number one in that area on Google, Yahoo, Ask.com and several other internet searches. Next, I’ve rented a booth at the home and garden show in Dallas March 6-8th. I have exhausted my capital in purchasing this tub for the show and with printing promotional brochures, buying the phone leads etc.
There is no question that this works; it’s getting leads without adding too much cost to the tub! I’m looking into production of a commercial at this point, which is one of the best ways to get to the elderly. I feel and believe with all my heart that I save lives and give back dignity to those who are afraid to take a bath everyday for what ever reason! I do sell the only tub on the market with the one inch step.
With some capital to get the lead generation started my company will employ sales people, manufactures, office staff, and installers.
Thank you for your consideration,
Rich Jones
Comment by Rich Jones -
Mark, another comment here made me think of another opportunity: facilitating success for “garage” inventors. There are services for this, true, but I find them untrustworthy… especially those advertised on infomercials.
I have several inventions (a key one in water saving) designed but the one lawyer I trusted to help me get them patented and connected to manufacturers passed away from leukemia. There’s a lot of dishonesty in the invention-to-product industry and someone with your character and credibility could go a long way toward changing that.
So please: start THAT service! Be the guy who facilitates the introduction of time, labor and energy saving products in a period where we really need them!
Comment by Randall Arnold -
Pingback: Mark Cuban’s Stimulus Plan | Texas Startup Blog
Mc
Go IU (1980).
Money making ideas (in order of potential)
1) Short global debt. Homework required.
2) Purchase FDIC failed bank loans (Pooled FDIC asset auctions). Due diligence required. Performing loans provide immediate cash flow. FDIC provides 90 % financing with creative terms.
3) Banking- Clean bank with stringent loan criteria. Cost of money is near zero and still some credit worthy customers.
4) Vulture Real Estate. Risky
Examples:
a) Vacant houses become rental or rent to own.
b) Lower end hotels become apartments for government subsidized renters (section 8).
c) Mid range hotels (under 15 years old). Evolve into half rental units half hotel units.
Opportunity assumes the asset is purchased at a fire sale price and scale. Numerous exit strategies as the market improves i.e. REIT, asset sale ect.
None of these ideas create a lot of jobs but may shorten the soup lines and people sleeping under bridges.
Later,
Pat
Comment by Pat Egenolf -
Hi Mark!
My dream business is called “The Sharecropper”.
This business is aimed at scrapbooking fanatics, like myself, who do not have room in our homes for a scrapbooking room.
Each member would be renting a suite with specialized storage and workspace for scrapbooking. Each suite would be about the size of an office cubicle. Each suite is private, with a secure, locking door. Members would have 24/7 access to their own suite.
Sharecropper would also have a common area with tables and chairs, power sources, etc., where members can bring out their supplies and projects to work on them in groups if they wish. This area would also be accessible to non-members and customers of the attached scrapbooking store.
The Sharecropper would also include a scrapbooking store and photo developing lab. The photo lab would have kiosks for photo editing and ordering, and our website would have the ability to upload pictures from customers homes to have them developed in-store for pick up. We would also have a drive-thru pick up for our photo lab.
I would love to further discuss my idea with you.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Karla Marks
Comment by Karla Marks -
This is a pretty simple plan:
We are currently a paving company general contractor. We are local here in the Dallas market and we are already generating business. We would like to expand by buying our own paving equipment and hiring our own crews to lay it down.
It has been primarily me to date generating business and I have now brought on a sales team. We would defiantly be able to hit your profitability time frame with no problem and this would directly create jobs in the Dallas market for our crew.
I would be willing to go over equity, I was thinking something in the range of 20%-25% equity in the company.
Comment by Steven -
Purchase REO properties in Nassau County Florida for 50 cents or less on the dollar and have qualified first time homebuyers already commited to purchase these units shortly after closing and earn a 20 percent premium after expenses. End buyer gets in with convential financing at a below market prices while taking advantage of local and government incentives.
Comment by John Holbrook -
Mr Cuban: About two years ago I started a small commercial food business with a friend (as a side-job for both of us). Since then we’ve had enough success that we are struggling to work in our small space. While I was searching for a larger space, I came across an idea that I hope you find worth backing – an “incubator” for commercial food distributors. Think Regus/HQ with a focus on kitchen(s) instead of cubes and offices.
There are a few commercial kitchens available for rent (more in LA than just about anywhere), but none in Philadelphia (where we are located), and very few available around the US.
We all know someone who has a great recipe – or a budding catering business – where the business has not been able to support a large commercial space. We could have used some guidance along the way and we learned many valuable lessons.
What we propose is that (with some additional funding), we could open a larger space and dedicate a good portion that would be available for rental (by the hour, by day or with packages).
My partner and I are very skilled at preparing marketing materials, standard operating procedures and managing the logistics of complex schedules. We believe we could work with you to build a successful Philadelphia location which could then be replicated using our experience and documentation in other cities across the US (similar to the Regus HQ).
As you’ve stated, this is something that could be setup quickly, and made profitable quickly. We se great need and great potential for this type of business. The rental kitchen would support itself and it would help many small food-related businesses get on their feet. With good management and marketing materials, there could be a repeatable successes that could provide a profitable long-term upside for you.
We would be happy to discuss our plans with you at any time.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charlie
Comment by Charlie Bowden -
Wow, first time on a weblog. It’s truly boring. Thinking and writing about business seems so boring. Why bother? Wealth is a tool; it isn’t to be contemplated, or worshipped, but to be used and spent. But, I’m glad someone is thinking about it, creating it, so I don’t have to. I just reap the benefits. Thanks. Now I’m going to go do something truly interesting, offline, face-to-face, in a low density, unwired, natural environment. Keep up the good work – producing wealth and I’ll keep on cashing in.
Ciao!
Comment by agonzalez -
Mr. Cuban: competition for Big Blue Saw includes Ponoko and eMachineShop. These both offer online quoting and sales.
There are machine shops with websites, but they don’t have online quoting or ordering. Thus, they’re really more like indirect competition. Machine shops in my experience have really bad customer service.
Comment by Simon Arthur -
Victoria, Australia is experiencing the worst bushfires in Australia’s history. 2000 houses destroyed and over 200 people killed.
Most of those killed were taken by surprise as the fire moved at 100km/h hitting at night and they had no time to flee and nowhere to hide. Many were killed in their cars trying to drive away.
I’m working on a concrete bunker system that can be easily installed in the backyards of the thousands of houses that are in the high risk zone. Not just the houses being rebuilt but all the others that are now looking very vulnerable. These would give the family somewhere to hide safely for a few hours while the worst of the fire passed. They could stay and defend their house knowing that they can fall back to the bunker if it gets out of hand.
I see the potential to sell thousands of these before the next summer as people rebuild their houses and others prepare. The market is Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia.
Don’t have the numbers yet but if you like the idea then I’ll be happy to post here when they are done and put the idea out there in full. Like house builders, there will be plenty of work to go around.
Comment by Steve (Australia) -
Pingback: Mark Cuban launches Open Source Funding Environment | North Carolina Startup Blog
Dear Mark.
Here is a small, boring investment for you.
I am a small time real estate investor in Dallas Ft Worth area.
I own 4 condos at the moment.
Our bank (Town North Bank in Dallas) just called off our Line of Credit.
All 4 condos worth around $ 220K. The positive cash flow after fees, property taxes, maintenance, etc is around $ 1000/month.
We only owe $ 35K on the LOC and another $ 15K on another real estate loan.
The bank will only extend our LOC by 2 months and then they’ll go into foreclosure if we cant come up with $ 35 K by the end of March.
What am I expecting from you?
A loan for $ 50K with all my condos used as collateral, money will be used to pay off the existing loan. Amortize it with 2 year note (at 9% interest rate) – I’d rather make you richer than give out any more money to those banks.
Very boring indeed. But I am a boring conservative investor 🙂
Thank you for your time, Mr Cuban.
Regards,
Tino P
Comment by Tino p -
I withdraw my proposal. Many of the replies to this post are an embarrassment to anyone who took it seriously. It feels a bit like being a pimp at a hooker auction now.
Good luck with sifting out the wheat from the chaff Mark.
Regards,
Richard Howes
Intaba Ingwe Game Ranch
South Africa
Comment by Richard Howes -
Appreciate the opportunity, Mr. Cuban.
This will generate publicity, revenue, impact lives,
and possibly result in a short television event.
Pitch : 90 day road trip committing random
acts of kindness (ie: paying for people’s groceries,
meal, bills, etc) and documenting their response in a
video blog. The driver to the blog would be a very
flashy SUV or sports car wrapped with a picture of
you and the web address for all to see everywhere the
vehicle is driven.
Cost : $800k total including operating cost and vehicle.
ROI : Contribution to society, personal satisfaction.
Seriously, in PHASE TWO after people know who
we are does the monetary potential actualize.
It is the same scenario as above but with
mortgages. Rent the property back to them for $1
per month for an agreed upon term. The
profitability is we’d only buy mortgages
where the outstanding loan is less than
60% of the fair market home value. At this
stage a real possibility of generating interest
in a short TV series exists to perpetuate
additional revenues.
The idea here is more on a fun publicity event while making a positive impact on a handful of people across the nation in
three month’s time.
Comment by Jesse -
HDNET’s new show: Morgan’s Tech Orgy (working title)
I want to produce (and likely host) a TV show on HDNET, selling the newest technology products before they come to market.
HD CES meets Exclusive Home Shopping Network all year round. A program geared towards early adopters that GUARANTEES them the first shot at BUYING the product, before the blogs even find out about it. Basic rules:
– It must be for sale the day it airs, available only thru the TV program sales line exclusively for at least a week… two if we can justify it.
– Companies will be responsible for travel to HDNET studios, if they want editorial production.
– No other press announcements can be made until after the program airs.
– Inventors will be given the chance to show off prototypes, and take orders on spec.
– Companies will be able to submit their own videos (avg. 2 minutes long) and totally control their pitch. We’ll play them verbatim, translate them, or with running editorial commentary.
– Tech gadget blogs will receive embeddable copies of the segments to deconstruct the products, the moment the show airs.
– Our sales margins will be 25-100% (we determine the price point), sellers are welcome to decrease the price after the exclusive time-frame runs out.
– If things work out, an ecommerce site will be created to extend the model.
– I want 33% of revenue after all production expenses have been covered.
I’m fine with all your rules… we’ll know in 60 days if it works.
Comment by Morgan Warstler -
Mark,
I have thought of contacting you in the past regarding this. I presently own and manage an X-ray sales and service company and have been growing it at a very conservative and steady pace since 1997. We sell high end technology and compete directly with Philips, GE, Siemens, Toshiba in the sale of new equipment. We service the equipment we sell plus that of all of our competitors. Since 1997 we have steadily grown and have never gone to a bank for money to finance any of our growth. We sell equipment to Major Hospitals and imaging Centers and have an impeccable reputation. I have a great group of people working for me (5 total including myself), and have gross revenues of 1-3 million a year at the present time, with a 25% net margin.
The dilema that I have is the following: 1. People have offered to buy all or part of my company, but I do not have faith that they will have the same values and integrity that I have in running the business.(been there before with the sale of a previous venture and watched them turn it to crap!). 2. I am about the same age as you and do not want to risk my retirement investment by putting it up as collateral for growth in the company. Personally, I could retire today, but Our company is directly resposnible for livlyhoods of 4 familys which is over 20 people total.
I do not want to outright sell my company or give up more than a 49% interest, but with the right agreement I believe that it could be a very lucrative and profitable for both of us as we could expand outside of North Texas and Southern Oklahoma to cover the whole states of Texas and Oklahoma. I have experienced people that want to come to work for me, but as I said earlier I will not leverage my future to do it.
Contact me if you are interested in pursuing this further.
Sincerely,
David
Comment by David -
Pingback: Monday Kickstart: Google’s Android Phone Apps, The Importance of Mailing Lists, Blog SEO Pointers, and More! | Geek Entrepreneur
Here is a detailed business plan that I believe is worth your consideration.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12436762/Business-Plan-Astra-Learn-2009
Comment by James Solis -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
My name is Jordan Hancock and i am currently associated with a basketball league called the SBA. 7 years ago my friend Ryan Girardot started up a neighborhood basketball leage. Not the league is growing over 100 players and an extreme fan base (we had 100 people show up for a playoff game) that exceeds his “basketball court” aka, a driveway. We are looking in and trying to succeed in getting a bigger place for this basketball league, and using it for all kinds of different events. We have made a business plan (http://docs.google.com/View?docID=dfbws5pg_0gkhpxjdb&revision=_latest) and have gotten a church to agree to hold services there, we have gotten our school to plan for prom, and dances there, all we need is the investors to help this expandfing idea succeed. Please contact me if you are interested in finding out more. Thank you!
Comment by Jordan Hancock -
Pro Sports Concepts and Intellectual Designs-
founder and creator
I. Second Round Participation (SRP)
II. Capacity Sold Out Arena
III. Secondary revenue stream from the same seat.
Example: The recent sold out Phoenix Arena for the 2009 NBA Allstar Game is out of reach post sellout for most basketball fans. Granted a person could fly in, pay a scalper $500 and attend immediately. Most people can’t. Yet many sports fans yearn to be connected with the event regardless of their geographical distance. Online memorbilia purchases approach $1 billion annually,in all pro sports. Bought off site. Not at the arena.
Solution: Develop a second round of seat location paricipation ticket purchase at each and every major pro sports venue in the United States. For short, SRP’s Second Round Participation seat location and ticket purchase allows a diehard fan to actually own and lock up the seat position in that arena that is currently sold out. A second time. But they cannot attend the event.
Walk me through this concept: Next year, the NBA is hosting the All Star game in Dallas,Texas. I’m a fan of the NBA and I live say in Vermont. Can I get to Dallas, attend the game? Probably not.Not unless I Budget for a year, prepurchased my ticket and made airline and hotel accomodtions. So by not atending I’m out right? Just another spectator watching all the activities and events from my television set. Instead, with the SRP concept, I want to be a closer part of the event even though I cannot travel out to Texas. So I palce an order to purchase one seat in the arena owned by Mark Cuban, even though that seat is already sold. It is a secondary purchase ticket and stated so. What I get for my money is a mailed comprehensive package inclusive of a game program and souviner ticket. A receipt states that I am the secondary owner of that seat for the entire game and no one else in the United States as ownership rights to this seat in the arena but me.
Cost: Anywhere from $15 to $250 for courtside seats. $500 would get you the set right next to Mr. Cuban and he will give you a personal 2 minute phone call at halftime right from his seat. Half you money would be donated to charity.
Who would buy: Tons of people. It would be a perfect office gift. Many fans at home watching with their friends would say, “Thats my seat up there in the second level.” Friends on their couch would get a big kick out of it. Block seats might be purchsed by an entire Sports Bar crowd in Chicago. To prove any of this the mailed SRP package would verify the purchse.
Intrinsic value: The fan at home would feel connected with the game. An online web site could be arranged indicating your name and ownership rights to the secondary seat for that entire sporting event. You click and point and the secondary seat you purchased responds with your name and ownership rights on a popup menu.
Revenue: An SRP program in all major sport areans would provide a possible second source of revenue for what is usually only a single purchsed item, the seat. Third and fourth round SRP’s for such events as The Superbowl could be implemented if demand is there. Thus, second, third and forth rounds of revenue.
Strtup costs: I am giving this idea away. No charge. If any professsional sports team, national ticket agency and/or front office wishes to explore this concept and alter it it anyway, you are free to do so as I hereby state that I release this idea, the SRP program, to the Open Source Community. You have to determine the costs internaly yourself. But be sure to give the fan a quality mailing package in return for their purchase.
(name withheld for privacy)
Submission for “Blog Maverick”
dated: February 15th, 09
Comment by ProSportsConcepts -
Marc,
My submission has already been submitted to google 10 to the 100. How long will you allow submissions? Google has pushed back the voting until Mid-March.
Comment by Robert -
well Mark it’s been fun I can’t believe all the good ideas I used up alot of your blog’s time I guess I got something I continue to read this bloc there’s alot of things happening and there coming fast anyways I’ll stop blogging now so more people have a chance and I hope you found my blog’s interesting thank’s again for the chance promote my business on if this is working hopefully there’s alot of people reading these blog’s well keep reading
Comment by David Hughes -
Mark,
Thanks for inspiring me to move forward with this plan instead of being paralyzed by the “wait and see” mentality of so many budding entrepreneurs in the midst of economic turmoil. Here’s my plan for an aircraft rental and flight instruction group:
HILL COUNTRY FLYING CLUB, LLC
Hill Country Flying Club will help meet the demand for light general aviation in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. The company will own and manage light piston aircraft scheduling and maintenance as well as recruit and manage a membership of aircraft renters including: recreational and light sport pilots, student pilots, flight instructors, and pilot entrepreneurs/professionals wanting access to affordable personal transportation for their business and family use.
DESCRIPTION
Hill Country Flying Club will be owned and operated by Clint and Melissa Fiore from their home/virtual office. The aircraft will be located in Kerrville, TX at KERV airport. Fueling will be done by Kerrville Aviation (the local fixed based operator) and maintenance performed by Dugosh Aviation (a respected on field maintenance shop). Flight instructors will be freelance and paid for their instruction by the student/members they teach. Technology will be utilized for online scheduling of aircraft and electronic payments by members. Each member will have 24/7 access to the aircraft via security codes to access airport premises and electronic lock box access for keys.
AIRCRAFT TYPE AND TARGET MARKET
Aircraft 1- A high-performance 4-place piston single; Mooney/Bonanza/Cirrus or similar capable of carrying 4 adults 900+ miles at 160-200mph in clear weather or clouds. Target market will be licensed pilots in the upper-middle class including professionals and small business owners; also, private pilots looking to train for their instrument, commercial, or instructor ratings. A twelve member shared Mooney recently was bought out by one of its members, and many of the previous members are looking for a similarly capable aircraft to rent. Also, Kerrville is home to the Mooney headquarters, thriving medical community, as well as the headquarters of the largest Aviation Insurance Agency in the nation, Falcon Insurance, creating an unusual concentration of qualified pilots that fit the renter profile for this aircraft. HCFC manager Clint Fiore is also a producer for Falcon Insurance and he and his colleagues would utilize this aircraft to visit clients and aviation events several times per month.
Aircraft 2- A modern, efficient 2-place light sport category aircraft like the Remos G-3/Flight Design CT/Cessna 162 or similar. Target market would be first time pilots, students from the area high schools or Schreiner University, retirees wishing to pursue their light sport pilot or private pilot certificate, existing pilots looking for an affordable, easy to fly, fun aircraft for sightseeing and regional transportation.
MARKETING STRATEGY
Marketing will be focused on quality rather than quantity. Unlike traditional large-fleet flight schools that depend on the bringing in the highest number of students and renters to be profitable, HCFC will focus on recruiting and retaining a smaller number of quality members and achieve a nice balance of aircraft availability and profitability of 25-75 rented hours per month per aircraft. Ideal membership numbers for two aircraft would be 20-40 members. Marketing will be done primarily via word of mouth by spreading the word among the pilot community, local airport website, free online ads on Barnstormers.com and Craigslist.com, airport flyers, etc… Once a comfortable balance is achieved, membership will only need to expand if more aircraft are added to the club fleet. We will also give free membership to any Flight Instructor who is actively instructing at least two students. This will allow instructors to recruit members for the club.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Clint Fiore is a Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. He holds a degree in Aeronautics from a top-tier University with an emphasis on Business Administration and Aviation Law. He is also a licensed insurance agent and serves as a producer for the commercial department of a top-rated aviation agency. Clint has been trained and certified as an aircraft broker by ABAi. He has experience recruiting and managing flight training as a freelance flight instructor for a large flying club in Centennial Colorado from 2005-2007. Clint would personally utilize the aircraft for business, interview and conduct evaluation flights of every potential member, as well as flight instruct part time for the group. He knows what is required by the FAA, Insurance Companies, and is financially literate with experience managing costs and cash flow of a small business.
Melissa Fiore is a skilled administrator and people person. Her experience as an event coordinator and public speaker have given her a natural knack for communicating between multiple parties and handling the details of day to day operations. Melissa will run the home office, answer phone calls, field questions, oversee the online scheduling system, keep track of all required paperwork and documentation for members and aircraft, communicate through phone and internet of time sensitive member updates, and also help manage accounts payable and receivable.
COMPETITION
Currently, only two aircraft are available to rent at the Kerrville Airport; both are classic Cessna 172’s which do not directly compare to a light sport or high performance aircraft in terms of target market. In fact, HCFC will be a nice compliment to the airport environment and could even increase business for the 172 outfits. One of the aircraft is owned by Kerrville Aviation, the fixed based operator that will be selling fuel to the group and will be a business ally of the club. The nearest light sport aircraft for rent is 45 minutes south in Boerne, TX. This aircraft is a tail wheel motor-glider and should not pose a large threat to compete with HCFC’s light sport due to its specialized nature and geographic distance. There are no high performance aircraft available for rent in the area.
REVENUE SOURCES
Revenue will be generated four ways: 1) Management fee of 12% of gross rental revenue for any managed aircraft. 2) Profit margin of owned aircraft, calculated by subtracting all fixed and hourly costs for the owned aircraft from the monthly rental revenue it creates. 3) Membership dues including initiation fee and monthly aircraft access. 4) Flight instruction revenue created by Clint for checkout flights and 1-2 regular students.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Formation of the business and monthly operational costs will be low enough to be covered by the owners’ personal income and savings. However, outside investors are needed for securing aircraft for leaseback or ownership by HCFC. Ideally, HCFC would like to start by leasing one aircraft from an owner, purchasing a 2nd aircraft by financing in 6-9 months after inception, and eventually buy the leased aircraft and pay off all liens/debt. A nice, glass cockpit 2004-2008 LSA can be purchased for $75-110K. A nice high performance rebuilt aircraft from the 1960’s-1980’s with good avionics, fresh paint and engine can be purchased for
$60-100K.
If an investor were to buy a used nicely rebuilt Mooney like this one for $75,000 http://barnstormers.com/listing_images.php?id=292695 and lease it to the club, within 30-60 days the aircraft would be exceeding the cash flow positive point of 9 hours rented per month, and within 90 days could be netting $1,000+ per month to the owner. The goal would be within 6 months settling in to the sweet spot of 40-60 hours of utilization per month and netting the owner 1400-2200 per month, as evidenced by this spreadsheet/calculator http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pJ-DtwCSW3uW8yyseHLzIeg
At $1,500 profit per month after management fees and all costs (including saving for regular maintenance and engine overhaul), this would be the equivalent of making a 25% dividend return on the initial investment each year, with your asset fully insured and backed by the aircraft value (which will typically hold its value or even appreciate with used aircraft).
There are several options for an investor to buy and leaseback an aircraft or help me with a down payment to secure an aircraft, both which would be low risk with a high reward. If interested, we can discuss options. I have more spreadsheets and documentation available upon request.
Once fully operational, this business should easily generate $120,000 in revenue per year with high margins. It would also create jobs for flight instructors, and train new aviators with valuable skills that can translate in to future careers.
Best regards,
Clint
Comment by Clint Fiore -
Mr. Cuban,
Thanks for the opportunity to present you with our business plan to purchase an existing local skydiving organization and refit it to facilitate local, regional, and world-class skydiving events. The refit organization will meet the requirements you have posted for self-sustainability within the first 60 days, and profitability within the first 90 days.
The business plan is posted on Scribd.com titled http://www.scribd.com/share/upload/9262997/26vwiyz5b2trip6khfp8.
Time is of the essence in making this opportunity a success for this years peak season. The prime/peak season for the sport in this location is May through October, which provides the financial resources necessary for sustainability through the off-peak season. The region in which the current organization exists experiences all 4 seasons, but generally has a light winter allowing for skydiving activities to occur year around.
Again, thank you for the opportunity and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Rob Cooper
Comment by Rob Cooper -
Mark – while I may be 25 and loving this type of opportunity… I’d rather sit with you at a game and go to dinner. So with that said – the offer is there. I live in NYC (orig from pgh) and will cover the cost of a flight and tickets to NYC for a Penguins game or to Pittsburgh for a Pirates game. Dinner on me, as well.
Tell me wehen.
Comment by MJB -
-Business pro/Business profile-
The Plan:
Website that showcases a person’s skills, talents, trades, creativity, abilities, work or play etc…
Website that advertizes one’s self or promotes one’s self. What better way to spark the economy then to let everyone and anyone list their abilities or skills for all to search via the web. Think of it as an online phonebook that has a profile, references, photos and contact info. Ex. If you needed a contractor you could search via zip code contractors in your area and read references left from other people. This contractor can also display projects completed, rates, photos and dates available. The lists are endless of profiles that can be created.
An employer can search for an employee… person can post a profile of abilities and resume to acquire employment.
Profile on website will consist of an initial fee and possibly small monthly continuing fee depending on size and overall information on your profile, In return for an endless amount of traffic to your profile.
Section 1
Search / zip code / state / city / locations
Employer search
Talent search
Ability search
Section 2
Photos / upload videos / References / Resume / Contact info / Description services and abilities / Interests / etc…
Sections 3
Favorites / Promote friends / others / links to your website / etc…
Sections 4
Business Card section
Design your own business card from tools available on website
Copy and paste your own existing business card
This section is utilized for a person to create/list their personnel business card. This business card can be manufactured and sent to the person for a fee and distributed displaying Business Pro website address and consumer can research Business Pro website.
Return on money, 25% of profits to Mr. Cuban, 50% myself and other 25% to employees, designers and back into website divided up how Mark and I choose to best benifit the business.
These ideas expressed above are from this writer Frederick Turpack, Pittsburgh Pa.
Email address turpack@att.blackberry.net
Thank you for your time.
Comment by Frederick Turpack -
I want to start an online video event business where people can videotape any event that they have the legal rights to do so, and then post the video on my website for anyone to view, for a small fee. My website will make a profit for each submission and the organizers of the event will be paid a certain percentage for each time their event is watched, also!
This will be great for relatives and friends who want to watch their son, grandson, friend, etc., who is playing on the highschool football team, but they can’t make it because they live out of state or they just couldn’t make it.
This can be used by any school sports teams, theatre, band recitals,etc. Also, rodeos, parties, weddings,…the events are endless! This will work for ANY EVENT that is not normally televised, but still may have enough viewers for the team, school or organization to make a profit from!
Event submissions can be from anywhere around the world!
Comment by Robert Holman -
Hey Mark,
It’s obvious that you can’t reply to all of these ideas but, is there a way that we can know if you’ve even looked at our personal ideas or not?
I want to start a gas station that people buy gas in bulk at a discount rate. Then they can fill up at any time with their prepaid gas. Nobody would have to worry about gas prices going higher, as long as their personal supply lasts. This idea could be sold to the current gas companies that already have stations across America as a way of guaranteeing brand name customer loyalty!
Comment by Robert Holman -
Mr. Cuban
At the risk of sounding like an ass kisser, I want to congratulate you on one of the most ingenious business ventures I have ever heard of.
I would like to give you a little insight into my background. I am a home builder and remodeler. I also carry two licenses for The Home Depot, and I am currently working on five others. I am also considered to be one of the top subject matter experts in residential construction.
My product concept is for an all in one multi faceted safety device. This multi functional device has so much potential, not just in a national market, but internationally as well. Once this product hits the market I know the sales would be phenomenal. This device is a whole home safety and protection system that provides serious protection against: fire, carbon monoxide, theft, severe weather, etc. The beauty of it is that the retail price is a fraction of the cost of more traditional monitored systems. In addition there are no other products on the market that are even similar. Another plus is that with traditional systems customers must qualify credit wise and pay high monthly service or monitoring fees. This device would tap a virgin market. I can even foresee this device becoming a code requirement by the International Code Council, which I am a member of. The fire and carbon monoxide detectors are already required. This device once on the market would render smoke detectors obsolete. The severe weather function is unique and would definitely save lives. I believe this is especially important here in tornado alley.
I believe with the proper financial backing, and a lot of hard work I could I can meet the deadlines you have set forth.
As far as your cut. I believe investors should receive handsome royalties, and if interested and stake in the company consisting of part ownership.
Sorry that I have not gone into great detail about my device. I am concerned about piracy.
I really believe in this idea. I know it will work and will be a strong product for as long as people need housing.
I do agree with you that a tangible product is the only way to create long term wealth.
If this peaks your interest (and I hope it does) I look foward to hearing from you or one of your associates.
Respectfully,
Craig Nunn
Comment by Craig Nunn -
My business plan is to produce farmstead cheese. I already own 70 acres in Bonham Tx. I just need the start up capital to get the business going. one goat produces 1 gal of milk per day or 1700 lbs of milk a year. This converts to 200 lbs of cheese per goat per year. Goat chees at $14 a lb wholesale yields $2800 in revenue per goat. 50 goats equals 140K in revenue. Recurring costs for 50 goats consists of 4k hay,12k in grain,2k vet,15k in cheese packaging labeling and cheese production costs. Include $2 per pound $20K per year to repay Mark Cuban. Left with 85k for my labor and profit. I need start up capital to build dairy barn, buy pasterizer, cheese vat, milk cooling tank, fencing, and a few other misc items at a total cost of 75k. I should be able to grow the business and employ several others in a rural high un-employment area. Let me know…
paul
Comment by Paul Allen -
Another new big idea … Produce a type of microchip that can be placed on or in a house or mailbox. The newspaper delivery person will have a device in their car that will beep when it goes by a home with that microchip so they will know to deliver a paper there. This could be marketed to newspapers across the country, they could pass a small charge along to their subscribers (the cost would be minimal due to spreading it out over all subscribers). I see delivery people now driving around in the early morning hours with the lights on inside their cars, trying to read addresses on a list. Faster and more accurate delivery will make for more satisfied customers. Thank you!
Comment by Judy Van Fossen -
The business:
Big Blue Saw http://bigbluesaw.com
The pitch:
Big Blue Saw, in existence for more than two years, allows customers to design and create custom metal and plastic parts. You can use our online tools to design your part, get a quote, order, and have the part delivered to you.
Our customers use the parts they create with Big Blue Saw in robots, custom choppers, lighting fixtures, and much more.
The future:
We are expanding our marketing activities to get the word out about our services. Many of our potential customers don’t know that what we’re doing is even possible.
We will add new machines to increase the types of parts that we can create, offering our customers more choices and flexibility.
We are steadily improving the customer experience on our website, making it even easier to order.
Finally, we are considering adding an online marketplace, so that we can help our customers can sell the parts they design.
The bottom line:
We currently have a core set of customers including engineers, artists, experimenters, and builders of all kinds. Sales increased 50% in 2008 vs. 2007.
I’m more interested in your feedback than your money at this point.
From MC> WHo is your competition ?
Comment by Simon Arthur -
Here is my plan. If you interested in it,please e-mail to me.
We want to build the biggest digital and information Goods channel in Taiwan and China with the lowest cost.(such like tickets or online game prepaid time card)
It have hundreds billions profit one year in this market.
I know you may have this two questions.
Question 1: How to build this channel?
Our solution: Free is the best promotion.
We are a pos software company,we have a on-line pos system.
We will provide free pos software to any store,but they have connect to our server.Their only cost is hardware cost,it will cost 1/2 or 1/3 than normal pos system.
It means any store with pos system can sell our digital and information Goods.
Question 2:Why do they become our channel?
Our solution: Profit is the best reason.
They do not need any cost ,turn they pos system to a make money machine ,sell the most popular on-line game prepaid card or any digital ticket.
The most important they can share more profit then normal channel.
If you need more detail information, please e-mail to me.
(chow0710@gmail.com ) Thanks.
Comment by Chow -
Mr. Mark Cuban
Sounds like a great idea. I will post my idea shortly I have many that I have been working on. I am a young entrepreneur from Pittsburgh Pa. your hometown.
Thanks for the next big break!
Comment by Frederick Turpack -
By the way help us get the word out. This is how it will work!
Comment by 6 Million Jobs for America -
6 Million Jobs for America
It’s not an open source funding project but these employed people will buy products you seek to sell in the future
We are asking you as an American to help transform a plan into a grass roots effort to make 6 Million Jobs for determined hard working individuals a reality. Not by next year or the following year, but in just a few months. We are Americans, we built trains, planes, automobiles, the light bulb, the internet and countless other products that have made the world a wonderful place. Most important we have showed the world that if it can be done here in a Free America, a plan can become reality and it can be done anywhere.
We have a Plan. A plan to get 6 million more people working this year. This plan is unlike any other plan put forth to Americans and American Businesses. A plan to get millions of people back to work for a more prosperous United States of America. This plan is to have government participation to spur employment as well as encourage businesses to participate by actually paying a portion of new hire wages. No unemployment lines to stand in and no red tape. This plan will allow the people to employ themselves and show businesses they are worthy of employment and that businesses need them and not that the workers need the business. Too many people in the past have asked what a business can do for my pocketbook and not what can I do do to increase the bottom line for a business. In honor of President Kennedy I say… “Ask not what a business can do for you, ask what you can do for a business.”
According to the Small Business Administration (SBA) there are 27.2 million small businesses and 17,000 large businesses in the United States.
We are asking that in the week of April 6, 2009 for 6 million people to go out with a resume in hand and show a business that they can help increase the bottom line of that business. Ask your fellow Americans to help you now with your resume and get ready to stand up proud for not only yourself, but for America and it’s steadfast spirit to continue to pursue the American dream of a prosperous day, week, year and for years in the future.
We don’t care if you don’t have a car, if you haven’t shaved in a month, if you don’t have makeup to put on. Ask your fellow citizens and business people to lend you a hand. Maybe it’s a free haircut, or a free outfit but remember it is your enthusiasm inside that you need to get a job. In addition we ask that all public transportation authorities commit to a “Free Ride Day’ for all those who are participating in the “6MillionJobs” days.
Before we get to the fundamentals of the plan…
We want to address some key reasons that got America into our problem as we see it today.
Most leading economists, journalists and politicians say that the mortgage mess is why America is in the predicament we are in today.
Yes… there were some who were duped into mortgages that they could not afford and yes their were some who had outright fraud committed against them. Most mortgage holders that signed on the dotted line of their mortgage contracts knew what they were signing. They knew the terms and the payment schedule that was put forth.
The true root of the problem here when it comes to America and it’s predicament is that Americans did not have choice to sign a contract or a dotted line onto when it came to paying $4.00 per gallon of gas when it was at it’s highest. American’s were held hostage with a contract that they never signed up for.
Americans had roads built for cars over 100 years of car manufacturing.
Government spent trillions of dollars over the years for infrastructure to allow cars to transport us to and from work, to vacations at our glorious parks, to school and to the Friday night football game. The American Dream was having 2 cars in every driveway.
You cannot make 100 years of dependence go away in only months. It would take years for infrastructure to change and again trillions of dollars to accomplish this change. Americans are being held hostage with rising gas prices once again and as history shows if something is not done soon, we will again have to make the
choice between fueling our cars or feeding our children and paying our mortgages.
Remember, Americans did not sign on the dotted line for high gas prices. This is where our crisis or predicament that we face today began and it must be contained to allow us to follow a path to recovery. “6MillionJobs.Com has a solution to fuel independence for the United States that will be unveiled on June 1, 2009. You will find out how this plan will pave a brighter path for America’s future.
6MillionJobs Overview and Key Elements
• Workers Prove their Worthiness
• Government Participation
• April 6, 2009 Participation Day
• April 9, 2009 Judgment Day
• One day a week for 4 weeks
Workers to Prove their Worthiness
The plan is to allow unemployed workers to work for a business one day a week for 4 weeks to prove themselves. This work will not affect any present unemployment benefits that they receive to encourage participation. During this 4 week period, the employer will decide whether to permanently employ this new worker. Our plan is to actually have the business owner see that this new worker is an asset and not just another worker looking for a paycheck. Again, worker enthusiasm is a key element.
Government Participation
We ask the Government to pledge Federal Bailout Dollars to subsidize employee hourly wages for the first 4 weeks of the program and pay ½ of the hourly wage. Hourly wage will be something determined by State or local minimum wage laws which will vary. Again, if a participant received unemployment benefits it will not affect those benefits to encourage participation.
April 6, 2009 Participation Day
On April 6, 2009 we want all who want to “Prove their Worthiness” and participate in the “6MillionJobs” event to go out, stand proud, and hand in their resumes and include anything that might help you stand out.
April 9, 2009 Judgement Day
On April 9, 2009 we want all those applicants who participated on April 6 to go back in person to back up their commitment to that business that they are worthy of helping that business.
Again…
We don’t care if you don’t have a car, if you haven’t shaved in a month, if you don’t have makeup to put on. Ask your fellow citizens and business people to lend you a hand. Maybe it’s a free haircut, or a free outfit but remember it is your enthusiasm inside that you need to get a job. In addition we ask that all public transportation authorities commit to a “Free Ride Day’ for all those who are participating in the “6MillionJobs” days.
One day a week for 4 weeks
Participation will last for a total of 4 weeks starting on April 6, 2009. Each following Monday… April 13th, 20th and the 27th we ask you to continue handing out your resume and follow up each following Thursday… April 16th, 23rd, and April 30th in person. Continue this until you have a job and then…………………………………. “Prove your Worthiness”
Although the plan may need some refining, the basic plan is here for the American people to partake, to pursue and to convey to and for all.
Get this out to all you know and help your fellow Americans…
Thank You
Jim Auer
6 Million Jobs for America
Comment by 6 Million Jobs for America -
I am currently a high school senior in Philadelphia. I work at a pizzeria here and my main station is the grill/fryer.
I find that the biggest pain I have is putting cooked french fries from the metal frying baskets into the serving dishes. I’ve been wanting to invent an EZ-style product which allows the cook to click a button on the basket handle which releases the french fries through the bottom and neatly into the dish.
Just a thought.
From MC> So why not do the homework to see what it would take to turn it from thought to product ?
Comment by Dominic Perilli -
My next big idea would be to start a last-minute day care. Parents would pre-apply for this service and complete detailed paperwork beforehand with the child’s information, outline of services and fees. A meeting between me and the child would be mandatory before the service is used so the child would be familar with the surroundings. Say your child’s regular daycare provider has to leave town suddenly due to a family emergency, or she is sick and cannot watch your child, or your child has a slight fever and the day care will not allow her to attend, or school is out for a day but you are not, and you just cannot afford to take another day off from work. Rather than panic and not know what to do, you would call the last minute daycare which would be available anywhere from a day to a week. Initial expenses would include renting an appropriate facility and furnishing it. Thanks, Mark. Judy
Comment by Judy Van Fossen -
Idea: A website used to search for restaurants and their menus(including all food items, descriptions and prices). You can also search by food item. Users can rate specific food items and the restaurants themselves, look at their location online, and even find restaurants close to a specific address, local movie theatre or mall.
Costs: Advertising and almost negligible costs to run the site.
How to get paid: Restaurants themselves will pay to be on the site per month. The site is essentially advertising for them and vise versa but is also very useful for their customers for pick ups, delivery, and searching for a restaurant with the items and prices they want before they leave their home. There will be no advertising or soliciting by the restaurants themselves to be a “sponsor” or top search item.
>> This will be the ipod of restaurant searches. This site could easily branch out to online ordering, seat reservations, booking movie tickets for a dinner and movie, etc.
Comment by Matt Speight -
To Kyle Bell:
I have an idea for a solar generator. The idea is not to power your home with it as much as it is to send the power to the grid. It works like a steam engine, although turbines may be more effective. Think of a box shape about the size of a normal heat pump. Inside are coiled pipes that are filled with water. The coils are heated by about 60 small magnifying glasses, in several rows, lined up to hit the front side of coiling as it wraps around in a circle. The magnifying glasses are computer automated to move with the sun. The steam produced is forced through the turbine, thus producing energy, and out through a collection tube where the steam turns back to water and helps fill the original reservoir (that is used to fill the coils). Most of the water is just re-used with very little water from the well or town water.
Of course there are several release valves and sensors to keep the unit from overheating. It could be hooked up to be used for the home and the excess supplied to the electric company and get a credit toward your bill.
On sunny days, it would produce much, much more power than an average home could use. At the very least it would severely limit dependency on the electric company.
Of course, I am an entrepreneur, not a scientist, so I have plans for the system to work pretty much like a HVAC company with much of the profit coming from yearly maintenance, as opposed to making money on the units themselves.
With the government giving out lots of money toward alternative energy (and likely to give out MUCH more) there could be a crazy lucrative biz here. The government will not only help you build your business they would also help people buy your products and services!
So, if someone thinks they can do this, run with it. I’d love to, but I have too many other ideas to work on this right now and at the rate I’m going I will never get to it. I will help in whatever way I can.
This doesn’t really work for Marc’s rules but I thought I’d throw it out there.
To Marc or anyone interested:
I have a host of ideas that I am working on. I’m saving money to do them one at a time the moment. The first one that I am totally focused on is essentially an on-line employment agency. I won’t divulge more than that here, but I expect within the year you will all be using this service, or at least know someone who is. But in this economy, the sooner I get it started the faster it will grow. If Marc or anyone is interested in teaming up, I would be happy to show you the model and business plan.
I’m more interested in the business idea and developing it/them. Its what I live for. I don’t care as much about money as long as I can constantly develop business plans. My mission is to make the world a better place. If I can make a living doing that then what else could I ever ask for?
Good luck everyone
Cheers,
Tom
Comment by Thomas Elliott -
My idea is the first and only US Amateur Golf Hall of Fame. It will recognize outstanding amateur golfers in all 50 States. There are over 30 million amateur golfers and no one has ever recognized them with their own Amateur Golf Hall of Fame.
I have a detailed business plan that makes money 7 different ways posted online at,
http://www.amateurgolfhalloffame.com/businessplan.htm
We are redoing the website to make it look more professional. The website design is one of the things we need money or Help with.
Everyone please take a look and let me know your thought and if you see the potential for this to be the next big thing in Golf. We have a US Trademark and own the name in Asia, Africa, Europe, Great Britain, Japan and several variations in America.
We need money for website design, advertising, building credibility. The biggest comment I get is “this is a great idea, why didn’t we think of it?”. We need credibility with professional organizations, sponsors, celebrities, and pro golfers on our Board of Directors and for endorsements.
Thanks
Ted
Comment by Ted Gambordella -
Any chance an entrepreneurial non-profit would fit your description? I know there is not a “Return on Investment” per say, however the idea is unique and inhibits spending.
Comment by Jake Rouse -
Business Concept: Millionaire Greetings
Simple Pitch: The recession proof lottery business MEETS the profitable greeting card industry.
http://www.millionairegreetings.com (check it out, we’re still tinkering)
Cuban, you’re a mad genius … For the last two years, I’ve been telling my wife that this guy, “Mark Cuban”, is the perfect guy to show Millionaire Greetings. Now, you go and ruin her Valentine’s Day, by forcing me to burn the weekend working on your epiphany of stimulus. Below is a link to the business plan. We can be up and running in no time flat. Our game can be integrated, operated, or licensed by any lottery in the country. We can start driving entrepreneurial revenue and public program revenue simultaneously, all across the country.
In the immortal words of gym rats everywhere, “Little help, yo!” We need seed capital to get us through the pilot (which will MAKE money), so that we don’t have to sell the farm to angels with no proof of concept. We’ve got several other patents pending in this same domain, so the portfolio is robust. Let’s do some good for deficit-ridden state budgets, and make a mint at the same time!
Click here for the google site link to the PDF of the Biz plan: http://sites.google.com/site/millionairegreetings/
Thanks for living outside of the box,
Joseph W. Gough
President / Founder
Millionaire Greetings
& Inspire Michigan
Best Start-Up Entrpreneur- 2008
Automation Alley’s X-ology Magazine
http://www.xology.com/w09/w09_lifestyle.php
Comment by Joe Gough -
The problem: Email S-p-a-m
* Cost to the world economy: (Ferris estimate for 2009) $130 billion; $42 billion in the U.S. alone.
* “Two years from now, s-p-a-m will be solved” Bill Gates Jan. 24, 2004 – I still get s-p-a-m in 2009!
* ‘S-p-a-mmers’ do find ways around filters.
* They disguise the origin of the email to make white list / black list ineffective.
* Challenge / Response system prevent legitimate automated email from being delivered.
My solution:
* Make an email address useless to ‘S-p-a-mmers’ without the correct PIN number. (Email Verification Code)
* As a credit card is useless without a PIN number, I believe the same should be applied for my email addresses.
* Full details can be seen here in the Patent Pending Document.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dftm8hzq_18pttvbqf7&hl=en
This ‘start-up’ would embrace the open source community to build, and improve on my proposal.
Free and commercial solutions would be available. (Please contact me for a full financial forecast.)
Not only would the company be profitable in 90 days; but also our economy would save $42 billion a year!
Equity available: I’m willing to give up to 90% of the equity away to investors, or any body else who will help me make this happen.
Please leave comments on the http://tinyurl.com/d2na6m blog.
Thanks, and good luck to all who have posted their idea here.
Comment by Euros Evans -
This is a TRAIN WRECK, I just can’t take my eyes off of!!
I too am curious about non-profit funding for concepts that aren’t typically bankable. Is a Venture Philanthropy Capacity Building loan an option for you to fund?
I would like to clarify that even though “not for profit” – non-profits most certainly can repay loans with considerable ROI.
I have a proven strategy for a niche fundraiser as such that will result in a completely self-sustaining revenue generating non-profit that meets ALL of your above criteria. Also it will create jobs and effectively stabilize markets.
Mr. Cuban, if you are willing to accept a cash ROI far superior to bank CD’s or T-bills as well as a position on the Board of Directors to assure future growth and development in place of equity, with adequate collateral for a secured loan plus a full return of your investment within 6 months to 1 year please advise and I will certainly post my entire strategy to share with any non-profit that takes the initiative to pursue. I invite and encourage anyone interested in further collaboration to contact me via my e-mail below.
Asset Resolution Foundation, Inc. was established in FL, January 2008 as a non-partisan, non-denominational, non-profit, community development corporation with a RESolution to many issues plaguing our country and a goal to enrich neighborhoods and restore property values. Thus Resuscitating the American Dream!
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
Best Regards,
MIWeiser
Executive Director
miweiser@assetresolution.org
Comment by MIWeiser -
I love it!
Comment by Randy Ayn -
Dear Mark Cuban,
Thank you for the platform to post this entrepreneurial venture for consideration to add to your portfolio though the open source funding you’re offering. You can find a Elevator Pitch, One page Company Profile, Athletes’ Oasis Presentation, DII Business Plan and DII Financial Modal at http://www.slideshare.net/AthletesOasis.
At this time I have $100k worth of product, high quality B-roll footage, compelling script for a commercial using existing B-roll, a detailed marketing plan with capital requirement that will be completed within weeks therefore we will be able to achieve the time line for profitability you laid out.
As we quickly grow our distribution channels to b2b after the initial product launch that will be b2c our product line will help provide stability to supply chain companies, retailers, advertisers, engineers for R&D, business coaches and my team that will grow as the Company grows.
We will accomplish this because we are the athlete’s OASIS and our brand will help them achieve their fitness goals while our brand quickly become as common as Nike and Underarmor.
Thanks
Remember, Success is a Learned Behavior™!!
John R. Hobbs
13911 West Hillsborough Ave.
Suite 307
Tampa, Florida 33635-9746
239-404-2871
jhobbs@athletesoasis.com
http://www.athletesoasis.com
Comment by John R Hobbs -
Looks like the “illegal” trade is making the good money. If all 50 states legalized cannibus, sold it in Pot Dispensories and had a tax attached it to. It could possibly work too fold: First slow down or significantly decrease the dealers on the streets and second bring monies in through the taxes on the sales. Another is requiring tax statements on people when they purchase large monitary items. I could imagine there are alot of people out there who aren’t all honest on their taxes. The illegal aliens are killing us. I’m very aware they abuse the medical/health care system. They expect it once they come across the border and/or across the sea. They do not bring in anything for the Americans and expect everything. I dont like the saying “Tax the rich and feed the poor”. I think the wealth people deserve what they have. Majority of them have worked hard to achieve their goals. So my ideas would be:
Look into legalizing cannibus and taxing it.
Stop giving to illegal aliens
Assure people properly pay their taxes.
I hope Micheal Moore finds this post, he would have some intersting ideas. I’m sure…
Thanks, TJ
Comment by TJ McGovern -
Mark-
Whim said the T.V. lady
Music said the unemployed
Private money said the President
To further your cause consider the following:
The Plan, Part “A”
Passive Corporation needs stimulation
Corporation’s focus is on trust services, financial services and real estate services, all on a fee for service basis.
Project:
Franchise 100 units world wide at a begining auction price of
$2 million each. The 50 states and the 50 highest economies of the world, excluding corportaions.
Need:
Auction, either Sotheby’s or Christie’s. You contract and pay for the auction. Franchise is written and ready for printer, “package” is written and ready for auctioneer.
Reward:
1% ownership in each franchise (as a fee for service), 10% of the sale price, you handle the money.
Part “B”
You open an international bank in Costa Rica
I get 1% ownership (as a fee for service) 10% of the profits.
All funds due me under part “A” are deposited in the bank.
Note: C.R. does not tax money earned outside it’s territorial limits.
Deal?
Comment by K Foster -
Dear Mark,
I currently have a painting and trash to treasure business. Our painting business has been successful for 8 years. We started the trash to treasure in April and it is going. What we do is part of the going green concept. We take old and disgarded items from curb side trash, garage sales, estate sales or donations and give them new life by recreating them or fixing them up. For example we make furniture from old wooden doors and headboards. Lamp shades from old ties, wind chimes from old silverware and china storage systems from old Coke & Pepsi crates etc. Our store has had much positive feedback and been compared to a musuem of whimsical decor. People are fascinated when they come to our shop. What we need is cashflow to hire individuals to create the things we envision. We have been working tirelessly this past year and would like the opportunity to give a job to a few people to help us expand on this idea. We currently have someone working the store while we are painting(our real job)so any profit we make is paying her salary. We would like to expand and do more advertising as well and be somewhat of a HOBBYLOBBY gone green. The waste we see that is going into our landfills is painful and we are trying to keep it to a minimum. If we could create a website and mass market and mass produce our idea, I believe it could be a very profitable business. Our lease will be coming up in April and we would like to expand if the opportunity presents itself. Your response would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. Reuse, recycle, recreate
Comment by SBuege -
A 3d animation company, started by three people, including an artist. We started working on a small movie, things are progressing well but we could use funding to buy computers in order to render the movie in HD. We rendered some frames in HD, but the entire movie would be out of our hardware possibilities.
Of course this would not happen, this project is intended for people in America and we are from Eastern Europe.
Comment by Haiduc Andrei -
Pingback: Sho Bud Maverick Review Missoula Mavericks Michelle Maverick | Bubmufflers
Invest in russian economics, and rise the oil prices.
Comment by Alexey -
Mark,
I wont post my best ideas here. But here is one I’ll give away. It sounds kind of corny, but o’well here it is. How about a product that has been around for thousands of years feeding the poor and hungry. Rabbit, its inexpesive to raise and process. The meat is high in protein while low in fat. Rabbit is as easy to raise as chicken. I propose a rabbit in evey pot. I am interesed in feedback. Mark, if you don’t find this idea insane contact me. My best idea has no business plan currently. It would take a huge investment, a committee and a Hollywood Producer like Speilburg. Got any connections?
Comment by Brian -
Great investing guidelines…maybe you should send your plan into Washington…
Comment by toritiegert -
Hey,
My brother and i live in california. after the fires back in ’07, we saw a lot of people who had no idea what they were coming home to. we created a project – a website that allows people to create their own online inventory of things they own.
They can use digital cameras to snap pictures and/or video of their belongings. tag it. record it. and enter it into their online inventory. what’s gone is gone. it ain’t gonna come back, but with the ability to record and track your property at least you can get your fair value for your insured items.
To add personal context to it, my apt was burglarized when I was in college. I lost a lot of things – things I didn’t even find out about until 2-3 weeks down the road.
As for financials… tentatively thinking people pay a low price either yearly/annually. we could do either. Just enough to keep the server running and our internet connection up. This is more of a utility. I’ve seen the one they offer from Allstate. They got some guys to develop it in-house. It’s… pretty unwieldy and it’s not web-based. Meaning, chances are if you inventory it, you’ll lose your inventory list, too. Emphasis should be put on the fact that it’s not just for people in fire prone areas, but floods, areas in reach of natural disaster. Perhaps the biggest obstacle will be a certain section of the demographic and their reluctance to inventory/order/organize their things. I’m pretty sure people who have been burned (no pun intended) learn their lesson afterwards.
So what do you think?
Comment by kafung -
Mark, please refer back to the comment that was left on Feb. 14 at 4:33 p.m.
50/50 on all sales made inside the American Airline Center for five years. This will still allow me to the increase the number of carts inside the center.
I will give you 25% on all outside(outside of AA center) sales for two years with the contingency your people help me get into to doors that I can’t get into with out “some pull”.
Carts on a average make $250.00 to $450.00 an hour when setup where there are people.
If you agree to this…it will create some work for some “folks” that need it.
If you don’t…I will still do it, but have to scale down my approach.
Thanks,
Jonathan
Comment by Jonathan Farnsworth -
Mark, I’ve never had a chance to present any of my million dollar ideas to someone who could actually give it a real push in motion, so this chance could be a once in a life time thing for me. I thank you and your associates for providing this opportunity open to the public and independent businessmen like myself. I know that my business can create jobs for all kinds of people displaced from there jobs, homes and folks who are really hurting right now. And there will be jobs available for all kinds of educational backgrounds for a very quick turn around so I know this would be of great interest to you.
Business description: My existing business deals within the entertainment world of music,films,media,sporting events,concerts,shows and promotions. It is a new world in how music is sold,artist is signed and how movies are made and films produced, shot and are distributed. Look at what the popular television shows are and about and realizing it is a market that is virtually untouched in are region. My plan covers the whole entertainment spectrum of multi-diversity and makes Dallas the next big entertainment. Employing 1000’s in exciting new careers that they wouldn’t of every dreamed they’d be apart of, by giving on the job training in most departments to create a quick turnaround that won’t take years ad taxpayers dollars to invest in a not foreseen future. With your help I can make this business come to life, breath and shock a nation out of nowhere.
Advantage of my plans: First off there’s noway to explain every detail to you on this post and frankly my Idea in the wrong hands would give someone else the opportunity be the pioneer and I can’t let that happen. I’ll just speak about one branch of the whole plan and know that every different branch there a totally different structure but they all work as a moving part in making the bigger picture come to life.
MUSIC- Everyone knows that the music business has been changed because of the new digital era. Promotions are being done in new innovative ways and every monopoly of the entertainment field like for example (hollywood) will eventually have a independent competitor, someone who adapts to the changing world of entertainment. So who can bring the people into a position to have a chance at creating wealth, we are that company. The way I have this laid out and structured leaves my business with zero competition, and nothing but air and opportunity to expand and expand quickly. I have in place the formula to create a fast paced money making experience with bonuses to applicants who apply in the Music field for our company in scouting, event workers, producers, bookers to tour videographers, bus drivers, technical workers etc. I couldn’t even tell you how many jobs can be created and thats just in the music side of my company. We still have every other entertainment field that will be set in motion in this independent scale that will do the same as music just has to structured in a different way and I have the plans.
I’m unique, I’ve captured a piece of every side of the entertainment business from being a music artist to a film director, tour promoter, music scout and PR rep for a major recording company. Produced concerts, worked with casting agencies and modeling companies, owned a club, worked as a booking agent, worked with news stations, radio stations,schools events and was a pretty good all sports star in high school. The combination of merging the entertainment worlds as I have done, gives a very unique way of creating a new culture shock to a area (DFW) that will finally let us compete from the grass roots up with the monopolized entertainment companies.
Quick turn around- This is my priority, I will not overwhelm myself or my plans and this is how, I will use one department to fund the others. As each department picks up it will generate wealth to start up another and another and so far and so forth. I have been working on this whole concept for along time and what is needed right away even more then financial support is just having you Mr. Cuban, as a partner as a backing name brand that we can use as credibility to get each and every department structured and well organized.
It doesn’t matter what your investment is with my company, if its $1000 or $50,000 the amount will start a department up. Some will not be expensive or will only take something that doesn’t cost you anything to get going, like location, coverage, endorsement, etc. And this will create grass roots jobs starting within a department.
Structure: I am the founder and I have several well qualified volunteers whom have degree’s in the field they will be focused in working in. They like myself are working non profitably, we will invest every excess dollar made back into the company and in creating more jobs.
My background and experience: I have a degree in Video Production, so I am experienced in creating,producing,shooting and distributing. I will have other experienced people working as a team to be prepared for the unexpected as I will be.
Projected Investment: I would like for you have a stake in my company, I think you would be amazed at what Idea’s are out there that never gets to your desk. Its no one better whom I’d rather be able to talk to about business then you. $10k would be a great starter, will will turn that around in 1 month and start the structure of the first department Music/Film. We already own equipment and have manpower so this money will be to project invest. $50,000 would over use the ability to employ off right off really mobilize us to start all the basic departments and put teams together to build the network that will ultimately change the way we see entertainment in dallas. Anything more is just over kill as I already am in place to work with a low budget.
Thanks to you again,
Dir. J. Wells
Comment by Josey Wells -
Qtrax, an Internet company that promises the first free music download service paid for by advertisements, said Wednesday it had signed up the last of the four major recording companies and plans to relaunch next month.
The privately held New York firm’s premature launch last year annoyed the major record labels with whom it hadn’t yet signed licensing contracts.
With the signing of Warner Music Group Corp., Qtrax now has added all the major labels and their publishing units, following deals with Universal Music Group in May, EMI Group Ltd. in June, and Sony Music Entertainment in December.
“We had a somewhat embarrassing launch,” said Qtrax Chief Executive Allan Klepfisz. “Now, we clearly do want to make a lot of noise.”
Songs on the service, which can be downloaded to a personal computer and then transferred to a portable device, come with digital rights management software, which prevents copying.
That technology also will count how many times each song is played, Klepfisz said. The artists and labels with the most-played songs will receive the highest payments from the pool of advertising money.
Users will have to reconnect portable devices every month to the service to continue listening to the songs.
The service will be compatible with smart cell phones and most MP3 players, but not iPods right away, the company said.
About 300,000 people have been using a beta version of the software, but downloads were recently pulled as the company upgraded the system.
Lance Ford, a former Maxim magazine executive and Qtrax’s chief marketing officer, said advertisers will post ads on the Web application but not in songs.
“What they’re not going to do is get in the way of the process,” he said. “That’s where you start to lose users.”
MARK, I FEEL THAT YOU FIT PERFECTLY AS AN INVESTOR IN THIS AMAZING, UPCOMING WEB SITE.
Anthony Granic
Independent Entrepreneur / Mediator
Temecula, Southern California, 92591, U.S.A.
Comment by Anthony Granic -
Hi Mark,
I am submitting a business plan for open source funding for musicians called Microfundo:
The vision of Microfundo is to change the way the world finances music by applying the principles of micro-financing to the music industry – a Kiva.org for music. Microfundo is supporting economic development in music capitals around the globe by developing an Artist Funding platform that allows music fans to give financial support directly to their favorite artist.
The business model is structured so that money raised goes directly to the artists and they maintain ownership and control of their art.
There are possibilities of expanding into other kinds of art including film.
Through key partnerships our technology development is already completed and the Microfundo platforom will be launching with its first artist funding projects in March 2009.
The full business plan is posted here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12415981/Microfundo-Bus-Plan-
and a four year financial projection is posted here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p-4bJeeZXxsedp0vCVEWKKg
thank you for this great invitation
Comment by Brad Powell -
Hi Dennis-
Wonderful plan. Are you possibly in the Southern California area? I would like to help you expand upon and collaborate with you on your idea for the Center(s). Please feel free to email me at swedishphd@yahoo.com
Comment by Karin Celosse -
Create jobs, improve lives, make the plan repeatable and scalable, and build it to be in the black in 90 days. Okay!
Social entrepreneurship at work…
Needs: Create new jobs, provide a program for kids to stay out of trouble, provide a safe place for children so that those who work second shift don’t have to leave kids home alone…
Kids frequently saying “I’m bored”? Kids starting down the road to trouble? No safe place for kids between school and parents getting home?
Solution: Adventure Marks
There are plenty of places providing childcare on first shift, but few for second shift. And what are parents to do when school is out but they have to work?
Adventure Marks will add hours available whenever school is not in session.
Adventure Marks will have tutors to help kids make their “Marks” in school.
Adventure Marks will provide a place to learn music – reading the Marks of the musical language. (Music teachers won’t have to do this in their home.)
Adventure Marks will teach responsibility, repair skills, life skills, sports skills, cooking, etc.
Behavior of kids in the program will be Markedly respectful (or they won’t be in the program).
Adventure Marks will become the new standard (Mark) for kids growing up.
Adventure Marks will have well-trained leaders working with the children. They will learn civics, sharpen their thinking skills, learn employment skills, and so much more.
First 30 days:
Hire and train staff
Write manuals
Make sure chosen location is up to code (lots of empty churches with plenty of unused classrooms and gyms available during the week)
Market the service
Second 30 days:
Take in first set of kids
Document successes
Market the service
Third 30 days:
Have enough kids to pay all the bills – including the paychecks of all those who were previously unemployed or underemployed.
Those who replicate this need to know their market.
The rules for participation must be clear, and always followed.
The Juvenile Justice program in some places will contribute financially to this if it’s shown to be a success – perhaps even providing a person fulltime on the staff. The school district may provide someone fulltime as well – if they see the benefit. Likely there will be pastors and others who will volunteer their time, as this is likely to make a huge difference in small towns especially – by reducing crime, giving purpose to kids, and including more kids in extra-curricular activities. Other organizations will be welcome to meet there – such as Scouting, 4-H clubs, etc. Kids will be encouraged to be in these groups as well as music, sports, reading clubs, etc.
Because there will be differences based upon the people available and the location Adventure Marks will meet, each location will be unique. But they will all be consistent in providing quality education opportunities.
In my context, I have in mind a specific church building, located very close to the Middle School. As a volunteer tutor in the schools, I know about a third of the kids in the area. There are a few state facilities here which have significant employment around the clock. I’m not the best one to head this up, but I am one to coordinate all the hiring, getting most of the various opportunities started, and will volunteer a significant amount of time (especially to work with kids with significant challenges in their home environments).
Finances:
For my location, we will need $70,000 in start-up costs. ($50,000 is probably sufficient, but I want to make sure to cover anything unexpected.) Start up funds will cover all expenses of the first 60-90 days, including insurance, utilities, salaries, legal fees, signage, necessary equipment, a specialized security system, etc. With sufficient funding, it will be possible to offer a discount for the first 30-60 days, which will get lots more kids started into the program.
During the school year, having 90 kids in the program, the monthly budget will be $15,000. But this program will be kicked off in the summer, which will involve first and second shift, and so the budget with 120 kids will be $20,000. 120 participants will be the limit, based on the building available. I expect a waiting list to develop, and for it to become as long as the number of active participants. This will allow for ability to build a building completely suitable to the purpose, adding capability for gymnastics, bowling, swimming, etc.
Parents and grandparents will want their kids in the program. Civic groups will volunteer to provide the costs for a few children, and they will send in leaders to tell about their occupations, etc. The alternative high school will want to meet there, and will pay part of the rent, and will pay their staff person. Churches will provide funding for some of the kids. Folks with greenhouses will provide instruction in exchange for some free labor from the kids – at critical times in their industry. A fitness club will relocate to the facility and provide instruction for those old enough – in exchange for free rent and utilities. The city here has its own electric and water utilities, so it is quite possible to get a significantly reduced rate for several years. Tax abatements will be obtained. The list goes on and on.
At $10 per day per kid, with only 60 kids, this will break even during the school year. That’s extremely cheap, and likely the market will support charging more. The fee structure can be arranged by the hour, or by being present for specific times/activities. Meals will be extra – not included in the base price, as that is something negotiated with the groups providing the meal (one during school year, and two during summer).
With all the volunteers, perhaps you would think this wouldn’t work as a for-profit entity. But in the town size of 3000 to 25,000 residents the idea of having a nice facility for kids, and reducing problems with kids, there will be many who support this.
The reason for using a church building to start, is that it keeps from requiring more financing upfront, before the business is established. It allows for a year or two of savings before building, a track record so that a loan will be easy to obtain, and people will be looking forward to Adventure Marks providing even more jobs and more opportunities for the kids.
Ownership, ROI, licensing, etc – all are negotiable with whomever provides the start-up funding.
I’m a pastor with a very underutilized building, a church board looking to do something significant to help the kids of the community, and in the church are bankers, lawyers, many teachers, and several without jobs. The local population is around 6000, so there aren’t many things available for the kids. The dropout rate at the local high school is fairly high, and there are significant problems with boredom and kids on the streets with nothing much to do.
I could start on a small scale with 15 kids this summer (limiting it to 4th-8th grades only), and it wouldn’t require start-up funds. But if I’m going to commit to this I’d rather shoot for 80 – 120 kids, and put 4-6 people to work (part-time at an average wage of $12 per hour). And I’d like to have an architectural drawing of the potential future of Adventure Marks as a selling point to the city, chamber of commerce, schools, bankers, etc. If the project is a go, I’d like to purchase an option on the property where the new facility will be built. A successful licensed childcare provider will be hired to manage the operation, and will help establish the detailed plan.
The detailed plan will be in place by March 16, negotiations and agreements in place by April 1, Funding in place April 15.
Comment by Dennis Scheibmeir -
Hi Mark,
I’m about to graduate from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and have been working on my current company, Stealth Design for about 2 years. We design high-end, tech-integrated executive desks for high net-worth and productivity-conscious executives, celebrities, and political figures. To be fully transparent, we have only designed for executives thus far, but we’re working on the rest.
The simplest way to describe what we do is that we make technology clutter disappear from the desk surface. Our desks have mechanisms which make LCD monitors, peripherals, sound system, etc. disappear at the push of a button. Even more than our product itself, we hope to change the overall public perception of what a desk should be. Desk design hasn’t fundamentally changed for centuries, and there’s enough technology available now that it needs to.
Value: decreased distraction, increased productivity, improved image/style, and due to the initial custom nature of the designs, improved sense of individualism in the room.
We are in the final round of the Ray Scherr Business Plan competition here at Cal Poly. Our demo prototype is at about 70%, and we plan to finish it by Feb. 20th for the final round of pitching. I have a marketing class doing market research right now, and their report should be done by finals week this quarter.
Here’s our pitch:
http://app.sliderocket.com/app/FullPlayer.aspx?id=353FC454-5F3F-0F8A-D6C5-4A47118E68FA
We have very little overhead right now. I’ve paid cash for all our tools and materials, except for one lift, and I have 2 unpaid designers. They are passionate and willing to work for the promise of changing the design world in the future.
I am willing to give up 5-7% of the company for 10k. I do not have a full business plan, but I can tell you how I would allocate it. I would spend as little money as possible to contact 2 people regarding custom pieces initially, to establish what the market wants and how much they’re willing to pay for it. The first two people I will offer to will be Jason Calacanis and Tim Ferriss. Jason and our team had a neat videoconference where he just talked about his life, his experience in being an entrepreneur and went on to encourage us to pursue entrepreneurship if we truly felt that was our passion. It would be a privilege to design a desk that satisfies his individual productivity needs and style (we could toss in some Tesla curve elements :-). Tim Ferris is big on putting technology in its place, so I think he would really benefit from our design philosophy. He actually wrote a blog posting in which he commented that he doesn’t use desktop computers because he can’t “close the lid” on them. Plus he has a great audience. The rest of the money will be spent on materials and mechanisms. As our market is the luxury market, we will be using larger margins. Because of our low overhead we will be profitable immediately after our first sale. I have a local custom fabricator, Jory Brigham, whose fee will be built into the price, and I will only be dispensing salaries as profit permits.
Long-term vision: Initial penetration into high-end retail boutiques, then gradual volume increase once market is established, with the help of our Chinese manufacturing guru, Ron Meritt. Ron is the inventor of the original affordable automotive DVD player. I say gradual, because we will be focusing on becoming the quality leader. Mostly because I want to, but also because it’s a good negotiating point when we go to sell.
Thank you for time, Mark.
Comment by Bill Trammel -
Idea (1) I have an idea for securing the lock of a house door while still allowing for easy key entrance by the police or fire department in an emergency. It is very simple almost as simple as the smile button. I have no money to apply for an invention patent or a copyright so I have told absolutely no one.
Idea (2) Also, I have an idea for affordable energy efficient housing communities that may be agreeable to green builders and apartment dwellers because a larger percentage of the population should be living in quality smaller multiunit homes that are preserving and conserving of energy, ecology, environment, and recyclying. This concept idea has been with me since ~1982. I have told friends and there is almost no possible way to disagree.
Thank you for this opportunity to express an idea.
Comment by Helen Bush -
Mark,
I need $0 to $200,000. I know a couple of IT people that can develop a search engine within 2 months or we can used your IT people to develop a Search Engine that will allow shoppers to find any items, from books, foods, electronic equipment, cars, real estate, etc. (anything that is sellable and sellers can be individuals, businesses or organizations). Let’s say you are looking for a specific notebook you can search with the search engine for model, make, etc. and anyone worldwide that is selling that specific model and make will get an email with how much you are willing to pay. The Search Engine will not allow sellers to connect directly with buyers. Search Engine will have an area to put Brand, Make, Model, New, Used (if used what condition, etc.) and a place to put your Bid Amount. The Seller can accept the bid or send a counter offers and put any additional charges such as shipping charges. The buyer can then accept the selling price or give a counter offer. People want bargains. Seller will automatically get charge a 2% fee plus whatever amount the credit card service charges 1%-3% (depending on credit card company-Visa, MasterCard, American Express, etc.) upon agreed to sell/buy agreement. The 2% is our fee. The buyer’s fee is 0% although there may be shipping charges that the buyer may have to pay; it all depends on the seller. There will be billions of dollars being transacted daily after a couple of years (with 2.5% fee that’s a possibility of ten’s of millions of dollars daily). I only require 10% of the profit with 90% to be yours. With your team of IT people I think they can develop the program in one month, in addition, this is really your business since you would own 90% of it (since I can’t afford $100,000 I will make nothing from this idea without your help). PS you will have full control of the business for as long as you choose to keep the business. Thanks Mark. Rafael
Comment by Rafael Baltazar -
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Mark,
I happened to see a video clip of your stimulus proposition on WFAA news. I thought it was an interesting idea. After reading many of the posts on your blog, I must admit I am a bit skeptical and share some of the concerns left by others. Nevertheless, I have a business plan that is going nowhere right now due to lack of funding, team and time. I decided to share my thoughts here with the hopes of moving it forward; if not by me then by someone else.
About ten years ago, I started to explore an outsourced IT business model specializing in the needs of small to medium businesses here in the DFW area. Specifically, I wanted to get into the managed services business. I thought seriously about pursuing it over the years but was always waiting for the “right time.” Last year, the right time came to me in the way of a layoff. When it happened, I thought it (the layoff) was a good thing; it forced to do something I should have done years ago. I was off to a promising start; a verbal on initial funding, couple of strong client prospects, a network for leads generation and staff identified to come onboard. Then came the stock market crash…
I’ve been speaking with many here in the IT industry lately. The demand for companies providing outsourced IT services is thriving – even with the current state of the economy. I’ve concluded there is enormous amount of opportunity for what I propose. I also believe the IT services industry as a whole is poised for growth similar to what was experienced in the late 90s.
The use of outsourced services has already become the norm for businesses of all sizes. Of course, there will always be companies who will choose to maintain their IT infrastructure and support functions using internal resources. However, I believe the vast majority of businesses will require (request) some level of external support. Additionally, many will want us to house/manage the core infrastructure in our datacenter for a variety of reasons – i.e. security, environmental controls, compliance, power redundancy, etc. This is where I envision my managed services model would be fully executed. With leasing programs from DELL, SPLA licensing from Microsoft and cloud computing techniques (virtualization), a highly efficient, cost effective, scalable, on demand environment could be established with minimal capital investment. Add to this PBX (VoIP) support and even more possibilities emerge. This would be an ideal offering for small companies, businesses relocating or downsizing, startups, disaster recovery sites and for virtual offices.
I’ve also been working on a “managed services product.” I’ve dubbed it iBOSS; which stands for Integrated Back Office Solutions Server. Essentially, it is one physical server with all the functionality of multiple physical servers typical in a traditional back office environment. With one physical server and virtualization software, I can create many instances of servers – production and test – performing a variety of functions in concert. To the end user (client, customer service agent, web surfer, software developer, etc), it will deliver the same user experience. Depending on initial hardware, server instances could be added/removed/updated with minimal risk to the environment, no downtime and no additional hardware expense. The use of virtualization to consolidate servers and for better utilization of resources isn’t new. In fact, I’ve been doing it for years. Interestingly however, I’ve been unable to find anyone who is “packaging” this in a way to market to small, medium and startup businesses as a turn-key solution. With one server, they can get the latest Windows file / print server; exchange email, fax server, Internet server, Intranet server, database server and much more – a completely integrated back office solution. The iBOSS can also be based on Linux to be even more cost effective. Moreover, customized solutions can be ready to go in as little as 24 hours once processes for imaging are established. This option would be perfect for startups, remote offices, medical clinics and strip malls.
At the heart of either of these options is support. First and foremost, my goal would be to build an organization that would provide the best technical support available anywhere. I also want to be directly associated with the Dallas / Ft. Worth area. DFW Tech Support, LLC will be the name of this new company. From a marketing perspective, this company name would provide a tremendous advantage. In addition to SOE efforts, I believe there are several good ways to target prospects for this area; your rules 3 & 4 are a stretch but definitely doable.
Thanks for providing the opportunity and forum to share my thoughts.
Comment by Allen Williams -
Gay porn. Porn = America’s dirty secret – even Fortune 100’s are in on it. Professional studio sells DVD’s wholesale to distributors for $19.95/ea. 5,000 sales per title is average. PPM is a huge market – extra profit. Each title costs under $30k to produce – just under $100k in sales. PPM and pay site licensing opportunities for each title. Can also sign models as exclusives and book them at clubs throughout nation. I have already been recruiting talent — hardest part but most fun for me. The whole fake it to you make it is working well. Promote safer sex: models are STD testing before shoots and all videos have condoms. Part of proceeds donated to HIV/AIDS foundations. Not something I’d want to tell my priest about, but a viable and legit business nonetheless. The screaming about “we can’t make a profit because of the tube sites, etc.” is unfounded. Tube sites for used by teenagers without credit cards. Nobody else has the patience for them. Porn producers have been screaming they can’t make a profit for years — keeps new entrants out of the market. I used to be in the business, Bush administration scared me, they are gone, want to go back in. Based on the vibe in America, it will be a long time before LEGIT producers have to worry about justice dept. First title can be pressed and out in 45 days, on PPM networks like AEBN much sooner.
Comment by JB -
Mark, thank you for providing this opportunity. I hope my business is of interest to you.
Business description: I have an existing business which is a web-based business simulation game. Players create companies and compete against each other to build the most successful business over the course of 70 days. It is free to play, however about 10% of players purchase premium memberships, which is how the game generates revenue.
This business is my full-time job. It is cash-flow break even NOW. I am spending all revenue on development and advertising, after paying hosting costs for the site.
Competitive advantage: The browser-based games industry is very fragmented now. There is lots of competition, but also lots of opportunity. My game offers unique gameplay that is a refreshing change from the very common mafia, pirate, and space battle games. It is also family friendly and non-violent, making it suitable for younger players.
The opportunity: Our advertising WORKS. We recruit new players from other game sites and from Google advertisements. The Google ads cost us about 25 cents per completed registration, and about 5% of those turn into paying customers. So the acquisition cost is about $5/customer. Each paying customer generates about $3.50/month revenue, so it takes less than 2 months for each customer to become profitable.
If I am able to raise funding, the money would primarily be spent to increase advertising to ramp up growth. We can increase our budget on Google, but additional advertising methods would also be explored and tested for effectiveness. If we spent $5000/month on a carefully controlled ad campaign, I expect we could recruit up to 1000 paying customers per month.
We also have plans for the development of a new game, but that is a longer-term project so your funding would not be used for that since it would not fit your 60 and 90 day criteria.
Company structure: I am the founder of the business and I have one developer who works for me. In addition I have several volunteers who function as game staff.
My background and experience: I have a background in systems engineering, so I am experienced in scalability and security. I am prepared to deal with the issues that would come up when site traffic starts to grow exponentially.
I also have a business degree and experience working at startups. This is not a hobby project for me. I fully intend to grow it into a very profitable business.
Investment: I am asking for an investment of $60,000 and can offer you a 15% stake in the company. This could be a monthly investment of $5000 for 12 months to meet your criteria.
Cheers,
Doug Granzow
Comment by Douglas Granzow -
Mark,
GBUY– the online store that not only lets you buy products, but avoids shipping and handling costs by printing off a certificate after payment that is eligible at a qualified store (macy’s, target, etc.). This saves money by having no shipping and handling. This would especially be good for high-demand products hard to find in actual stores.
Just an idea, I used it for my business plan for my high school entrepreneurship class this year.
Comment by Grant Shreve -
Mark,
My business idea would be cash flow positive day one, but it would require a $4 million build out of a car dealership that was built in 1920. Due to historic preservation requirements, the building can not be demolished. The location has been vacant for 2 years. I estimate creating 20-25 jobs, with the management structure you detail in your criteria.
I have two questions:
Have you found any opportunities that you are going to invest in?
Should I continue and send you the detailed business plan, or does the need for financing for lease hold improvements before opening the business disqualify me from the get go?
Comment by Jessica -
Correction to THE LEGACY SCHOOL plan — Teachers are paid. The “unpaid” notation belongs to the advisory board members.
Comment by kelley pettit -
THE LEGACY SCHOOL OF ROCKWALL — opening fall 2009
Detailed business plan posted at: http://www.legacy-school-rockwall.org/Business_plan.html
Already have:
501(c)3 certification from IRS
Strong Board of Directors led by President of Texas Psychological Association (all unpaid)
Highly qualified Director (currently working unpaid)
Strong Advisory Board that includes longtime member and past chair of State Board of Education, former Presidential advisor, SMU professors, award-winning author on link btwn learning differences and giftedness, pediatrician, developmental therapist.
Well-qualifed applicants for teaching positions. (all unpaid)
Based on expressed interest, enough students to open this fall.
What we need:
Advance funds to purchase state of the art technology equipment and systems, classroom furnishings, teacher compensation expenses for first 2 months.
Profitability:
Because we are a 501(c)3, no individual or group of individuals benefits from profit. However, business plan supports capacity to cover all operating expenses through tuition, grants, private and business donations. In addition to covering operating expenses, revenue will be sufficient to invest in long-term growth and scholarship programs that allow students to attend regardless of financial circumstances.
Thanks for your consideration.
THE LEGACY SCHOOL OF ROCKWALL
Comment by kelley pettit -
International Coal Conversion, LLC
“A GREENTECH Company Converting Coal into High-Grade Chemicals”
Oklahoma City, OK 73112 (405) 842-5858
Executive Summary
“Clean Coal ? – How and Why Now?”
“The Right Team for The Right Time”
A GREEN, All-American Rural Economic Engine to Revitalize U.S. Coal Country
New, Primary / Secondary Job Creation
Significant Economic Impact
Rural American Revitalization
Superior Investor ROI
Executive Summary
________________________________________
This paper is an outreach tool to All Stakeholders about International Coal Conversion, LLC’s endeavor to develop and implement a successful coal sector initiative beginning in eastern Oklahoma and spreading throughout U.S. coal country. ICC’s Greenfield project has (1) established a strategic alliance with the Oklahoma patent and patent-pending holders and creators of a significant clean/green improvement to existing coal technology, and (2) built upon the alliance to develop an enterprise model with substantial rural economic impact potential. Oklahoma is the location for the prototype impact model adaptable to the rest of American coal country to (1) keep American jobs in America with special emphasis on Native American community development, (2) substantially help shift America’s petroleum industry toward utility of crude oil for fuel only rather than refining large percentages of crude into petrochemicals, (3) contribute to a positive American balance of payments, (4) bring economic revitalization to rural Oklahoma Native America first, then to other rural America regions.
The Project is Totally Shovel-Ready.
ICC has moved the business model toward implementation and achieved every development goal except obtaining capital funds to construct and install the equipment which utilizes the technology and drives the business model – environmentally clean, safe, emission free, insured conversion/extraction plants which produce high-grade, globally high-demand products.
International Coal Conversion, LLC and the Oklahoma technology developer have an Owner/ Operator strategic alliance where ICC is the licensee of the patented and patent-pending technology. An ICC plant applies major improvements on an existing Low Temperature Carbonization method for converting inexpensive raw coal into high-demand, high-value com-mercial and industrial chemical products with tremendous domestic & global market potential.
The fuller Business Plan, beyond the scope of this brief Executive Summary, addresses the important issue/questions: How does the technology work? How broad and long-term is the domestic & global market demand? How will ICC impact America’s rural communities and the resulting job creation? What will be the local and statewide economic impact from an ICC market entry? How does the investor benefit?
ICC owns the conversion plant(s). The technology provider operates them. Each plant employs 44 local Americans. To insure a satisfied and stable workforce, the salary/ wage scale is above the existing averages in the communities where plants are installed. A three plant cluster is estimated by consulting firm Booz-Allen & Hamilton to create 125 primary and 375 secondary jobs with an economic impact exceeding $175 million annually. In addition to newly created primary jobs, the secondary job workforce expands employment in mining, transportation/ logistics and existing businesses throughout the current mine country communities. Additional impact recipients/beneficiaries include local schools, health services, municipalities, retail outlets.
ICC brings (1) American jobs to rural America and (2) supplies component chemical products, now made largely from refined crude oil, with exactly the same products which can be derived from coal; thus retaining/expanding American jobs. The technology DOES NOT BURN valuable coal, but converts it into high molecular weight chemical oil, carbon pitch and activated carbon.
Major markets throughout North America, the European Union and Asia/Pacific have been predetermined to use the “building block” or “feedstock” materials. Investor yields exceed 35%.
The Business Description
________________________________________
International Coal Conversion, LLC is an Oklahoma company. The business converts raw coal into high-value, high-demand chemical component products with domestic and global industrial, commercial and consumer applications. Each ICC facility annually converts 112,000 tons of raw coal into three basic marketable component commodities, which are then used to make finished high-demand products. A consistent cost-effective footprint for individual plants optimizes output and market demand more efficiently than a “mega” plant.
The converted products are high-grade chemical oil, carbon pitch and activated carbon. High-demand industries which use the component products include:
Plastics (Toys, Automobile Parts/Components, Containers, Picnic Ware, Computer & Printer Cabinets, Trash Bags, Trash Cans, Boats, Aerospace Applications, Outdoor Furniture, Eyeglass Materials, Chip Resistant Paint, Cafeteria Trays, Octane Boosters, etc.)
Carbon Applications (Pharmaceuticals, Kidney Dialysis Machine Filters, Air/Water Purification/Filtration, Agriculture Applications, Sewage Treatment Carbon. Gas Mask Filters).
Aluminum (Drink Cans, Storm Doors/Windows, Household Foil, Decorative Foil, Cooking Utensils, RV’s, Tent Poles, Ladders, Gas Grills, Wind Chimes, Cookie Sheets, etc.)
The construction footprint is complete and in-place from a national architect/engineering/ environmental firm. A bonded 98 year old manufacturing firm will construct/fabricate 11 “skid mounted” modules, tested before shipping, then assembled into a complete conversion plant and re-tested by a bonded award winning construction and general contracting firm. Each is an Oklahoma company. The cost to ICC is totally turnkey, with a guarantee of NO cost increases or overruns. The footprint repeats itself throughout domestic/global coal country locations.
ICC’s owners have received a non-cash Oklahoma Department of Commerce incentive package of $117 million over the next ten years. The first site is selected in a fully equipped Industrial Park with the local Improvement Authority trading ICC “land for jobs” and is 25 miles from the local mine supplying the lost-cost raw coal.
Legitimate, increasing environmental concerns include industrial emissions, the “greenhouse” effect, global warming and depletion of the ozone layer. ICC’s efficient conversion plants produce no more emissions than a family’s ordinary hot water tank, will generate 70% of their own electricity requirements and are environmentally green/clean. Since ICC does not burn coal, there are NO carbon & NO hazardous emissions from a fully enclosed ICC facility. ICC provides positive solutions to a growing energy dilemma, supplies a market demanding superior quality commercial, industrial and consumer products and adds significant community improvements.
Buyers for all plant output are in-place. Each location fully qualifies for (1) New Market Tax Credits plus (2) a secondary source of income results from selling valuable carbon credits.
Each plant requires a low capital investment compared to most chemical operations, $45 million with an annual operating income of $76 million and an annual yield of a strong 35%+.
For a completed conversion plant’s components to be delivered to their rural Oklahoma field location, assembled, tested and the conversion process begun is an estimated 10-14 months.
After reading this brief Summary, an inquirer may readily ask a number of questions:
A clean, green project converting low-grade coal into high-value chemicals ?
NO carbon emissions or greenhouse gases ?
NO negative environmental impact ?
NO smog particulates or ozone depletion ?
A 35%+ financial yield ?
A technology “performance guarantee” through a technology insurance liability umbrella?
“ You are kidding, right? ”
No, we are not.
ICC can back-up all of our claims and look forward to defending our position.
ICC’s introduction into the marketplace will:
1. Create solid, high-paying American jobs in economically disadvantaged regions.
2. Become an economic engine in U.S. coal country communities.
3. Benefit our Native American population through long-term employment opportunities.
4. Provide significant long-term investment return to shareholders.
5. Reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil because ICC’s three chemical replacement feedstock products are now derived from refined crude oil.
6. Help decelerate America’s foreign debt and improve our negative balance of payments.
ICC’s owners welcome inquiries and once a confidentiality and non-disclosure statement is signed are glad to respond with the full Business Plan, PowerPoint presentation and complete back-up for our claims.
Contact Information
Mr. Lance Johnson hlancejohnson@sbcglobal.net
Comment by Lance Johnson -
Mr. Cuban, Thank you for the opportunity for sharing my idea in this forum, I look forward to input and guidance.
Concept: Bring live game action into the television viewer’s home or favorite sports bar via the Internet to enhance the broadcast experience. This can work in every NBA, NHL, NFL and MBL city in North America.
Equipment:
At the Venue: New Hardware: push-button signaling equipment, one Internet connection.
Off site: Server, T-1 access
Subscriber: High Speed Internet connection, LED lights, Horn with variable sound. The subscriber pays a set up fee that covers the equipment and a nominal monthly subscription charge.
Example: (NHL team in this case) When your team makes a goal, the official presses a button to register the point. That equipment will be retrofitted with our equipment to interface with the Internet. The official will still press a button but now we have a remote signal of the score, signaling the user with flashing LEDs and a horn blast.
Targeted Market: Residential and Commercial customers.
I look forward to your comments and advice.
Comment by Mike Lassiter -
Mark,
Nice idea. I hope it works.
Ryan Pettit
Comment by ryan pettit -
Lisa Avenue Proposed Business Concept:
Objective: A nationwide service oriented company that provides varying levels of Organizing services and training to residential, commercial and real estate clientele.
90 day objective:
A) Assemble 25 “city teams” of Organizers – educate them with our proprietary Seminar and Instructional system of Organization. ( 700 JOBS nationwide)
B) Assemble a commission only “city sales team” armed with sales collateral and planned objectives- target customers and goals and accountability plan.
C) Develop a corporate website for scheduling and disseminating Organizational materials. and blogs., etc.
Sales and service will provide a 5% return to the bottom line.
Grow the business with branding and organizational products and a CABLE TV SHOW!
If there is any future interest in this conceptual business plan I will be more than happy to post the sales and marketing portion of the business plan as well as any other pertinent information needed to make a decision in this matter.
As for recouping your investment – I am assuming since this is Mark Cubans Economic Stimulus plan and not Mark Cubans build my portfolio plan – a return on your investment over three years plus capitalized interest of that equal to that which would be earned in a money market fund should suffice.
Thank you for your consideration
LMS
Comment by Lisa McWain -
very small businesses can break even at 60 days and earn profit for 90 days, it looks impossible for mid or big size internet-ad businesses. I run business with 20mln revenue / 4mln net profit for a 5 years, I do not believe someone will send interesting idea against this crushual rules, I better will invest my money than have such a partner.
Comment by Muslim Shortanov -
Stat Optimal Services
Business Plan
Executive Summary
Stat Optimal Services (SOS) will be in the business of providing non-emergency medical transportation to assist individuals and institutional clients with dependable, affordable, non-emergency transportation to and from nursing home to a hospital, doctor appointments, therapy and any other non-emergency transportation not listed.
What We Offer
Medical transportation is becoming increasingly complex, and to be cost-effective requires offering a host of options that represent different degrees of medical attention and sophistication. Stat Optimal Services offers a wide variety of general non emergency medical transportation services.
Many patients — particularly long-term care patients — require medical transportation on a regular basis for non-emergency situations … such as visits to a medical facility for dialysis, chemotherapy or other regular medical treatments.
While many of these transports do require some degree of medical care, the vast majority do not require the extensive — and costly — skills and equipment of a fully staffed paramedic ambulance. Stat Optimal Services offers an appropriate level of care to every non emergency transportation situation.
All of our vehicles will be ADA certified and equipped to accommodate wheelchairs and gurneys (stretchers).
Our Target Market
Stat Optimal Services target market will be dependable service for the elderly, handicapped, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living centers and anyone else needing transportation for medical appointments including: Eye Appointments, Medical Testing, Non-Emergency Hospital Visits, Doctor Appointments, Therapy Sessions, Cancer Treatment, Outpatient Visits and other medical appointments.
Size and Growth Trend of Target Markets
Market research suggests the citizens of the Dallas/ Ft. Worth (DFW) metropolis will readily embrace the services offered by SOS. With a current population of nearly 6 million people, the introduction of such a time savings service will provide the DFW citizens with an alternative means of quality, safe, dependable and affordable transportation service.
Stat Optimal Services plans to expand geographically to other cities that fit the demographic requirements identified through market research. The growth rates in these markets are expected to be similar to that of the DFW market. Based upon realistic growth rate assumptions there will still be a great deal of potential for expansion beyond year five.
Operations Strategy
Stat Optimal Services will be directly responsible for screening potential suppliers/vendors/employees, operation of the call center, coordination of account payment and delivery of our premium service to clients. The marketing strategy will create a brand image for SOS. To reach our target market, SOS will use mass mailings, personal referrals and tele-marketing. Within the first six months of operations a web site will be established. The SOS staff will grow from 5 personnel in year one to 25 in year five.
Critical Risks
Management recognizes there are several internal and external risks inherent in the SOS concept. Quality and response time will be key factors in the consumers’ decision to utilize the service on a continual basis. Also, consumers must be willing to accept the services offered by SOS in order for the company to meet its sales projections. A strong marketing strategy and careful screening of employees and service providers will mitigate these risks. Building a loyal and trusting relationship with our customers and partners is a key component to the success of Stat Optimal Services.
The Founder
Stat Optimal Services was founded by Charles E. Cunningham
Charles E. Cunningham, Jr.
Charles Cunningham, Jr. is a Licensed Nursing Facility Administrator with 8 years experience in the Elderly Care profession. He is an innovative health care executive with in–depth experience in all aspects of Nursing Facility / Elderly Care development and integration. Some of his numerous accomplishments include Nursing Facility Administrator License, Social Work Certification, Family Preservation Certification, Primary Restraint Technique Certification, Basic Cardiac Life Support and others. In his last position, Charles was the Administrator for Dalworth Nursing & Rehabilitation Center where he was responsible for the overall operation of the home and direction of the work force. Accountable for resident care, state and federal survey compliance, positive employee relations, sound financial performance, effective business planning, and implementation of a performance improvement program.
Initial Funding
Stat Optimal Services is currently seeking funding in the amount of $1,277,412. This will include startup and three (3) years operating capital (See Chart Below). Stat Optimal Services will consider outside investment return for a 30% equity ownership of the company.
209,000 = Drivers & CEO & CFO
126,000 = Vans
1,368 = Oil Changes
20,000 = Maint.
131,400 = Gas
12,000 = Marketing * COST CONTROL*
4,080 = Communications *NEXTEL*
828.05 = Start Up “Communications”
2,400 = Materials & Supplies *COST CONTROL*
6,000 = Insurance * ESTIMATE*
1st year Total = 513,076
2nd year total minus the vans = 382,168
3rd year total minus the vans = 382,168
3 year total = 1,277,412
High end of the Revenue
If each van did 15 trips of Stretcher 2 way /day = 1,500 x 3 vans = 4,500 a day
(If SOS did 15 trips a day stretcher @ 85.00 a trip = 459,000 a year x 3yrs = 1,296,000 or x 5yrs = 2,295,000)
(* Pervious cost figures for stretcher were @ 100.00 per trip instead of the 85.00 *)
4,500 x 365 = 1,642,500 a year, x 3 years = 4,927,500, x 5 years = 8,212,500
Low end of the Revenue
If each van did 15 trips of wheelchair 2 way /day = 600 x 3 vans = 1,800 a day
(If SOS did 15 trips per day W/C = 600 a day = 216,000 a year x 3 years = 648,000 or x 5 years = 1,080,000)
1,800 x 365 = 657,000 a year, x 3 years = 1,971,000, x 5 years = 3,285,000
High and Low Revenue expectation show some profit after expenses (1st year 487,768)
Please call me at 817-915-6733 or email me at charles_cunningham2003@yahoo.com thanks for your time and attention to this matter. -Charles Cunningham
Comment by Charles -
AcademyUniforms.com is a Fort Worth, Texas, woman-owned school uniform business. It was established in 2002 and combined with my existing business which was established in 1983. The business is focused entirely on school uniform sales. It is profitable, expanding and poised, ready to consolidate the fragmented national school uniform business.
Two ideas for nationwide consolidation are franchise opportunities and sizing kiosks. Both require employees, development and capital. Our franchise opportunity has been tested, although unsuccessful, due to the hurricanes affecting the area of the franchise location. The kiosk requires development and testing. The idea is solid and the need has already been identified.
I am the hands-on owner, finance officer, person responsible for marketing and developer of AcademyUniforms.com. I employee 2 full time employees, 2 part-time student employees, one senior citizen employee and 5 to 10 seasonal employees in the summer months who are either teachers or students. Our accounting, IT and web development needs are outsourced. We are building a new facility to accommodate our growth over the past 3 years. Our web sales are now 50% of our total volume.
We have 50+ schools under contract nationwide and serve an additional 20+ schools as a shared supplier. We are a destination retailer. Schools require their parents to shop with us. Customer service is our passion. As “Mothers”, we understand kids, we understand laundry and we know our product. If it doesn’t wash well, we don’t want to sell it.
We dress students from private, parochial or public schools from head to toe, including custom logo apparel. We do custom embroidery in-house. We also offer an “open” website for anyone to purchase our products. Our business model requires us to maintain a large in-house inventory and annual inventory commitments to our manufacturer.
We carry 2 price points in school uniforms, both manufactured by the same company, Elder Mfg., in order to offer our schools consistency in color and sizing. Elder Mfg. makes the highest quality of school uniforms available in US today. When other manufacturers are going further and further offshore to produce their fabrics and garments, Elder Mfg. maintains their quality and allows us to continue profitability in our business with generous margins without compromising our service to our customers.
Timing is right for a major expansion. Your consideration is appreciated. Our franchise opportunity and partial business plan may be viewed at the following link.
http://www.scribd.com/share/upload/9241209/1m0idfkp2pva3q07zju3
http://www.scribd.com/share/upload/9241497/btf6en06uxdmlq2kodi
Comment by J Underwood -
Hi Mark. Great idea to jumpstart the economy. Small personal business is what we are founded on. My business is: A debt purchasing/collections agency. I have over 30 years of mnanaging collection agencies and collecting debt. Credit card debt recovery. I buy debt from banks, etc. I then collect the money from the debtor, and it’s a win/win situation. Basically– I borrow $100k, get licensed and bonded in all 50 states, buy the debt, turn around and collect settlements, I make profit, the bank makes profit, and I pay you back at with interest. For a complete business plan, please email me. Thanks for reading
Comment by Betty -
Mr. Cuban,
Congratulations on generating a TON of traffic and discussion. This is a terrific sounding board for entreprenurial brainstorming. I’ve read through a good amount of what has been posted and I’m actually interested in the hydroponic farming concept introduced on one of the previous posts. If I had the capital, I already have a couple of places in mind to crank one up. :o) I also noticed some other folks that have the same ideas as I have to sell services for installation of open source products in the SMB niche. All I would ad to their postings is consider how much the small business pays for an office PBX ($20-40k from the big boys with only a smidge of services) then look at trixbox, an open source PBX.
The very first and most important entrepreneurs in American history is the American Farmer. Fortunately for us all, this hard working and shrewd individual is still alive and kicking and still making something of a living in our farm land, even here in Texas. I, like you, also believe that small business is the answer to this crisis and have been looking for a way to leave corporate life and enter small business myself. Nothing like eating your own dogfood, I always say…
I would like to see a combination one of our national goals and our country’s greatest resources get your help in some form or fashion. Energy independence and the American Farmer. What I propose is the development of a product which will produce 5kw of electricity using solar thermal technology, have a capital cost of $5-10k installed and be marketed to the farming community. The size and cost is key here. With the tax advantages/credits that the State of Texas and the federal goverment provides and the State mandate to credit to small producers extra production, a modest investment in a product which would provide a regular source of income for 20+ years. Did you know that the federal goverment provides a tax credit for every kw fed onto the grid?
This type of product would have multiple stimulative effects. The product being produced, the persons doing the installations, the income produce for millions of independant businesses, not to mention a distributed approach to national enegery independence through millions of individual investments, for profit…
The purpose of my post is to ask you to find such a product in the making and fund it. I think that a trifecta of technology exists today which could change how we produce electricity, if the price comes down and these technologies are mass produced.
1> wind energy
2> thermal solar
3> kinetic batteries
It is possible to find a 5kw wind generation system for around $5-10k (www.prarieturbines.com) or even kinetic batteries for production stablization (check out Beacon energy products), but what is missing is what we have the most of, solar electric production. Most are looking at what the big boys will buy, but not the small business. PV solar is too expensive and too inefficient, solar thermal is much better, but I have found nothing for small scale production. If one existed at the $1k to 1kw ratio, I would be the first in line to purchase.
Best of luck in your future ventures!
Comment by Kyle Bell -
to Jesse Midoleto that’s a great idea but I heard of people that would to that for prison other people would do the time for a monetary reward what you need to do is slow down the people that are sooooo!!! busy maybe they need to stop look around mmaybe talk to these volunteer’s and see how bad of shape not only the U.S.A. but the rest of us in this world I’m not putting down your idea because I think volunteer’s is the wrong word these people are SAINT’s the worry about you do you have food are you lost,can I help you with your utilities so on Jesse your on the right track
Comment by David Hughes -
Mark,
Here is our business plan for ThermoAthletics that is revolutionizing our understanding of human physiology.
http://webtech.kettering.edu/~aborcher/BPC/Exec%20Summary%20AVAcore.pdf
We can come and demonstrate the technology at your offices. We are EVIDENCE based. It is cutting edge technology from DARPA.mil.
-From the US Navy SEAL Team,
Richard
Comment by Richard -
i’d like to start an indoor fleamarket in my hometown. i see them popping up throughout texas and believe my hometown should be included in this type of trading. i’ve traded on ebay for 8 years and know how beneficial it is for us blue collar workers to trade moreso than going out purchasing new. i’d like a warehouse to rent space for trading products. i’m a shopaholic and my apartment is outgrowing me. please allow me this opportunity to put my true talents to use. p.s. i hope this is the “contest entry page”… lol
jb
Comment by Jai -
Mark,
Just a question, In what year will you run for President of the United States? You would win! Fresh ideas and someone man enough to back them up, will turn this around.
Mike Duncan
Greenwood, IN
Comment by Mike Duncan -
Transcription. Medical transcriptionist is “my” expertise and I’ve been doing it for 20 years. I’ve had my service for 10+ years now. I want to expand into legal and insurance transcription, but there is a need for capital for that expansion as equipment for clients to dictate on is needed. While many companies larger than mine have gone under or forced to merge, my company has progressed and survived through the years. I’m frugal when it comes to overhead and have run my entire business from my home to even avoid the overhead of an unnecessary office and the expenses to run it.
If you want an idea of potential, then I suggest you research a company by the name of “Medquist”. They are the “whale” in this field. However, most transcriptionists that you speak to or ex-clients of theirs will tell you that they are in it only for the numbers and that customer satisfaction is not high on the priority list and neither is employee satisfaction. YES, business is business, but I’ve been able to keep my contractors for years and the only reason they’ve left is when the workload is slow or they need medical benefits that my company does not provide (again, avoidance of overhead). I keep costs down and pass this along to my clients to insure I stay competitive.
Large companies also have a tendency to ship much of this type of work to foreign countries such as Pakistan and India. I would like to make it more of a conscious effort to insure that the work stays based here.
My company is based in a small town, population of approximately 15,000. If granted the funds to expand, I would like to make my hometown the primary base of operation and advertise it, bringing more attention to the area and perhaps more business. Our current leadership has run “my hometown” down and in response I even ran for mayor to “right things”. Same philosphy for supplying jobs for the area. I want to do it all by providing a major successful business.
I had one business loan for $80K. That has been paid off for more than 2 years now. The additional capital is needed to expand in terms of equipment for the expansion into other forms of transcription, as well as have the capital backing to insure payment to contractors. Whie I pay every two weeks, some clients tend to pay every 30 to 45 days.
I’ve also listed “none” regarding my website. My business has been run via “word of mouth”. I provide a high quality product and superior customer service and allow “my company’s performance to advertise itself”. I do all sales calls myself. Again, nobody can sell my business better than I can, but to really open things up, a program of company advertising will be needed.
In terms of your funding going into a bank. I would hope that you would choose a local bank, again to support my community.
As for a dollar amount, breaking even, and a return on your investment. Any amount of money would be something to get started with. If you want to allow a small amount so that just additional staffing can be hired, that is fine. The investment would be low, i.e. enough to hire 1-2 sales people to work 20 hours per week for the next two months. At $15/hour, this $5000 investment allows a huge amount of flexibility. Obtaining one “mid range” contract would allow your investment to be returned to you immediately as a contract of that size would easily be worth 20x that yearly. If $5K isn’t enough to get your attention, scaling up the cost to pay-off ratio is fine with me as the pay-off elevates at the same level of potential cost.
This field has been active for decades, created to avoid insurance problems and patient care. Its time to revamp the industry!
Comment by Earl Gable -
Mark
I am not writting to you about a buisiness proposal. We are already a small buisiness that is about to go under. Back in 2004 we flooded and lost everything. We have held it together up until this past year. Without your help we are not going to pull out of this one. We have 9 families that count on us. Our employee’s are on commision, and will not be able to receive unemployment should we fail. Fail is a word I do not like, and I do not want to fail anyone of them. Not to mention all the people who count on us to deliver our products to them. If we fail many people in the metoplex will be hurt also. Per our moto, if it doesn’t sell we will buy it back. With no capital left there is no way for us to keep our commitment to them.
So I am going to tell you a story about a Man named Jed. He is 65 years old and he is not only my boss and friend, he is my father. He is not my real dad by no means, we are not blood. Infact I didn’t even meet him until I was 24 years old. He is the only dad I have ever known. He worked all his life to save to buy this company. When one company went bankrupt, he lost every dime he invested but he kept on trucking. He is the backbone of this family and even raised his younger siblings. When an employee has to have surgery he holds nothing back. When someone passes he has footed every bill. He paid his mother in-laws house off and many other wonderful things. He is so worried about everyone he is not sleeping amoung other things. I am really worried about him. This is his life and I am afraid he won’t have one if we go under. He is about to return his pickup truck because he can no longer afford it. I don’t know about his home he won’t tell me. I don’t know when, where or how we will pay you back, but he is old school and a man of his word. We have already started to pick up some but not enough to save us. Summer time is a good time for our Company. He has been in buisness for 20 plus some odd years and we never advertise, it has been exposure and by word of mouth. We could even work out a deal to supply your home games with our product. We will do what ever it takes if you just believe in us. I hope that you can find one day out of your busy schedule to meet with him. Please help save my fathers lively hood. At his age he has no where else to go.
Proud to be his daughter.
Thank You for time,
P
Comment by ones only daughter -
sorry Mr Cuban here is the spell check version
Hello Mr. Cuban
Thank you for the opportunity to present my plan. It is my hope that someone can help.
I have worked in the hardwood industry most of my adult life. (my grandfather installed hardwood flooring) I started installing & refinishing wood flooring in the late 70’s and currently sell for a manufacture throughout the US. There have been a lot of changes in our industry some for the better some not.
Companies that once made products in the US, TV’s, electronics, cars and many more to numerous to mention have outsourced manufacturing to other countries. This has resulted in providing quality products that were once unaffordable to the masses, affordable. It has also provided many more new jobs for Americans in bringing these products to market.
The United States during the industrial revolution cut down
forests abused workers polluted the air & water. My point is that we all live in glass houses.
Americas (not all) leaders want us to believe that we are the victims, that we no longer have any imagination or inventiveness. This is why I am responding to your stimulus plan.
In America we have lobbyist that control our politic, in emerging countries its called corruption. (I think the only difference between the 2 is in the way they are spelled)
Our government with the aid of industry lobbyist has amended The Lacy Act (originally designed to stop the importation of endangered species) to include all plant & tree products and by products. This amendment is disguised as something that will prevent “illegally logged” trees.
Here are some products that cannot be imported without proper documentation NOTE papers that are used to provide correct documentation must also provide documentation that the paper is legal (scratching my receding hairline) Textiles, Paper & paper board, Pharmaceuticals, musical instruments, boats, cars, trains, Printed matter, cigarettes, resin, planes, umbrellas, paint brushes, furniture, wood pulp, lumber plywood just to name a few.
There will be a lot of companies and people affected by this legislation. I don’t know how small companies & lay people will be able to comply with outside help.
I believe that this creates a tremendous opportunity for any person or company that can help small to medium size companies that will be affected comply.
I would like to expose some of the treacherous individuals that are responsible for this ludicrous, hypocritical, protectionist legislation but I don’t believe it would be productive.
Once again I want to thank you Mr. Cuban & good lock to anyone who can make some $ off this
Comment by Rick Ingram -
I have an idea that I posted about on my blog (http://bit.ly/S6TJQ) today but I figured I’d cross-post here. It’s a way to help the community, the unemployed and the charities in your area. It could make a profit with a percentage take.
—
The basic idea is a marketplace for people who love to volunteer to post their desire to volunteer, an hourly rate and their location. Then along comes Mr. Too-Busy-To-Volunteer-But-Wants-To-Donate-Time. This guy, Mr. Too-Busy for short, can find a person or people who he would love to give money to in exchange for their volunteer hours at their place of choice. I know it sounds a little strange at first, but hear me out.
Scenario 1 – I’m out of work, need some money and I have skills that are desired at Philabundance (a food supply charity). Mr. TooBusy loves the idea of feeding the needy and he knows that Philabundance needs volunteers to sort through food. I request $8/hour to volunteer at a local food supply charity. Mr. TooBusy logs online, donates $80 and chooses me as his volunteer of choice. I accept his offer, volunteer for 8 hours, get it signed off by the organization and voila, $80 gets deposited into my Paypal or bank account.
Scenario 2 – I’m a student who needs extra money, loves to volunteer and it would look great on my resume. I post this information in addition to the fact that I love animals on this site. Mr. TooBusy comes online, finds me, offers me $6/hour. I then tell him how much time I can volunteer and he accepts my offer of 10 hours of volunteer work over the next 30 days. I volunteer at the local SPCA, I get it signed off by the organization, and voila again, $60 gets deposited into my Paypal or bank account.
These are only two scenarios that I’ve come up with but I believe that if they were backed by the city, local charities and other major organizations in the area (thinking: Comcast, Verizon, Staples, etc) they would be a big hit, they could help unemployed people in our own community and others who need the extra money and/or experience. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.
What are your thoughts on this idea? Do you think it might work or not? If you have the desire to help this get off the ground, let me know. I’d be happy to get involved and make this happen in the Philadelphia area or beyond.
Comment by Jesse Middleton -
Hello Mr Cuban
Thank you for the oppertunity to present my plan. It is my hope that someone can help.
I have worked in the hardwood industry most of my adult life. (my grandfather installed hardwood flooring) I started installing & refinishing wood flooring in the late 70’s and currently sell for a manufacture throughout the US. There have been a lot of changes in our industry some for the better some not.
Companies that once made products in the US, TV’s, electronics, cars and many more to numerous to mention have outsourced manufactoring to other countries. This has resulted in providing quality products that were once unfordable to the masses, affordable. It has also provided many more new jobs for Americans in bringing these products to market.
The United States during the industrial revolution cut down
forests abused workers poluted the air & water. My point is that we all live in glass houses.
Americas (not all) leaders want want us to beleave that we are the victoms, that we no longer have any imagination or inventiveness. This is why I am responding to your stimulus plan.
In America we have lobbyist that control our politic, in emerging countries its called corruption. (I think the only difference between the 2 is in the way they are spelled)
Our goverment with the aid of industry lobbyist has amended The Laci Act (originally designed to stop the importation of endangered species)to include all plant & tree products and by products. This amendment is disguised as something that will prevent “illegally logged” trees.
Here are some products that cannot be imported without proper documation NOTE:Papers that are used to provide corect documation must also provide documation that the paper is legal (scratching my receding hairline) Textiles, Paper & paper board, Pharmaceuticals, musisal instruments, boats, cars, trains, Printed matter, cigarettes, resin, planes, umbrellas, paint brushes, furniture, wood pulp, lumber plywood just to name a few.
There will be a lot of companys and people affected by this legisiation. I don’t know how small companys & lay people will be able to comply with outside help.
I beleave that this creates a tremendous oppertunity for any person or company that can help small to medium size companies that will be affected comply.
I would like to expose some of the treacherous individuals that are responsible for this ludicrous, hypocritical, protectionist legislation but I don’t beleave it would be productive.
Once again I want to thank you Mr Cuban & good lock to anyone who can make some $ off this
Comment by Rick Ingram -
for the people that can’t comprehend my typos.
it means i love you 🙂
lets party!
Comment by headless fuck -
MAP OF LOCAL / METRO AREA YARD SALES
The Business Model:
Building weekly maps of all yard, garage, and moving sales in a local / metro area. Customers would pay only $4.99 per week, and will receive an email with a link to all upcoming yard sales in their local area, and throughout the metro area in which they live.
The Customer Benefit:
I’ve already done a survey of 30 yard sale enthusiasts in metro Atlanta, and without even hesitating, they said they would quickly pay $4.99 each week for a map of all of the area sales. The customer would benefit from:
1) Saving gas – the amount of gas saved would quickly pay for the $4.99 investment because you’d literally be able to map out your yard sale adventure before even leaving your house (no wasted time, gas, or money). Plus, I know for a fact, people get frustrated having to look through classifieds, and compile their own maps in their head as to how to hit the sales.
2) People would be helping out their budgets in these troubled times because having a map will help shoppers get to more yard sales, faster – thus acquiring more of the goods they need, for less money.
3) The sellers at these sales will also improve their family budgets because with shoppers having better information on their sales, they will see more shoppers on the day of the sale, and sell more of their items.
Job Creation:
This concept will definitely need a strong workforce for data entry positions. Because if this concept works in Atlanta, it will also work in every other city in the US – and in my view, worldwide.
There are other sites out there that try to do this, but they use automated programs to scour the web trying to gather addresses. The problem is that they only capture about 10% – 15% of all advertised sales because not everyone inputs / displays addresses the same in classified sites. Plus, these programs cannot possibly scour the printed edition of The Atlanta Journal Constitution – and the many other surrounding metro Atlanta publications where people are advertising yard sales.
These means a work force is needed to manually gather the data, enter the data, and build the spreadsheets for me to import into the mapping program.
Cost:
The costs are nominal at best. I would have to pay $10 per month for hosting my site upon which my maps would be displayed, and the cost of newspaper subscriptions, etc… Then the only other cost would be hiring people – and that’s about it.
However, this business model achieves what I call “SCALE”. That means, the same amount of work is being done whether we have 100 customers per week or 100,000 customers per week – it’s simply a map that is being emailed to paying customers.
Profitability:
From the feedback I received, this business model will be profitable within the first month – if not after the first week. Of course, I will be putting in all of the sweat equity myself, along with any other initial hires I make.
Growth, Expansion, Long Term Business Outlook:
This business model is something that will get people talking – without a doubt. People will be talking about this on the web, to their friends and family, and to their coworkers. And with that, the growth of this business could be fast and furious – which would be perfect because of the “scale” that this business model achieves.
Again, with this concept working in one metro area, that means there is no reason it cannot work in every local area, region, and city throughout the US, and throughout the world for that matter.
Thank you again, Mr. Cuban, for this opportunity for me to present my business model. And even if I don’t hear from you, I do hope others reading see the profitability here and run with it, as I will do as well. I can assure you, it’s not easy and will require “sweat equity” – but the profitability is without dispute.
If others would be interested in partnering with me on this, please call my business cell # at 706-202-5991, or email me at seoscale@gmail.com.
Let’s get Americans back to work, and let’s keep American jobs here on our great soil…
Thank you again Mr. Cuban!
Comment by robert -
just one thing for everybody.
headache is gone.
DO NOT FUCKING FEEL PITTY ABOUT ME
or USE ME AS A FUCKIN EXCUSE.
Because i don’t.
I chose this path.
And if you want to do something bacfk.
hug the fuckin next person right next to you.
if you cant find one.
get up and stand up, walk outside, get some fuckin fresh air to
make you feel better 🙂
walks on the park helps.
playing with a ball.
biting someone, not too hard though.
and cooking’
interestingly enough somebody ask me why i can cook so good.
i told them, becuase i liked it’
and love it…
so, enjoying my love cookin’
LOVECOOKIN.com
steal it.
Comment by headless fuck -
Reposting because I neglected to addressing Rule #12
We have sold a limited number of shares for initial funding at $5,000.00 per share to qualified investors. We have been and are in conversations with several International companies about deploying our technology and their investment for equity has followed the same.
Original Posting:
Internet security is a huge problem for retailers, financial institutions and even the federal government. Most companies rely on a single-factor authentication process (User Name and Password) to allow their customers/employees/ etc. access to confidential data on their web sites. However, according to an October 13, 2005 report made by the FFIEC (Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council), both the FFIEC and the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System “consider single-factor authentication, if it is the only control mechanism, to be inadequate for high-risk transactions involving access to customer information or the movement of funds to other parties.”
The single-factor authentication process has been successfully hacked repeatedly. Recent cases in point: when TJ Maxx lost millions of credit card records to an intruder and when hackers compromised the Veterans Administration files. Both instances also exposed millions of people to the possibility of identity theft.
Our company, Vir-Sec, has developed a Patent Pending methodology to provide physical presence identification for secure Internet transactions using Virtual Security Application methodology. Our methodology has applications in the financial, medical and industrial security fields. Our website, http://www.vir-sec.com, offers complete background information and detailed examples of how the methodology can be applied in each of these fields. It is a model that we believe consumers will accept, because it does not require huge behavioral change.
We are marketing directly to institutions, rather than to individual consumers.
Our financial model is based on licensing fees of $1.00 per month per account.
Revenue potential:
Major Credit Card company with 21,000 member banks averaging 10,000 clients each.
Small Healthcare Provider: 5 million insured.
Medicare: 37 million insured
Medicare supplemental Insurance market: 26 million insured
A multi-nation HHR provider: 300 million accounts.
The Medical application is especially timely, given President Barack Obama’s plan to lower health care costs through improved care coordination, which will require expansion of computerized information technology. Obama will lower health care costs:
After reviewing our information, please feel free to make an appointment by emailing me
Comment by Christopher Murphy -
ok, for the entrepeneurs stimulus pavkage.
you should give credit for the fathers that tries to spend time, and cannot afford your calculations.
Damn, please check your math, you’re missing something in the caculation
shit’;
i cannot even enjoy the fuckin fruit of my labor because u have to spare more fuckin brain cells…
Comment by headless fuck -
Hello. I’d like to start a commercial cleaning service. The company would serve commercial office buildings, churches, apartment complexes, medical offices, museums, hotels, restaurants, retail stores and schools, including colleges and universities.
It will offer flexible cleaning times,traditional working hours, after hours, early morning, weekends, holiday: once a week, bi-weekly, monthly or on an “As Needed” basis. We will also do first-time cleaning, new construction cleaning, move-in/move-out cleaning, social event cleaning, post-construction cleaning, remodeling cleaning, and other janitorial services.
The company will supply its own cleaning products and equipment and will offer non-toxic cleaning products, equipment and procedures. The equipment and processes will follow Green Seal standards for cleaning services. We will strive for Green Seal certification.
Our equipment will include:
Pro Team 4-Stage Filtration Vacuums. ProTeam is partnered with the American Lung Association to educate the public about the importance of healthy indoor air quality. They remove 99.9% of all air particulates – 1 micron and larger. ProTeam vacuums are also approved by the US Green Building Council for LEED credit.
Microfiber Cloths and Mops – microfiber uses a scientific weave that is more effective at removing dust, dirt, germs, grease and lime safely, reducing chemical use. They last longer than traditional cloths, reducing enviromnental impact.
Bi-O-Kleen Green Products – These products are safe for the user and the environment. They adhere to the following standards – biodegradable; non-toxic; ingredients are renewable and non-petroleum based; non-aerosol and ozone safe; safe for humans, animals and aquatic life; USDA approved in respect to use in federally inspected meat and poultry facilities.
The maid teams will be trained, bonded and insured. Their backgrounds will be screened and they will go through extensive substance abuse monitoring. The maid teams will be professionally dressed with uniform appearance and a photo I.D. As the business grows, we will purchase company cars so the workers will be identifiable on our client’s property and to ensure visual professionalism at all times.
Workers will have a high school diploma or equivalent and will learn their skills through informal training sessions sponsored by the business. Beginners will work with an experienced cleaner, doing routine cleaning. Driver’s licenses will be required.
Programs run by the business will teach janitorial skills. Workers will learn how to clean buildings thoroughly and efficiently; how to select and safely use various cleansing agents; and how to operate and maintain machines, such as wet and dry vacuums, buffers and polishers. Other training modules include hard floor training, window washing training and carpet spotting training.
Workers will learn to plan their work, to follow safety and health regulations, to interact positively with people in the buildings they clean, and to work without supervision.
Where job training classes are avaliable, cleaners will have the option of increasing their knowledge and skills by taking classes at job training centers, community colleges, or adult schools. A sponsorship program will be created to assist in this.
We will strive to become members of the International Executive Housekeepers Association, which offers two kinds of certification programs for cleaning supervisios and managers: Certified Executive Housekeeper (CEH) and Registered Executive Housekeeper (REH).
The company will participate in the Cleaning for Cancer program which is a free service program for individuals who may be too ill to clean themselves. We will clean free of charge, up to three appointments. Parents of critically ill children are included in this program.
Our company will actively practice the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Every single piece of material at our facility that can be reused and/or recycled…will be.
We will communicate with our target customers using: newspaper ads, word of mouth, computer web sites, enlist local college marketing department, go to networking events, customer service as a marketing tool, hand out brochures. Benefits will include paid holidays, vacation, sick leave, medical insurance.
A cleaning business is perfect because it doesn’t require a lot of skill from the employees and there is little start up costs. In my own personal life, this business would employ up to 13 people initially. Would you be interested in this type of business?
Comment by Judy Pittman -
Iphone Apps! If you have a company and want to make it into an Iphone App; let me know. I will also create your video game ideas into an Iphone App. John Costa 21CDigital.com.
Comment by John Costa -
i have to remember this one.
i was so happy when i learned about this concept.
I was so happy because it gaveme more time when i realised it.
funny thing is, its amazing what a little bit of understanding can do.
PRICELESS DIGITAL TACTIC
Investontime.com
damn..i lost it.
hmmm…
c’mon brain you can do it.
I have a splitting headache.
On my, don’t know which side of my brain
hmmmm….
Okay, here it goes.
I cannot make sense of it, I’m sorry
its just that investment on time is more important that investing somewhere else.
Specially with your children.
Why, hmmm,
community, please help me explain this one.
i cannpt spare a brain cell today.
Also, can somebody explain or come up an idea on how to make it
cash flow positive, i cannot think right now.
But one thing for sure.
60% of profits will go to
the flipo’s outthere.
Why, cause my flipo’s helped me realize it.
So, I’m a happy flying little fucking dandelion.
you pick it up, and you blow it.
you never knows where it’s gonna go,
or if you’ll stumble on another one.
peace.
Comment by headless fuck -
I have access to hiway frontage on 35E at exit 381. It is 20 miles for people in this town to get a cold beer. 26 miles for people in Italy. A drive thru beer barn would boom from day one. I haven’t crunched numbers, but the profits would be wild. I would like to build a metal building, 20′ X 40′, roll up doors on both ends. It would need a walk in cooler on one side and doors squezzed up to the other side. Cheap lighting throughout the store. Primary cost would be building and first order of supplies. Since we would be business partners, I am sure we could work out some use of AAC bulk buying power to further improve margin. I would keep it very simple, beer and cigs only. As for a return on your investment, I think we would go with a percentage of profits monthly at 5% until the business failed, or you died. Sounds fair to me.
Thanks for your time and a chance to succeed.
Comment by Joe Chadwick -
BUSINESS PROPOSAL
To launch and popularize an original, new healing modality named Ayurvedic Cranial Therapy.
What is Ayurvedic Cranial Therapy?
Ayurvedic Cranial Therapy is a hands on, mind-body, healing modality designed to reduce the tensions and structural stresses that build up in the bones, muscles and articulations of the cranium, including the head and the face. It is also designed to provide deep relaxation and profound rest to the mind and nervous system. While Ayurvedic Cranial Therapy is offered as a rejuvenative mind-body treatment for stress management and physical and mental relaxation, additionally there are many clinical conditions that respond favorably to this technique. These include headaches, jaw tension, eye strain, breathing blockage, facial nerve problems, and other pain and tension syndromes affecting the cranium. Through its deep mental relaxation effect, it helps to quell anxiety, mental burnout, insomnia, hyperactivity, and attention deficit. On the emotional level, it releases blockages and tensions held in the muscles of facial expression. It integrates hands on cranial manipulative procedures and techniques, with specialized ayurvedic and yogic practices that have been around for centuries but have become mostly obscured in present times. Ayurvedic Cranial Therapy is a completely fresh look at what is possible in the fertile field of Cranial Manipulative Therapy.
Who can practice Ayurvedic Cranial Therapy?
This technique can be taught to any licensed hands on healing professional, with a primary market to massage therapists, chiropractors, cranial therapists, ayurvedic practitioners, and yoga therapists, and a secondary market to yoga teachers, physical therapists, holistic nurses, estheticians, energy healers, acupuncturists, dental assistants, and M.D.s.
History of cranial manipulative therapies:
Cranial manipulative therapies have been around for 75 years, practiced by an eclectic group of hands on healers, It grew out of the osteopathic profession, was picked up on a small scale by the chiropractic profession, and in the last 25 years has proliferated in the massage profession under the term “craniosacral technique”. Almost all the cranial manipulative field as it is practiced today owes its roots to a book published in 1930 by an osteopath named Sutherland. Osteopathic cranial manipulation, in slightly modified form, has become popularized in the last 25 years by an osteopath named Upledger, who was the first to teach non doctors on a wide scale basis. Today, Upledger [under the name craniosacral technique] remains the only source that teaches cranial manipulation on a large scale. In the marketing materials of the Upledger Institute, they claim 140,000 individuals have taken their seminar [this would amount to approximately $70 million in tuition over a 25 year period].
What is the difference between craniosacral therapy and ayurvedic cranial therapy?
There are many powerful and significant advantages of Ayurvedic Cranial Therapy over Craniosacral Technique that will give it a huge competitive advantage in the marketplace. First of all, it is a better feeling technique for the patient, and is far more interesting, enjoyable and crafty to perform for the practitioner. It is based on a much more solid scientific foundation, in fact, Craniosacral Technique is based on such a flawed explanational model that it is not taught in any chiropractic school in the world, where chiropractic students learn how to manipulate virtually every bone in the body except the cranial bones. Ayurvedic Cranial Technique is based on a scientific model that is completely compatible with the underlying principles of both massage therapy and chiropractic therapy, which makes it credible and valid. Additionally, while Craniosacral Technique is a full body therapy, Ayurvedic Cranial Therapy focuses exclusively on the cranium. This makes it complementary and supplementary with all other bodywork techniques, as an add-on set of procedures, as opposed to a completely different form of treatment. Lastly, Ayurvedic Cranial Therapy utilizes a whole new palette of treatment options [such as oilation, herbology, aromatherapy, and sensory clearing], which have never been traditionally integrated with cranial manipulation. This makes this training seminar extremely attractive to existing practitioners of cranial techniques, where nothing essentially new has been born out of this field for many decades. Additionally, its integration with ayurvedic principles and practice creates a fusion of some of the fastest growing fields within alternative healthcare, namely yoga, ayurveda, and cranial therapy. This integration will generate a natural interest and potential buzz amongst the yogic and ayurvedic communities, and the yoga publications will show a ready and enthusiastic interest for feature articles.
What marketable products will be born of Ayurvedic Cranial Therapy?
A book, a seminar, a self-learning instructional DVD of the seminar, and a line of products that are used in the practice of the technique. These products can be packaged together, such as the book, the DVD, and a starter kit of products, which would constitute a complete self-learning program.
The Book
The book will serve to define the technique and include the principles, philosophy, and all the actual techniques and procedures. This will be completed in 2008.
The Seminar
The seminar is anticipated to be a 24 hour training, and can be taught in either a 3,4 or 6 day formats. The 6 day format will be ideal to offer in various exotic locales, such as Costa Rica or Bali, where we can conduct class for 4 hours a day, and use the rest of the time for fun and adventure excursions, making it a combined, tax-deductible, week long learning vacation. The 3 or 4 day format would work well for city locations, where the course can be offered on the weekend, with minimal loss of work time or travel expense for the participants.
The DVD of the Seminar
This DVD can be compressed into 10-12 hours, and be a state of the art production including animation [which will separate it from anything in the field and be a huge selling point], to clearly illustrate and elucidate all aspects of this technique. This can be marketed all over the English-speaking world, and can even potentially have other dubbed language options. The animations and illustrations that go into the book and DVD can then also be creatively used in the live seminar, where I visualize a few large screens placed around the room as a visual aid.
The Product Line
Ayurvedic Cranial Therapy utilizes a whole set of products including herbally medicated oils, aromatherapy products, ear, eyes and nose cleansing and lubricating products, bliss teas, and some special equipment. These can be packaged as a starter kit along with the book and instructional DVD, and also privately labeled and sold to practitioners on a refill basis.
The Financial Potential
Financial potential is almost unlimited, if this technique becomes popularized. The Upledger Institute, teaching a disadvantaged form of cranial techniques, have generated an estimated $70 million just in tuition over about a 25 year period. This fact permits some objective vision into the potential market of a popularized healing modality. A typical seminar for 30 students in Costa Rica, at a per student cost of $2250 for a weeklong learning/adventure vacation that includes all costs [lodging, tuition, food, adventure tours, and all ground transportation] would profit over $30,000 for the week. Spa trainings is another potential lucrative application. Not just would there be a fee for training staff, but long term product sales could become significant if some large chain spas began following our protocols. The 12 hour instructional DVD could retail for $300- $350, and after accounting for original production and marketing costs, would be almost pure profit. The book, DVD and starter kit could easily be packaged for $450- $500. All this can be sold directly from a website, thus relegating to zero a share with any type of retail outlet.
Marketing
The target market is extremely well defined, making these products an easy market. The core marketing strategy should be to direct as much traffic as possible to a specifically constructed web site. On the website, a video commercial and well written text can make a compelling presentation for all of these products. Strategic placement in search engines under keywords such as “cranial”, “craniosacral”, “ayurveda”, “ayurvedic”, etc. would lead to thousands of hits. Strong print ads can be placed in yoga magazines, massage magazines, and chiropractic publications. The yoga, ayurveda and holistic health magazines will have a natural interest in articles on this new modality, as anything fusing yoga, ayurveda, and cranial therapy will be a compelling subject matter. Some of these magazines and publications will also be rendered malleable to feature articles by the commitment to advertising. We can offer a fully paid Costa Rican vacation to some of the high distribution magazines such as Yoga Journal, Massage Magazine, L.A. Yoga and Ayurveda, Alternative Health, etc. to send a representative interested in taking the seminar in exchange for a fair and unbiased feature article. A few articles in publications such as these, along with a few high profile ads in those issues, would be enough to get the ball rolling. A few book reviews in the right places would also produce exposure and interest. Small inexpensive ads in a hoard of appropriate publications internationally can direct people to the web site. Ultimately the seminar can be offered for continuing education credits, just about all the target professions outlined above require CE, and the DVD content may even be easily modified to offer the CE requirement in webinar format [webinar format is the future for CE in the healthcare professions].
Future Expansion
After a few years I can train other teachers to offer this seminar, greatly enhancing the number of seminars offered annually. The more courses offered, the more students certified in the technique, the more books, DVDs, and products sold. Advanced seminars, and expansion into related subject matter becomes possible once credibility and popularity becomes established.
Experience and Credentials of the Founder and Developer
My experience and credentials to offer these teachings include 27 years of clinical experience as a Chiropractor and Ayurvedic Medicine Practitioner, 14 years experience as a full time Technique Instructor at a chiropractic college, 20 years experience as Director of a multi-disciplinary holistic healing center, 11 years experience as a Certified Yoga Teacher, and 9 years experience as a yoga studio owner and director. I have published 6 books on chiropractic technique, had 2 articles recently published in ayurvedic journals, and have had a chapter on Cranial Technique published in a chiropractic textbook on head pain. As a professor at a major chiropractic college, I served as Chairman of the Principles and Practice Department, taught Chiropractic Technique and Biomechanics to over 3000 students and developed, as well as taught, most of their technique curriculum. Finally, I have taught approximately 800 health professionals, over a 20 year period, an earlier version of my cranial technique course, independently in small groups.
AYURVEDIC CRANIAL PROJECT [FINANCIALS AND BUDGET]
Mission Statement: To develop and popularize a healing modality called Ayurvedic Cranial Therapy
Goals:
1. To publish a book which outlines the principles and practice of the technique, serves as a training manual, and defines the modality.
2. To develop a seminar training program and teach it internationally
3. To produce a self learning DVD of the training program
4. To create a product line of therapeutic agents that go along with the procedures
5. To popularize the technique amongst the holistic healing community, including massage therapists, chiropractors, ayurvedic practitioners, yoga therapists, craniosacral practitioners, physical therapists, holistic nurses, acupuncturists, energy healers, and spa practitioners.
Estimated Budget Complete start up costs and first year expenses
Illustration and photography for the book 10,000
Printing first 1000 copies of the book 15,000
Business development and start up costs 10,000
Production of the DVD and first printing 1000 copies 100,000
Product line development and initial inventory [250 starter kits] 25,000
Web Development 15,000
Advertising and Marketing 50,000
Equipment purchases 25,000
Total 250,000
projected revenues from sales [initial inventory]
1000 books @ 50 per book 50,000
seminar tour [6 location with 24 students each after expenses] 90,000
1000 DVDs @ 250 per DVD 250,000
250 starter kits @ 150 37,500
Total Revenues 427,500
Profit after deducting start up and production costs 177,500
second level production
printing second 1000 books 5,000
printing second 1000 DVDs 2,000
product inventory [250 starter kits and replacement products] 35,000
marketing and advertising 50,000
misc business costs 15,000
total 117,000
second level production sales
1000 books @ 50 per book 50,000
seminar tour [6 location with 24 students each after expenses] 90,000
1000 DVDs @ 250 per DVD 250,000
product sales 60,000
Total 450,000
Profit 333,000
Comment by jack ebner -
I would like to start an Italian Sausage/Hotdog with potatoes and onions on a moonroll shop.
There was a couple up north called Jimmy Buffs and always packed.
There are no suck places in Vero Beach or anywhere around.
All 3 of us in the family would be running/working it.
The only costs would be the actual renting of a place, supplies, Lic and equipement.
Since we would only be selling a limited number of menu items the supplies cost would be low. Payroll would be none except for the family members to live on.
I think start up costs could be recup fairly soon.
Comment by Donald King -
The AutoBlanket® Staple System is commited to developing the most efficent methods to install erosion control blankets and golf course bunker liners. You now have a choice between the most advance erosion control machine in the world or our new pneumatic hand stapler.
The AutoBlanket® System Machine will reduce your labor costs, increase the amount of blanket landscape and erosion control contractors install and can be operated by only two individuals.
The AutoBlanket® System Stapler is the only true
pneumatic stapler for the erosion control installer or
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less work. Installation of bunker mat can be up to 3
times faster using our stapler than conventional methods. The AutoBlanket® hand held stapler will increase the
productivity of your crews enabling them to install more
blanket per day with less effort.
My company generated profits in the last quarter of 2008 and looking to expand with an additional product line in early ’09 that will be directly tied into pneumatic staplers for the bunker liners. The AutoBlanket® machine is starting to generate real interest due to the high labor costs involved in the installtion of erosion control blankets.
I have prepared a business plan and would be able to forward to any interested parties.
Comment by Tom Nordloh -
I am a hard working individual with 20 years of dance experience. My dream growing up was to open up my own dance studio where children of all ages and young adults could go to a place where they were not judged and explore the world of dance. I have priced out all of the low overhead that I would need to start the business and have even been speaking with a property manager of a suite where this studio would open. Since the demographic area is an up and coming family driven community that continues to experience economic growth, I am confident that my business will flourish. The only studios that are within the vicinity of where I live are over 20-30 minutes away. I have a passion for the art of dance and want to share this art form with kids of all ages while enjoying a profitable venture while still working hard and enjoying what I do.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Shannon Smiley
Comment by Shannon Smiley -
I am not trying to re-invent the wheel, just fix it. There are 7,800 foreclosures in and around the Indianapolis area along and some are selling for 50% of their original price. As bad as real estate is, I am buying homes at sheriffs sales and reselling them for a fair return. The time to buy is when prices are down like they are now, I have an honest track record of reselling these select homes for a 10% to 20% net profit (with no lisiting brokerage fee since I am a Broker/Owner of a Century 21 franchise for the past 20 years) within one ot six months after purchase and rehab. I am not afraid to put my money were my mouth is. I would like to take it to the next level, I am currently returning 8% gaurantee to the investors and upt to 50% of the net profits. I have always been one of Indianapolis’s top agents, now I can do better in a down market. Need thoughts as to grow a simple honest concept.
Good luck an best to all,
Tony Rogers
tony@mibor.net
Comment by Tony Rogers -
Here is one idea that I had a while ago. I don’t care who uses it as I don’t have the money or technical know-how to do it myself. I am the father of two young children and watching the news scares me. Too often I hear stories of missing kids. One thing that we know is that when a child goes missing, time is of the essence. I know this idea may sound very futuristic and may have some moral implications, but I believe it would help save lives and I believe the technology exists.
The idea is to voluntarily have kids implanted with a satellite trackable chip. This would be voluntary on the part of the parents and the chip could be removable at any point and the child could have it removed when they turn 18. There would have to be legally agreed upon terms as to when a parent or law enforcement agency could access the information to make sure that this would only be used as intended. If the child were ever kidnapped or missing, they could be located much quicker than with conventional law enforcement methods. If enough kids were implanted it could also serve as a determinant to would-be kidnappers. Lastly the implant would have to be small (which I think current technology allows), not leave any scars and be no more painful than a routine vaccination.
As I said, I know this idea may have moral and privacy implications, but if done correctly, I believe it could save lives.
Comment by Doug -
Dugg
Comment by y3 -
would love to start up a small shop like my parents had,it is a food buniness that they worked 14 to 16 hours a day at,if i did not go through a divorce back in 1991 i really belive i would still have it going today and my kids would each have there own store going,sure it would only put about 4 or 5 people to work in each store but hey helping 15 people work and earn and who knows maybe even start their own store would be great,the food is knowen in michigan as a “pasty” it has stake,potato’s,onions,carrots,and then folded into a crust and baked,all anyone has to do is try one and they will be back ,my parents taught me well and i had passed it on to my kid’s but like i said a divorce killed my dream that my kids would be able to carry on what their grandparents started and i tried to keep going
Comment by cs -
Hi Mark,
This is a great idea and I wish more people in your financial position would do the same. My idea is really just a suggestion that is similar to what your idea is trying to accomplish. This country needs to create a large scare business incubator. Something like 80% of people work for companies classified as “small businesses”. Even large companies grew from what once were small companies. We need to do everything we can to foster small business success/growth.
Almost a non-profit VC set up by those in power with the goal of creating profit for the economy in general. In turn it will benefit all, including the controllers of the “non-profit”. I advocate not just prudent financial investments, but also doing everything possible to set viable small businesses up to win/succeed. This could include access to free (or affordable) resources that will foster business success, more free open source business related software, political lobbyists working towards breaking down the barriers that destroy businesses in their infancy –especially taxes and legal red tape, etc. I haven’t thought of all the possibilities since this just came to mind reading your blog, but you are on to something here.
Comment by Doug -
A win-win business proposal.
I have a Journalism major with a PR minor. Hire me for 300k/year and I will work my ass off for you. Give me a 10% performance raise per year and you will more than earn your money back… especially within the PR realms… wouldn’t helping your PR grow in a more positive direction be a priceless proposition on your end?
Comment by Diana C. -
I have idea to take the concept of facebook or myspace but making it safe and only where school children or teenagers can use. I know a lot of families wont let there children use but you could make where they could while they are in school on there free time. And make it where they can login at home. have where they can chat or get help with homework and things like that but make it friendly like myspace or facebook.
Comment by Dallas austin -
“GreenPipe” – car exhaust attachment – hooks on to your current exhaut pipe, has charcoal filter and other filters – cleans exhaust
prototype is already done – actual physical product
Comment by Mia -
I am always trying to find new ways to utilize my call center staff.
Is there a chance that you know the Pope?
One of my business ideas is to provide absolution to Catholics online. Evidently, he will not allow online confessions. The Pope believes that you need to come into church to be truly sorry for your sins.
I would use real priests in a video type simulated confession booth, supplemented with live chat to perform all confessions.
The priests would man the “econfession booth” for free. The fee for absolution ($7.99) would be split between the company, and the Priest’s parish. There would also be a “donate” to charity button for people with a little extra guilt.
I only need the Pope’s blessing. I can handle the rest. How can we work together to absolve Catholic baby boomers?
Comment by Doug Watson -
Dear Mr. Cuban:
Your offer to stimulate the economy is wonderful. What about trying to use some of your funds for non-profits who are trying to make a difference with those who have nothing and want to help them?
I have no problem with people increasing their net worth, but, maybe sometimes it’s the helping of others that is worth more than money?
Nor am I implying that your offer to help find profit driven businesses is anyway less than generous at any level.
If you seek to go this route regarding non-profits I hope you will contact and consider us.
Just a thought.
Thank you for reading my comment.
Comment by Michele -
Pingback: Risk Taker#2: Mark Cuban offers his own Stimulus Plan for Entrepreneurs (2/9/2009) « RemoraTrade Blog
Mark, I think you have a big mouth, but your passion and heart is even bigger.
You are impacting the world one person at a time. Thanks for your
Positive attitude, and ability to have the courage to put your time,energy,creativity, and cash were your mouth is. Thanks Man. Julian Martinez 28, Los Angeles,ca
Comment by Julian Martinez -
Dear Mark,
I’ve started a company called Shur-T. I have inented an undershirt that will prevent “pit stains” from showing through your outer garment while simoultaneously block under arm odor. I have created a video about my company & would be more than happy to send it to you. Millions of men & womeb wear t-shirts (undershirts) underneath there clothing such as people in sales, law enforcement, or anyone who wears a uniform & wants to keep it looking new. Shur-T also prevents deoderant stains from setting in, saving money on drycleaning. Shur-T is ready to go right out of the package, nothing to put in or on. I am also working on Shur-Apparel – dress shirts for men & women that have sewn in pads right into the dress shirts for those who do not wear undrshirts. I have taken Shur-T as far as I can due to lack of funds. Please call me at 714-319-2270 or email me so we can discuss further.
Comment by Jim -
My true passion.
To write a book about broken kids of broken families.
How they have become.
Title: Unstable
profit: its a fuckin product’
60% will go to supporting kids of broken families.
Giving them the attention and life teachings they need, so they could be productive citizens
20% will go to the nursing home which i’ll be staying because i was too busy writing the book for you morons to help make it in this world. Having babies, not knowing what you’re dealing with, and fucking up something you do not understand
Comment by sleepless fuck -
where’s the profit.
don’t need to explain.
Comment by sleepless fuck -
oh by the way,
40 % of the proceedings will go to rehabbing people that would like to
understand themselves
10% for Mark Foundation
20% to Cultivating a stress free environment for Animators, so they (the community) can benefit to their gifts. Ability to interpret realty freely. As they see it.
Comment by sleepless fuck -
This is for my fellow animators.
And heartbroken, misunderstood, masters of the universe.
Don’t Mess With Nature.
Its an animated series showing how could a ‘misunderstanding’ and inabilities to understand each other within a relationship can cost you a grip. As well as your sanity.
First take will show the usual argument:
Then paused and highlights places where the argument started.
For example:
Don’t Mess with Nature – SuperFly
Scene 1:
Narator: You see, going on a business together is like a commitment. It’s like marriage. You might as well tell everything to that person now, before tying the knot.
This person is hopeless. He thinks he’s super fly. I guess the black exploitation in the 70’s, in addition to fucked up society really got into this person’s head.
flipa painting 9×6 feet white board…flipo watching in the background, dipping the roller and giving it to flipa. Flipa finished painting from right to left, this is the 3rd coating. flipo noticed a mistake.
flipo: are you jiving me!
flipa look startled, and looked at flipo
flipa: yes i’m jiving you! I’m jiving you because I want to!
flipa leaves the scene and went to her bunk bed, (the nest)
slience….flipa went back down and to flipo…
flipa: your expectations (flipo) of me is too high, I cannot reach it. please let me pass…
flipo: yes you can!
Narator: Oh oh, yes you can? YOU CANT MESS WITH NATURE! let see what happened next…flipa flips
flipa: no i can’t. i cannot change! i’m not perfect, i cannot paint within those fucking blue lines!
flipo: yes you can! i didn’t say you’re perfect. its attention to details!
flipa: you see, I’m not gonna be able to change. this is what I am. you too cannot change, you’re a SUCKER!
flipo: you did not@&^%!
Flipo rushed into flipas’s face, like a tasmanian devil. %$^%*&*^%^$^%&%&%&^$%&$%$%$&%$%$$&$&$&$&. Flipa stays put, and calculating ways to approach the madness &*&&^&*^*&^*^%%$%#$$#$#^$%&^%%&%&^%&^%&^%&^$%^4
flipa goes to the corner as the tasmanian devil growls and roars.
———————————————————————————————————————
So let’s rewind and take a look at it again.
Applying the rules of nature.
Scene 1:
flipa painting 9×6 feet white board…flipo watching in the background, dipping the roller and giving it to flipa. Flipa finished painting from right to left, this is the 3rd coating. flipo noticed a mistake.
flipo: are you jiving me!
(Narrator) STOP: okay, the guy wants perfection.
flipa look startled, and looked at flipo
(Narrator) STOP: Let’s go inside flipa’s head. I will be doing business with this person, he needs to understand that he needs to manage his expectations to manage his anger.
flipa: yes i’m jiving you! I’m jiving you because I want to!
flipa leaves the scene and went to her bunk bed, (the nest)
silience….flipa went back down and to flipo…
(Narrator) STOP: Flipa’s energy kicks in..
flipa: your expectations (flipo) of me is too high, I cannot reach it. please let me pass…
flipo: yes you can!
STOP: That’s the point! you cant mess with nature. Flipa’s energy doesn’t like limitations and bounderies. Even with painting within the fat blue lines. By nature, they will make mistake because of their energy.
Although you also have to account Flipo’s energy too. At this point flipa has a death wish. Although, you can’t mess with they don’t care about what you think…you’re pretty much on your own.
So, the moral of the story…
Don’t Mess with Nature!
Comment by sleepless fuck -
Mark,
Now more than ever before there are those in need that rely on charity.
Now more than ever before there are those who can no longer afford to donate to charity.
This website would raffle off items it gets donated or purchases (airline tickets, event tickets, electronics, clothing, ect.), with a portion of the profit (negotiable) getting donated to an approved charity of the website. The online community will be able to purchase “raffle tickets” and apply them towards a raffle of their choice. Depending on the value of the item, each raffle will have a ceiling on the amount of tickets applied towards it, after which there will be a drawing to determine which ticketholder is victorious. As part of winning the raffle, the winner will also be able to choose which charity gets a portion of the proceeds.
Companies and consumers alike will be inclined to be a part of the website as it is for a good cause. This will generate a profit quickly as there is very low start up cost, almost no overhead, an unlimited market, and much potential for continued growth.
When you choose this venture, you will own 50% and I will own 50%. The profit would be made through taking a portion of the profits (negotiable) as commission. This website could be built immediately, and through contacts could start begin receiving donations and purchasing items at a discounted price within weeks.
Now the ball is in your court Mark. Play ball!?!?
Comment by Etan Frankel -
I live on the westside of Los Angeles, by Santa Monica and Venice, where there are many stay-at-home mothers and nannies. There is quite a bit of potential in an indoor playground. Moms especially want to take their kids somewhere that they can have fun, but that moms can also talk to each other. As a mom, I know I’m willing to pay for these opportunities, but am constantly surprised at the lack of availability. There are a couple here in Los Angeles, but they don’t cater to the needs of moms. If offered a few educational components, such as Spanish classes, music, or just some snacks, moms would be very willing to take their kids to such an indoor playground.
Comment by Mari A. A. -
Mark-health and fitness is the new game in this horrible economy and I have the perfect buisness plan for you my friend-ok you ready-The Green Gym -A self sufficient gym-powered by solar panels-the recumbant bikes power the Flat screen T.V. when in use by a gym member–also we have a organic smoothie bar in the gym promoting good health as well-Ok how will you profit-#1-we use solar panels, no electricity bills=more profit.#2-we charge monthly fees EFT-electronic funds transfer thats your bloodline that keeps the buisness going-no prepaid memberships until the buisness gets established and we see profits rightaway-#3 we sell supplements for those impulse buys for our members -vitamins-protein shakes-health bars whatever-it will make extra profits,advertising can get expensive so we do some foot work-we pass out fliers to homes to highschools-just blanket the whole place with our leaflets-lol-spread the word- The Green gym has 2 managers-one for sales and the other for the personal trainers-we have 3 sales couslers and about 5 per trainers-and 3 front desk personel part time workers-the membership plans-we keep it simple we need to compete with 24 hourfitness-0 enrollment-0 processing fee and 30 bucks a month no contract if you want to add on a family member 0 enrollment 0 processing fee 15 bucks a month every member that signs up gets 2 free sessions with a trainer-and a 1 week pass to the gym for a friend or family member-personal training cost-(5 sessions $399)-(10 session $669)-(20 session $1100)25 sessions $1300 )
Comment by mike cahl -
Salvia mochas and icecream.
Comment by Distressed Volatility -
Victoria Munoz has a great idea!
Comment by Gayle -
I don’t have a formal proposal, but I do have an idea that would likely be a very popular product in these times. The idea is an iphone (and other platforms) app that allows people to scan barcodes or otherwise enter pricing information for items when they are shopping. It would be sort of like craigslist, in that each city/community would have it’s own local network, but it would be much more user-friendly and interactive. I’m imagining that the app would allow folks in a particular area to compare prices within that area while they are shopping by uploading information to a local price wiki, which would then show prices for that item from other users at other stores in the area. The very act of searching for your item contributes another price data point to the network, so individual users will always have an incentive to contribute. This will be especially useful for groceries and perishable items that you can’t easily order online, but will also be useful for bigger-ticket items where significant price discrepancies exist within a region. It could even work for car buyers. The idea is to give consumers full price information for their area in a way that will be fast, user-friendly and up-to-date. Shoppers would be confident they are getting the lowest price in their area and businesses will be encouraged to lower prices to take advantage of the quick, “word-of-mouth” network effect of shoppers looking for a good deal. The developer and manager of the wiki would make money selling the app, thereby enabling access to the wiki, like a one-time membership fee. I think this could get off the ground for an initial $10K investment to pay a programmer to develop the app and set up a website to house the wiki and promote the idea. Setting up an initial network in a particular city would be a good proof-of-concept. That’s the idea. I’d like to see it developed even if I don’t do it. I think that people want an easy way to compare prices of what they’re buying. They have a way to do it for online items from sellers around the country and around the world, but there’s nothing for price comparisons across town while you’re out and about. It’s a niche that needs filling.
Comment by Tom -
1st.
I think We are all tired with all your biz plan. Get real please, If Cash payment is the only option for customer to pay. I bet if you can go down to Orange County and check out some Asian small 600sq Pho ( Asian noddle) restaurant. They can generate around 100k-200k per month easily.
2nd.
Go to some Eastern country. Lot of stupid people over there doesn’t know how to invest. Simple open a company, bribe some big newspaper company and make some big headlight about how growing your company , Make it IPO , people will put tons of money since we are all dumb head and love to go by the news and instinct rather than by the book and fact.
3rd. Put some cash invest to seafood, buy seafood from Asian, transport to South America, indirect import to US, avoid alot of paper and regulation. Simple and big return.
Comment by Phkk -
My idea would be a school for children that incorporates exercises in everything class. With a normal 5 to 6 periods of classes that would have for example a treadmill with plasma screens for the children to answer to questions being asked by or virtual instructors. This way the clasroom time would keep the kids interested in learning and they would have all the health benefits at the same time. I think multi-tasking would help keep the children alert and motivated to want learn and exercise more. Then their nutrition break time and lunch would be monitored with healthy meals and snacks. Every class would have a a different machine so the kids wouldn’t get bored and their bodies would be challenged and they would see progress not only with their minds but also with the bodies developing/changing. This would help with the obesity problem we have in this country and improve our lunch programs at school and the education system that were are normally used too. My school would be for all grades but the older the children get the more challenges introduced to the children. My sample schedule goes like this- 1st period would be spinning class with math, children would be asked to complete simple math problems by gripping the handles bars with have buttoms on the side for answer keys. 2nd period would be a yoga/pilates for a cool down stretching with maybe some spanish or a second language. Break time would include small protein drinks and a serving of fresh fruits and plenty of water. Vitamins would also be a part of their menu. 4th period would be swimming with history. 5th period would be tennis, basketball, baseball, or a sport outside. 6th period can be a restful period of exercise along with science. This would give the child a calming effect so they don’t go home overly exciting with energy. or depending on the schedule it would be the other way around. To many children are becoming morbitally obsese and this can be prevented with regular exercise and food monitoring. Most parents really dont have time to do this. and to be leave this in someone else hands can be very expensive. We can keep the school it with little to no funding from the families since in realty the food would be the main cost. The instructors would be virtual and maintaing the exquipment would be maintained regularly. I’ve already dreamed of opening my own school with these ideas. In the long run this would same us from spending money on expensive medical costs that we can save the govt’ from spending. With a healthy society people would think twice about how they frlt and how they spend and save their money.
Because when you look good you feel good!
Comment by Victoria Munoz -
Hello Mark,
Thank for making this offer to eveyone, it sounds like a lot of people on here just don’t know how to listen or aren’t serious about your proposal.
Here’s mine:
I love photography and I have a true passion for it, here is the link to my photography: http://www.flickr.com/photos/infinite-magic. they might not looks as good as it can be because I am not able to afford a professional or even semi professional camera, I’m talking about a $1500 dollar camera and maybe another $1000 for additional camera equipment, I know that doesn’t sound like a lot but I think if I can’t do a lot with a little, how can I do a lot with much.
I am also very proficiant with Adobe photoshop and I already have the program, but I would need a newer and faster computer to be able to manage my photos more efficiantly.
I am a very social, outgoing and creative person, I know that I would be able to market myself very well, mainly in person to individuals and companies and by just “getting out there.”
I would take good portraits and do event photography, in a fun and modern way that people will enjoy. People will always want memories of their special events.
I’m sure I will be able to break even after 60 days and start making a profit within 90, I feel that I can do all that with an investment between 5 and 10 thousand dollars, I can build a small company, establish a good reputation, and eventually be able to give other people jobs as well.
I would also like to professionally frame many of my photos and sell them as art on a website and at local shows, I have a plan to make money off of my photography in many ways. In between I can also work on taking photos for stock photography and sell them through sites online, like istockphoto.com.
I believe you are a fair guy and if you see an apportunity in this you will help me, if not, then you won’t, if you do not see an opportunity in this please let me know why, but these are my goals and if they are flawed I would like to know how and how I could do it better.
By the way, I met you once, I shook your hand after a Mavrick’s game, after they lost to Denver in Dallas, I asked you for a photo with me and you said you couldn’t because you had to get to the locker room, I want to tell you that I appreciated you looking at me in the eye and answering me instead of just ignoring or dismissing me. I hope to hear from you.
Matthew
Comment by Matthew -
mark my business is a non- profit organization looking for donations to recall 3 family court judges. please if you can or if anyone can please help us…..
Comment by timothy johnson -
Being curious & intrigued by your proposition, I read your blog several times, actually over & over & over. Very, very smart! One thing I definitely know is how to read between the lines.
First of all & foremost, I treat people the way I WANT TO BE TREATED! Over the course of my life, that has gone a very long way multiple times.
Honestly, I don’t believe in presentation. Actions speak louder than words in my opinion. I can honestly say: my simple idea of saving money (which is an old concept, but it definitely works) & making money by saving consumers money instead of depending on others (government) will surely take a major hit from your bloggers.
I want to provide a service, especially for senior citizens, that can actually leave money in their pockets. I think this a category of people that have been forgotten & we owe our ULTIMATE respect to them.
The gains & loss would not be great because these people are on fixed incomes. 1% of everything I saved them would be a start, just an idea. Actually this may not even need your money, just your notariaty if excepted.
Please excuse me because I did not disclose my plan of action. I’m not very hip on trust right now. I lost my job in September & my unemployment is almost used up. I had to move in w/relatives & my bed is a couch. I’m not disappointed w/the situation, I’m disappointed in me. I had opportunities I never used. I blame only me. So, my disclosure of the plan is really not an issue. It’s just a thought, an idea, a genuine, honest, way to help people in this turnoil time.
Comment by T Gentry -
i am an upcoming mma clothing line with a unique style.i have a new marketing campaign that i will introduce soon to the public,once this hits we will be one of the biggest names in mma clothing,i am looking for a serious investor that wants in on this great concept,we are currently in calif,hawaii,arizona.thanks for the opportunity.
Comment by rick -
Mark,
Thanks for the opportunity.
PLAN:
Immediate marketing at the metroplex level on the radio with references to website (for lower cost advertising) to sale hoodies and tee shirts under the label STIMULUS. Really need a marketing blitz…
1.Purchasers have the options of various phrases on the clothing products such as “STIMULATED”, “STIMULATOR”, “I GOT YOUR STIMULUS”, “ARE YOU STIMULATED YET??” , “Born to stimulute”, etc.
2. As sales allow, up marketing to TV.
3. Expand line and market coverage.
4. Emphasize AMERICAN MADE and American worn to stimulate our economy(to keep the money here).
5. Startup required: Willing to moonlight startup since I am currently employed fulltime. Copyright protection costs and costs with establishing corporation. Advertising on 2 AM stations. If someone sees this and runs with it then someone else gets stimulated…good luck
6. Move into clothing line production. Establish shirt and hoodie sales to major outlets once cash flow and resources allow. Thanks, RP
Comment by Robert P -
the amount of comments generated by this blog entry is insane.
it’s been generating approximatively 10.49 posts per hour, around the clock, since it was published 120 hours ago.
somebody needs to segment these comments, it is becoming impossible to read everything, it’s like an internet marathon.
maybe create a menu with comments by date or something similar.
many thanks to you MC!!
Comment by macmarts -
My business plan includes combining the established online sales efforts of an extremely successful Texas company, which has already expressed an interest in the need to diversify, with manufactures of products allowing a seamless and transparent program offering complimentary products of diversification. (The manufacturers concur with the concept and would be willing participants should this become a reality.) This high visibility company with a strong web presence would simply need to add a page or link to their existing web site directing inquiries of these specific products to a web site operated by our company. We would start the sales process on behalf of the online company and provide a turnkey service. The profits to the online sales company from this incremental business would be in the range of 15% and would be 100% hands off profit. That should create interest from the online company. The estimated profits to my company would be 10-15% of the net sale generated from the online sales vehicle. The manufacturers would participate in additional support services. To further the interest of both parties there could be opportunities to finance the purchase of these big ticket items. The success of this venture will positively affect the employment of thousands across the United States including areas of manufacturing, logistics, delivery and installation. All of the ancillary service companies are already in existence.
The potential of this business is well over a million dollars per state each year. The ramp up time is minimal due to established online business and branded products. The breakeven point of sixty days can be met because the businesses are already established. To become profitable in 90 days is very achievable because of the traffic to the branded web site, the need for the product, and the discounts grow larger with quantity agreements negotiated. My company will repay the investment from Mark Cuban at 10% interest. We will set aside 20% of the profit each month as repayment of the investment. Once the loan is repaid we can negotiate for a percentage of ownership.
If there is interest in the concept and the projected revenue, the key for launching this proposal is for Mr. Cuban to assist in getting a meeting with the Principal of the first company. Both Mr. Cuban and the Principal of the first company are very successful, likeminded entrepreneurs’ which appreciate new business ventures.
Thank you!
G. Scott
Comment by G, Scott Waddell -
Ok Mark at least someone is trying to get the economy going I have several ideas…..
1) You could get to the polar ice caps and before they melt and raise sea level take the ice and melt it into bottled water and then we don’t have to worry about NY and Florida being under water.
2) Build nuclear plants in the mine pits of Minnesota, they are deep enough to even store the spent fuel rods…… and al the people up there have worked in the mines so could easily build and maintain the plant.
3) develop a cell phone so that when you talk into it in English it comes out Spanish, or any language…. Then everyone could communicate.
4) Bring a football team to LA that’s owned by the people of LA and Orange county so the team can never leave and the player get paid well but there is not owner so the profits go back to the community and not just one rich owner… No Offence Mark…. You give back allot… but most owners do not
5) Last but most important start a buy American campaign and build and American store that makes everything in the states by he people of the states,
6) And change the all star game to include kids from all over the united states to actually play in the game…. Since the players are not ther to WIN anyway it would be fun…
I have many more ideas…….. but these would all be good to start with..
Comment by Bobby Norby -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
We would like to create a business for Digital Imaging and Shredding.
Our company, Inclusive Solutions, would consider this a service which would be timely, profitable, and would be a job we can do successfully. Because we work with adults with autism and other developmental disabilties this job opportunity would help build skills, self esteem, and community relationships with local businesses.
President Obama, in his acceptance speech, spoke of converting paper documents to digital documents, especially in the medical sector. The environment would benefit from reducing and recycling paper. Companies would need reduced office space to store digital records. Many businesses find it is easier to locate and access digital records. We do not want charity work, we want real jobs which if we didn’t do the work someone else would have to do it. This could be a win-win job for all of us.
The MN Developmental Disabilities Planning Council has had great success with developing a model for this type of business. They have created a video called The Changing Face of Technology http://www.mnddc.org/extra/imaging.htm
Unfortunately, we could not get funding for the equipment we needed.
To begin Digital Imaging and Shredding we will need:
1. Commercial grade copiers and shredders. The equipment costs depend on the specific requirements of the company we were working with (ie. medical, legal, insurance, government agencies have different requirements for storage and disposal of documents).
2. At least two staff people to get some training. The people in Minnesota are eager to help us learn from their experience.
Our employees are eager to work, they would be supervised 100% of the time as well as have quality control. Because it takes us a little while to learn new skills, we need work which is predictable and repetitive–the digital imaging and shredding job is a perfect match.
If you could help us out, it would be a miracle.
We would be happy to share our positive experiences with any other programs around the country.
Thank you for this opportunity.
Comment by Mary E. Ulrich Ed.D. -
Mark the all star game is great I have a project we were involved in Beijing for the Olympics you probably seen it you can view it at futurehouseusa.org this is the house we’re bringing to Texas we do have one we’re in the middle of desighning rite now for north texas go to this web site and check out or you may have seen it at the Olympic’s I’ll keep sending as long as your reading Sunbelt Solar Systems
Comment by David Hughes -
My business plan if simple. I buy unoccupied, bank-owned houses and rehabilitate them as rental houses. My cost per unit is less than $20,000. I put between $5,000 and $10,000 into each in renovations. I turn the houses around in six weeks or less and get them rented. Each unit rents for between $600 and $900 a month — on 1-year leases.
I have one unit completed and rented, and a second one in the purchase process (with a closing coming before the end of February).
I bought my first unit Nov. 20, and lost a little bit of time the first month because of the Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas, but I still had a renter moved in by Jan. 15.
In the long run, each unit will produce a positive cash flow of between $400 and $600 a month (depending on maintenance costs, taxes and insurance — only the maintenance costs are not precisely predictable).
My business generates work for a handyman, whom I employ several days a week (less than full time right now, but more as my housing inventory increases). Also, I generate several days a month of work for an electrical contractor and a plumber.
Each unit needs 2 to 3 months after renting to become profitable, because I have to put aside money at first to pay the first year’s taxes (which come due in August).
With the large number of houses on the market in Michigan right now and the difficulty in selling a house, the number of rental units on the market is increasing — probably faster than the pool of potential tenants. However, to counter this, I concentrate on buying properties with special features that make them more attractive to renters. My first unit had a potential fourth bedroom — making it ideal for a larger family. I also renovated the bathroom, adding a tile floor and a new bathtub and surround. The unit I’m about to close on has a covered patio and an extremely attractive, updated kitchen (making it an unusually good value as a bank-owned property).
My long-term success depends on being able to continue buying properties on a regular basis. My first unit and the one I am about to close on were purchased for cash — making their potential for positive cash flow much higher. However, I believe that even with a mortgage, at the less than $20,000 price for the properties I try to buy, they will still generate a positive cash flow within 60 days. The mortgage payment will reduce that cash flow, but I will still be able to net $200-$400 a month per unit. The mortgages should be for no more than five years — putting a much higher cash flow in the future.
I am willing to provide more detail on my lease conditions and practices if asked.
Comment by Elsa -
Sorry, forgot to include the amount of equity or how much of a return on his investment Mr. Cuban will receive for the above posted program design/business plan: 7-10% of the profits. This is negotiable of course-I am honestly not too familiar with what the standard return should be, but this is not by any stretch of the imagination a risky venture (hence the lower return). If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Comment by Karin Celosse -
Wow, I hope this fits. Here is my program design/business plan for my business.
Mission Statement
Our goal is to empower consumers to lead dignified, self-reliant lives via the coordination of necessary services and supports. Together with the consumers we serve, we will work to overcome barriers and increase quality of life.
Independent Home and Health Services Organizational Chart
Statement of purpose
Independent Home and Health Services will assist in providing opportunities for adults with physical and/or developmental disabilities who want to live independently in their own homes, with the necessary support available for as often and as long as needed. It is ultimately the goal of supported living services to result in an increased ability on the part of the Consumer, and is intended to result in an increased ability on the part of the Consumer to establish and maintain constructive human relationships, assume and exercise membership in the community, and meet his or her needs without assistance. Independent Home and Health Services’ guiding principles and expected outcomes are as follows:
• Consumers who seek supported living services and independent living services can live successfully and independently in their own homes, with necessary supports and services. Like other members of their community, supported and independent living participants are free to choose where and with whom they live. [Complies with Title 17, 58614(a)]
• Consumers make their own daily choices. They direct the services they receive, and choose the agencies and staff they wish to have support them. The agency will, as necessary, assist and support consumers in communicating their preferences and choices, provide encouragement to pursue personal and emotional growth, and will work diligently to ensure that the consumers are able to successfully work towards meeting the outcomes and objectives important to them. [Complies with Title 17, 58614(a)]
• Consumers have a right to participate in community activities to the extent appropriate to each consumer’s interests and capacity. Independent Home and Health Services will assist and support consumers in building supportive, durable relationships within their community. [Complies with Title 17, 58614(a)]
• Consumers have a right to realize their individualized potential to live lives that are integrated, productive, and normal. Independent Home and Health Services will assist and support consumers in indentifying possible opportunities for employment (gainful, volunteer, or other) or additional educational opportunities, and thus pave the ways to even greater participation in the community. [Complies with Title 17, 58614(a)]
Statement of purpose, cont.
Our supported living services and independent living services are available to adults who want and need specific supports and services to allow them to live independently. The Individual
Service Plan (ISP) is developed through a person-centered planning process, and as such is unique in that it reflects the services and supports that the consumer needs and desires. It is dynamic and flexible as the consumer’s goals and desired outcomes change. Independent Home
and Health Services will continually strive to provide opportunities for the consumer to increase
their individual abilities, self-confidence, and quality of life, with the ultimate goal being increasing self-sufficiency.
Independent Home and Health Services will work with consumers:
• who have medical needs. For this reason, our agency retains the services of staff Registered Nurses (RNs). Consumers with medical needs have a chronic health-related dependence that does not require 24-hour supervision by a specially trained or skilled health care provider, but they do occasionally experience unpredictable, potentially life-threatening incidences. Without appropriate monitoring and ready availability of trained, licensed, certified and/or registered providers, their condition could deteriorate and the intensity of their medical needs increase. Their chronic health-related dependence, continually or with unpredictable periodicity, necessitates a 24-hour a day skilled or specially trained health care provider or specially trained family/foster family, as well as the ready availability of skilled health care supervision.
• who exhibit mild to moderate behavioral and/or emotional difficulties and/or developmental delays. The agency’s founders and directors possess both an extensive academic background, as well as extensive experience, in the areas of psychology, emergency crisis assessment and intervention, and special education.
• who require 24 hour supervision for safety reasons.
It is expected that SLS/ILS participants meet the criteria listed below:
• The consumer’s Individual Program Plan should identify supported or independent living as the desired living option.
• The consumer must be able to afford the cost of living independently.
We are unfortunately not currently equipped to handle cases at this time in which the consumer
• is habitually engaged in criminal behavior.
• is an active substance user.
Consumer services provided
Independent Home and Health Services provides supported and independent living services and support to persons with developmental delays, physical challenges, mental disorders, as well persons on the Autism Spectrum. The consumer, his/her family and friends, and his/her regional center Service Coordinator will come together and collectively develop the Individual Service Plan (ISP). These support plans offer a wide range of services and supports based on the consumer’s individual wants and needs.
The ISP is a dynamic entity and as such will change and/or adjust not only as the consumer’s desired outcomes change, but will also do so in response to the naturally present outcomes-related feedback process and will be adjusted accordingly when the current ISP does not display the desired or expected progress. In this manner, the service plan and its associated services and supports will remain continually responsive to the consumer in order to fulfill the consumer’s wish to live independently in his or her own home.
Each individual service plan (ISP) outlines the consumer’s specific needs for service and supports, as well as the desired outcomes. The services provided by Independent Home and Health Services are as listed below. Although the agency provides personal support services for the consumer when the consumer is physically or otherwise unable, the ideal goal is that the consumer can be educated to perform these services independently, without the help of his/her support staff. However, it is also understood that this is not to mean that the Consumer will always progress, as in some cases health or other circumstances might make the total independence from support services unattainable. Education, training, and support are offered in the following areas:
1. Daily living skills: increasing functional skills, encouragement and prompting to complete personal hygiene tasks, dressing, meal preparation and cooking, nutrition awareness, shopping, other household tasks such as laundry, bed making, dusting and vacuuming (all as within the Consumer’s physical capabilities), arranging for and attending medical, dental, and other health related appointments, obtaining, maintaining and repairing/replacing durable equipment, caring for canine and other animal companions specifically trained to provide assistance.
Personal support services are in some cases also funded through the county’s In Home Support Service (IHSS) program. Upon request, Independent Home and Health Services will assist consumers in hiring and supervising their IHSS personal attendants.
2. Choice making skills: Consumers will be supported in their efforts to self-reflect, make positive choices, and exercise appropriate impulse control through non aversive behavior management and applied behavior analysis methods.
3. Community integration: increasing functional skills, establishing an independent and safe home environment, including selecting, locating, and moving into a residence, assist in identifying and utilizing generic and natural supports such as utility discounts, various housing assistance programs, shared housing programs, etc., acquiring household furnishings, maintaining an independent and safe home environment, landlord relations, participating in community life through employment or volunteer work, assistance with responding to governmental agencies and personnel, exercising self advocacy, building and maintaining interpersonal relationships.
4. Money management: managing personal affairs through planning and following a monthly budget, writing checks, establishing and managing a checking and savings account, depositing earnings and other income, making everyday purchases, and paying bills.
5. Accessing community resources and leisure activities: awareness of and the effective use of available transportation options, awareness of and the effectiveness use of police, fire and emergency services available in the community, and making use of various community resources such as libraries, stores, businesses, schools, churches, recreational programs and self help groups for leisure activities.
6. Medication: while all persons have the right to informed consent and the right to refuse treatment, consumers will be encouraged to remain compliant with their health care providers’ plan of care in order to assure the best possible quality of life, to include taking their medications as prescribed and scheduled. The taking of medications will be logged by support staff in the case notes and on the medication log. Consumers will be prompted to follow their medication regime and any instances of missed/refused medications will be documented immediately, the appropriate agencies will be notified as per standard special incident reporting procedures, and it should be noted that refusal of medication(s) may indicate changes in the Consumer that requires a reassessment of his/her needs.
7. Transportation: awareness of and the effective use of available public transportation options (i.e. OCTA, ACCESS) via mobility training, assistance with navigating bus schedules, route and trip planning, obtaining reduced fare cards or fare coupon books, and scheduling pick up times as applicable.
8. Grievance procedures: awareness of freedom of choice regarding whom to contact with a grievance, and easily understandable free access to contact information for the various agencies available to report a grievance to agencies such as Regional Center, Department of Developmental Services, Protection and Advocacy, Independent Home and Health Services, etc.
9. Self advocacy: encouragement and practicing of the awareness, motivation, and ability to represent and communicate Consumer’s own interests, to exercise personal choice, to exert control over Consumer’s own environment, and to avoid exploitation and abuse.
10. ISP documentation/progress reports: the Individual Service Plan (ISP) will be aligned with the Individual Program Plan and will contain statements of the Consumer’s goals and objectives, expected outcomes, the types and amounts of services and supports needed, along with appropriate time-limits for reaching those goals. These goals will be stated in clear, measurable terms to ensure that direct support staff, supported living agency, and the regional center can measure progress and monitor service delivery. Community, behavior, (and medical as necessary) support supervisors will conduct monthly reviews together with the Consumer and the direct support staff, relay report to the Program Director, and the Program Director will, unless requested to attend quarterly meetings, attend Semi-Annual and Annual IPP meetings, and submit Semi-Annual progress reports and Annual Reviews of the Individual Service Plan (ISP) to the regional center.
11. SIR procedures: direct support staff and all supervisory and directorial staff will be proficient in knowledge of what constitutes a special incident and what events are mandated in terms of reporting. All staff will also function under the assumption that regional center should be contacted for clarification purposes should staff be unsure as to whether or not an incident or event should be reported. Any incident which falls under the heading of “special incident” or “other event mandated to be reported” will be verbally brought to the attention of the regional center within 24 hours, and a written report will be filed with the regional center within 48 hours.
*24 Hour Emergency Response Support: Independent Home and Health Services provides 24 hour 7 days per week “on-call” staff to provide reliable, prompt response to any perceived urgent matter. Independent Home and Health Services utilizes “on-call” staff cell phones and an after-hours answering service to provide this service. This after hours contact procedure will be reviewed with the Consumer, his/her direct care staff, and other members of the consumer’s circle of support.
*Crisis Events:
The following is a list of possible crisis events that can be perceived to be, or actually present as an urgent matter, necessitating an after-hours call (and/or possibly contacting 911*), and most assuredly would require a reevaluation of the current IPP and ISP:
-Physical aggression* -Self-injurious behavior*
-Property destruction -Verbal threats
-Screaming -Throwing things
-Nudity in public -Unsafe sexual behavior
-Stealing -False accusations or reports
-Unsafe behavior with strangers -Ingesting hazardous materials*
-Refusal to follow good health practices -Sexual intimidation
-Fire starting* -Alcoholism and/or drug abuse
-Refusing to take medications -Refusing to eat or overeating
-Disappearing without notice* -Suicide attempts*
Protocol:
1. The crisis event would be immediately reported to the Independent Home and Health Services by direct support staff, and Independent Home and Health Services will then notify the appropriate agencies (i.e. regional center, APS), any applicable professionals (i.e. counselor, physician, etc.), family, and/or other members of Consumers circle of support as necessary.
2. If necessary, the necessary emergency services (e.g. Law enforcement, Paramedics, etc.) would be called in to help prior to any other step.
3. An APS report, special incident report or “other event” report would be filed with the appropriate agencies, and copies of documentation would be placed in the Consumer’s file.
4. Should a “pattern” of crisis behavior begin to manifest itself, a meeting of the Consumer’s “circle of support” would be scheduled to go over any possible needed adjustments in the Consumer’s IPP and ISP.
Expected Service Outcomes
Consumer’s expected service outcomes will be tracked and measured on a regular quarterly basis,
utilizing documentation that has specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound goals and/or objectives. The goals and/or objectives will be outlined via their desired specific outcomes, will have specific criteria for indicating progress, procedures for evaluating progress, a timeline for evaluating progress, and whether or not the goal was completely, partially, or not met at all. Any goals and/or objectives which are not met or only partially met will be reevaluated and/or restructured until progress becomes evident. It is also understood that in some cases, external circumstances such as declining health, aging, or illness might interfere with Consumer’s ability to attain their long term goals and/or objectives and these items should then be adjusted accordingly.
Entrance criteria/Assessment
The intake evaluation process begins with a referral from the regional center. After all pertinent information regarding the consumer (i.e. semi-annual/annual IPP updates/reviews, nursing/psychiatric/behavioral assessments) are received, the SLS/ILS Program Director and/or Supervisor(s) will meet with the consumer and any other persons who are a part of the consumer’s current circle of support. [Complies with Title 17, 58632(a), 58632(b)(1), 58632(b)(2)] Guided by the Consumer’s goals and objectives as outlined in the IPP, the Consumer, the Consumer’s circle of support, and the agency will form the consumer’s Individual Service Plan (ISP). The goal of this process is to discover:
1. what is desired by and necessary to the consumer in their day to day life (i.e. routines, rituals, direct care staff qualities/personalities)
2. what people, places, activities and things are important to the consumer (i.e. school, family, employment paid or otherwise, etc.)
3. what are the consumer’s strengths and what are their limitations
4. what types of support does the consumer require in order to remain safe and healthy (i.e. nursing assessment and plan)
Upon completion of the intake and assessment process, an assessment report will be generated. This report will include all of the aforementioned points, as well addressing any areas of need, and how the agency will assist the consumer in addressing the same. A proposed schedule and initial budget will be included [Complies with Title 17, 58632(a), 58632(b)(1), 58632(b)(2)], and service will be established upon authorization from the regional center.
Sample Assessment Narrative:
Re: Doe, John
DOB: 01/01/57
UCI# 1234567
To whom it may concern;
I had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. John Doe this morning for a visit in order to assess what Mr. Doe’s support needs would be to allow him to live independently. Mr. Doe has been voicing a desire to live in his own apartment for some time now. He currently resides at **** Manor board and care/assisted living residence in ****, CA where he receives various regular supports and assistance from staff members.
Client description:
John is a 50 year old male of Jamaican descent. He is a Seventh Day Adventist and shared with me that his father was a minister. He is an un-conserved adult, 68 inches tall, weighing approximately 165 pounds. John was dressed appropriately for the weather, well groomed, and in clean clothing. According to the staff at **** Manor, John wears dentures, but he did not have them in place during the interview. John is able to communicate his wants and needs clearly and his speech is intelligible, but was just a little more difficult to understand during the interview due to not having his dentures in place. He carries a diagnosis of Mild Mental Retardation (Full Scale WAIS-R IQ of 54 in 2001), Paralysis Agitans, malignant Essential Hypertension, Hx. of Thrombophlebitis in 1999, and Hypercholerestemia.
Current circle of support/services:
John is supported by family, friends, and staff at **** Manor and Goodwill Industries. John’s parents are both deceased, but he has a sibling (sister Jane Doe) with whom he maintains regular contact via telephone. He receives residential services, supported employment services, transportation assistance, and case management services through Regional Center. **** Manor provides John with global assistance and supervision. He receives job coaching support services from Goodwill Industries. John works 40 hours per week, 8:00am-4:30pm Monday-Friday, at a wage of $7.50/hour at the **** in ****, CA. In addition to his earned wages, John receives SSI/SSA benefits in the amount of $614.00/month and his health/dental care and prescription needs are covered through MediCal/Cal Optima/DentiCal, as well as WellCare Prescription Drug plan.
Current schedule and residential status:
John currently resides at **** Manor board and care in ****, CA. His room is located in the main building, in close proximity to where the staff tend to meals, medications, and laundry. His room is directly next to this area so as to facilitate monitoring of John during the night as he does suffer from an increased risk of falls. Per staff at **** Manor, John’s weekday routine is as follows: he rises at 6:00 am, gets dressed, eats breakfast, tends to his personal hygiene needs, and then leaves for the bus at 6:45 am. John works until 4:30 pm and arrives home via bus around 5:30 pm. He has dinner between 6:30-7:00 pm, and usually is in bed by 8:00 pm. On Saturdays, John gets up at 6:00 am, gets dressed, tends to his personal hygiene needs, and eats breakfast around 6:30 am, and takes the bus to go to church services at 10:00 am. He returns around 1:00 pm and has dinner between 6:30-7:00 pm and is usually in bed by 8:00 pm. On Sundays, John gets up at 6:00 am, gets dressed, tends to his personal hygiene needs, and eats breakfast around 6:30 am and then usually spends the remainder of the day relaxing and spending times with friends. He usually eats lunch around 11:30-12:00 pm and dinner between 6:30-7:00 pm, and then is usually in bed by 8:00 pm.
Clients support needs to facilitate/enable change in residential situation:
While John is able to bathe/shower himself independently, toilet himself independently, and dress himself independently, he does require support in these areas. Per staff at **** Manor, John will stay in the bath tub/shower for an hour or more at night if not prompted to finish up. Staff also states that John needs prompting to comb his hair and clean/wear his dentures (the latter is something he often balks at), to apply deodorant, and to put on clean clothing. John is unable to complete laundry tasks independently and will require assistance in this area. While John is able to feed himself independently, he is unable to shop for groceries or prepare meals. He will require assistance in these areas. John is a Seventh Day Adventist so he does not drink coffee or eat pork. While John is quite independent about scheduling and attending doctor’s appointments, the staff at **** Manor do monitor this to keep a record of visits. John is also very compliant with his prescribed medications, but the staff at **** Manor also monitors his medication regimen and supply of medications, as John is unable to do so independently. John would require support in this areas as well, as he does have medical conditions that require daily monitoring (hypertension and a Hx. of thrombophlebitis) such as dependent edema, possible ALOC, and elevated BP. John currently receives banking support from the staff at **** Manor. John would require support in this area, with such things as writing checks, ensuring bills are paid in a timely manner, bank statements are balanced, and so on. John is independent in terms of completing most house- keeping tasks, but per current staff does require some prompting in this area as well.
Summary:
John could be quite successful living in his own apartment (the least restrictive environment), with appropriate supported living services. All throughout the week John would require assistance with such areas as meal prep and cooking, grocery shopping, medication monitoring, appropriate hygiene and grooming, encouragement to use his dentures, has a sack lunch with him, and getting to his transportation on time. He would also require assistance and/or prompting to complete household tasks such as cleaning, laundry, preparing the evening meal and monitoring his safety during the bed-time hygiene routine. Of special consideration in the case of this consumer is the fact that he suffers from Parkinson’s, which does raise some concerns about John requiring over-night supervision due to the increased potential for falls and/or medical incidents. The ideal direct care support staff for John would be one who could get there late in the afternoon to meet John as he returned from his work program, could be there for meal prep, medication supervision, ensuring clean clothing was available, and supervise bath time. The staff would then stay until morning, allowing John to receive overnight support as necessary and would also be present in the morning for meal prep, lunch prep, medication supervision, personal grooming prompts/assistance, and ensuring John gets to his bus stop in a timely manner. John would also require support with banking and finances, procuring additional furniture and household items that he does not currently possess (he only has a bed and a chest of drawers at this time), and assistance in locating an apartment. John has been on the HUD waiting list since 2004 and does qualify for the regional center rental assistance program. He has stated a preference for an apartment in the city of ****, which would be quite convenient for John as his PCP, his dentist, his church, his friends, and his place of employment are all located in close vicinity to the city of ****.
Exit Criteria
While it is ultimately the goal of supported living services to result in an increased ability on the part of the Consumer, and is intended to result in an increased ability on the part of the Consumer to establish and maintain constructive human relationships, assume and exercise membership in the community, and meet his or her needs without assistance, there are other cases where it might become necessary to discontinue services. Independent Home and Health Services may elect to terminate services under any of the following circumstances:
Threatened safety and well being of staff:
When circumstances beyond our control threaten the safety and well being of Independent Home and Health Services personnel and after careful investigation, we will formally notify the regional center and subsequently terminate the consumer’s services.
Inability to meet consumer’s IPP goals:
The agency will terminate services if the consumer’s IPP goals cannot be met. A thirty-day written notice will be given to the consumer and the regional center should this occur. [Complies with Title 17, 58632(b)(1), 58632(b)(2)]
Consumer Terminates Services:
The consumer has the right to terminate services at any time.
The Interdisciplinary (ID) Team decides that the program does not meet the needs of the consumer:
The agency will terminate services if the ID Team decides that the program does not meet the consumer’s needs. A thirty-day written notice to the consumer and the regional center will be given should this occur. [Complies with Title 17, 58632(b)(1), 58632(b)(2)]
Staff Qualifications and Duties
Executive Program Director
Qualifications:
MA or PhD in psychology, public health, special education, or other related, applicable field, or current enrollment in and possessing extensive progress towards MA/PhD in same fields. Minimum of two (2) years experience in case management and service coordination within a social services field, health care/services or other related field, supervisory experience, demonstrated ability to manage, plan, coordinate and organize, excellent written and communication skills, a dedication to the special needs population, extensive knowledge of community resources, state and federal laws as pertaining to exceptional persons.
Duties:
• Participates in initial Intake and Assessment process.
• Coordinates hiring, supervising, mentoring, and agency-specific training of supervisory staff to ensure all outcomes and services outlined in the Individual Service Plan (ISP) are clearly understood.
• Prepare annual budgets, monitor expenses and revenues.
• Set policies and participate in the strategic planning process with input from supervisory and direct care staff, and conducts training sessions for all staff.
• Ensure program is in compliance with quality assurance requirements.
• Initiates and maintains communication with Consumers, families, health care providers and any other resources involved with the participant’s case.
• Attends semi-annual update and annual review ISP/IPP meetings (and quarterly meetings upon request).
• Design and implement new natural support arrangements that decrease reliance on direct support staff.
• Maintains up to date knowledge of county, state and federal regulations and guidelines as related to persons with disabilities.
Medical Support Program Supervisor
Qualifications:
Current CA Registered Nurse (RN) license. Work experience in field of health care, human services, mental health; case management as it relates to the developmentally/physically disabled and/or mentally ill. Possesses excellent written and communication skills, as well as strong coordination and organizational skills, and a dedication to the special needs population.
Responsibilities include:
• Participate in the Intake and Assessment process of Consumer’s who meet criteria as being “medically fragile”.
• Perform Consumer’s Nursing assessment and develop Consumer’s Nursing plan of care in accordance with the goals and objectives set forth in the Consumer’s IPP.
• Training direct care staff to ensure all services in the Nursing plan of care (as they relate to attaining the goals in the Consumer’s Individual Service Plan) are provided in a competent manner.
• Initiates and maintains direct communication with Consumer’s health care team.
• Under the indirect supervision of the Program Director, supervises the direct provision of medically related services to Consumers in accordance with established state legislation and policies.
• Advocates for health of Consumer, serves as liaison between Consumer and agency, family, regional center, and other providers as necessary.
• Attends annual review, semi-annual updates, and monthly house meetings as necessary.
Behavior and Community Support Supervisor:
Qualifications:
BA/BS degree in psychology, social work, education or related field. Prefer 2 years work experience in field of health care, human services, mental health; case management as it relates to the developmentally/physically disabled and/or mentally ill. Possesses excellent written and communication skills, as well as strong coordination and organizational skills, and a dedication to the special needs population.
Responsibilities include:
• Participate in the Intake and Assessment process of Consumers.
• Assist with assessment and the development of Consumer’s Individual Service Plan (ISP) in accordance with the goals and objectives set forth in the Consumer’s IPP.
• Under the indirect supervision of the Program Director, performs training and supervision of direct care staff to ensure all goals, outcomes, and services in Consumer’s ISP are provided in an ongoing, competent manner.
• Maintains direct, ongoing communication with Consumer’s health care team if applicable.
• Advocates for Consumer, serves as liaison between Consumer and agency, family, regional center, and other providers as necessary.
• Attends annual review, semi-annual updates, and monthly house meetings as necessary.
Direct Support Staff (including Community and Behavioral Support):
Qualifications:
Prefer current enrollment in AA/AS program and one (1) year experience in related health care or social services environment, will accept enrollment in AA/AS program upon being hired. Excellent written and communication skills. Dedication to the special needs population. Possession of a current, valid CDL, TB clearance and AHA CPR and First Aid.
Responsibilities include:
• Provide Consumers with hands on support and education to develop independent living skills, increase functional skills, and encourage Consumer’s efforts to self-reflect and make positive choices.
• Works actively to implement the goals, objectives, and outcomes set forth in the consumer’s Individualized Service Plan (ISP) and IPP.
• Provides non-aversive behavior management as necessary.
• Provides companionship for, and supervision, and monitoring of Consumers to ensure health and safety needs.
• Train consumers in the use of the after-hours contact system.
Staff Training Plan (including orientation, on-the-job training, and continuing education)
The primary objective of Independent Home and Health Services is to consistently apply best practices and expose staff to the most up to date knowledge regarding direct support services, and to facilitate growth and learning in staff . The agency coordinates and provides continuing education and skills training for direct-care staff, develops and demonstrates new models for learning, on-the job support for direct-care staff, and researches and analyzes regulations and policies regarding training requirements for direct-care staff.
It is important to emphasize intrapersonal problem solving and communication skills. To help with this, direct-care staff will be taught to use the “four P’s”:
• Pull Back: Gain emotional control in a stressful situation.
• Paraphrase: Listen actively and ask open questions.
• Present Options: Identify critical facts, brainstorm solutions, consider consequences, and present options to a Consumer or supervisor.
• Pass It On: Document in writing or communicate with others (e.g., a supervisor, coordinator, or nurse) about the problem, using objective language (all direct-care staff will be expected to keep up to date case notes and provide report to the on-coming direct-care staff person).
Staff training: Program director will train and conduct orientation for new direct-care staff. All staff will also be required to attend at least one training session either through the local regional center or Independent Home and Health Services per quarter. Direct-care staff will be required to demonstrate competence in the following areas:
1. Overview of ILS/SLS philosophy;
2. Consumer supervision techniques and strategies (including non-aversive behavior management techniques);
3. Safeguarding Consumer funds and assisting Consumer with daily banking and finance activities;
4. Participating in the quality assurance process;
5. Thorough knowledge of the abuse and neglect reporting criteria and process;
6. Understanding the ISP objectives and special supports needed regarding each Consumer with whom the staff is working directly;
7. Review of consumers’ rights, fair hearing procedures & appeal policies;
8. Special incident reporting and abuse reporting requirements;
9. Sensitivity to the diversity of Consumer needs;
10. Accessing community resources;
11. Emergency procedures (medical, accidents, etc.);
12. Disaster Preparedness (fire, earthquake, etc.);
13. Health and safety procedures;
14. Social, recreation and transportation planning with consumer;
15. Independent Home and Health Services after-hours response system;
16. Scheduling and attending routine medical, dental, psychiatric/counseling appointments, and advocating for Consumer as requested/needed;
17. Maintaining case notes and medical records;
18. Documentation concerning use of prescription and OTC medication;
19. How to monitor and carry out a health plan (*see below for scope of practice of unlicensed assistive personnel, and the associated nursing components);
20. When and under what circumstances to seek medical advice and basic first aid;
21. How and whom to contact for locating, repairing and maintaining medical and other special equipment;
22. Information regarding use of illegal drugs, alcohol, cigarette and safe sex practices;
23. Wellness practices such as good nutrition, weight monitoring, stress management, exercise and good hygiene;
Scope of Practice for Unlicensed Personnel: (from the California Board of Registered Nursing)
Many people are finding it desirable to seek non-traditional unlicensed health care services in settings such as home care. Many of these settings, based on a social model of care and service, provide an improved quality of life over the traditional institutional nursing care setting. Keeping this in mind, unlicensed health care givers should be utilized only to be assistive to licensed nursing personnel. The Nursing Practice Act defines the practice of registered nursing (Section 2725(a)) as “those functions, including basic health care, which help people cope with difficulties in daily living which are associated with their actual or potential health problems or the treatment thereof which require a substantial amount of scientific knowledge or technical skill.” It is the RN’s responsibility to use this knowledge and skill in the implementation of the nursing process: to make a comprehensive assessment (including physiological and psychosocial factors) of the nursing needs of the client, to make a nursing diagnosis, and to develop, implement, and evaluate the plan of care for the patient. The RN’s legal responsibility for using the nursing process is delineated in Section 1443.5 of the California Code of Regulations. The following aspects of the nursing process should be performed only by registered nurses:
1. performance of a comprehensive assessment;
2. validation of the assessment data;
3. formulation of the nursing diagnosis for the individual client;
4. identification of goals derived from nursing diagnosis;
5. determination of the nursing plan of care, including appropriate nursing interventions derived from the nursing diagnosis; and
6. evaluation of the effectiveness of the nursing care provided.
The term “unlicensed assistive personnel” refers to those health care workers who are not licensed to perform nursing tasks; it also refers to those health care workers who may be trained and certified, but are not licensed. Examples of unlicensed assistive personnel include (but are not limited to) certified nursing assistants, home health aides, and patient care technicians. The term “unlicensed assistive personnel” does not include members of the client’s immediate family, guardians, or friends; these individuals may perform nursing care without specific authority from a licensed nurse [as established in Section 2727(a) of the Nursing Practice Act].
The ability of the RN to assess real or potential harm to the client regarding patient care procedures is seen as integral to determining which tasks may be performed by unlicensed assistive personnel. Such effective clinical supervision must take into account patient safety, the competency of the unlicensed care giver to perform the task, the number and acuity of patients, the number and complexity of tasks, and the number of staff which the direct care RN is clinically supervising. Staffing patterns must allow the direct care RN to independently make decisions regarding assignment of tasks for a client, based upon the direct care RN’s nursing judgment. Policies and procedures within each institution will reflect the above factors in determining the number of care givers an RN will be supervising at any one time.
Tasks may be assigned to unlicensed assistive personnel if the client/patient is not medically fragile (define as a patient whose condition can no longer be classified as chronic or stable and for whom the performance of the assigned task could not be termed routine) and performance of the task does not pose potential harm to the patient. This would include consumers/patients with chronic problems who are in stable conditions. When consumers/patients with a chronic problem experience an acute illness, routine tasks associated with on-going chronic problems may be assigned to unlicensed assistive personnel if the task does not pose potential harm to the patient.
Tasks which require a substantial amount of scientific knowledge and technical skill may not be assigned to unlicensed assistive personnel. Examples of restricted tasks include, but are not limited to: pre-procedure assessment and post-procedure evaluation of the patient; handling of invasive lines, sterile technique or procedures on a patient; parenteral medications or lines; nursing process including patient assessment, monitoring or evaluating; triaging of patients; patient education. RNs may continue to assign to unlicensed assistive personnel those activities which unlicensed assistive personnel have traditionally performed in the delivery of patient care. The activities of daily living include basic health and hygiene tasks such as those a certified nursing assistant or home health aide is trained to perform (Examples include but are not limited to: bathing, feeding, ambulating, vital signs, weight, assistance with elimination, maintaining a safe environment.) Tasks which are judged by the direct care RN to not require the professional judgment of an RN may be assigned. Such assigned tasks shall meet all the following conditions:
A) be considered routine care for this patient;
B) pose little potential hazard for the patient;
C) involve little or no modification from one consumer-care situation to another;
D) be performed with a predictable outcome;
E) not inherently involve ongoing assessments, interpretations, or decision-making which could not be logically separated from the procedure itself.
Examples of tasks which may be assigned include, but are not limited to: clean catheterization technique; simple dressing changes (i.e. clean technique where wound assessment is performed by a licensed nurse and where no wound debridement or packing is involved); suction of chronic tracheotomies (i.e. using clean technique); gastrostomy feedings in established, wound-healed gastrostomies. Unlicensed assistive personnel may not reassign an assigned task. To reiterate, it is the direct care RN who ultimately decides the appropriateness of assignment tasks. The registered nurse must be knowledgeable regarding the unlicensed assistive personnel’s education and training, and must have opportunity to periodically verify the individual’s ability to perform specific tasks.
Peer Instructors: Senior direct-care staff will provide assistance with the training program during the first week, particularly during personal care/clinical skill instruction. Peer instructors model success in the workplace for new trainees; their presence is a positive motivator for those who may be struggling with the demands of a rigorous training program.
Peer Mentors: Senior direct-care staff will provide support to new employees. These mentors check in with new employees during the first month of employment, answer questions, provide emotional support, and help to build new employees’ on-the-job problem-solving skills.
Community and Behavioral Support Supervisors: these persons both schedule cases and supervise home care workers. The supervisor checks in with new direct-care staff frequently during the first month on the job, and on a monthly basis thereafter to observe the Consumer/direct-care staff relationship to ensure there are no problems.
Medical Support Supervisors: the RN visits direct-care staff at the homes of the Consumers. The supervisor ensures that the direct-care staff understands and follows care plan instructions, is fully trained and competent in any necessary procedures, answers questions, and observes the Consumer/direct-care staff relationship to ensure there are no problems.
Record Keeping
Independent Home and Health Services will maintain and provide access to all records relating to service design, service delivery, and employee service time records, i.e. time, sheets, payroll records, accounting records, training records, service evaluations, and data documenting the actual delivery of service to consumers for which the agency has claimed payment. All records concerning the individual will be kept confidential in compliance with to HIPPA Privacy Rule and regulations. A major goal of the Privacy Rule is to assure that individuals’ health and health related information is properly protected while allowing the flow of health and health related information needed to provide and promote high quality care and to protect the public’s health and well being. The Rule strikes a balance that permits important uses of information, while protecting the privacy of people who seek care.
Consumer records will include at minimum (as applicable):
Regional Center IPP Case Notes
Individual Service Plan (ISP) Release and Consent Forms
Nursing/psychological assessment Insurance and Identification
Status sheet/face sheet Serious Incident Reports
CDER Billing Records (POS, etc.)
IHSS Assessments Equipment Repair History
Housing Records SSI, SSDI/Other Income Records
Comment by Karin Celosse -
Hey guys,
please stop being innocent and GO TO WORK! This kind of business IS OVER. The world fell down to its knees… Get into the reality and stick glued to your jobs!
Get into the reality. NOW!
Millions are developing ideias, that will become… NOTHING.
Expect nothing from here.
This is the kind of lamb idea that hides a not very honest team of lawyers, business guys and work_suckers.
There’s no such thing as the garage developer anymore. Always had been ROMANCE. FAKE. Apply to a big company, BE SOMEONE! They will very rapidly start hiring again. Study. Learn their products. Learn their methods. Learn and APPLY FOR A JOB, while you are IN TIME.
Marks wants to make money, easy money, and them he’ll say: “there will always be people gaining from crisis” (rephrase: gaining from desperation and innocence).
Apply for a job, work your idea, and present it to your bosses. They’ll help you deal with it, in or out of the company.
BE SMART!
Comment by Johan Doehan -
I’m strongly interested in this- That said, I do have a question about one of the requirements.
“Must be profitable in 90 days”
When do the 90 days start? As far as my current plan goes, development may take the first month or two [depending if there was a satisfactory business property already available], or if a facility had to be constructed [as it has some special amenities required].
Secondly, if it isn’t from the beginning of development, but the first real ‘launch’ date, it would be more profitable to delay the date until August. Would this be permitted for maximizing profits and publicity?
Comment by David B. -
Read the whole thing and I am still cracking up over “Lawngerie” and “PimpmyPoint” — +1 to both of those ideas!! 😀
Comment by mpullen -
Mr. Cuban,
I’ll keep this very short and go straight to the point. My idea is system that could be attached onto gym equipment so it will record how many reps and the weight (or time and intensity) you do and then send it wirelessly to a computer.
You’d use your finger print to ‘log in’ and a small screen will display some stats about your last workout. It only takes a second to swipe your finger across the pad no need to carry a pen or paper with you to keep track of your progress. On your way out a graph of your progress could be printed out and handed to the customer.
This is a fairly low-tech and inexpensive solution for people like me who work out several times a week and have difficulty keeping track of their progress. Or it could be a solution for people with weight problems and want help finding the best exercise possible.
Kind regards,
Nicolas Martin
Comment by Nicolas Martin -
Never mind. I noticed that this blog reads from the bottom up.:)
Thanks again,
James Solis
Comment by James Solis -
Mr Cuban,
I notice that there hasn’t been a post since Feb. 9. Are you still considering business ventures? I have a business plan ready to post if you are, and I hope you are.
It is a plan that will create jobs, help people keep their jobs, and prepare people to get jobs.
I think it is worthy of your attention.
Thank you,
James Solis
Comment by James Solis -
I have just went through the entire length of this page, trying to learn and understand what kind of ideas make sense to you Mark, so that I could possibly come up with a concept and model that could fit your requirements.
While I haven’t yet figure it out, I do have a couple of questions which I would definitely appreciate you answering:
Mainly, i’d like to know what it means when you don’t comment on a proposed business idea. Obviously there are tons of posts and some of them are rants, others just “ideas” without a real business model or plan, but I’ve seen a large amount of posts that contain reasonable proposals that go un-commented by you, while other do get your comment.
It would be very helpful if you could explain what it means when you don’t respond. Is it that you absolutely had no interest, or is it that you don’t have time to read it all so some posts get a reply while others don’t, or perhaps you respond to some in private without any public comment?
Another thing I would like to say is that I have found a very interesting business concept here and I intend on exploring it further. I will try to do so with the original poster, as it is my personal belief that taking someone’s fruits of labor or thought just so you could make a bit more money, is not really the way to go. At least not for me.
Hope I can get this business going, hopefully with that person. Since you did find the original idea appealing, perhaps you could fund it when it is more mature and ready.
One last thing… to complete the “couple” of questions I said I had, umm.. are you still there? seems that somewhere a bit after the middle of the posts here you vanished completely. no comments whatsoever. Just trying to understand if you’re busy or if something has changed.
I assume other people wonder as well, so any answer would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Dan Goldman
Comment by Dan -
Dear Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan – Open Source Funding Staff:
My interest is in offering a business proposal to your organization relative this novel funding arrangement. Where should that document be directed, what particular form(s) is best suited to its appraisal and are there paginal or temporal limits that apply to its consideration?
Comment by Matthew Anderson -
Pingback: Mark Cuban wants to give you money - Jan Norman on Small Business - OCRegister.com
Hey Mark my blog’s keep disapearing anyways I guess I’ll start all over again no just kidding anyway’s I do have a project underway in the metro plex if you would like more imformation e-mail me this project could be up in 90days and will start producing revenue as soon as we turn it the profit will come from my following month’s electric and gas bill if I do it right there will be profits not only from saving energy but from rebates and incentives for incentive and rebates from government and utilities you go to dsire.gov pick state you live and they will come up ,here I go trying to educate the public again anyways the word’s out I’ve got more imformation again if you like more imformation about my project please e-mail me sunbeltsolarsystem@yahoo.com
Comment by David Hughes -
My proposal is to build and market household-sized wind generators for single home use in areas with relatively constant wind speeds. I don’t even know if it’s feasible. The idea would be to contract with a homeowner, install the generator and hook it up to the house’s grid. The owner could then agree to a certain level of maintenance (obviously, they need constant maintenance, so there would have to be some sort of agreement). An onboard computer would monitor the amount of electricity being produced and regulate it either to the house or back into the grid (if excess is being produced). Anyway, just a thought.
Comment by Patrick -
Hi Mark
My company distributes glamour video content via mobile networks all over the world. Some with Operators directly, some via partners and some via our own delivery & billing platforms. As it’s difficult to find the proper content I have been testing out shooting my own content since January and this business was profitable within 90 days and continues to generate revenue off past creations as well as expaning us into VOD, IPTV and other forms of distribution as we own all right to the content. We are looking at opening our own formal ‘studio’ to shoot glamour content and share revenue with the stars and production team.
Essentially our offer is that we handle the production & distribution and then share revenue with the people who help create the works for a period of time (12 months) in exchange for their work at half pay – As shoots only last a day or two max, there is very little risk for people to participate as it’s a good deal and we already know everyone in the business so there is little downtime building any of the infrastructure or much less cold calling anyone 😀
Changing the model to give equity in a business that does not do that currently will guarantee participation of high quality talent as well as viral fan promotion from the stars themselves – we will revolutionize the industry, re-write the game plan and succeed in very difficult times for the traditional studios who have been quote late to innovate and find alternative distribution channels instead relying too heavily on the DVD business with all of its middle men, theft, lack of reporting and long wait times to find data about sales much less get a check….
A pure digital studio with global distribution contracts & multiple foreign outlets can solve these problems quite nicely and we can provide all of these parts from day one along with production crew and business development staff. The NewCo will retain 60% of the NET profit and split the remaining 40% within the production staff (appx 3-5 people per project).
We will be able to produce content once a week for three months, spending 2-3 days per week in post production. BusDev and marketing will run concurrently to pre-sell the content into as many channels as possible.
Thanks much for your time
Cheers
M.S.
Comment by Moe Schizzle -
Internet security is a huge problem for retailers, financial institutions and even the federal government. Most companies rely on a single-factor authentication process (User Name and Password) to allow their customers/employees/ etc. access to confidential data on their web sites. However, according to an October 13, 2005 report made by the FFIEC (Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council), both the FFIEC and the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System “consider single-factor authentication, if it is the only control mechanism, to be inadequate for high-risk transactions involving access to customer information or the movement of funds to other parties.”
The single-factor authentication process has been successfully hacked repeatedly. Recent cases in point: when TJ Maxx lost millions of credit card records to an intruder and when hackers compromised the Veterans Administration files. Both instances also exposed millions of people to the possibility of identity theft.
Our company, Vir-Sec, has developed a Patent Pending methodology to provide physical presence identification for secure Internet transactions using Virtual Security Application methodology. Our methodology has applications in the financial, medical and industrial security fields. Our website, http://www.vir-sec.com, offers complete background information and detailed examples of how the methodology can be applied in each of these fields. It is a model that we believe consumers will accept, because it does not require huge behavioral change.
We are marketing directly to institutions, rather than to individual consumers.
Our financial model is based on licensing fees of $1.00 per month per account.
Revenue potential:
Major Credit Card company with 21,000 member banks averaging 10,000 clients each.
Small Healthcare Provider: 5 million insured.
Medicare: 37 million insured
Medicare supplemental Insurance market: 26 million insured
A multi-nation HHR provider: 300 million accounts.
The Medical application is especially timely, given President Barack Obama’s plan to lower health care costs through improved care coordination, which will require expansion of computerized information technology.Obama will lower health care costs:
After reviewing our information, please feel free to make an appointment by emailing me
Comment by Christopher Murphy -
whoever gets the pod,
gets the beans 🙂
coolbeans 🙂
I just thought of that…hmmm
make sense’
Comment by proud unemployed creative entrepreneur -
i would like to do
instincthelper.com
its designed for people who lost it.
why is it important
because its your giude.
you see we are designed with nature.
yeah, yeah, you might mistaken me for a hippie
which i am. and its ok 🙂
I chose to be a hippie.
Anyways, back to guide,
you have to listen to it like right now..
I make total sense to you, yet
your mind is o clouded you thought you’re on fantasy land.
Well, I would let you wonder in the fantasy land if wasn’t for
the global economy disappearing like water.
Why is it, because its all made of water turned into a thin air.
And it evaporate. I don’t know why, it just did.
cause and effect..
rules of logic…
again i wouldn’t care for your sorry ass,
if it wouldn’t for that I have no choice.
We’re all inter-connected.
Like hmmmm….
string beans.
Comment by proud unemployed creative entrepreneur -
This is brilliant!
This is same as the story of Joseph in GENESIS 41. During the time of great famine (which is happening now), Joseph came up with a plan. Joseph has the stock of wheat and food, but he rather gave SEED to SOW.
Comment by BHOND -
I’m a beggar for peace.
To whatever you understand peace for. Its better than not having one.
I would like to have
dollarformysanity.com
I want to community to employ me.
So I can help.
Otherwise, I’m too small people…
I am no conspiracy theory.
I am a free person.
I can share the feeling if you want to ask.
Just lucky enough to have the opportunity to sharpen my instincts.
I do it for fun.
I am
too small to make a difference…
too naive…
too weak…
too stupid…
too confused…
too lost…
too fucked up…
too much even for my self…
But one thing I do good is creatively problem solve any problem you may have.
Donations are welcomed.
I cannot take care of myself,
because I have no sense of self.
I am what I am, and If I can make you understand…
spare some inspiration.
spare some anger.
spare some laughter…
even jealousy…
I can take it.
But my body is too fragile.
And when it’s in pain, it cries.
My spririt doesn’t.
But by body does.
And I don’t have health insurance.
I had a chance to pick up my medication when I had chance.
i procrastinate. So when I went back to get it, and my insurance is gone…
Just realize it was for 1000 dollars.
What is it? A lotion 🙂
The lesson is really not the cost (its part of it, bigger part)
but also part of it is that, I procrastinate. and its ok.
I love myself. Don’t blame myself for what I am.
That’s why I rely on people sometimes to take care of me.
Because I can’t. I don’t give a fuck if I rot.
you don’t have to smell me.
I call myself a functional savant.
I cannot remember bad things.
Don’t try it though, because I’m sensitive.
Just please spare me an inspiration.
Or if anyone created the ‘MEBOOK’ let me know.
I would like to have one.
Make sure that i can throw it to someone sometimes,
and it makes cool sound when i do throw it.
like poink’ just to poke fun to it
Who likes to be slammed with reality in their face anyways.
So where am I again,
Oh yeah,
You never know what would come up.
I don’t either.
things I say right now.
I cannot repeat.
You can laugh, but that’s all there is.
10% goes to Mark Cuban Foundation
i wouldn’t really know if this idea would exist.
Funny thing is, I could do it myself.
But I procastinte.
And I’m working on a project.
When I’m done I’ll do it.
I’m a beggar for peace. don’t kill me.
And if you do, I’ll see you different lifetime 🙂
Who knows, I may be born your daughter. or your wife. or your grandmother. your niece. your neighbor. or your president…
Situations may change, but motivations will not.
You really don’t need to understand.
you just have to let people be.
I’m a functional savant 🙂
In need of your change, so I can make more chunk of change for as many people I can make understand.
And why am I writing this.
At least I tried right…
A shot in the dark…see where it goes…
who it hits or where it falls..
who picks it up or who plays with it…
At least I know I can sleep tonight.
knowing that I followed my instincts.
Which is ….. I forgot….I told you
Im a functional savant
Comment by proud unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Mark,
Desserts, we all love them! With that in mind here’s my pitch:
“Dessert Square” or “Dessert Plaza”, these are a couple of the concept names I’ve been throwing around in my head. What I envision is a mall style building or a series of neighboring buildings, which collectively make up “Dessert Plaza”. A festive place where you can find any kind of dessert that you could possible desire. Desserts would be made and served representing all ethnic groups. This is a place people will flock from miles around to get their wedding cakes and party treats at the same time this will be the place couples go to on dates and special occasions, the favored place for birthday parties and the place everyone goes after the big game.
The idea is to develop property or redevelop an existing structure or structures lease out the property strictly to bakers, candy stores, ice-cream parlors, Donut stores, dessert chefs, etc. Restaurants just for an example such as The Cheese Cake Factory would be allowed to lease space but would be restricted to the sale of desserts.
This project is quite a bit out of my financial reach and though I have had this idea for some time now I have not penciled out numbers. I have mentally played more with the idea of starting with a restaurant-sized place using the same concept though I question the profitability on a small scale.
Revenue would be earned from leasing out space as well as collecting a percentage of tenant sales. Triple net fees would help offset maintenance and marketing costs. I can only assume there are City incentives available out there as well.
I am a General Contractor, like many others we are currently struggling to find work and at the least a project like this could help us out.
Appreciate any feedback.
Thanks,
John
Comment by John De Tiberiis -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
What an excellent concept you have proposed. I hope it produces millions of jobs, useful new technologies, and a nice rate of return for you and your partners. Despite some commentors’ criticisms on the structure of the deal, I find it quite brilliant (for reasons detailed below).
My business proposal is simple, straightforward, low tech, and of vital importance. It provides for the most basic of human needs: nutritious, non-toxic food. Growing organic food not only makes for a healthier population, but also provides a host of other vital benefits. I hope you will seriously consider this proposal as it is absolutely mandatory for our survival that we supplement and eventually radically transform the practices of ‘agribusiness’.
Food security is of utmost importance, arguably as critical to national security as any other issue we face. Recent food riots in Italy, Haiti, Greece and Africa clearly demonstrate this as fact. Here at home, we now hearing reports that farmers are not able to procure loans to plant their crops this spring.
Modern farming’s pesticides and herbicides are literally killing the base of the food chain in the soil and water, leaving inert ‘growing medium’ in the place of rich soils full of life. Patented genetically modified organisms will create… God only knows. Underground water aquifers that took millions of years to charge are being rapidly depleted by current irrigation methods. Lakes and rivers in America’s South and West are being drained and/or poisoned by the same practices. Coral reefs are dying from the toxic runoff into oceans. Industrial agriculture requires enormous quantities of fossil fuels to power the machinery, transport the goods thousands of miles, and to produce the fertilizers and pesticides used in the processes; this at a time when energy security is also coming to the fore.
We have a food supply system that has only about 10 days worth of stock before the shelves are bare, and we are highly dependent upon a few giant corporations for most of our staples! If any link in this complex chain were to break, it is hard to imagine the results. We are rapidly losing knowledge and skills that have built up over the last ten thousand years since agriculture began; most people simply could not grow their own food if they had to, and traditional (pre-oil) farming methods are no longer practiced by the majority of ‘farmers’. It is imperative that we begin retraining people in the vanishing art of agriculture to hedge our bets.
In short, our current food operations are completely unsustainable and in need of a major overhaul. Below is a quick summary of the business model that will alleviate these problems; more detail will be provided if you are interested in the concept.
market. the market for organic produce includes direct sales to customers (via a farmer’s market), restaurants and grocers. demand for organic produce is growing faster than supply.
competition. not an issue at present or into the foreseeable future. the more growers, the better, as existing organic farmers cannot produce enough to meet demand from markets, restaurants, and consumers.
products. varieties of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, squash, onions, cucumbers and herbs.
scale. year one: one to two acres. year two: ?
risks. subpar growing season, pests, disease, natural disaster.
rewards. profitability, food security, healthier people, survival of the ecosystem.
location. near chicago; ready access to large markets and high quality farmland.
community benefits. provide dozens of jobs paying a living wage that can be recycled within the community to prime the local economic pump.
use of funds. labor, seed/seedlings, compost, organic fertilizer, irrigation, energy, land/greenhouse rental, equipment rental, marketing.
marketing. direct mail, fliers, direct contact with vendors, urban produce market, website, email. i know from personal conversations with chefs and restauranteurs that the supply of organic produce does not meet demand.
financials. details to be developed. max funding of 300K would provide you with 20% equity.
As an aside, I applaud the open source funding concept you’ve proposed. In order for us to pull through the current transitionary phase (I doubt it is possible, or desirable, to return to the consumer/debt model) and emerge intact, it is essential that we resume a cooperative, humanistic approach to the business of life in lieu of the secretive, wealth shifting, hyper-competition modality that has brought us to the brink. With your background, you may know that many computer scientists believe that had today’s level of intellectual property/copyright/patent orthodoxy existed in the 1980s, the computer revolution would not have occurred — the sharing of information, discovery, and technology was absolutely critical to the rapid achievements of the age. Many economists and philosophers contend that society as a whole is much better off when information flows uninhibited and is shared freely throughout. And as we can see from software development, iterations, new releases, product testing, debugging and feedback occur much more rapidly than they could within a closed system strangled by proprietary concerns. Hence, I say, open source all the way!
Thank you for this offer, your concern, and for your time and consideration.
Regards,
Gregg Brazel
Comment by Gregg Brazel -
yo mark,
awesome idea. hopefully this can lead to some innovative production of some genuine goods in this country that we can sell. thats the problem with revenue generated by advertising-it is value generated by an immaterial good, and thus can disappear on a whim-some basic marxist economic theory.
i would be in full support of a government program that outlined this type of spending. i also think the government should fund anything related to R&D, including education. innovation is what grows an economy in real terms, bottom line, and R&D funding is basically funding innovation.
funding for smart infrastucture projects is also smart spending. by “smart infrastructure” i mean anything that makes us more efficient: improved transportation of all types (reduce traffic by funding public transportation projects that will make the public transit system run faster), linking up “green” energy systems to the grid, improved internet access infrastructure to make the average speed and cost of access of the internet, etc.
Comment by Rob -
Hello Mr. Cuban,
Ok here is the Pitch,
A printing store where the customer can come in and use the equipment themselves. They can edit and print any digital picture that they choose. We would have several printers able to produce prints from 4inchx6inch to 104 inches.
Most notable about this printing store is it is not limited to paper. We can print on fabrics, canvas, plastics, and vinyl.
The store would be very tech savvy giving customers a chance to experience many different technologies for use in the home.
Our core revenue would be from printing but additional revenue would be generated just from how the customer interacts with the store. They will want the same set up just for their printer at home.
The retail store will be aimed at what you can do in the home.
So that would be the retail side.
We would also have a website selling prints available. All they would have to do is supply us the picture.
Then we would have the Business to Business model where we extend our services to other print shops that need digital printing, and capturing larger clients.
The idea is keep the printers printing 24×7.
Under this model with each new retail store you would open up more production capacity and new clients in new areas. If you are providing good work for their money they will keep coming back. You are providing the retail customers a fun experience because how often have you gone to a print store to control the equipment itself?
The Cost:
Equipment: 500k (I think this is very high but there is some equipment I am having difficulty getting exact price, and I really have my eye on this turnkey solution that I would seriously look at).
Retail Space: Right next door to a place that attracts gatherings of people such as a star bucks. We don’t need a lot of space, I think 1k square feet might work, maybe less. I would like to keep this well under 10k a month for rent.
Employees: Myself which I have experience in this industry, and am as well a very competent programmer for the web end. Then staff for the store, probably just me and one other person.
Operation costs: Rolls of each of the material ranges anywhere from 10 cents a square foot to about a dollar per square foot.
Ink costs about 300 dollars a cartridge.
Those are your most expensive Costs. Maintenance to the printers will should be minimal.
Build out cost: Roughly 100k probably could do this for much less.
Also any other costs associated with running a business. Paper etc…
So total operating expenses at about roughly 20k I would estimate.
So revenue wise off of the specs from the HP Designjet Z6100 it prints at 173sq ft/hr. Normal mode. if you printed 2foot by 4foot picture for $20 you could print 104 banners in 24 hours. Thats ~2k a day and over 64k a month.
That paper you printed on cost about 2 dollars, and the cost that is hard to figure out is the ink, but I estimate at 8 dollars to keep it high. I see where ink cost is only pennies 24 cents per square foot, but I prefer to keep it at a dollar per foot until I’m 100% sure for myself.
So the costs bring your 64k down to 32k, pay your employee at the store 4k and the rest is pretty much take home. Just for 1 machine.
more machines more money. There are several different types of printers we will need, that is the specs from one of the ones I’m more familar with.
The great deal about my business is you can always make money. If you own the printer, turn it on and start making money. If I can devote full time to it, I think this is a very creative idea, and I can make us a lot of money.
Your cut of the deal would be:
70% until machines were paid off of revenue generated by company
25% after machines are paid off of revenue generated by company
I ran a similar scheme in college. I made vinyl banners with a cutter. It was very successful for me, paid my way through college and helped me buy my first house. I just don’t have the time or resources to do it anymore because I have a day job and vinyl graphics requires too much physical labor. I plan one day a go at printing once I can save up the money, but your infusion would certainly help speed that up. The idea is to only print. No cutting beyond a square.
Thank you for considering my proposal. This would create jobs as well I think this would be a meaningful business.
Thanks,
Rusty.
Comment by Rusty -
A shameless self-promotional website.
The website would allow shameless self-promotion. Giving people the opportunity to enter their field of expertise, their profiles and why they are the best in their field. People could vote on the best self promoter. And each day a new person would be featured.
Revenue would be generated by charging a small fee to vote — based on volume of users. Person with the most votes would be featured as the greatest in their field for the day.
Comment by schreecher -
Foreclosure Services for lenders, one stop shopping.
-clean out
-lock change
-break-in prevention products
-winterization to prevent frozen pipe damage in cold climate
-pool/yard svc, some cities are fining for unkempt pool
Great for all the unemployed construction people, something tangible they can do. Great for RE agents/Mortgage brokers who have some connections who might want to get the contracts and hire the construction labor.
I am writing a how-to guide and possibly doing an infomercial.
A current need, little start-up capital needed. Millions of homes vacant and many more to be foreclosed in the next few years w/ resets and slowing economy.
Comment by Steven -
Dear Mark,
I have always had a very strong entrepreneur drive. And because so, I have looked at many businesses/opportunities. There is one that I have watched for almost three years, but I have not been able to raise the capital. There is a company in the New Jersey area that has been in business for over 75 years. They have a very unique and highly profitable product. The company is “Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice” @http://italianice.net. Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice recipe consists of a water-based, fat-free, dairy-free, cholesterol-free, and high fructose corn syrup-free gourmet dessert of many different flavors. Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice is a true Italian water ice which has the creaminess of sherbet or ice cream and never contains any dairy or non-dairy creamer. They have kiosks, Italian Ice Trucks, push carts, and free standing units.
I have been looking at two push carts. I have been looking at two for the reason of the low investment and the versatility of the carts. The push carts be placed in numerous places such as malls, stadiums, amusement parks, festivals, fairs, beaches, flea markets, camps, state parks, swim clubs, golf courses, resort hotels, carnivals, zoos, NBA Basketball games(hint, hint) ect…
Starting with two will allow me to keep it simple and give me a plat form to expand from.
The total investment for the two push carts is right at $9500.00. With this purchase I will receive everything I need to get started. 2- Italian Ice Carts, 2-printed umbrellas, 60- 5 gallon cans Italian Ice, Cups, Scoops, Helmets, Tee Shirts, Caps, Signage, and helpful knowledge. Little Jimmy’s even keeps you up to date on events in your area.
Here are some estimated numbers on the return of the initial investment of $9500.00
POTENTIAL FIRST ORDER INCOME
60- 5 gallon cans Italian Ice x 110- 5 ounce cup servings @ $2.00=$13,200
EXAMPLE of REPLENISHMENT ORDER
60- 5 gallon cans Italian Ice $1,725
Estimated Shipping $350-$450.
I have no doubt through my dudilegence that this meets your required criteria. There are some things that we need to discuss in person such as your return and what you expect from me. I live everyday in a learning mode and I am sure I will learn a great deal from you.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Farnsworth
Comment by Jonathan Farnsworth -
my posting is gone
Comment by Jonathan Farnsworth -
Idea – Balanced Home Financing (equity/debt)
Inject economic stimulus funds directly into the middle class in the form of an investment.
Government and industry develops a low cost, quick conversion home financing product to take a ½ equity stake in 5 MM homes with an average cost of $200k (5 MM * $200k/2 = $500 Billion). This could reduce monthly payments for homeowners/real estate investors on average $600/mo for 2yr.
It could be financed through government issued bonds and/or government issues a series of pass through securities to track home values in all major metropolitan areas.
After 2 yrs homeowner either refinance the ½ equity stake again (a new market has evolved) or new mortgage will be amortized using the remaining outstanding principle plus new appraised value.
Benefits – Each family/real estate investor keeps average $600/mo for 2yrs, real estate in all major metropolitans will have a traded price, increase buying power of low income high credit citizens, stimulate real estate investment by making it easier for investors to cash flow a rental property, reduce home inventory, the increase home values and liquidity provides incentive to put the $X trillion in capital currently on the sidelines back to work and mortgage prepayments will increase capital availability.
Comment by David -
Hi Mark,
Below is the product brochure. Our business plan is very simple. My company owns the distribution rights for all of North America,Central America, Mexico, Hawaii, and Bahamas. We will sell our units to all hotels & resorts within this territory. We have also set up ambassador program for indepedent agents to sell on commision structure. We have little overhead and no inventory costs on our books. Units are produced overseas and delivered when sold. Hotel buyers would pay 50% deposit for order and shipping and the rest upon delivery. Our business will hit the ground runnnig March 1, 2009. We plan to launch at the Hotel Expo in Vegas first week of March. Most of the money we need will be for tradeshow expenses and marketing/traveling costs. We have a new and improved unit with different colors that i can show you if interested. Also can allow hotels to do leasing model if they choose.
http://www.slideshare.net/PhucVu/sun-secure-brochure-2009
Thanks for your time.
Comment by Phuc Vu -
And I’ve been down that trail a few times.
Comment by TR Scantlbury -
I’m not real worried about someone stealing my idea. That’s what patent attornys are for. Been there. Done that
Comment by TR Scantlbury -
Mark,
I will keep my response to minimum;
We are a company that fits your requirements and are at the stage where we are close to breakeven and will be profitable in the near future. We have a patent and two patent pending so we have intellectual property for home protection devices. We have licensed one aspect of the patent to a large company with over 7,000 employees. We have outsourced the manufacturing to a large manufacturer in Youngstown, Ohio. We have set a small manufacturing facility to also manufacture the products in small quantities as needed. We have generated revenues, setup a master distributor, and have big box experience. There are three different products that protect the house from Hurricanes and from Floods. I have included the products in the slideshow presentation. One product was selected by the History’s Channel Modern Marvels as one of the top inventions of 2007.
http://www.slideshare.net/ctgunn/investor-presentationmc
We are looking for funding to expand the distributor network more quickly. We have a meeting in Middle of March with Home Improvement Big Box Retailer to include two of the three products in their stores. We are looking to be able to enter at least 500 stores and will require funding for the setup of the stores. The financing for the product will be done through PO financing which is being funded by an existing shareholder. The funds will also be used for marketing our main product to generate the necessary revenues. Our overhead is low so achieving breakeven will only requires few orders. We have approximately $140,000 in inventory. We are requesting $250,000 for 10% Equity Position which is open for discussion. The return on investment will be high and it is difficult to predict. You can value a company’s potential value (8 times earnings) and get a range of return of investments. The company has good chance to be bought out by the Licensing company since they have a history of purchasing company. I have thorough business plan that can be forwarded if there is an interest. http://www.impactshield.com.
My e-mail address is cgunn@impactshield.com – Cameron Gunn – Chief manufacturer, accountant, janitor, engineer, secretary, mechanic, bottle washer…..…..
Comment by Cameron -
Pingback: A capitalist stimulus plan « A dime a dozen political blog
Sticker Component
Whibbey Recyclables will make, market, and sell individualized stickers for trash cans and recycle bins. The sticker component adds value to people by allowing their personal expression in art and interior design. These stickers attach to recycle bins and are easily removed with little to no residue, adapting colors and styles to change with décor, mood, a move, etc. The primary medium for communication regarding our products is the internet, specifically the website that allows for ordering stickers online. Currently, there are no other websites that offer customizable recycle bin stickers. Using the website will allow WR to offer products globally from the start. We are asking for start-up capital of $15,000 for an industrial printer and website costs to make our product available online for ordering. Our website must allow customers to personalize their orders, using online tools to facilitate the customizations of their orders. The materials and manufacturing of the large stickers costs under $5 and they are sold for $20. We thank you for contributing to our start up and will like to enter negotiations regarding the return on your investment.
Our plan guarantees:
30 Days: Make $7,500 in profits, halfway to break even on the 15,000 investment.
60 Days: Make $7,500 in profits to break even on the 15,000 investment.
90 Days: Make $15,000 to double the investment.
Continue to grow.
As we start, we are building a customer base and will be self-sufficient after this help in getting the word out about our product.
to 100% waste reduction
reginald whibbey
Comment by reginald whibbey -
How about you hire me to do some management consulting for you and your business interests – some minimum hours (150 hours or so) at $x per hour (rate and hours tbd based on needs, negotiation). You have to put in no capital to the business other than hire me to do some management consulting for you. I’ll take care of my own benefits and can get other consulting clients. You may get different perspective and info than traditional establishment consultant. I own the overwhelming amount of the business (exact percent tbd – 99% or something), and you get an interest tbd (example: 1% ownership of management consulting or some ownership via a participating preferred or something like that). If the consulting business is ever worth something and is sold or has profits, you get some of the proceeds. If it does not work or I walk away, you are out the initial hours you hired me.
Comment by nathan -
Hi Mark
Here is the opportunity my friend is offering me. With the energy evironment advantages of windows along with the tax refunds available in this economy. I believe this to be a very viable opportunity to become very profitiable.
I hope you approve.
Regards
Brent Sandy
brentsandy@shaw.ca
I can forward more info such as dealer agreement,start up costs and the margin per window.
First let me tell you how glad I am to hear your interest in this venture. I can’t think of anyone who is more qualified or better pre-disposed to running a business, not to mention one of these. As the spring approaches (so I’ve heard hahaha…) we are presented with the ideal time to launch the Clear Choice Canada window operations, both from a marketplace and a seasonal perspective. Some regional influences usually come into the picture and we address those challenges in a careful and strategic manner with each individual licensee relative to his or her territory.
As mentioned previously the CC USA business model is revolutionizing the window industry in the United States, and is poised to do the same here in Canada. By opening up a network of sales and distribution centers across Canada over the next five years, Clear Choice Canada much like its American counterpart, will be able to market its brand name products, in the midst of a fragmented industry which often creates confusion and apprehension in the customer’s mind.
In its offering, Clear Choice Canada presents the homeowners with the best value proposition in the industry. Here are some highlights and advantages to be considered:
1) a Canadian-made premium vinyl or aluminum window at an unbeatable price point of $199 plus installation (12 sq ft or less), which beats all competition of comparable quality by 50% to 250% (we sell at $35 to $39 per sq ft…competition sells at $35 to $110 per sq ft)
2) an unmatched true lifetime warranty (includes glass breakage = free replacement)
3) a delivery turn-around in 3 weeks compared to 6 to 8 weeks with the competition,
4) a Canadian manufacturer that delivers a CSA approved and ‘Energy Star’ certified premium product. This qualifies it for the Canadian government energy conservation rebate program, paid directly to the customer following the installation of their windows.
Additionally, the home improvement industry and its various markets are poised to experience a positive demographic effect that has rarely (if ever) been witnessed before in its history. Not only are governments and corporations re-organizing and focusing on infrastructure spending, but home owners are also presented with the difficult choice of renovating their home to improve its curb appeal and thus easier to sell, or hang on to it and make renovations aimed at to increasing the comfort level and quality of their living space.
Either way, this dilemma creates a segment of demand for home renovation products, especially those at a price point that beats 90% of the competitions. In many cases, a Clear Choice customer who opts to pay for their windows on our dealer plan, will see their monthly window payment completely offset by the savings in energy costs related to heating and air conditioning their home. During these economic times, the best opportunities exist with the recession-resistant industries; the home renovation industry including the replacement window segment, have often been described in these kind of terms.
Clear Choice Canada has in effect created a sales environment that optimizes overhead and cost of goods to market, and at the same time moderates the corporate margins to reasonable levels, while concurrently increasing the volume of product being installed in consumers’ homes. Case in point! Statistics show that on average a sales representatives in many different markets, will close the deal on 1 to 3 presentations out of 10 depending on the industry. For Clear Choice, our sales reps often close between 50% to 80% of their presentations merely on the fact that our prices are so favorable to the consumer. This leads to a much greater volume of sales, higher total commissions for the sales reps, a higher level of satisfaction for the customer and an exponential growth in referrals, leads and subsequent future sales.
In order to support and sustain its sales initiatives, Clear Choice also offers its owner-operators the following benefits
1) a training support facility which offers periodically throughout the year, comprehensive courses aimed at launching our owner-operators in the best possible direction , armed with the best possible tools and strategies to make their market locations profitable long term
2) an admin and tracking support team and infrastructure that focuses on viability and sustainability; questions and dilemmas can be resolved with one phone call,
3) a Canadian support facility, available for meetings and follow-up training when new personnel are hired or when new strategies are adopted,
4) an association with a high volume, high quality brand (Clear Choice USA) which strengthens our capability to negotiate with suppliers, advertisers, corporate customers as well as government agencies and/or private sources of funding/capital
5) an Web presence managed by CC USA, that projects a National image as well as a high level of professionalism. This web site a brings leads directly to each location free of charge. Advertising is also purchased by CCUSA in various trade magazines, with the clear objective of increasing visibility and branding, as well as proliferating the number of distributors throughout North America.
6) a Canadian manufacturer (Performance Windows) that can assist our licensees in locating qualified and reliable window installers who are ‘Window Wise’ certified
7) an incentive and target bonus program aimed at rewarding the best performers.
Recently, I have been successful in obtaining the master license rights for Canada as a territory, from Clear Choice USA which allows me to offer you first access to the Cambridge area market. There are approx 74 markets in Canada. Each of them is labeled based on its primary demographic characteristics…i.e. City (primary) Town (secondary) or Rural (tertiary). Each of these market descriptives is associated with suitable and proportionate performance sales objectives.
I am sending you this update because we’ve already had the opportunity to discuss the preliminary aspects of this concept and I would like to reward your patience by offering you the first chance at obtaining and operating the license in your territory. I think you know me well enough to be confident, that I would not offer this to an individual who is not suitable for it. Ethically and operationally it would represent a significant dis-service to our corporate goals, if I were to sign-on someone who cannot or should not operate one of these licenses.
Common sense, creative intelligence, determination and an honest business acumen are the most important assets that you can bring to this venture. Product knowledge as well as the most desirable and profitable launching strategies will be providing to you in a 3 day course offered by CC USA in Atlanta…you learn everything there is to know about running this business successfully. You are well aware that…like any business enterprise, this is hard work but proportionately, it offers great rewards both financially and, in terms of personal satisfaction.
I am attaching the license agreement which I have revised and sent to our legal counsel for his revisions and approval. Please consider it a draft but it will give you a good idea of what’s is involved. The first step overall, is to fill out and send a letter of intent form which doesn’t obligate you in any way, but merely opens the door for official dialogue with CC USA.
The spreadsheet “Margins per window” is very accurate, but it does depend on the owners expense habits.
The spreadsheet “Start-up 09′ – typical location” shows a range for every line which captures possible local variations on both revenues and expense items. Hope this helps you and/or other suitable owner-operators in moving forward with this venture.
Comment by Brent Sandy -
Dear Mark,
Would you consider a business being set up in Mainland China? It would require construction money financing for a large kitchen and acquiring permits. Would the 60 day cash flow rule apply once the construction is completed and the permits are issued?
Warm Regards
Debra
Comment by Debra Lykkemark -
Mark.
Your idea is commendable in one sense but short sighted in another.
As an inovator, business owner and investor I honestly believe that this idea ignores commercial, legal and even psychological realites of the real world.
If you fund an idea by Person ‘A’ and later find it is copied by Person ‘B’ along with the inevitable consequence of driving the price down for both thereby undermining the original business plan…..would you really continue to fund it?
What about all the hard working innovative people who develop ideas for the market only to find lazy, unimaginative middle people copying them and undermining their valuable contributions? Is it simply ‘tough’ in your view?
Let me make you an offer. Tell me on this Blog your next business idea with all the details etc and I will see if I am willing to fund it. Would you really do that?
Best wishes…
Richard
Comment by Richard Leary -
Mark-
My proposal won’t make you rich, but it will make you money.
BACKGROUD
I own a fairly successful embroidery company in the DFW Metroplex. We specialize in contract only embroidery (we do not sell to the public). Our primary customers consist of promotional product companies, clothing manufacturers / distributors and advertising specialty companies.
We have been in business for nearly 5 years and have achieved 20 to 30 percent growth each year. In 2008 we did a little over 500k in total sales. We have recently been honored in a national (industry) magazine for what we do.
PROPOSAL
Add Screen printing to current operation / Start separate Screen Printing Company
Our customers (in general) spend 3 to 1 on screen printing verses embroidery. I have verbally confirmed with the majority of my customers that they would also use us for their screen printing needs (if we offered this service). No advertising needed, I already have the customers waiting it’s just a matter of some phone calls. This will absolutely be profitable with in 60 days.
INVESTMENT
Less than 200k
OFFER
10% interest paid on your investment / 4 or 5 year note.
&
10% ownership of my company.
Or
10% interest paid on your investment / 4 or 5 year note.
&
50/50 partnership on a separate Screen Printing company.
Please let me know if you need more details.
Travis
Comment by Travis -
Now, I’m going back to take a shower and hopefully I can
generate another idea for the community to steal
Comment by proud unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Hello Mark,
Here’s the Dirt Sheep Music business plan, for Your review.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgtr7vbp_23gbgd3cfm
Thanks and Regards, Randy
Comment by Randall James -
You could thank your haters for this.
FREE DIGITAL TICKET:
Yougotmyattention.com
It’s a website that will have postings of people taking personal responsibility for you.
it goes this way:
I take personal responsibility for _____________________
I will do my absolute best, based on my abilities to _______________________________________
So, community, please help me.
For example:
I take personal responsibility for _____my 4 year old nephew___________
i will do my absolute best, based on my abilities to __make sure he’ll be an engineer____________
So, community, please help me.
take down post ___
Community Support post (list)
community will put links to help you keep your personal oath to yourself.
Again, the goal is to keep the economy on the positive side.
We go a different direction, and it would be ugly.
As ugly;
as your comments.
as your room.
as your rotten milk in your fridge.
as your dirty stinky clothes you haven’t wash.
as your toothbrush on the bathroom floor, with crusted tooth paste and a piece of hair.
as your bedroom
as dirty, hefty, stinky, and sticky diapers that CNAs need to change
as a sick man, unable to take care of himself that he painted his poo on the wall that nurses need to clean and sanitize for you, so you can do it again
as a homeless that sleeps on the pavement with thousands of bags of waste you decided to dispose
as ruined places that no one would like to go
as a dark small space with no one can talk to and have a friend to share ideas and stupid mindless gossips that you cannot help yourself to not tell. Its ok
as the jokes you play on people that in turn ruined many families and children
as me not doing anything about the ugliness that can actually go on and on and on,
until someone takes personal responsibility for it.
You did your job,
let me do mine. The people that’s suffering from the ugliness that people like you created,’
needed my help. So you can be yourself again.
Profit:
– Community will post links of resources and services. (like on-line tutoring, ebooks, digital frames widget as a gift,
40% of profit will go to helping community. That means if you buy from there, it goes back there.
20% community maintenance
30% to cleaning up the mess that people make (you can lower this percentage down and it will go back to community if you guys do a good job maintaining it)
10% Mark Cuban Foundation
GOAL is to keep it positive.
Once we’re out of this mess, we can all afford to be petty sometimes. It’s not a bad thing.
Some loves themselves more than others.
For those who do love others more than themselves,
let them do their job, and give them the benefit of the doubt
that they are doing it for you. they just didn’t tell you.
You have a lot of invisible people that care for you.
They often don’t tell you because their mind is occupied with more people that
they are accounting for, for taking care of.
But you’re in it. I take personal responsibility for you.
I can put it on the website and let you know. If you need that assurance.
Comment by proud unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Skatetown USA has been operating as a roller skating rink in Florida since 1976. Since I purchased it in the spring of 1993 we have seen the industry as a whole decline in numbers, however, as a result our local competition has deminished to only two competing family fun centers within a 50 mile radius. We are one of only two facilities in a county that includes over 20,000 school age children. We are a designated “Safe Space” for runaway children and in addition to owning the facility I teach 4th grade in the county school system.
Since the hurricanes of 2005/2006 we have seen our numbers decline to the point where although we are already operating on a “break-even” basis we are barely staying alive. We have cut our staff to myself, my daughter and 3 other part time employees along with cutting our operating hours from 7 days a week to 4. For us to remain a viable business and continue to service the children of our county we must change our focus.
The plan we submit to you is for us to vary our approach and therefore appeal to a wider segment of the population. We would like to add a softplay area along with possibly laser tag and/or mini golf and a revolutionary idea for video games instead of the same old games that have existed in businesses like mine for 40+ years. We would like to paper our walls with a large number of flat screen TVs and have various popular video games available to our clientel on a “pay-per-use” basis as opposed to playing one time for one or two quarters. In this way we could offer the popular games such as “Rock Star” and various Wii games which require the user to actually exert some physical effort rather than just squeezing a joystick.
With the current state of obesity amongst today’s youth we believe we already offer activities which battle that problem, however, in addition to the obvious cardiac benefits to roller skating we would like to use our downtime to offer the areas youth and adults an exercise facility. We already have a personal trainer on staff certified in youth and adult Crossfit training. With additional funding for equipment and staff we could expand that effort to offer a full service training facility which would not interfere with operating our skating rink. We already have an inline speed skating team which boasts numerous National Champions and could, this year, have one of our team members make the USA world team. If we expand our Crossfit training we believe we would be able to also attract a number of new, dues paying, members to the South Florida Blades Speed Team. In short, in addition to offering a fun, safe place where the children of our county could continue to come to we would be doing more than our part to help with the obesity epidemic amongst our county’s children.
Finally, there have been reports in our local paper that there is a group of investors looking to build an ice skating rink about 15 mile from my facility. The problem with that plan is the 30-50 million dollar price tag that goes with it plus the million dollar per year overhead. There is no way it could be financially viable. We have investigated a artificial ice surface manufactured by a company right here in Florida. We believe we could purchase a surface which could be laid down and removed with minimal effort which would allow us to offer both roller and ice skating on alternate evenings. We would be one of the few if not the only facilities in Florida and perhaps the USA to do so. With the addition of ice hockey; competitive artistic ice skating as well as public skating we believe we could attract a large portion of the population that has no interest in roller skating while at the same time retaining our roller skating clientel.
Depending on how many of our “dream” modifications we make the total costs would range from $500,000 to $1,500,000. When fully functional we would go from 3 part time employees to an estimated 25-30 employees including as many as 5-10 full time employees. Although we are already “breaking even” we believe that with all of the above fully functional we could profit a minimum of $300,000 to $500,000 yearly making it possible to repay our loan from your stimulus plan in 5 to 7 years. In addition, we would be helping the local depressed economy by adding over 20 jobs to our staff and giving the youth of our community a safe place to have fun; stay fit and socialize for years to come.
Thank you.
Comment by Harry Stuart -
Mark,
My last comment was on February 12, 2009 @ 7:34 am
Thanks for the reply.
One more question before I propose my idea.
Are you still and investor in Brondell (www.brondell.com)?
Thanks
John Kipping
Comment by John Kipping -
Pingback: Can business strategy be created in the open? | Unstructured Thoughts by Taylor Davidson
I’m looking at starting a business with my initial primary focus to be lending money to people in my city. I’d like to offer advances on paychecks and loans against titles (for example, car titles). I figure I can offer 10-15% interest rates plus late fees. Initially, it would require a very small rented office in a good location with few employees. I’m not quite sure how much is necessary to fund the startup of a business like this, but since there is no product to manufacture, the expenses should be limited to the office, 1 to a few employees, and investment capital, with virtually no investment money needing to be applied towards engineering nor manufacturing of a product. Ultimately, it would be great if I could mortgage the building, as opposed to leasing, so that the business could basically fund the real estate. As soon as I can, I’d like to incorporate to benefit from the tax advantages of being incorporated.
Comment by Paul K. -
BANK OF ENTREPENEURS (BOE) – This bank will be where entrepeneurs can get a ‘Whole Business Package’ to start and run their business. The BOE will ONLY deal with business loans. NO mortgages,auto loans, etc.
The BOE will fund the capital needed for businesses and will require the following from the entrepeneurs.
*All business transactions will be run through the BOE.
*BOE will operate the PAYROLL, PENSION and HEALTH AND WELFARE for all businesses and their employees.
*All FEES and INTEREST PAYMENTS due to BOE will be automatically deducted from the business accounts.
The BANK OF ENTREPENEURS will be set up in every major city in America (eventually) and will hire hundreds of people to operate all of the BOE branches.
Also, the BOE will generate thousands of jobs for the businesses that start up through BOE.
With the millions of people that have been laid off from their jobs in the past year, the BANK OF ENTREPENEURS will be a great stimulus for the American economy!
Comment by Robert Holman -
Perry Moore
If you contact Games Workshop “aka Citadel” they would be happy to help, they are the lords of the war gaming industry.
Comment by Denton -
I have had a small biz for over 10 years, selling and designing wargames on historical battles. My latest is on an Iranian-US clash in the Hormuz Straits based upon USN sources. I already make a good return on the money and put the sweat into it by designing and researching wargames. I already have several game distributors. What I would like is to take this to the next level but revamping the current website totally and investing in the biz to have a totally professional package and make some serious money, not just extra spending $$$. The amount needed depends, but 10K would start me on the road to the next level. I wonder what Bill O’Rielly things of this endeaveor??
Comment by Perry Moore -
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WYLDMAN SPICE
Wyldman Spice is a family owned company that we have been working on for a few years to prefect before going live. We make our own spices, BBQ sauce and Salsa ( 3 flavors). We have mainly sold these to family and friends. We have just in the last week, set up a website to be able to sell via the internet. We would like to be able to sell in stores and let everyone taste our spices, BBQ sauce and Salsa. Wylder has been making salsa for over 20 years and selling and giving to friends and co-workers. We started making the seasoning about 3 years ago for our brisket and ribs and everyone said you should bottle this and sell it. Then a couple of years ago we started making the BBQ Sauce because all the ones that are being sold took away from the flavor of the brisket and ribs we made. Our life long dream would be to some day open a restaurant and using our seasonings to make the food taste good.
We would be marketing to grocery stores, restaurants, and gift stores. We will also be selling on the internet to individuals.
The company right now is a small company with no employees; we will need to get a building to run the company out of and to make the products. We need a building with a kitchen like area, for production and maybe offices or sales area in the front. Until the business is up and running we can not hire people to help . We will realistically need about 20 or 30 people to do production once the company gets up and running. We would also need 10 or 20 sales staff. We also need to get marketing.
Mission:
Our mission is to provide great tasting seasoning, sauces and salsa that everyone can use and taste great.
Objectives:
Have UPC codes by September 2009
Have orders coming from grocery stores and gift stores by Dec 2009
Be making $50, 000 plus a year by 2012
Operation:
Operation will start in a resident in 2009. Our Goal is to have an office building or business building by end of 2009.
Wyldman Spice Outlook:
Any investors would have 30 percent of the business and all investors will be bought out by the end of year 2011. We need $8000 to $15000 to get it up and started, for Product, building, equipment and start up.
To get business up and running we need:
UPC codes $750.00
Building $500 to $1300 month
Get products tested $1200
Production equipment $5000 to $8000
Raw materials $3000
Once up and running we will evaluate and as business comes in we will need to start hiring employees for production.
We know we can make this a profitable business and can break even by May of 2009 and be making a profit by Dec 2009 or Jan 2010
Comment by Jan Barrows -
Mark,
I don’t want to crowd up your comments page. Here is a link to a slideshare presentation on my blog that lays out the basics of my idea:
http://is.gd/jwvB
Thanks
Len
Comment by Len Kendall -
Calling all Programmers:
Is there a programmer on here with the ability to create a proprietary database, dynamic graphing, and SMTP-free IP communication of the database to an e-mail address; who would also work for a 33% profit sharing of the software as described in the business plan I’ve posted:
http://blogmaverick.com/2009/02/09/the-mark-cuban-stimulus-plan-open-source-funding/#comment-59003
If we can get the programming written, I can get this product to market. Our market research shows a high demand for the finished solution.
Shoot me an e-mail if you are able to perform quality work and be dedicated to it’s completion.
Thanks,
Tom Trombley
contact@simplytrackable.com
Comment by Tom Trombley -
Now that I’ve read some of these posts (from my e-mail account) I’m going to leave just one more before removing my name from the list. This is for the losers that can’t stop posting dumbass nonsense.
1st
Mark, you are a very handsome with a very caring smile. I’m so impressed with you; I’m going to tattoo your wonderful face on my forehead. Oh, I forgot- this is not an ass kissing forum. Sorry. I’m sure 98% of the people around Cubin do that just great!
2nd
Unemployed guy, you aren’t that creative but yes, obliviously with the amount of time spent on these posts, you are most certainly unemployed and freaking annoying.
3rd
This is not a forum to become rich and to become discovered. It’s here so if someone really did have a good idea, that it could be stolen and Mark might make some money, or at least get some entertainment from the process. Post ideas that you would get some benefit from.
Cubin – Good Luck and Good Night.
With these types of ideas – you’ll need it.
Comment by Duane Mattoon -
I think youre blog has been hacked. the chances of to people coming up with an internet based economy calling the denomination -cubans- is not registering.It shows as posted before mine but I didnt see it before I posted -playing video games for money- I did read somewhere that you didnt post some right away because you wanted to comment on them, that might be the case. Anyways I did not copy anything. Ive had this idea for about 5-8 years. and can prove it. I did come up with calling them cubans while I was typing.
Comment by Ryan McKenna -
Pingback: Links/Articles Tagged Between February 6th and February 13th, 2009 « Blog Archive « Present Tensed
PimpMyPoint.com
Mark,
PimpMyPoint.com (PMP). I’d like to make a very simple site where students and professionals can upload their Word, Excel, & Powerpoint documents in a simple content-only format. Put in your credit card and for a few bucks we’ll pimp it out with the latest graphics, great color schemes, etc. It’s simple, cheap, fast, and provides huge value to people who are rushed, lazy, or hopeless.
• Hire cheap labor around the world to allow for 24/7 service. Your document is pimped and returned to you within 60 minutes, no questions asked.
• Electronic policy acceptance acknowledging that it’s your own work and PMP will not alter the content in any way, shape, or form. Universities will love us!
• Simple online storefront with email queue so certified on-call pimpers will be notified the second a document is uploaded. Pay them a % for each pimp.
Mark, we’ll be 50-50 partners in this venture. I already own the URL. Other than our small startup cost we only pay out money after we take it in. This will ensure we meet your 60 and 90 day goals. Viral marketing approach via universities, Facebook, LinkedIn, & word of mouth. Not a single advertising dollar spent or collected.
This idea will be hugely successful because:
• There is an enormous global market
• It’s web-based and simple
• The utility it provides is huge compared to the price
• It’s easy to start & easy to scale
• It’s got the second best URL in the history of the internet (www.dot.com)
PimpMyPoint.com
Comment by Jon Burns -
The USA needs more guys like Mark Cuban willing to take a chance on small businesses and invest in great ideas. This is going to do more for jump-starting the economy than spending $80 million on condoms(pork from the recently passed stimulus bill)and doling out tax rebates(welfare checks). There are some great ideas on here and I would like someday to be able to invest in some of them as well.
Comment by Jerry D. Erickson -
Pingback: Asking entreprenuers to put their mouths where their money is | Zero-G Creative
Mark,
I am an entrepreneur in need of $150,000 to manufacture and market a new innovative cellular based alarm/ security system for the home & office. The system captures a picture of the intruder and emails it to homeowner’s cell phone. This system eliminates false alarms. We will hire hundreds in all 50 states within 2 years.
See Business plan via Google Docs
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd274gdm_0g78n3ghp
See P&L Proforma –
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pjaZMG-KUWPjBB20-9r-ETw
We can meet your rules on earnings and cash flow and provide decent return.
Hoyt West
hoyt@technicalhi.com
Comment by Hoyt West -
what i see ?
Comment by y3 -
Pingback: Open Source Funding, Mark Cuban « www.ubuntista.it
I had an idea to allow students (college students particularly) to swap their old textbooks for new textbooks every quarter for a small fee as opposed to buying all new books.
My plan works like the site lala.com where people post the book they have and for every book they put in the system, they are able to take a book out of the system. All we would do is facilitate the trade in an easy platform and charge a small fee. Paying a small fee is much better for the student instead of having to buy hundreds of dollars of books every quarter. You wouldn’t have to use a warehouse because the user would hold their books until someone requested it. We would obviously have to supply prepaid shipping envelopes but that would be deducted out of their fee.
If they aren’t able to find a book they were looking for, they would be referred to the cheapest book on the web via a referral link. The goal is to provide the cheapest means of education for students while simultaneously making a profit.
The only problems I can see are that students will also need books at max 4-5 times a year so maybe we could use other books or sell other stuff in the in between time. Also, to rely upon customers, they would have to have a rating system from their past transactions so everyone knows they are trustworthy.
I know this system will work and advertising would be easy with platforms such as facebook. Please email me if you are interested in investing. I am serious about this project I just do not have a few thousand to make a good website, database, database manager, advertising campaign, etc.
Comment by Patrick Laffey -
Here is an idea that is more long term then the ones described here: remote power suites. There is a plenty of industries where people have to work in dangerouse places – mining, steel mills, underwater work, … In all such cases the work could be done by livesize robots controlled over a cable by a worker. The interface could be mostly the same in all places – a ball where the worker climbs into with mechanical contacts to hands and legs and a monitor in front of the face with direct translation of workers movements to robot movements and haptic feedbck going back. Robots could be larger or smaller than normal humans, controlled and powered over a power cable.
This would be the best thing for mining – robots could be placed at the mining point while workers are in the office on the surface. This would simplify design of the mines (no need for ventilation or safety exits), spare in-mine commute (often half an hour each way) and reduce the cost of mining accidents (paying compensations to families of dead workers is more expensive than buying new robots). Also the build-in tools in the robots could be made to work more efficiently than separate machinery.
90% of the technology required for this already exists in mature forms, so this could be put together in a couple years of development. Developing this in Eastern Europe could help reduce costs.
Comment by aigarius -
Revised Post and Business Plan adjustment to comply with rules of Mark Cuban’s Stimulus Plan
1) Existing Business : Cleanose —( Cleanose.com)
2)No advertising Revenue : This a new thought but very possible as we have customers in several states and have shipped as far as South Korea and all by word of mouth so far except for a 30 second spot on the news during the massive fires in Florida 3 years ago even our web site has yet to be advertise and yet we have several hundred customers thus far. And have been used by the Forestry Dept, Several Municipalities, Allergy clinics, Hospitals, Postal Workers, Landscapers, Dr’s and factories just to name a few. We have a Commercial that is ready to go but would be willing to hire a sales force and blanket the US with reps if that is what you wanted as it has worked thus far. I have been doing it part time mostly trade shows and direct mailing and pavement pounding. My back ground is sales and sales Mngmt as I am a Regional Sales Manager for an A+ Insurance Company and work solely off Commissions and have for almost 20 years.
(Question on rule two. What about existing orders from internet sales would they violate the agreement?)
3) & 4) Break even in 60 days profitable in 90: This is very possible with a small scale start especially if we could find a way to sell in the airports as every time I fly and some sees them they ask for a pair due to the recycled air so we could hit a large number of clients in a condensed area. Who wouldn’t pay 1.50 or 2 dollars to not get sick? The Airport also gives us an ability for a higher profit margin as we get an extra 50 cents to a dollar per order and if done right would be all profit. Packaged cost is only max 50 cents. If we hit only 1% of the people who fly and we picked up .75 cents from each one in profit (leaving 75cents for over head which could also turn into profit) it should defiantly make us profitable in 90 days. The best way to do this eventually would be through vending machines in every terminal where you just swipe your credit card for $2 and receive your order.
5) Monthly funding would not be a problem and should only be necessary for a short period of time with this high of profit margins.
6)Profit of more than cost is obvious with these high margins.
7) Everyone must work: This would be a preference as we the partners all believe in this product as long as salaries sufficient to feed our families were aloud of course.
8)Business Plan. I have posted the majority of the plan an it’s reasons for such directions but will have to adjust the advertising from it in exchange for a sales force.
9)No Promises: Understood as a financial push is all we really need.
10) As far as future or any help or advise of coarse it would always be eagerly welcomed from an entrepreneur like yourself but would not be expected.
11)Not only agreed but expected
12) In our original Plan (written prior to you post) we were offering a partnership which would still be an option but if we did it in a smaller fashion as we know would work we would offer 25% of net profits until you were compensated to 5 times your investment.
13) Understood
Comment by Joseph K Moore -
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur — February 14, 2009 @ 4:20 am
do you see what i see?
that was funny 🙂
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
UUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!
I meant to say “NO” advertisment is needed not “NOW”.
I can’t find my original post now.
How bout turning a blog into pages instead of one long page.
The way this is set up now, 1. It takes forever to read through it and 2. You can’t find your post.
Anyway, My product that I pitched on Wednesday is somewhere up there and it is a money maker.
I already have a prototype and can do a demonstration for you at your leisure.
Comment by Clifford "Bucky" Nance -
you win
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Mark,
Two more ideas:
1. How about a 1-900 phone service charging 100 bucks a second to offer explanations of Obama’s stimulus plan? We can offer very long winded and vague answers that will keep people coming back for more details! And the best part is…….. THERE ARE NO SPECIFICS! Isn’t that such an amazing idea?
2. Perhaps you could loan my cousin T-bone and me 100 million dollars to buy some money printing machines. We will then make and print out 100 trillion dollars. No consequences…just good old fashion money printing! I can’t believe no one has thought of this yet! ARE YOU ALL SLEEPING? We will pay you back in just minutes! HUGE, IMMEDIATE RETURN ON INVESTMENT and my cousin will be able to finally afford that Ferrari he has been dreaming about leasing.
Comment by outdustrialist -
please excuse mispelling – Its not Stephen that will need to manage Issac.
It’s Stefan Aichholze…
If he accepts,otherwise he needs to choose another person…
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Our products
We, a Canadian start up corporation, will be offering symmetrical 50+mbps wireless broadband internet access to end users.
Because this is a wireless network, the end users can enjoy 50+mbps internet access anywhere within the coverage area. Also, 50+mbps is good enough to replace conventional wired internet access. So, we can use the same network to provide non-mobile (in home use only) and mobile services, while other ISPs have to maintain wireless network for mobile users and wired network for home users independently. In other words, our network is more cost efficient than other’s.
Our plan
Our exit strategy is to sell out the company. Investors will get returns when the company is sold. To increase our company’s value, we will quickly increase the size of our network and subscriber base. $25 million will be used for simultaneous deployment in all major Canadian cities. And, we will get 30% market share in first month. Then, we will continuously expand coverage area to smaller cities.
Note
We are currently developing the hardware. It will take about 100 person-weeks to make ready-to-deploy hardware.
Comment by FP -
Mr. Cuban,
One more idea..
You know the world is obsessed with celebrity.. Right!!! Everybody wants to be one.. Right!!
And Reality T.V. is so popular. How about we start a entertainment company that people who what to be on a t.v. show or in a movie or have a script for tv/film, bid on it as in auction style for the part or t.v./film development. You never know, someone just might bid and win the part and be actually talented. Think big: Emmy or Oscar BIG! I’m thinking we start all bidding at $.99, hey if Scarlet Johansson can get over $5000 for a snotted tissue… And not to mention we could shoot it for a low budget and peoples obsession of reality will skyrocket the project.
Comment by Shawn West -
FREE DIGITAL TICKET:
pennyforIsaacWhite.com
Isaac would be traveling the country to teach and impliment wii gym on nursing homes. hospitals, children centers and cancer hospitals.
With one condition, he will be managed by Stephen.
go wii gym!
and healthy dancing older folks’
Give him an option button too.
just in case Wii would donate some equiptments for starter.
10% for Mark Foundation
10% for the best fit elderly’
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Mark:
1. An online raffle site.
You have a signed basketball by John Starks. It doesn’t mean that much to you and you aren’t dying to sell it but you could use the extra cash since we are in a recession. You run a 2-5 day online raffle (or until the minimum “reserve price” is met). Each buyer/player has the chance to buy one or more (of a limited number)tickets. The more tickets you buy the higher your chances are of winning.
The winning ticket is randomly chosen by a foxy woman via live video feed. The winner gets a signed basketball for a great price and the “seller” receives much more for his/her product than he/she would have on regular auction sites.
The losers are sad and dejected but they love products and they love to gamble. Plus, they didn’t loose that much anyway…..they will be back to try to win other products and spend money.
Business is break even within the first raffle and is making money by the second.
Comment by outdustrialist -
Mr. Cuban,
Thank you for this opportunity. Our plan:
1.) Teach pre-teens/ teens / young adults ages:12-20 about money and entrepreneurship (Self Worth, Life Plan/ Direction). Program would offer skills training and on the job training. Each student will be involved in all aspects of running the business. The business we be modeled after Goodwill Industries. Goodwill is one of the largest and most profitable resale businesses of today. Unlike Goodwill we may or may not be a non-profit / we may be a for- profit company that helps teens. The re-sale business is a multi-billion dollar industry with business like Goodwill, Salvation Army, eBay, etsy,craigslist , the many no name Internet web sites, garage sales and mom & pop thrift stores.
2.) Partner with schools/ after school programs/ parents to help “all” children not just low-income.
First we would select students to participate;
Students will be required to alternate positions to get experience in all areas of operating a business, EXAMPLE: Salesperson, Fundraiser, Donation Organizer,Marketing, Cashier, Advertising,Website: Product Researcher, Copywriter for web listings,Photographer, Inventory, Warehouse, Shipping, ETC.
This business will be their business while they are in the program, they may want to later on (after they turn 21) stay in the business and become a teacher/mentor
Will teach students the importance of trying different positions, some students at that age don’t know what they want or what they would like to do.. You don’t know if you like it or if you would excel in it till you try it.
We would utilize entrepreneurs to be mentors, come speak to students about what they do and how they got there. All fields: Store Owners, Teachers,Photographers, Etc.
We would also teach money management classes to students.
I would like to take this idea as big as it can go!! I myself love shopping at thrift and resale shops and have also been selling items on eBay for years. I normally shop those places just to resale and have on several occasions turned great profits for instance: just recently a ski suit I purchased for $2.70 tax included I sold on eBay for $120 with a buy it now sale. I’ve been successful in this for years and would love to start this business teaching it to students. I figure we could start a website of our own(Ebay’s fees are increasing everyday- cut out the middle-man) and operate many brick and mortar stores all over the world. I came up with this idea while talking to my husband who is a junior high school math teacher. He wanted to start teaching money management in class because they don’t offer that to students and they really should. Then I came up with the full circle, we need to train them in these areas while they are young and then they wouldn’t be so lost after highschool or wouldn’t go off to college with no direction.
Since some of the students in this program would be to young to actually work for money they could volunteer and accumulate hours for future college tuition money as payment and or future seed money to start their own business and the older students could work for money, seed money for their own business or college tuition money as well. Also something could be worked out with area colleges maybe to offer some sort of scholarship to these students or credit hours in business management.
Even in a down economy, these types of stores are still standing strong. And one man’s junk will always be another man’s treasure..
The beauty of this business is that you don’t have to purchase the inventory it’s all donated (free)!!! And you could make( millions) in profits! But you would be giving away so much to the students that could participate in this program (priceless)!
This business could go either way and be successful non-profit or for-profit.. This day and time people would be more than happy to even donate to a for profit business if it could keep these things from going to a landfill. It’s all about Recycling right…
Business: Brick and Mortar Resale Store with Internet site to sell some items worldwide
Business can be up and running in 4 weeks
Return on investment in 4 weeks
All we Need:
Brick and Mortar Store Front / Size of a large supermarket w/ loading dock
Store could serve as the one stop shop for students: could be sectioned into office/training areas and storefront.
Computers, Store Fixtures, Digital Cameras, Office Equipment
Website Development.
1 Large Box Truck to pick up donations
That’s It…
Also I included a few Internet articles below:
Concerns over the economy are driving the increase in sales not just at Goodwill, but across all thrift and consignment shops selling used clothing and merchandise, said Audrey Guskey, a professor of marketing at Duquesne University.
By Belgum, DeborahPublication: Los Angeles Business Journal Date: Monday, September 16 2002
Compensation in the non-profit sector has been a sensitive issue in recent years, especially as salaries for the higher profile positions push into the mid-six-figure level. “For some, the idea of paying non-profit executives salaries that rival those in the business world is absurd,” said Peter Frumkin, an assistant professor of public policy at Harvard University who tracks non-profits.
Douglas Barr, chief executive of Goodwill Industries Southern California, received $242,800 for fiscal year 2002. At Goodwill Industries of Southern California, President and Chief Executive Douglas H. Barr said he didn’t enter this kind of work to earn money.
But he’s not unhappy with the $242,000 he earned last year, which included a $22,000 bonus for meeting strategic goals. He also has a company car and 10 percent of his salary is added to his pension plan.
“I think I’m adequately paid for the work I do,” said Barr, who oversees 1,300 employees and has a $43 million budget. “We also have a bottom line of making money to carry out our mission and social goals, which is to train unemployed and underemployed people for whom employment is difficult.”
If anyone scoffs at the salary earned by nonprofit executives, they can take heart in the wages earned by Van Cleef and his wife, Salvation Army Lt. Col. Sherryl Van Cleef. They live rent-free in a two-bedroom parsonage in Torrance, which would go for $25,725 on the open market. They drive a Salvation Army-owned car.
Van Cleef has been with the Salvation Army for 41 years and remembers his first paycheck, which was a little more than $100 a month.
“I entered the Salvation Army knowing what the financial remunerations would be,” said Van Cleef, who oversees 900 employees and a $58 million budget.
As for whether pay cuts in the non-profit sector are in the offing, especially with the prospect of reduced operating budgets, Barr said he meets every three months with other non-profit executives and the topic has never been mentioned. “I have heard people talk about the fact that there are no pay increases, but I haven’t heard anyone talking about pay cust.”
Comment by Shawn West -
The Biggest Market Ever
(And How it can stimulate the economy)
With a Billion dollar market I felt it important to address the issue at hand and how we would be helping you accomplish what you are trying to do.
As you can see by the statistics we have the biggest market( The Entire Population of the world)
With statements like 90 Million Americans, Premature Death, Bain Disease etc. It is hard not to see the profit possibilities. But the stimulus benefits are even greater. One of my goals is to spend a great share of my profits cleaning up the environment and the air. Thus creating jobs that serve a bigger purpose. I have also Promised the Medical Students to help support the 3rd world travel education program as it is so important for both the students and the people.
Manufacturing, Packaging and Shipping and Advertising will create hundreds if not thousands of jobs. The Billions saved on health care will be circulated back in to the economy. With the cost being so low everyone will be able to afford them and the difference between the cost of pharmaceuticals and Cleanose will once again generate more stimulus. Not to mention the benefits of less drugs in your body. It goes on all the way to people being healthier and missing less work, being more energetic doing more things and living longer to keep spending money. Lets face when we die we stimulate the economy very little then cease to stimulate anything.
I really think this is a great forum if nothing else as it brings the people together all for the focus of the American Dream while building unity among a society in search of hope. If nothing happens of this it will make no difference you have proven that we the people are still we the people and we do have Voices, Ideals, Dreams and so much more. Mark maybe you should have ran for President, This kind of hope and vision is just what this country needs in it’s time of financial crisis. Good Job !!
Comment by Joseph K Moore -
A website that compensates registrants for accurately calling bullshit on “green.”
http://www.AmIGreenOrNot.com.
1. For a one-time fee of $10, anyone can register and submit a profile of an individual or business or organization that makes certain public claims about being “green.”
2. Registrant calls bullshit on those claims. Registrant presents counter-evidence, states his/her case.
3. The profilee is then invited to submit his/her own evidence to support his/her original claims.
3. A deadline for evidence submissions and counter-submissions is established. Once all evidence is presented and the case is closed, random viewers are invited to weigh the evidence and rate the profile on a “GreenOrNot” scale of 1 to 10 (with “10” being most green). The user rating time period allowed is appoximately 7 to 10 days unless agreed otherwise by both parties.
4. After 7 to 10 days, a collective AIGON (AmIGreenOrNot)rating is established. If the AIGON rating is below 5, then the profilee must compensate the registrant in the amount of $50. If the AIGON rating is above 5, then the registrant must compensate the profilee in the same amount of $50. If the AIGON rating is 5, then it is called a draw and no money changes hands.
Our revenue model is fee-based. NO ADVERTISING NECESSARY. Again, anyone who wishes to submit a profile (ie. become a Registrant) must pay AmIGreenOrNot a one-time fee of $10.
Feel free to visit our website at http://www.AmIGreenOrNot.com. You’ll note that a basic green ratings site infrastructure is in place. We need seed funding to complete our website to include new tools/features and for marketing to drive site traffic. We believe the site will be easily profitable within 90 days of upgraded site launch. We will offer you up to 30% equity in our company.
Comment by Elliott -
Mark, I was so excited when I initially saw your plan, to offer help, to jumpstart small businesses. I have created some totally unique music electronics technology and have been developing and engineering it for 3 years. It will also incorporate an internet subscription pay services aspect, which we all know is where the real money is. 1 million people paying $10 a month = $10million a month. I believe that I am exactly the person you are trying to help. However, after reading your list of demands I feel I, unfortunately, will be unable to expose my intellectual properties to the public at this time. I would be willing to explain my technology to you if you think you may have room to negotiate on the rules of your offer. If not, I understand and hope that there will be others who can take advantage of such a generous and unique way to spur the creative and businees minds out there. Honestly I would not need very much money at all. If I could just come up with enough money to create a few more prototypes, some graphic designs and presentation materials, and put a website together(which I’m sure you, yourself, actually have control over great resources for that), I guarantee I could make my company Wavetronics LLC sustainable and lasting with the creation of a products AND services that will not only sell but make the lives of my customers more productive, fun and fulfilling.
Thank you again Mark,
David Williams
President and Founder Wavetronics LLC
Charlotte, N.C.
Comment by David Williams -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I am an 18 year old ballkid for the Dallas Mavericks, I have had the honor to rebound for you before actually. I have lived in the growing town of Forney for several years and founded my own basketball league, the SBA, which is now in need of a new home since 80 players is far too much for my full-court painted driveway. I had an idea for an event center that hosts many events, providing entertainment to our boring small town, housing events that are otherwise sent to other larger nearby cities and towns (Mesquite, Terrell, Dallas, etc.). I have really done my research Mr. Cuban, I have contacted the business park that is willing to house us, a church to have services on Sundays, even gotten my school to sign up to maybe have next year’s prom and school dances there, we just need an investment. Here is my business plan, please tell me what you think. I am including all but the floor plans which are still in the works, but will be included next week. I saw this opportunity and something told me I need to grasp it, so here is my idea. Again, thanks so much for your time and please give me your feedback so I can improve on it, and go Mavs!
Ryan Girardot
http://docs.google.com/View?docID=dfbws5pg_0gkhpxjdb&revision=_latest
Comment by Ryan Girardot -
btw, mark. you really need a new “wordpress master”. i appreciate the simplicity of how you chose to go with the blog. but you’d be supprised what a few tweaks and extra plugins can do for the site. in fact, i enjoy tweaking worpress so much, i’ll do it pro bono for you. peace.
Comment by robert -
Hello Mr.Cuban i want to first say i am a huge Maverick fan Dirk is one of the best and i think the league does not consider him as one of the best . I am a young guy in atlanta, georgia and i want to open a wii gym where people can exercise and compete via the wii the member ship will be 40.00 for 12 months the place will be able to hold a hundred to two hundred people at one time i will sell 2.00 waters and 3.00 dollar gatorade and 2.00 towels private lockers will cost 2.00 each visit i will need 50.000 to start this my goal is to sign up 400 people at 40.00 a pop thats 16.000 a month then
sells from water , locks ,towels and etc will make around 5 to 6 k a month to the amount of 16 k which with and overhead of about 4 thousand amount will have us turning profit in about 3 months .The wii is huge everywhere people love to play the sports game and wii fit we cut cost on instructors because the wii does it for u im willing to work every day there at least let me know if im a dreamer or i have a shot thanx for your time and bailout time im sorry for the repost but i forgot to tell you that i offer 40 to 50 percent of the profit
Comment by isaac white -
@ robert clemen. LOL! what you’re proposing sounds like the exact opposite of what he’s looking for. you’re asking for more capital to expand a consulting firm?? a firm that already sounds like has been in business for a while, but for whatever reason wants outside capital. for what? so you can go after bigger fish? fish that are scrutinizing the bills of all the big boy consulting firms they already use (and have probably dropped), making them freeze rates, and lower budgets? not to mention the fact that you think your company has such a “secret sauce” you can’t put details of the plan open for all to see. worked in “consulting for 10 years.” one of the biggest shams in the history of business. again. LOL.
Comment by robert -
Pingback: The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan - Millionaire Entrepreneur Forum
Kudos to this marketplace full of ideas! I believe small business is what keeps America running and am glad to see the cycle still going!
Comment by Diana -
FC Earth is a start-up brand of sustainable soccer apparel and gear. The gear will be well designed (fit and performance) for soccer athletes while also being made of eco-friendly materials and fabrics. From the first product posted (a t-shirt, of course) to the more sophisticated products in development (a ball made of remnant or recycled polyurethane), the products and the brand are also meant to inspire a generation of US soccer players to learn more about the cultural impact of the sport, the conditions in which its played in other nations, and the health impact that it has.
Distribution: Web only first; independent soccer retailers; then soccer catalogs.
Market: Soccer players, soccer gift market; green gift market.
Production and Materials: in development. This is the #1 need for funding- to design and source new products.
Strategy: Bootstrap. Build community (quickly) online. Grow to boutique brand for dedicated audience.
Comment by Jeff -
Hello Mr. Cuban,
I received your information from Dan Miller’s blog. I would like to know where do I submit my business plan? I am new to your website. What is the deadline for submissions? Thank you for your time.
Comment by K.R. -
Dear Mr. Cuban
My name is Mike. I’m 33 years old married, kids, house, etc. In 2002 I quit working for others, and started my very own machine shop in my garage. Refinanced the house and bought a couple machines. Owning my own business was a dream come true. I worked 14 hours a day, but there was no way anyone could take the smile off my face. Many times I would get so much work in my shop, that I would work the day into the night & still working into the next morning non stop to make delivery. (just myself, the radio, and a pack of red bulls)
In 2007 all the hard work had paid off. I had acquired a new customer & business was booming. The best year my very small shop has had in its 5 years. Life was great. I was seeking for industrial shop space, and an employee’s so I could take on more work.
Then in October of last year everything slowed to a screeching halt. Customers kept telling me that work is on its way, but it never came. I hit the streets & tried to acquire new customers.
In 3 months of nearly no work coming into my shop. Today Friday the thirteenth, I looked at everything I have accomplished to get this far. With tears in my eyes, I look at my shop, drawings of parts my shop has made, and machines without work on them. I have decided to shut down & search for a job. A decision & have yet to tell my wife, and not sure how to do so. I have officially hit rock bottom. Life sucks. lol.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for caring about us in the small business world. Although money would just be a band-aid for my shop. It softens the blow knowing that in the country I live in, people do help people.
Mike
RPM
Gilroy, CA
P.S. GO WARRIORS! lol
Comment by Michael -
First of all, can technology be deployed to fix this messed up humongous page mostly full of chitchat? Like use a threaded forum maybe?
Next, well, I can offer a few business ideas that can be implemented for $3-5K in a month and will become profitable rapidly simply because they do not involve much by way of expense. Behold:
1. teach American kids to read remotely. Most kids can be taught to read in around 100 hours according to a scripted program, let’s say with 4 kids per instructor. So, establish this standard curriculum program, train a few initial instructors, establish quality maintenance measures and go forth conquering the market. There are millions of kids in Anglosphere, and most admin work initially can be done by myself for free.
2. teach English remotely to students in the still fairly rich Arab Gulf. I will not go into precise details here about how to do it well, but it’s actually very straightforward (I can explain in private). You get a few million potential students willing to pay monthly fees for the service.
3. develop a low cost Second Life induction program utilizing cheap overseas instructors. My understanding is that at present tutoring for newbies in Second Life is very expensive and based on Western salaries. Introducing foreign workers en masse can knock down startup expenses there and lead to a great deal of economic growth. Plus, once I am working in Second Life, I can invent various other interesting businesses. Ever thought of a shadow Obama White House in Second Life, complete with Richard 3rd – style Obama reading out loud theatrical monologues about how he is going to stimulate economy out of existence? The potential for clever satire in Second Life is even bigger than in the usual web, with The Onion and so forth.
4. set up low cost swimming or karate school in Singapore using cheap imported foreign labor as instructors. No need to hire experienced instructors, I can train totally inexperienced people to do this quickly, according to a standard method. Basically, just like prostitution industry in Singapore relies on cheap foreign workers who often come on tourist visas, so you can have many other personal service industries on the same principle.
5. online recitation class for popular business books targeted at American execs. If there are people out there who think they will get smarter from reading this stuff, we can have instructors teaching small groups remotely, making sure that the knowledge-seeking exec actually learns the content of the book. Not that this will benefit the economy much (what with the brilliance and relevance of these books 🙂 ), but at least some people will get a job as section leaders.
6. establish low cost school training programmers in iPhone programming. Right now this seems like a bonanza, but most people don’t even have a Mac. And they don’t have the initiative to go buy or rent one either. Well, there are simple ways to organize this sort of instruction, both in a brick-and-mortar establishment and online
7. same as the above, only for training COBOL programmers, or for training SAP professionals, or MATLAB professionals or any other complicated package. Today the training industry is enormously ineffective and massively overpaid. Why not blow all these overpaid leeches out of the water with high quality, cheap service? Note that such training need not be confined to America – people in Japan, land of the rising yen, need to learn software packages too. I will solve the language barrier issues if needed in the usual inventive way that I solve all sorts of hard problems.
8. set up a golf school in low cost Philippines targeting rich Japanese or Chinese tourists. We can start with usual methods of instruction, and later on we can implement some cool electronic gadgets I have invented here to take golf instruction to another level.
9. set up an airport concession that shows popular movies (like South Park – available free online) on a screen with a projector. We will probably rent headphones to paying customers. Or set up lots of other possible airport concessions. E.g. you can set up an airport concession that functions as an induction center for some innovative business/service. Let’s say you can induct people into the above mentioned program with online recitation sessions for business books. First class in airport, further classes online.
10. create and license standardized social network system targeted at resorts. Resorts can provide us with people’s names, so we can cross reference these names with LinkedIn profiles. Then we can show targeted ads to hotel/resort visitors, possibly targeted almost by name. Of course, advertisers will pay for these ads in cold hard cash. This sytem can be managed centrally and resorts will participate in return for getting a nice website for free. E.g. some Singapore resorts have surprisingly stupid, useless websites.
11. create an English language online subscription magazine that summarizes Chinese, Korean and Japanese press. Sort of like summaries of Wall Street Journal, only breaking the language barrier along the way. Later on it doesn’t have to be just English language – create a Japanese version covering China/Korea and Korean version covering China/Japan.
12. have me work as a business/management consultant for Mr. Marc Cuban and/or his friends. I don’t charge as much as Accenture guys (in fact, note a bunch of advice above given totally free, for me a bunch of such ideas is nothing, I have too many of them). And as for the comparison of level of quality of consulting service between me and some great Harvard Business School prof or Accenture employee, well, use your imagination 🙂
Anyway, and lots of other stuff. Any of the above mentioned ideas can be actually expanded into 10 different business ideas. And I have a lot of other ideas too.
Bottom line is, I wonder why all the innovation-minded bosses are not lining up at my door, huh? They are probably too busy reading the latest book on innovation 🙂
Comment by Michael Lyubomirskiy -
Thanks for the opportunity Mark.
Problem: Having kids drastically changes your moviegoing habits. Why should it have to? Don’t want to be too far away from your little one? I know many of my friends and co-workers that love going to the movies, but have not gone in months or years because of their kids. Why should having kids essentially kill your ability to go see a movie?
Solution/Business proposal:
Sub-lease space within a movie theater chain (similar to Starbucks in Target or banks inside grocery stores) that provide childcare while parents watch the movie. It gets better. While the parents are watching the movie, you can have a small, inexpensive green-screen video setup with a pc and digital camera and the kids can essentially star in their own movie (western, sci-fi,action, etc) and have it finished and burned onto a DVD to take hope after the show.
Key Aspects of Idea:
– This creates several jobs at each theater, possibly hundreds of jobs if any one of the large theater chains contracts the service.
– Increased ticket sales due to not having to ‘find a sitter’
– Increased consession sales at the theater as well as in the childcare area. Small popcorn, hot-dog, candy, drink etc included in the price.
– Thourough screening and background checking of all workers
– Revenue coming from sales of the kids movies, parents watch a ‘trailer’ of their kids movie upon pickup and decide how they want to purchase(what media – dvd, upload to web, etc)
– Creates work for computer/video/film students who will create the ‘mini movies’ and storylines. Movies in flash style, similar to Jib Jab, would be the most visually appealing/cost effective.
My idea will be able to be replicated across the country and create hundreds of jobs.
Please contact me for a formal proposal and business plan presentation. Thanks again for doing this. Truly inspirational.
Comment by Jason Gary -
Mr. Cuban,
I am a founder and current president of a project management consulting company called Phase 5 Consulting in St. Louis, MO.
I absolutely love your idea and am interested in your possible assistance in a new venture we are pursuing.
First, we meet all of your criteria to the letter. If you desire more detail on our eligibility, I will provide the hows and whys. We currently have no outside investors and no long-term debt. We welcome the opportunity to speak to you about becoming our partner. I will say I think it is terrific that one of your criteria is NO middle management…we are completely flat, and believe the middle manager will be extinct in a few years!
For the last nine years we have helped companies design and implement better project management processes, allowing them to be more efficient and productive. We have done OK for ourselves, we are a cash flow positive company, and while we do great work for our customers, create jobs for people here in St. Louis and enjoy being a good corporate citizen, we have yet to make the impact myself and my partners know we’re capable of making.
During the last year we have made a push to help healthcare organizations and emerging energy organizations become more effective and more efficient in executing their strategies. We believe these industries are two of the most vital for this country moving forward.
The opportunity lies in teaching these organizations to become lean & mean and helping them execute their mission critical, strategic projects more effectively!! Unfortunately, what we see is a lot of doctors and/or engineers that are deeply knowledgable in their area of study, but they fail miserably when it comes to basic project execution. They seem to NEVER get out of the strategy phase!! We see too much managment by email, too many pointless meetings, too much Web surfing during business hours etc. etc. To quote the great John Wooden, we see too many people that “mistake activity for achievement!!”
Failing in the fundamental area of converting strategy into ACTION in a simple, rapid and repeatable way, their ideas stagnate and die. Which is too bad, because some of these exciting projects could have major impact on their organizations, their communities or in some cases, our country.
We have some small success stories, but we require capital to go after bigger fish with bigger problems.
In short, we TRULY make our clients MORE productive when we get a chance to help!!!
If I was given only 30 seconds to speak to you, I would quote the old cliche…”ideas are a dime a dozen.” We believe this country needs more ACTION! We are execution experts and believe we help ideas become reality!!
Respectfully,
Robert W. Clem, PMP
President
Phase 5 Consulting, Inc.
“Don’t allow chaos and impulse to govern your desired outcome, mandate that your success is ordained through synchronized rigor.
Comment by Robert Clem -
Another idea that someone might have already done. A drive-thru sub shop with clear 10 feet of plexiglass. It would have a radio/communication device for customers that would clip on the windows (connected to the employee making that customers subs). It would be just like subway – but a drive thru. The employees would just rotate around. This way I can see who’s making my food and how. The shop might needs some mirrors so they can see the food making process, or the shop might have to be lower than the cars passing by.
Comment by Duane Mattoon -
My comment for Rochelle Salter-Nkumba costco has a device in the automotive section it’s a GPS system for automobiles it has a little board you insert we ever you want on your car and you can folow it this same consept is small enough to be put into a suitcase I guess all you would need is a suitcase company to partner up with you I’d be at costco or car toy’s best buy but alot of people a reading these blogs good luck Sunbelt Solar Systems
Comment by David Hughes -
Mark,
How about a place similar to ratemyprofessor.com except for private investigators? This website is extremely useful when selecting potential teachers, and it benefits the professors just as much as the students. If someone who is missing a loved one wants to hire a detective, or wants to for any number of personal reasons, they can simply access our website and check out the top rated detectives in their area. I’m sure that a lot of people are hesitant to pay a private detective that they don’t know a whole lot about. On the flip side, some really good detectives who operate a small business do not get the exposure they deserve. Ideally, this would give incentive to detectives to provide a higher quality service, and ease any hesitation that future PI’s might have concerning advertising or creating a client base.
Our target customer would simply be the detectives themselves of which there are more than 52,000 in the US alone, in that there would be referral fees and the like for each customer they procure through our site. We would welcome the likes of large private investigating companies as well as the one man operations, which is who I believe will benefit the most out of our endeavor. As far as your percent of equity, I’d offer 30-40% or more because the success would all hinge on the ability to be advertised on a highly visible platform, to which I really don’t have a solution. This would be profitable sooner than 90 days, as websites do not take a lot of cash to start up, but the potential earnings will grow exponentially as the site begins to get more and more exposure.
(grammar corrected from earlier post)
Comment by John -
The business idea I have is to bring Airline companies, to reduce amount of lost luggage by inventing a pad lock, which will be equipped with a GPS system, for passengers to use on their luggage. That way, when passengers looses their luggage, both Airline companies and passengers, will be able to track their lost luggage through this pad lock [device].
This can be sold to all these airline companies who are loosing hundreds and billions of dollars every year, trying to reimburse passengers for the lost luggage.
The Airlines companies can track lost luggage through their computer systems, and passengers can track their luggage through their cell phones. In addition to tracking the lost luggage, both passengers and Airline companies will be able to keep track of the luggage from the location the luggage is to it’s delivery point.
The main clients to the business includes all Airline companies, Cell phone companies, also travel agents, insurance agents plus many more can subscribe to the services. A news company can be setup to provide such services to all these companies, while customer have ability to track for this lost luggage on their cell phones, and personal computers.
Comment by Rochelle Salter-Nkumba -
Greetings Mr Cuban,
I want to start a un-healthy take out business in San Francisco. I have already invested much time into the idea and simply need a little start up cash to make it flourish. The restaurant will create 8 to 12 jobs in a months time. After I get my investment back I will pick my top two employees and invest in another store with those employees being the sole owners. You can find my business plan at g-docs
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgxcwc3x_3dqzfznd5&hl=en
$needed-$50,000 total or $20,000 for first two months (includes fixed and marginal costs)
jobs created- 10 to 12 new jobs the first month
Thank You and will love to hear some type of feed back even bad feed back is better than none.
tobyspaceman@hotmail.com
ps-give my best to Dirk
Comment by Toby Dixon -
I would build a dog sports/events center in Dallas. You could have agility/ conformation and maybe other Westminister to the Dallas area.
Comment by Debra Markwardt -
i personally don’t have the connections/know-how to do this, but i’m sure someone can. feel free to run with it if you think it’s a good idea and can pull it off. just give me a little bit of credit if you get rich off of it. maybe a quote or 2 in your PR =). I write this based only on anecdotal evidence and personal experience. No research went into this.
i think there’s an under-serviced market out there of 25-40 yr olds who make $80-150k a year, but b/c they were caught up in the consumerism of the past decade (thus, spending lots on luxury items using credit cards and not really saving), they do not have much savings, and probably have lots of credit card debt.
many of these people have pretty stable jobs. i realize the press wants us to believe all of us could get fired tomorrow. but the reality is that there are many gen-X/Y types with decent solid monthly cash flow, but no prior will power to save and be financially responsible.
however, over the past year, i have seen the tide slowly changing. i believe the constant barrage of bad economic news has woken many of these people up. So now, they’re focused on personal budgeting, paying down their debts, eating out less, cutting up their credit cards, learning how to enjoy life without the latest and greatest 60” hdtv, etc.
These are people who have the income to pay down their ridiculous credit card debts, in say under 2 years, and are smart and resourceful enough to dig themselves out of the hole they put themselves in once they accept that how they’ve gone about their lives in what I’ll call the “Neo-Go-Go 00s” was probably not the most long-run optimal way to live life.
Of this select group of people, many of them still rent.
Why do they rent? Obviously, they were busy spending their money shopping, partying, traveling, and what not. But also for many, during the housing boom, they could not come to terms with the simple fact that to own a home/condo they’d be spending 2x as much per month (vs. renting) for living in a place probably 50% as nice as what they could live by renting.
Ok. Apologies for the long intro. If you’re still reading, I’m flattered. Here’s the meat and potatoes.
Create a financial company that sources out this very specific niche of consumers. I pulled $80-150k a year out my a***, but the bottom line is these people you market to must have a record of solid income. Solid work history for reputable firms. None of this freelancer crap resumes. Blue chip type jobs. They also have, say $20k plus in debt (credit cards, auto, etc.). They also may not have the best credit rating. You’d be very surprised how easily credit card companies jack up your rates to 30% if you’re 1-day late on a payment (even on customers they’ve had for over 10 years). It’s highway robbery if you ask me.
You match these people with a bank foreclosed home of their choosing and you basically bundle all their high interest debt with the a 30-year mortgage at an interest rate say 1-2% above what a solid credit rating person would pay. You take, say, 5% equity in all of these people’s homes (to capture any upside rebound in housing prices).
You have certain payment milestones (1 year, 2-year, 5-years, etc.). where the person’s effective interest rate adjusts downward to what someone with outstanding credit would pay. As part of the deal, they can only own, say, 1 credit card with a max $3k limit (not sure how you’d enforce this part).
The new financial company gets (a) business from a specific type of consumer that most credit card companies would rate incorrectly due to their high balances (debatable I guess) (b) small stakes in a portfolio of homes at probably reasonable prices. These consumers get (a) debt burdens consolidated into 1 simple payment and (b) finally owning a home at probably a reasonable price. Banks sell their foreclosures and get those assets off the books. Generally, this helps the real estate market, bringing in incremental (but quality) consumers to take excess homes off the market. Also, the type of people I’m talking about are smart/resourceful/ambitious enough to undertake entrepreneurial type activities now that their financial situations become more manageable due to their new “consolidation.”
Perhaps this program would be better done by the gov’t. Not sure. Anyway, as you’ve all guessed. This type of company/program would help me out a lot! =) I actually proposed such a deal to a local branch of a national bank calling me trying to lend to me (unknowing how much debt I really had). Nice guy. Just not able to think outside the box.
He saw… high debt… high income… average credit rating. Eh, maybe I’ll try to offer this guy a loan to consolidate 10% of his debt… I laughed in his face and gave him my counter-proposal.
He hung up on me as I continued to say in a highly animated voice “Jimmy!! Think outside of the box man!! I have a higher gross income than most of these minimum wage people you’re calling today!! Help me help you!! We can do this!! Yes we can!!”
=)
Comment by robert -
Mark,
I was reading your last entry and not having any network marketing plans. Maybe this isn’t for this deal, but does that mean your opposed to looking at any? What if it’s was no start up cost and a comsumable product that people take on a daily basis? I would like to show you and if it’s for you great and if not great. But, maybe just by visiting we can find others who can benifit and help others. I like your idea, for helping others. That says a lot about you. I am here in Dallas and would like to have 30 min to discuss with you. Maybe you can at least give me your opinion.
Thanks
Comment by Toni -
I would like to start a business involved with Nanotechnology.
1.Providing renewable clean energy
2.Supplying clean water globally
3.Improving health and longevity
4.Healing and preserving the environment
5.Making information technology available to all
6.Enabling space development
Comment by Kevin -
Hi Mark,
Wholeheartedly agree with your open source approach to venture investment:
http://mediatransparent.com/2009/02/13/open-source-funding-mark-cuban-simplifies-venture-capital/
I humbly submit my plan to you:
Slide presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/pkitano/breaking-housing-market-newscom-1022653
Proposition:
All real estate data on the internet are months old, so it’s hard to assess any transaction without the latest “breaking news” in the market. You certainly don’t want to make an offer on a house based on months old data in today’s twitchy market. Real estate agents are the best source for local market news and conditions, but they generally want you to sign a contract before they work together with you on your home search.
Solution:
We’re building social media websites that broadcast “breaking news” on local housing markets, and we’re training real estate professionals to be the reporters using social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and Delicious (and btw, we make sure they understand they can’t be spammy).
We request $20,000 capital solely for building these social “broadcast” sites nationally and regionally. Our business model leverages an ongoing revenue stream that will return the investment principal within six months.
How Society Benefits:
1) Make the housing market more transparent from on-the-spot coverage by real estate professionals,
2) Through our social media training, we are socializing a real estate industry that has a reputation for too much sales pitching.
Comment by Pat Kitano -
Another great idea would be to start a website for the purpose of providing reviews from Local Dining Clubs/Meetups (e.g. http://www.meetup.com/theweeklydinner/)for the purpose of providing geographical/regional restaurant recommendations for others.
Would have to develop an incentive to get the Club participants to write the reviews but then would work in a similar fashion to Amazon – “people like you also liked …..”
Revenue model – unknown….but surely there is one. I’m just too tuckered out to think it through right now.
Someone should steal this idea ….
Comment by Jill -
suggestion for coolbreeze…
True, they’re everywhere specially in NY
You could start taking pictures of open garbage disposals, garbage cans, pile of books, pile of dirty stinky clothes anywhere you go. you can do it for fun, a hobby, but document it and put on line where everyone can see…
It’s like a picture gallery,
then put some captions or something…
you can learn photoshop and layout tools, so you can design it…
then, basically you just started your first
rat awareness campaign….
where’s the profit.
– Document it, and sell it later…
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
My plan is to kill sewer rats. Every State and Country has them.
Comment by coolbreeze -
Hi Mark (& readers)
A great business idea (IMHO) is to create a 2-3 way feed between Netflix/TIVO and Amazon.
People who liked this Movie/TV show/Books also liked these Books/Movies/TV shows and vice versa….
I know that Netflix & TIVO recently joined ventures….it seems to me that a really well-developed interactive software program that provides related info between user accounts would be a great program for both companies.
Not sure that this one meets the required conditions and I have no idea how much this would cost but feel free to “steal” this idea.
Best,Jill
Comment by Jill -
Pingback: Open Source Funding - Mark Cuban Simplifies Venture Capital at Media Transparent
My idea is very simply. Create a company to be placed in a location where traffic is needed. This company would sell something that everyone needs (maybe food) and sell it for dirt cheap.
The idea is this:
Instead of this company paying rent to the rental company, the rental company would pay the company to be in thier strip mall (or the rent would be free)
The saving from rent would go to the people, and they would get something they need. The idea is not to make money, but to give back to the people by giving them something that’s very low cost. The benifits of this is – this area will become a high traffic area, and that traffic will produce income for other venders.
Build it and they will come – build it with true and sincere intent to help the people and they will stay.
The concept is the same as a really cheap sale at a supermarket. if someone where to come into the store to buy one cheap item- odds are that they would also buy something else.
Getting the people there is more than half the battle.
Comment by Duane Mattoon -
Dear Mark:
I would like to have a all you can purchase ladies shoe store. 10% 20% over our cost!(in one basket, one trip each month. ) Where there is a monthly membership, base off the quality of shoes. However,we know women will never ever stop purchasing shoes, they might scale down, but never stop.
We must must have excellent customer service, no exceptions
Each month we could have a drawing, for 5-10% cash donation, to one of the following crisis centers or community service, from rape-diabetes-or a school district, or balding men, to buy good hair pieces.
We can get someone to donate us a building.(like Bill Gate,Oprah,or Jerry Jones or Hud or the NBA )
We’ll be the Costco of feet. And the Wal-mart of profit.
Comment by Carli -
Mark- My company that I am starting is in the booming iPhone Application development field. I am already in talks with a big name author to publish a book in Apple’s Application Store. My proposal has been to create this application that will without a doubt be sucessful, The price has not yet been set but let’s suppose it sells for $14.99 per download. Apple requires a 30% commission for the sell which would equal $4.49. I have proposed in return for my work and support of this product, which could very well turn in to about 30 applications to sell if this high profile author likes my work, that I make $1.75 per app that gets sold in the app store and I will develop the product for free. Mydilemma is I need top notch people to help my website look the best and to make my idea the best there is out there for me to land this account. I have sent my contact a flyer with information on it and he has requested that I send some kind of sample which will also require some money for me create. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity I have here. I worked very hard to get this contact and I have one shot to close this deal. With that being said, my product has to be top notch and I have to get the best people in the industry which will equal to 2 consultants. The overhead will be relatively low. My guess is that I need about $15000.00 to get this done. I kind of jumped the gun and sold a product that I have not yet created but since I have made the contact, I have got to give it my best shot. This is my shot at becoming a millionare. If you want to take part in it, you are more than welcome to. I’m going to find a way to capitalize on this with or without you. I would be willing to make you as much as a 50% owner in this venture. Again, time is of the essence. I have to get back to this contact by Tuesday of this week with some kind of example which I have covered. I will probably just make a YOUTUBE video explaining how everything works. I have already contacted this really good designer in the Netherlands and have some examples to show you. I have also come up with a pretty strong business name that I could share with you. I have already started the process of researching my company name to make sure that there are no trademark infringements. I don’t have a firm commitment yet, but they are genuinely interested in my product thus far. If this doesn’t work out, I have about 10 other similar ideas that I can try. One involves creating a game that we could sell in the App store for about $3.00 per download. Theres a story on the internet today where a guy made $600000.00 in one month by having the #1 selling game in the app store. There is tons of potential in this growing industry and endless opportunity. I’m not the best computer programmer but I have the ideas and the dedication to follow through. I am determined to make this happen but need a little help financially.
Comment by Brian Humble -
I would like to start a churro kart franchise, Have churro stands at the malls, movies, etc. all I need is cash to get started everything will fall in place later, projections are $100,000 a year with only one location, Churro cost is less than $.50 cents each and sell price is $3.00 each. Plain and simple have the best recepi for this kind of business.
Comment by Ricky -
Hi Mark,
Our submission for your consideration:
Social Business Hubs
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12351701/Business-Operating-Hubs
http://www.slideshare.net/candees/social-business-hubs
We think this has great potential to bring economic stimulation to communities across the nation. We welcome everyone’s feedback and ideas.
Comment by Candis Hidalgo -
Great Idea Tina Rawlins!
you have about 2 seconds to buy this domain.
PRODUCT: cutekidsandlemonaidstand.com
Its the website where you can find the cutest kids and the best lemonade stand.
The site will be dedicated in supporting young aspiring entrepreneurs.
from toddlers to college students.
Cash flow from:
– revenue the kids generated from their idea.
If the community want to support the future.
Which are the kids,
Then support their goods. be responsible grownups 🙂
.5% equity will go to Tina Rawlins kids, for sparking the concept.
-10% for cuban’s dauther’s foundation
and the rest from the kids in the community
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Absolutely fascinating. Thanks for stirring up the pot, Mr. Cuban.
I look forward to your verdict on my business plan for Benefit Restaurants. And I really hope you’ll fund it!
The following link will take you to the document that for this purpose I am calling my business plan. It explains the concept in some detail and presents a financial model to illustrate how it would work.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddqk69kw_90rdswgnfp
I am a founding partner/president/CEO of a small, family-run group of three restaurants in the Greater Boston area called The Elephant Walk, serving Cambodian and French cuisine and operating since 1991.
The Benefit Restaurant inspiration first hit me in the wake of 9/11. I have been turning it over in my mind ever since, writing a bit more every six months or so. I think it’s ready to go. It would be a dream come true to be able to launch the Benefit Restaurant project. You could make it happen.
Vis-à-vis your ground rules…
• Regarding Rule 1: Although Benefit Restaurants is not a going concern per se, it may as well be. I propose to start the company by purchasing out of my existing company one of our three restaurants already in operation. My partners are familiar with the concept and are willing to sell an Elephant Walk to me to operate for this purpose. Hence, if funded, I am ready to begin immediately and will hit the ground running hard.
• I see no problem obeying rules 2-13 with the exception of rules 7 and 12.
• Regarding Rule 7: Restaurants need managers, both in the kitchen and dining room. Hopefully that’s not a deal breaker. – I certainly oppose and see no need for much bureaucracy, but a 7-day operation needs people in charges.
• Regarding Rule 12: I’m afraid the answer is not simple. I know that’s not the answer you want, but there are too many moving parts for me to do better. I want to give you the truth rather than a false oversimplification;
o Your equity position would depend on the level of your investment.
$50K-$150K gets the ball rolling but you’d own less of the business [much less than half].
As little as $350K could buy you the whole ball of wax, under certain circumstances.
o Your return will depend more on the percentage of profit being directed into the community.
My instinct is to ask you to start small (at the $50-$150K level) and let me work to prove the concept’s viability. It won’t take long to know if it’s going to fly – certainly under a year. Follow your dime for a while to see if you want in with your dollar.
Thanks for considering funding Benefit Restaurants. I’m convinced that it is a legitimate and robust concept for our times, with national potential. Done properly, it may well be transformational.
I look forward to your questions and comments, should you be so inspired!
Comment by Bob Perry -
Dear Mark,
I am a recent Yale graduate who is very passionate about real estate. I believe that the restoration and resale of foreclosed properties offers great opportunity for profit in today’s market. Buying foreclosures also helps the economy by getting distressed properties off the banks’ books. I would like to invest in high-quality homes and neighborhoods around my hometown of Nashville, TN.
I am a value investor. One should not buy properties based on speculation about what they might be worth down the road. Instead, one should look for properties that are currently priced at least 30% below market value. Careful renovation can add even more value. The key is to purchase homes that are surrounded by considerably more expensive homes.
Here are a couple of examples of what I am talking about:
– 1206 Greenfield Ave –
Estimated Market Value: $236,500
Currently Listed at: $155,00
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1206-Greenfield-Ave-Nashville-TN-37216/41085632_zpid/
I have walked through this extraordinary home. With minimal renovation it would sell for more than $250,000.
– 500 N Wilson Blvd –
Estimated Market Value $313,575
Currently Listed at: $200,000
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/500-N-Wilson-Blvd-1-Nashville-TN-37205/41126893_zpid/
There are million dollar homes literally a block away from this house. With proper renovation this home could sell for $350,000.
When you buy an investment property, you are not just buying a house; you are buying a neighborhood. Buying homes in highly desirable neighborhoods is the best way to create value through renovation. Selling homes requires intelligent marketing. My real estate agent is the best in the city.
I have the skills and insight to be a successful real estate investor. I have already sold one property at a $49,000 premium. With your help, I could do much more. I would personally oversee all renovation and marketing. I am not afraid of hard work and I will eagerly pick up a paintbrush myself in order to increase the bottom line.
– For a $50,000 investment, you get 20% equity in the company.
– For $200,000 I would grant you 35%.
– For $500,000 I would grant you 49%.
The average time on market for residential properties in the Nashville market is about 45 days presently. Allowing for one to two weeks for renovation and staging, I would expect to offer you a profitable return in 60 days or less.
Comment by N. Harden -
Pingback: j e s r u s h . c o m » Mark Cuban Might Fund Your Business
Small investment, large returns!
I have access to a distributor in California for items that can be resold for 100 to 300% profit.. more once a mutual trust has been gained through multiple business deals. Initial capitol required would be about 10K. Initial costs would be inventory-7500, lease space 200, laptop and printer-need paypal access for credit card transactions/receipts- 1500, and 800 petty cash-travels costs, food lodging, etc. The sales venue would start at First Monday and along with on-site sales, orders would be taken from the catalog for shipping to customers residence.
Our average cost per item is around 150, with a retail of 300 or better..More during the holidays(capitalism at its finest!), possibly more depending on demand; saw similar with 800 retail a few years ago but times are tough- don’t want to price ourselves out of the market
Initial contact is a supplier in California, and after enough transactions, eliminate them and deal directly with their supplier. If sales are strong enough, and volume high enough, small store front would be next.. but that would be 2 years hence.
Your cut- 30% until initial debt repaid, 10% thereafter..
The product- very high quality beaded leather coats and accessories..
Bought a jacket for Dad at X-mas and have had several requests.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Comment by Robert Miller -
No Internet Marketing tactics? You’re killing me.
My suggestion for a brick and mortar break even business within 60 days:
Cute kids and a Lemon-Aid stand.
Comment by Tina Rawlins -
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dtwf929_0gs8rg2gt
I am sure you you will like this low risk opportunity
Comment by Tony -
Marc,
Can you put all these great ideas into a more efficient database driven portal so we can search and steal them, I mean read them easier?
Thanks,
Comment by Andy -
Am still having probs posting
Comment by aw -
Pingback: Persuasive Picks for the week of 02/08/08 : PerkettPRsuasion - The PerkettPR Blog
My business plan involves helping others. I work in Tracy, CA — 30 miles south of Stockton – number 1 foreclosure city in the nation. Our real estate market is full of home owners that sought the American Dream, and perhaps they were wrong, stupid or naive no matter the reason they are losing their homes.
Many of these homeowners would love to keep thier home as a rental with the potentail to own it again at a later date.
Here is the plan:
Home is listed for sale as a short sale. Home is purchased by me, a foundation, investor, etc. After home is purchased by the foundation the home is sold (or rented) back to the homeowner at an interest rate 3/4 – 1% higher than prevailing interst, 30 year amortization, balloon payment 5 years.
Immediate income stream at a higher yeild than most investments, money is secured by note on the home (if the owner doesn’t pay the home is foreclosed on and goes back to original purchaser.)
This helps stimulates the local housing market, allows homeowners the opportunity to buy their home at the current value.
Money needed to get started seed money – all depends on how many houses…. Home prices in the area are between $100,000 – $500,000. As a local REALTOR I benefit by selling the property. The more money, the more houses, or cost of homes to be purchased.
These are properties that will be foreclosures, or a short sale for someone else. Business plan involves establishing a criteria as to who would be eligible, etc.
I’d love some help getting this program started, as a way to help some people the government can’t/won’t help. Banks were given significant amounts of money as “bail out money” however, this money is not being applied to the average person, where it is needed.
This plan also stimulates the economy by putting more dollars in people’s pockets, their mortgage was signficantly reduced.
Case Example:
Home Owner purchased(or refinanced) home for $400,000
Home is now fair market value $175,000
New Adventure Purchases home for $175,000
Fair Rent is Rented is $1400/mo…… however, in this scenerio Home Owner agrees to purchase home for $185,000 in 5 years. Agrees to pay 6.5% interest, .5 PMI, impound for taxes at 1.50% new payment would be $1440/mo.
Where else can you make 7% interst on $175,000 investment – with hardly any risk – if the home homeowner defaults real property goes back to you.
Since HomeOwner is purchasing the property, they pay the insurance, there is a better possibilty that they will maintain the property as opposed to a rental.
There is risk that the real estate market may still decline, how far will it go? When will it rebound? No one knows.
I just know a lot of people would love to keep thier homes, if there was way possible to do this. Banks are doing short sales as more pressure is put on them to stop foreclosures.
I’d love feedback.
About me – started my dream job helping others accomplish thier real estate goals 4 years ago. (Never when I started did I think I’d be going to homes and telling people they have to move out.) I’d been a ‘stay at home mom’ for the previous 20 years. It was important to be with my kids. So 5 kids later— oldest in Grad of US Air Force Academy, stationed in New Mexico,son #2 – Golf Scholarship to Universit of Hawaii, Hilo; son #3 Senior in High School, looking for baseball scholarship; Son #4, Freshman, Daughter age 11 – adopted from Russia 11 years ago still home. Husband of 29 years a high school teacher, who coaches baseball and football. As a stay at home mom I ran a Non-Profit Athletic organization for 9 years– up to 6000 kids and that many parents. Giving back, finding a way to help others, is all that will really matters in the end.
Comment by Susan Goulding -
I redesigned, stocked, and staffed a night club for total of 42000 thousand and earned 183000 in three months…so Yes it can.
Comment by Denton -
I now understand why America is in trouble. Not a single idiot in this great country can follow a set of simple instructions. It’s no wonder we’re the economic quandry we’re in (well, most of America is in dire straits while those of us smart enough not to pay attention to Chicken Little forecasting ignore the complaints.)
If you can’t read and follow a simple set of instructions, you have no business posting your “original” “one of a kind” but highly secret please contact me plea.
I’m sure you have something new, and it will revolutionize the way we tweet, or sleep or think or drink- and if it’s so damn revolutionary, bootstrap it. But if you want a TX Billionaire to invest in your company-
follow the instructions.
It’s his ball. It’s his game. IF you don’t like how it’s played, then get off the court. Don’t bitch about the rules or think you’re going to get an exception. You’re not that special.
If you think your business is that special, then start it.
Read the instructions.
And MC, get a robot or assistant to purge the idiots off this page so I don’t have to wade through post after post of drivel for good business ideas to steal. I think this is great and if the Pres really wanted to make a diff in the economy, he would steal this plan of yours and fund small businesses growth. (24 million small biz owners in US could hire 1 employee each and create 24 mill jobs.) Plus, I like the fact that the only person who followed your instructions wants to open a pot processing plant in Oakland CA. That’s good funny business.
Comment by Chrs Lowry -
Here are mine (well kinda):
Prepackaged school supplies based on the lists from the school districts
Incubator site providing office space, hosting, etc. for startups that are seed funded.
In-grocery store prep service (buy vegetables first and drop them off to be chopped to your specs – pick them up on the way to checkout)
A website that you can submit your design and work with vendors to manufacture your own clothes line.
Online discount brokerage that has no closing hours and provides access to all exchanges throughout the world and handles currency and legal issues automatically.
Stamphead, where stamps can be custom made in the likeness of an avatar the user creates.
Aggregator site for affiliate marketers to collect daily reports. Would work on a tiered pricing structure giving you more info the higher up you go. Basic would be for people like me who just want to know if they made something and how much; advanced would pull down all available data.
A gadget to cook beans/lentils/vegetables/rice for the same amount of time (quicker than what can be done in a slow cooker.)
the REST of 991 are here http://www.sixmonthmba.com/2009/02/999ideas.html
SERIOUSLY DUDE.. ideas are dime a dozen. Godin is right – execution is the most imp thing. I understand ITS ur BLOG.. you can do whatever the HECK u think is right.
But dude anything serious or worthy enuf cannot reach breakeven in 90 days. what are you smoking? really. I wuld like to know.
Comment by COP -
Mr.Cuban.I tired to look on your blog to see if you replied to my business plan,but it is impossible to wade through all of the (comments),so I decided to submit it again.So many people are saying it can’t be done.I am ready to prove them wrong.
Thanks John.D
Dear Mr.Cuban;
I am the owner of “Hot buys-online.com” This site was established in January of 2008.All of the products listed on this site are priced below retail, Therefore I make a profit on each sale. I am also able to adjust prices according to what the market will bare in order to stay competitive. The items range from Gift baskets to plasma TV’s. This unique web site is also equipped with a facilitator (call center).Customers are able to call-in on the 1-800 line to track or update orders. In this way I am able to maintain the confidence of my customers by enabling them to have up to date tracking of their orders and addressing any concerns they may have before delivery. I did receive some success during the time of operation, but unfortunately I was unable to market Hot buy-online.com on a level that would make it a house hold name. Due to the economy and lack of funding in mid 2008 I had to shut the site down. I am confident with the assistance of your program and my strategic marketing plan I will break even in 60days and show a profit within 90 days. I am requesting the opportunity to prove that my business can and will be profitable. The start-up cost would be very small. $ 150.00 to activate the site, $400.00 for up-dated equipment, and approximately $ 4000.00 for advertising, (late night spots).The rest is just hard work on my part. I am willing to share 50%/50% on all profit. This is how confident I am that this company can succeed. I look forward to reestablishing this great company and doing business again.
I can be reached at (214)-518-8737 or jddunlap2002@yahoo.com
In advance I thank you for this great opportunity for a new start as owner of “Hot buys-online.com”
Sincerely;
John M. Dunlap
Comment by John M.Dunlap -
Mark
Thank you for the opportunity. I think you will like this.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dtwf929_0gs8rg2gt&hl=en
Comment by Tony -
Open up a factory in the Midwest that makes …autos with roll-down windows, three-speed window wipers and that have 1.7L engines in them. Then prohibit burger and beer bars from being closer than five miles. Gyms, however, can be within fifty feet of the front gate.
Until you start up factories that make things that we need and that lead to capital formation we are DOA.
Quick fixes need not apply.
Comment by srb -
Mr. Cuban,
Thank you for the opportunity for sharing my idea within this forum.
Concept Name: Sports Live!
Concept: (Via the Internet) Sports Live! Automatically activates LED lights and sounds a horn to let the subscriber know that the home team scored in real time while watching the game.
Equipment: (High Level Description throughout)
1) Venue:
a. Hardware that interfaces from the buzzer-button to the internet.
2) Off-Site:
a. Server
b. T-1 leased access
3) Subscribers address:
a. Internet access: (one) router port
b. AC powered neon or LED light
c. AC powered horn (w/ adjustable volume)
Obstacles: (High Level)
1) League(s) approval
2) Team Owners approval
3) Sync-ing the broadcast
4) Venture capital
Market:
1) Residential
2) Commercial – Sports Bars, Restaurants, Bar & Grills
In Every NBA, NHL, NFL and MLB city in America
Thank you,
Comment by Mike Lassiter -
I do not believe – nor get on board neither – at such sort of “proposals” definetely. Seems to be hot now-a-days to request people posting their ideas (for free – of course) just in case someone out there pick any eventually. My reading is moguls (as well as big corporations) are running out of ideas so try to get them for free by using this kind of “tools”. Then, people with the hope to see their ideas take off end up filling up the corporations databases at no cost for. It is the same old story along the centuries and history: “the strong taking advantage from the weak” The difference now-a-days by applying technology tools. Somewhere someone said: “only when we reach to defeat our sense that miracles can happen we will get closer to the reality”
Thanks Mark good try!!
Comment by ger tug -
Pingback: Tim Clark’s Blog » If you could do anything…
We are a production company in LA that has a fortune 100 cfo and 4 partners attached. We would like the opportunity to show you our executive business plan. If you write us an email we will then give you our executive summary. We have great marketing on board and some techniques for the future of theatrical independant movie making. If you are interested at a plan you can understand and want to really check us out email us back at lucas@seiproductions.com
Comment by Lucas Furst -
Idea
I want to run contests for fans at sporting events.
Description
I ask fans a dozen or so questions throughout the game. Nothing obtrusive. I’ll keep the questions brief and I’ll ask the questions at an appropriate time. (Not while Kobe is driving to the rim with the game on the line). The fan with the highest score wins a prize.
The questions I ask will be very closely tied to the action on the court field, ice, diamond what have you).
The fans and I will communicate through text messaging. Basic software can facilitate question delivery/answer and the score keeping will be automated. I’ll need a few seconds on the Jumbotron at the beginning of the game/quarter/period asking fans to text me if they want to opt in.
Business Model
I charge a flat rate per game (say $500). A sponsor (Delta, Home Depot, UPS) pays this fee. In return the sponsor has their motto or message at the bottom of every text question. Maybe it’s every other question. We won’t make it annoying. In fact, we’ll make it fun. Such as: “The what can Brown do for you?” (besides perimeter defense) shot block challenge. How many blocks will Tim Duncan have in the next 7 minutes?
Note that I am aware of Rule #2 regarding ad-based models. This is a variable cost model, with a minute amount of capital required, and low variable cost, so it’s profitable from Day 1. I don’t consider this ad-based. Rather it’s a fee for providing a service (i.e. producing a contest).
Now about the costs. There are hardly any. A PC, me, and two friends – proudly serving as the game crew. We could probably get by with just two people. Maybe even just me (but where’s the fun in that?). There would also be some charges associated with SMS texting, but those would be nominal.
Why us? Because we will develop solid capabilities. We know what questions to ask (except on fan night when we let a lucky fan ask the questions – just for 1 period). We handle all the logistics and coordination. We provide great customer service to our sponsors. We are good at what we do. Someone has to have this job – it may as well be us.
Access
This is where we need a little help. I would love an opportunity to pitch/demo this to a decision maker – a team and/or venue representative. As well as a sponsor.
Conclusion
This idea gives sponsors a fresh way to make an impression on a fan. A fan that is in a highly prized demographic. If Delta can round up a thousand or two of these fans and have their ear for a few hours, it’s a nice avenue for them. Did I say $500 per game? Pssht…that’s just for starters. The selling point for the league is that the contest provides a nice enhancement for the fan while also helping the sponsors. It’s a win all around.
Let’s give this a name: Fanatics
Let’s give this a motto: Fanatics – even more reason to cheer!
Closing Thoughts
Has this been done before? No. Not to the degree or with the vision that I have. Anything to date was just a nibble.
Growth potential is high – NBA, MLB, NFL, PGA, NHL, MLS, NCAA, European Soccer, World Cup. Olympics (except for curling), Cricket.
Highly scalable – picture a war room with flat screens and a savvy game crew calling the signals in a centralized fashion.
Thanks for inviting these ideas and for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Jamie Donovan
Bio: CPA, MBA, Finance Director, Aspiring Entrepreneur, Aspiring Writer
Comment by Jamie -
As of 2009, baby boomers now outnumber any other age group in America. A large number of them are managing the care or are caring for an aged parent. Older Americans & baby boomers now request elder care group homes instead of nursing homes. Group homes provide a “home environment” instead of a clinical environment. We are wanting to open a group home for seniors that will be very lucrative & provide a much needed service. We have done the homework & are ready to start immediately.
Thank you.
Lula R. Lewis
Comment by Lula R. Lewis -
Factoring receivables is one of the best ways to make money in a down economy. At the very minimum each account generates a double digit return. There is a credit freeze across the board right now and while business has never been better for me it CAN become even better if I was running my own factoring company providing capital to distressed companies across the country keeping them afloat and saving jobs. All the business would need is a sales person, credit person, ops person, and of course money. I have the expertise and can put wheels to this. If you would like to see our business plan please contact me.
Comment by DStacy -
Mark
First of all thank you for this opportunity to present this idea to you. My idea is simple but profitable. I propose a beer delivery service. I know it will work because I already do it now. Since I do not have a beer and wine license I cannot advertise or make it official so all my business is word of mouth. On average I make about four to six hundred a week just buying the beer from the store when it is ordered and upcharging. The reason I am coming to you with this idea is because I am thinking of bringing it to a much bigger scale. If I had the money for the license, freezers, etc. this could be the next big thing. The simple fact is Americans are lazy and that makes thousands of business’s successful. You can buy a digorno pizza at the store for 5 bucks but people will pay 25 to have one delivered. It will prevent many DUI’s which is a good advertising approach. Even a little competition wont hurt becasue just look at how many big pizza chains there are and they all survive. Then you can even throw in little extra’s like cigarettes to influence peoples decision to call for beer delivery. The profits are definately there becasue my buddy manages a bar and come toward the end of the night people who can’t make it to the store will buy beer from the bar on the way out for 26 dollars a twelve pack, and every night people will pay that regardless of the ridiculous upcharge. There are much more details involved but this is the general idea to see what you think. As I said before I know it will work because it already is but i am thinking on a bigger scale, kinda like pizza hut is nation wide, but beer delivery. Just need the funds for all the legal stuff. I just think with as much money Americans spend a year on beer this is the best market to invest in. I Would love to hear what you think or if your interested in more details. Once again thanks for your time to read this.
Comment by Dan C -
Software- We create a programmers/hedge fund group. We get a group of good programmers together and create a target software suite.
I’d suggest Oracle or Adobe. I have a few good programmers in mind(actually one of them gave me the idea), but this would be open source software based. We then build up some short positions in the software company we choose to target. We then start immediately working to replicate/improve our target software. After 3 weeks we publicly release a 1.0 version of our software, with the public anouncement of our plan to replace the software. We then start picking off clients. Our PR department talks about all the free software we will be creating for the poor around the world. We also send the free software to all teh stock analyst covering the stock and tell tehm the revenue stream will be dying soon. By the end of 60 days we should be able to make a good profit as the stock falls. Humanity benefits from the improved software.
Comment by gabe -
Hello Mark,
It seems no matter wher you look these days there are teenagers everywhere in the public-eye doing stunts on their skateboards. And many shopping malls/centers, businesses, stripmalls, parkinglots, public streets and city parks have “No Skateboarding” signs posted everywhere. While some towns are building small skateboard parks to entertain and to encourage their younger citizens to keep them out of the way of the majority of the citizens that don’t seem to understand that the younger generation just needs an outlet. Besides, today’s youth need something more calorie burning than just being in front of the tv or their pc’s playing computer games. I live in a town that’s known for it’s tourism and historic downtown square. I would like to build a skateboard park at an abandoned warehouse or on the property of a old car dealership where there’s already plenty of paved cement and commercial buildings that could be converted in such a skateboard park. We would sell memberships, charge a useage fee based on hours or full-day usage. Have a on-site pro-shop selling merchandise ranging from helmets, knee/elbow pads, skateboards, trucks, wheels, apparel and even rent safety equipement. Visitors under 12 would have to be acompanied by adult and/or legal guardian. The park could be rented for private occasions like birthday parties, graduation, etc. Parents would have to sign liability release forms when purchasing memberships for anyone under the age of 18. And liability releases have to be completed by members that are over the age of 18 as well. There would be music playing throughout the park. It would be best to have some (if not all) of the park constructed indoors in case of wet or cold weather. This type of venue would probably draw even more tourism to the Grabury are.
I’m willing to put in all the needed hours to oversee the construction and operation of such a business without drawing a paycheck untill the place is making a profit. I’m already living on a fixed income and have a roof over my head and have all the time in the world. And a 50/50 partnership seems very fair to me.
Comment by Troy Smith -
Hey Mark I blogged you about 3:30 this morning and my blog is gone? anyways we’ll just start over! my business is Sunbelt Solar System’s I’m working out of my house my daughter is my office manager/partner my other daughter is working and going to college for business and maybe business law so she keeps us abreast about how to conduct ouselves business wise so she would be business consultant/partner my wife of course is CFO chief financial officer/partner our plan now is to educate people about solar energy I’m finding out the more I talk to people about some people understand and some don’t the first thing they ask is the price!my system is not a big solar panel fixed on top your roof that unatractive some nieghborhoods won’t let them in my products include architecturally designed sunslates not solar panels we’ve also have solar thermal water systems we put this system on first if you want this system, it goes on first then the sunslates which create heat thus heating the plumbing underneath it now your creating electricity to run your house but also heating water now you can use this hot water system for several things like heating your hot tub maybe your pool maybe how about your wash machine water oh’yeah if you have a family and your all going out and taking shower at different times you shouln’t have to wait for the water to heat up .This system is custom designed solar sytem that is designed around your house now once this system is designed for your needs and most important your kilawatthours per month this is one problem I’m finding more during my conversation’s with people they don’t now how to read their bill when designing a system the biggest part is knowing what your kilawatt hours, not kilawatts,kilawatt hours it will show on your bill as kwh this is the most important thing in figuring out your system, and in Texas you would use your summer bills like I said we need to educate first my business plan is to get people working again with some respectfully wages I’m presently am putting a crew together to install solar system’s they have to be certified installers the installers after training will then have experience in solar electric solar thermal water systems and I’m also am working on system that includes a windturbine also now as the business grows of course I’ll need more crew’s and so on ! there are some kids out there stuck in these 8.50 jobs it seems that’s all anybody want’s to pay them and these employer’s are mean to these people they give em enough hours so they don’t have to pay them benefits and so they take one another job now we’re do these people go for thier medical to Parkland to JPS which both places are federally funded now whose paying thier benefit’s you and me and the federal government if we can get these people good job’s that pay benefit’s there would be less stress for our President and government, I believe in what your saying our world right now is depending to much on the government and corporate handouts we need to pull together and help Mr. Obama we got him in the house and showed and walked him to the door and slapped him on the back and said good luck dude ! we need to keep showing him we support him the other day when the congress was voting on his no our plan it was like business as usual and I could see the pain in his face as how can I get these people together congress ,he has us starting to come together but it’s up to as Ron White the comedian would say the Public there are election’s comming up but right now we need to help each other there’s people out there hungry probably for the first time in there lives and the problem is we still have people who we’re hungry before they showed up it’s bad out here I ask anybody if your church has a pantry or resource center where anybody no matter how much money you earn they ask no question’s like the federal government goes buy how much you make and you have to so they have a lease the qualafications are so stringent now homeless people can’t get help we’ve got educated people with degress living in homeless shelter’s families are breaking apart churches cannot keep enough food in thier pantries I agree withyou the corporation’s the Rock Star’s the affluant people of the U.S.A. need to go to thier local churches not as a corporate big wig and write them a check the real payback is when you personally deliver nutrisous food that you went shopping for and when you deliver it there’s angel’s there that will make sure the food is distributed correctly now the problem with alot of the food that is donated is usually old food donated by grocery store that is danated by grocery store not to put them down there doing a fantastic job but our public needs good nutrition during these time the public or the people that belong to these churhces come up with good neutritional food our people are hungry which makes em weak we can’t do any thing if we’re hungry tired and sick we’ve got to get ourselves back and the Good Ole U S A won’t be messed with again Kid Rock has a new song out AMEN and one of the lyrics is to stop short changing you nieghbor Mark I would love to work with you to solve these problem’s I’m not asking for money ,what I need rite now is guidance if you can help thank you for reading this, Sunbelt Solar System’s Texas 817-416-4284
Comment by David Hughes -
THE BIG CRAZY IDEA – buy a large amount of land (should not be considered a ‘loss’ but investment that can be resold, and should be resold at a profit if plan executed correctly). Start a ‘city’ that would follow a sped up economic model of any small town that becomes a thriving metropolis. As a business owner of ‘the city’, you would collect ‘taxes’ or city fees to live within. ‘The city’ must encorporate ‘green’ technologies. It would be a social/economic experiment like no other. People would pay the ‘city fee’ for the opportunity to participate in this, dare I say, historical experiment. Revenues would be generated immediatly by people wanting to participate, and the cost of the land should NOT be considered a loss, therefore should not break the rules. Creating a new municipal level Government and starting fresh, may open up some minds as to how economy truly works, and how it potential should work.
Comment by Jason R -
Business: Investing in clean energy entrepreneurs in developing countries.
Return: social, environmental and financial
Risk: present, but manageable
Business Plan: large, but happy to share
Why You Should Do It:
Because it’s not what you had in mind, and what greater entrepreneurial adventure could there be?
Comment by EandCo -
MARK,
HERE IT GOES……
I WANT TO START THE FIRST GOURMET NACHO FRANCHISE.
It will be called “Holy Nacho” and offer a variety of nacho meals.
Healthy/lean nacho meals, Different kind of meats to choose from, different kind of cheeses, Dessert nachos (cinnamon & sugar), Etc.
It will be set up similar to a subway line, with the choices in front. But will have a quizno’s oven/slash conveyor belt to toast the nachos and melt the cheeze.
It’s low overhead/high margin product. Fast start up. Excellent idea!!!! C’mon Mark!!
I will start franchising out after the success of the first store. Which could be placed in the mavericks arena????!!! ok, maybe i went to far.
How bout some feedback Mr. Cuban???
Comment by Bryan Watson -
Someone mentioned something about a documentary which sparked my memory on a great idea. Have someone try their best to become as wealthy as they can starting with a minimal amount of money (or maybe none). They need to create as much wealth as they can as fast as they can. This film should be motivational even if the person fails. Contact Sony and try to get a free video camera in exchange for ad credits at the end of the film. Do the ‘street hustle’ and make as much money in a day as possible, then repeat. It’s brilliant because money is generated two ways, one through the talented person who is trying to become wealthy, and two through sales of the DVD. To make this work, the competing person MUST have drive and motivation to succeed. An extremely hard worker who doesn’t quit. Some of these reality shows on TV have some competitions that require someone to succeed in a very short period of time, and because they are driven, THEY DO!!! The premise is that even with nothing, you can make something. I can tell even by reading some of these posts that people feel that it would be too hard to make money following your rules. I didn’t read anywhere in the rules that you MUST become a millionaire in 90 days. If I have a dollar and I make two dollars by the end of the day, that’s 100% profit, pure and simple. This documentary would end up being a very uplifting production (if done correctly) and one that would be VERY profitable AND in a very short period of time.
Comment by Jason R -
This all seems very exciting Mark, but I’m not sure if you are going to get very many business “plans” that will be worth (time/resources) you making an investment. I haven’t read them all but it seems like they fall into 1 or more of these categories:
1) Negative/Positive comment about the process (40%)
2) Pie-in-the-sky dreams that are not even real businesses (30%)
3) Illegal/Unethical (15%)
4) Afraid to post their “wonderful” concept (10%)
5) Legitimate business (4.5%)
6) Legitimate business worth investing in (.5%)
Then again, if the numbers get large enough, that .5% could be worth a few million. Mostly what I read has been foolish, but the Chinese one is interesting.
好运! (Good Luck!)
Comment by econ365 -
Mark
I have restructured the first two sentences so as not to discredit those students who do master their computers as well as one or more advanced studies that they may use for future employment. By “average” I mean those graduates who will not pursue a career in technology but, none-the-less, will need strong skills in a business or even home setting:
1. The “average” high school graduate does not have time to master computer skills for use in a typical business setting as specified by the International business community and IC3 certification (over 2000 expectations, including hands-on skills, problem solving, and didactics). Many are well-versed in the more specialized disciplines like programming, web design, etc. but those who will not work in a computer-related basis or a job that requires this specialized training cannot pass a test on material for day to day routines.
2. As time is limited and, often, interest lacking, many essential skills are either not presented in detail or leapfrogged over in order to save time and engage the more technically enlightened students in advanced courses. Case in point: Spreadsheets. Obviously many people are unable to use this powerful tool to create and live within budgets. Thus, we have a “bailout” situation, at least part of which could have been avoided. If the material were to be presented in a manner which melded training with causes that truly interest students like Global Warming, species extinction, and catastrophic weather changes, it is more likely that they will be able to find time outside of school to learn more of the necessary techniques.
The rest of my proposal explains the many reasons why we must all be not only computer literate but also be able to use it to protect our families and mother earth.
Jeff Foster
Comment by Jeff Foster -
Introducing “B?? C???” (I need to hold onto the name).
Like you, I am in the entertainment business, and during tough economic times, people still seek out inexpensive entertainment (especially live). I am the owner of a facility in Philadelphia in which we have weekly live events. We have been successful for a number of years and I expect that to continue. I want to capture these live events, on my website, and stream them to the rest of the world for no more than $1.00 (possibly billions of viewers).
The events are already on-going, therefore the only up-front cost will be acquiring the technical capability to complete the task. All players are already in-place and performing FOR FREE..
Please contact me for more specifics…..
Remember, culture knows no boundaries.
Comment by Stacey -
Hi folks,
Below you will find my idea but please keep in mind it is truly my first attempt at putting it down on paper and plan to revise after continued research and when I have a better understanding of the legality issues involved. The numbers used are solely for presentation purposes as I have not decided on the details yet. Also, I know that Mark mentioned that this business plan could not generate revenue from advertising but I wrote this prior to learning about this opportunity plus, a third of those earnings I plan to donate to charity.
I know this is not a true business plan and is a lot about my own thoughts and feelings but, I wanted everyone to understand how I came up with the idea so they better understand that my intentions are genuine and sincere.
I expect minimal start up costs as I am an IT guy that can and will do most of the work myself. However, I do expect that there will need to be decent amount of money devoted to securing the site from hackers (by someone that is much more experienced in that area than I). There will be advertising fees, legal fees, hosting fees, fees to Paypal and so on. Because I expect the operational costs to be minimal and because I currently have a full time job, I believe that I could provide a return on the investor’s money almost immediately or at least in a very short time frame. Obviously, that will be dependent on how quick the word spreads about the site.
Your comments and thoughts are welcome. I believe that if you look at the numbers of the people on the web today, this could not only be a profitable business but help out our economy in some way.
The Money Ladder
Hello, my name is Jim Curtis and I founded the The Money Ladder. The idea behind The Money Ladder evolved out of my ever increasing concern for the current economic state of our great nation. For years, like most people here in the US, I have had my thoughts on how we got here and what we or our government should do to get us out of this mess.
My theory:
Personally I have always felt like the answer should be as “plain as the nose on your face”! I truly believe we (the average Joe/Jane) have always been the driving force behind a thriving economy. You put money in our pockets and we shall spend! Some years back I thought a simple solution for a state like Texas and others that have a lottery would be for them to lower the odds and make more winners more often. The jackpots would obviously not grow to unbelievable amounts but, instead would offer more of us the opportunity to win $50k to $100k dollars. Sounds like common sense to me! Win-win for everyone! I know that if I met or actually knew people that won, I would run out and buy a boat load of tickets, increasing my changes while generating sales and revenue for the lottery people. What do you accomplish? Well, like I said, you put money in our pockets and we shall spend! In turn, most if not all of those wonderful winnings would be put back into the economy. Realistically I knew that I could not personally change the way the lottery is run or handled but, I always maintained that it would be a great idea and a simple solution for stimulating the economy.
However, more recent events in our government and the continued decline in our economy have rekindled my frustrations! So, I ask again. Is it really that hard for “them” to see? If you want to “bail” out the economy, you put money in our pockets and we shall spend. I say, “Bail” out the people and not the big businesses that got us where we are in the first place. You put the money in our pockets and we shall spend! If you think about it for a minute, if given that money we could catch up on our house payments prior to foreclosure (hmm, wonder who that would help), we could go out and buy a new car (think that would help out the big 3?), and we could actually pay cash for goods as opposed to charging our food for the week on some high interest credit card (could that help keep our heads above water?). Sounds like common sense to me but, hey I’m just an average Joe right.
Ok, maybe because I am just an average Joe living pay check to pay check I do not fully understand the ins and outs of our “complex” government system and what it takes to pass bills and laws. Maybe it is not as straight forward as it sounds to me and just maybe, I am being way too hard on the folks in the positions that would or could make these types of decisions. Once I came to grips with that little thought, I then decided to focus my efforts on coming up with an idea on how this average Joe could help put money in our pockets. This is when it hit me like a ton of bricks! We don’t need “you” to put this money in our pockets, if WE put money in our pockets WE shall spend!
Thus, THE MONEY LADDER is born!
What is The MONEY LADDER you ask? Well, simply put it’s exactly what it implies. I offer to you, the people, the average Joe and Jane, the opportunity to STIMULATE our economy. The saying “it takes money to make money” doesn’t really apply here. Forget the dollar menu at your local fast food restaurant! For as little as $1.50 you will be placed onto the next available rung of The Money Ladder and then as people join in behind you, you move up one rung at a time and continue to do so until you reach the top rung. At that time, $1000 will be deposited into your account within the next two hours, NO STRINGS ATTACHED. How it works is easy, one dollar of the membership fees will go into a progressive account that is used to make the payout to each person that reaches the top rung of The Money Ladder. The other .50 cents will used for membership processing fees and to cover the operational expenses. It’s completely legit and totally secure as each transaction is done through secure PayPal accounts.
BONUS: Each month, if any money is earned by The Money Ladder due to advertisements offered by other companies it will be divided in 3 ways at the end of the month that it was earned.
The first third will be given to a charity of my choice. In keeping with our mission statement, I will spread this money across different charities and the charity of the month with related donation amount will be posted on the home page.
The second third will be put into the progressive account to help increase its rate of growth. The amount applied will be posted on the home page.
The final third will be applied to operational expenses and will contribute to the growth of The Money Ladder.
Mission Statement:
If we put money in our pockets, we shall spend! Spread the wealth, and prove that the rich don’t always have to be the ones that get richer. Again, I truly believe that we have the power to stimulate our economy and can continue to thrive in this GREAT NATION of OURS.
Comment by Jim Curtis -
I’m a non-profit ED with a capitalist streak in me, (hence a reader of your blog), but I am going to propose something that breaks many of your rules, gives you no tangible monetary return and yet is exactly where you’ll want to invest some money.
We’re a youth leadership organization based on the premise that leadership skills are innate and can be developed best by bringing groups of kids together in the outdoors through adventure and experiential activities. We’re located in Colorado but have sister programs in Bulgaria, Brazil, Germany, British Columbia and South Africa.
There are a number of adventure programs that take a bunch of comfortably wealthy homogenous American kids to foreign countries under the premise of creating Global Citizenship and cultural learning. I want to find sponsorship and do it differently and we are uniquely positioned to reinvent the genre.
Our programs in each country will open up an application process for kids to apply to be a part of an international expedition that has youth from each country. Participants will be selected based on their track record of being phenomenal individuals with untapped potential and a drive to be future leaders in their respective communities. A background of wealth or lack thereof will have no bearing on being awarded a slot in the program. The application process will be publicized throughout each country with the sponsor predominantly listed (this is the only area of ROI). This kind of program is ripe for free press and news stories and the accumulated worldwide number of impressions compared to the investment is huge, plus it would be an amazing global endeavor to be a part of.
These expeditions will be one month long and take place at locations around the world. They will involve significant community service at their destination, a great deal of culture sharing and will truly embody a Global Citizenship approach for the future.
Is this an incredible way to make the world a better place? Absolutely
Is it profitable? NO
Would you receive any equity? No
Is it still something you are interested in? …
Comment by Brian Sense -
Mark
I did not realize that the posts immediately come up. I am wondering if you received my first posting which was about http://www.bidrox.com.
Thanks
Mike
Comment by Mike Orsburn -
Data mining for humans. Create mobile devices and software that will help keep track of everything a person does. Eat,drink,sleep,location, etc. and a sytem that will analyze it. For health and better living around the world. The negitives are huge but the posibilities are worth it. I think it needs to be non-profit to work.
-the biggest thing-
Comment by Ryan McKenna -
Mark,
I have already posted one company idea here that I believe you are reviewing. This post is to simply give away a few little ideas that will help people who may have already lost their jobs and are wondering what they are going to do to make a living. These are all service jobs that require little or no experience. If you would like to post them great! If not no problem. I do not need any recognition for any of this. I am just trying to help.
1.) Window washing. You purchase window cleaner, a few different size squeegees, a bucket or pale, a extendable pole for tall windows, and some paper towels. Easy to find at Home Depot, Lowes etc. You then go door to door at existing small businesses and offer to wash their windows on the spot for whatever fee you come up with that seems reasonable. Once you have done a few you can set your price based on window size, number etc. This is easily expandable with hired help. One requirement that some towns may have is a peddler’s permit from the local police dept. to allow you to go door to door.
Initial startup cost $100. Earnings $300 to $700 daily minus materials and transportation costs.
2.) Street curb number painting. A lot a neighborhoods have painted numbers on the curb so you can find someone’s house easier. Some are wore off, or the have never had them. You purchase white and black cans of spray paint that will adhere to cement, a set of number stencils that can be used over and over. Or get the stencils and have a wood shop cut you a set out of masonite. (Hardwood that will last a lot longer than cardboard stencils.) Easy to find at Home Depot, Lowes etc. Make yourself a jig which the stencils can be slid into for easy use. You go door to door in neighborhoods that do not have numbers on the curb or that need the numbers repainted. One requirement that some towns may have is a peddler’s permit from the local police dept. to allow you to go door to door. Charge $15 to $25 per job, do it on the spot while you are there. You should be able to easily do 4 per hour, 8 hour day equals 32 jobs per day.
Initial startup cost $120-$140.
Profits $480 to $800 per day minus materials and transportation costs.
3. New home construction cleanup. In the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex there is still a lot of new home construction going on. You would go into those neighborhoods that are under construction and ask who the builders are. Then call each builder and offer to do the final cleanup when the construction is finished. Charge by the house and size. Probably would be best to talk to someone who is doing this to get a better idea on the
amount of time each job takes and what they are charging. Some of the material thrown away could be salvaged and sold for firewood. A lot of the time bricks are thrown away and can also be resold to people that want them for sidewalks or to outline a driveway etc. This type of work would require a ½ Ton truck or larger and a 16’ trailer or larger. You could start out with used equipment or rental equipment in order to keep your initial costslow. You would need some type of fenced land or a storage building, or maybe use your garage if you have one, to store the firewood and brick type material. You would need a hand saw or chain saw to cut up the wood into small pieces to use as firewood. An
electric saw would also work if electricity is available. You would also need to contact the local land fill and see what they charge per truck and trailer load to dump this type of material there.
Initial cost with rental equipment: $40 per day expenses.
Initial cost buying used equipment $6000 to $8000
Profits per day 2 people complete one house $500 to $800 minus rental and or transportation costs. This is easily expandable to multiple crews and job sites.
Comment by Mike Orsburn -
care for music? …
http://www.pandora.com/stations/9c8dbef2a7717f94319af83058dfa5329d65bae90eaced8a
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
MyOnlineToolbox, a recent DELL TOP 10 INNOVATOR recipient is perfectly positioned for the current economic environment and turnaround.
There are 128 million existing homes in the U.S., a huge base of ready business for home-improvement professionals. The average age of the U.S. home is 32 years – prime remodeling age, and a time of needed repair or replacement. With the slowdown in the housing market, people are more likely to keep their existing home and maintain it rather than buy a new home. The target markets of our platform are the two million small mobile contractors servicing the sector, product manufacturers who want to sell to contractors and homeowners, and the hundreds of billions in transactions between them all. MyOnlineToolbox addresses the fundamental need for automation, efficiency gains along with advertising for an industry predominantly running its business on pen, paper, napkin and drywall.
A component of the revenue model is applicable to highly targeted advertising since there is a connection between the paying subscribers and nonpaying subscribers. Smaller contractors that use the free version are supported by the targeted advertising revenue stream from product manufacturers and other service providers. Paid for subscriptions are from larger contractors.
The current economic environment provides a unique opportunity to capture market share. Companies relying primarily on advertising for revenue are facing a tough outlook. Ad dollars are not flowing as rapidly to the Internet as they were. Product manufacturers desire to be in front of the contractor and homeowner. It is common to strategically present advertisements within various social networking websites but there still are unknown factors as to who the viewer actually is. Our platform targets the contractor and homeowner directly within the business processes. MyOnlineToolbox has the best chances for success since we have created a custom program for advertisers to offer a rich targeted branding experience.
MyOnlineToolbox is the first collaborative solution allowing contractors to bring more members to the platform without consulting, technology concerns, financial limitations or time constraints.
New construction is predominantly grounded for the near future, especially when there is an abundance of available homes on the market. Drafts of the stimulus package include billions in funding for improvements to government buildings and many remodeling firms do this type of work. This leads to a perfect opportunity to capitalize on the recovery and rebound of the home repair and remodeling market.
Comment by Brian Javeline -
Mark, I need your help. I need capital to expand my business. I’ve been running my own business out of my home/garage for 3 years now. I’m the one and only employee. Sales have been slightly +/- 100k a year. I’m only keeping around 46 cents of every dollar. I know I can do way better. 70 cents on the dollar is my goal. But I’m too innefficiant doing it all by myself and doing it out of my home.
I need the capital to lease an office space, purchase more equipment for growth, hire an employee to free me up to increase customers, and to add employees as the workload dictates.
Comment by Carl Johnson -
My mother and her brother own 240 acres of undeveloped land. My uncle just wants to sell his portion and be done with it, while my mother would like to keep the land in the family. We would like to find a way to buy out my uncle’s portion ($350,000), and then develop about 70 acres so my mother could have an income, especially through her retirement. Developed acreage in our area sells for about $45,000 an acre. Your investment return could be a percentage of the developed acres, or interest on the investment. Please let me know if you are interested. Thank you for the opportunity!
Comment by Shannon Watkins -
Hi Mark,
Your idea reminds me of Ben Franklin. If I am correct he never patented any of his inventions. He felt they should be available to the public.
I have researched and would like to manufacture and market a food grade paper disposable funnel for a variety of uses. This would be a start-up business.
This funnel is made of high grade nontoxic paper (such as used for paper cups). This paper is dye-cut by machine to create a funnel that can be adjusted from 1/4″ to 1″ diameter. The funnel is held to the needed shape by a covered adhesive strip (like sealable envelopes) that uses a nontoxic glue. These funnels would initially be offered in 5 pastel colors (pink, blue, green, gray and yellow).
The funnels would be packaged in quantities of 10 per box (2 of each color) at an approximate cost of $4.00 retail.
The initial costs would be for outside manufacturing of the funnels per my design and marketing through television commercials.
These funnels would be fashionable looking for your home, car, greenhouse, or garage. Packaged to slip in a drawer or under the seat of your car, you are always prepared to cleanly pour your liquid or granual product into a more convenient container.
The target markets would be (1) culinary uses such as canning fruits and vegetables, (2) filling baby bottles, (3) oil changes or topping off, (4) pesticides (5) greenhouse feeding and treating (6) other uses for funnels like emergency party hats.
Reinvestment of funds from sales of the funnels would expand the business to additional warehouse/delivery space and personnel. Future plans would include internal manufacturing with purchase of a dye-cut machine and materials for manufacture.
With growth, when additional employees need to be added, a service, such as Administaff would handle payroll and insurance. Another possible avenue is to use a temporary service such as Manpower to staff and insure workers.
An initial investment of $40,000.00 would manufacture, package, market and distribute 10,000 packages of these disposable funnels. The initial setup fees for the manufacturer and production of the commercials are included in this figure. A nominal amount for incorporation in the state of Texas is also included.
With an assumption of manufacture within 30 days nd simple TV/Radio commercials to be aired upon availability of the product, additional manufacturing orders would be placed within 45 days and break-even could occur within 90 days using the best case senario.
I am reworking my investment figures at this time due to the fluctuating economy and will provide more accurate figures, if you are interested.
My involvement:
I would manage all aspects of this start-up (unless you wanted to be in the commercials)and as General Manager for this business would take no salary until the business showed a profit. I would be working out of my home with the manufacturer and process the orders and deliveries from there. I plan to use Quick Books Software. My husband Ed would also be a sweat equity asset to the company.
Your involvement:
I am open to discussion. (1) a loan at prime +3 (cap at 10%). (2) 49% ownership of the new venture. (3) a negotiated mixture of the two.
Your actual on site involvement would be up to you.
I note that you wish to capitalize this venture on a monthly basis. I am currently working up proformas as I reverify costs and lead times to accomodate this mandate.
We could fill a need, help the economy, and make a profit.
I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Jan Johnson
Comment by Jan Johnson -
Mark,
The website above is not the intended website. The startup will be:
uniqueweddingtrends(dot)COM where we only have a place holder page up for indexing purposes. Here is my plan, short and sweet:
1. Product – We build high end wedding flower bouquets that are unique to each bride or grooms wedding theme. This product is semi-recession proof (almost everyone gets married) and carries a 300% profit margin.
2. Local Marketing – My wife, who builds the arrangements, can approach local wedding shops and wedding planners here in Atlanta to offer FREE services to their clients for a period of time until our quality is established. (My wife is Mary Poppins on steroids (wedding planners love her) and has been selling her hand made arts & crafts at trade shows and on Etsy for years.)
3. Marketing – I market the website nationally, handle shipping and phone sales. (I have been a salesman for 15 years, I’m a mortgage casualty who has turned his web hobby into a business that made 60k its first year)
4. Start up cost – Inventory cost is small, product is built to order and requires very little inventory. An initial PPC budget would be needed to locate and uncover the true niches that we should be focusing our marketing efforts on.
Other than that, our only other cost will be to cover my wife’s current salary and insurance costs (teacher) for the first couple of months so that we can devote our efforts full time to this new endeavor.
There is much more, but I am trying to keep this brief…
Aubrey Clark
Aunica Media
Atlanta, Ga.
800-535-6077
678-807-8774
Comment by Aubrey Ray Clark -
Mark,
I know you are very busy. I posted my business plan on Feb. 10 @ 9:16. Any word on this?
Here it is again as there are 1100+ comments:
Business Plan: Sell personal injury, medical malpractice, mesothelioma/asbestos, and mass tort (pharmeceutical & products) based leads derived from affiliate web based marketing to attorneys throughout the USA. The way we will make our money will be two-fold:
1. We will mark the lead cost up on each sale. For example, say a Mesothelioma lead which matches up with our qualifications costs us $175 per lead for us to get on the front end. We will then mark the leads up to $350 or higher (Asbestos attorneys will pay this all day long for Mesothelioma leads). We can snap these deals in increments of $25k-$100k.
2. We will also be working with a National law firm on a Co-Counsel basis, therefore we will make the lions share of our money by sharing in the back end fees on a Co-Counsel basis with the firm we sell the deal to. We will get 20% of the attorney fees upon successful conclusion of each case we generate. Majority of Mesothelioma cases are $1m+,so 20% on the back end gets us $200k, etc. The Mass Tort cases are even higher, in much more volume, and easy to get from Affiliate web based marketing.
Needs: Standard office equipment, IP phones, telephone service, and Internet. I have everything else needed computer equipment wise.
The rest is sales skills and covering the expenses of 1-2 guys to pound the phones & set up appointments with attorneys that specialize in the areas of litigation we generate the leads for.
Although this plan does involve marketing which I know you said in #2 it cannot, however this is a different twist to it in the sense that we are getting the client (attorneys) we sell to cover ALL of the hard marketing costs, making a profit on each sale to cover overhead, and then we’re making the real money on the back end fees which can get exciting. We are not relying on marketing our company/brand to make ANY money whatsoever or to survive for that matter. If we don’t sell anything then nobody makes any money. It’s all sweat equity and sales skills.
Let me know if you are interested & I will go into much more detail.
BPM
Comment by Murph -
>> Isaac White
“Young but mature minded”, so am I, and I guess several other here in this thread as well, but then again, we all have one thing in common: we don’t have the resources to make our ideas happen -no matter how good they are-, or have you seen any other billionaires post their ideas?, well I haven’t…
There is, however one positive thing to get out of this (if Mr. Cuban does not like our ideas): we shall never give up, never surrender. No matter how hard times are or how rough life plays it with you, never ever let your head fall down.
Comment by Stefan Aichholzer -
Thanx Steffan if you think its good we can open one in your city we can make this happen im young but mature minded thanx man
Comment by Isaac White -
Mark,
The Meetrix business proposition is taking “Skype-like” applications and putting them inside the enterprise Unified Communications market on a private label basis. The Meetrix browser plug-in enables all of the major UC features in a browser only environment, including: (a) presence detection, (b) secure IM (and soon SMS), (c) a voice portal for IP chat or calls, (d) full duplex/group video conferencing or chat, (e) web conferencing/collaboration, and (f) bulk data file transfers.
The target market of Unified Communications or IP-based Communications is really big: Wainhouse said $48 billion ($24B for products and $24B for services). The Meetrix solution is a browser based software-only secure group audio video conferencing over IP system. The Meetrix software product(s) can be a (1) widget dropped on any website, (2) a stand-alone multi-tenant SaaS solution, or (3) integrate into existing premises based unified communications platform providing end to end desktop/notebook secure communications over IP.
Pricing is based on the following (no ads allowed):
1) Up to 5 concurrent (simultaneous) users. Cost for unlimited usage for a premises based solution is $2,500 /yr or $250 /mo for a SaaS solution.
2) Up to 10 is $4,000 /yr for prem-based solution or $500 /mo for a SaaS solution;
3) Up to 25 is $9,600 /yr from pre- based or $750 /mo.
The CGS relates to our datacenter/colo and integration w/ IBM’s Same Time Server totaling 33% of CGS, leaving us with 60%+ margins. Right now, we are in a top-notch data center at Apogee Networks in Austin, TX. We have myself running the company as CEO and as the Sales guy. We have three technical team members (CTO and two great engineers). Our burn would be less than $15,000 / month. We have to clean up our browser plug-in/install, polish up our solution for Vista, a little work (less than 2-3 full days worth of work on our Session Based VPN (with SSL 128 encryption) and then sell, sell, sell. Meetrix can support sales in 10-30 days. We won’t bring anybody else on board until we win customers. Based upon a minimal burn-rate, the Meetrix break-even is winning six to eight single (1-5 user simultaneous seats) license customers at $2,500 by the 60th day. If we make it, we earn more time and money under the Cuban plan. If we don’t you cut us off.
We have one issued patent and one that has received notice of allowable subject – media collaboration over hybrid networks (PSTN and IP networks). Meetrix’s biggest competitor in the enterprise is DimDim (raised $15 mil). Userplane and oovoo do this in the consumer/ad market. Meetrix also needs to make sure we stay ahead of IBM Same Time Server, Microsoft OCS and Cisco’s Unified Personal Communicator. These big boys can be distinguished quite easily. I can show how we help them in a browser plug-in implementation, but shouldn’t disuss here.
Meetrix is currently integrated with the most recent release of Lotus Domino 8.5 and Same Time Server 8.0. Meetrix is based out of Santa Monica, California and Austin, TX. The following is a link to a video demo of the Meetrix video con/UC system: http://www.meetrix.us/products/smalldemo.php.
Management Team is comprised of:
Jebb Dykstra, who is a IP lawyer and SW entrepreneur. He has been part of 3 VC/PE backed co’s (DFJ, Samsung and Southridge), and junior college all american basketball player. I lived Hoop Dreams back in the ’80’s. Tom Dye, the CTO, has 40+ issued patents, been VC backed 3+ times, including Austin Ventures and won Best of Comdex in the 90’s. Sold company to Cirrus Logic and worked for Dell.
We are asking for $250,000 for 20% of Meetrix. But we will only get $30,000 if we don’t hit break-even. then we are cut off by you. If we hit break-even and even start making money by the 60th/90th day, then we can start to earn “usage” of your investment monies.
Sincerely,
Jebb Dykstra, CEO
Meetrix
jebb@meetrix.us
310-428-9218
Comment by Jebb Dykstra -
Hello Mr.Cuban i want to first say i am a huge Maverick fan Dirk is one of the best and i think the league does not consider him as one of the best . I am a young guy in atlanta, georgia and i want to open a wii gym where people can exercise and compete via the wii the member ship will be 40.00 for 12 months the place will be able to hold a hundred to two hundred people at one time i will sell 2.00 waters and 3.00 dollar gatorade and 2.00 towels private lockers will cost 2.00 each visit i will need 50.000 to start this my goal is to sign up 400 people at 40.00 a pop thats 16.000 a month then
sells from water , locks ,towels and etc will make around 5 to 6 k a month to the amount of 16 k which with and overhead of about 4 thousand amount will have us turning profit in about 3 months .The wii is huge everywhere people love to play the sports game and wii fit we cut cost on instructors because the wii does it for u im willing to work every day there at least let me know if im a dreamer or i have a shot thanx for your time and bailout time im sorry for the repost but i forgot to tell you that i offer 40 to 50 percent of the profit
Comment by Isaac White -
Pingback: Mark Cuban Offers To Fund Entrepreneurs | Linda Caroll Website Design Blog
February 13 2009
XXXXX
XXXXX
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Mr. Mark Cuban:
…A business that can be replicated by entrepreneurs to pull us through this crap…
One answer is the business of creating business.
That is to say, the business creates “think tanks.” Via the Internet, specialists in the numerous fields required for most businesses come together to both, brainstorm several ideas, and perform the expertise required for those decided ventures.
These “knowledge” positions, such as accounting, software engineer, marketing etc., are filled, and for convenience, best on a geographical basis. One could research the potential partner members by their posted resume synopsis. There may be 50 satellite “brainstorm islands” in DFW alone.
We are supplying current work, and their work towards a common goal supplies a return and employment for others.
Most of the work is done at home and by phone, but you must attend at least one of two scheduled weekly meets. If a member’s expertise is less than satisfactory, they may be expelled off/out by a majority vote. The position is again open on the Net. If we made a reality TV show, our preferred ideas would be as a byproduct, marketed!
Minimal until profitable, office necessity expenses are shared equally, as is their equity in each idea sought.
There would also be national connections, whereby a meet is not required.
This business of compiling the mandatory human tools for business, makes money through the per island per member $200 monthly fee, and by owning a 15% stake in any resulting idea. Ring a bell?
We would be the first and biggest resource site, of course. But since designed cloneable, there would be more than several sites/options/islands from which to choose. But the smart move for competition is to be linked from us. Obviously, that will again cost them 15%.
We’ll call your piece at a “typical VC” 49%, with buyout at 700%. I think this is best for your PR. You do not need more than that. But you would regularly be credited with each big success story.
With all due respect, I cannot spend two weeks on a business plan until your interest.
Regards,
Musser
Comment by John Musser -
>> Isaac White
Your idea is brilliant, that’s something that should really make an off-the-hook profit. I bet if this idea actually hits the market it’ll be a boom. I can see 50 people exercising at the same time using the Wii, that’s too funny…
Actually I recall seeing something like this in Madrid a few weeks ago, was not really a pay-per-workout thing but I definitely saw a bunch of people working it on the Wii
Comment by Stefan Aichholzer -
Also Mr.Cuban im 28yrs old with tons of plans and at a low cost if you dont like my wii gym idea let me know i will keep submitting thanx
Comment by Isaac White -
Hello Mr.Cuban i want to first say i am a huge Maverick fan Dirk is one of the best and i think the league does not consider him as one of the best . I am a young guy in atlanta, georgia and i want to open a wii gym where people can exercise and compete via the wii the member ship will be 40.00 for 12 months the place will be able to hold a hundred to two hundred people at one time i will sell 2.00 waters and 3.00 dollar gatorade and 2.00 towels private lockers will cost 2.00 each visit i will need 50.000 to start this my goal is to sign up 400 people at 40.00 a pop thats 16.000 a month then
sells from water , locks ,towels and etc will make around 5 to 6 k a month to the amount of 16 k which with and overhead of about 4 thousand amount will have us turning profit in about 3 months .The wii is huge everywhere people love to play the sports game and wii fit we cut cost on instructors because the wii does it for u im willing to work every day there at least let me know if im a dreamer or i have a shot thanx for your time and bailout time
Comment by Isaac White -
I have another idea witch you might want to consider: documentary film.
I went to film school a couple of year after finishing university and I basically know how to make films (as a director). My current experience spans over some short films (since I haven’t really been able to get funding for bigger projects)
Now, here’s the deal: I take a crew of people (you can provide such crew at your will) and go to Somalia to shoot a full-length documentary film about sea piracy there, which is pretty dangerous and quite a challenging thing.
Investment: I’d say 150K would do
Revenue: In this case you probably won’t see your money back within 90 days but you’ll surely get (at least) a 1000% of your investment back, and here comes the best part: you can keep it all, I just want a salary you define, a chance to make the film and further chances to make more films (not only documentaries)
You could in this case use Magnolia Films for the distribution so no third party investment on this side either.
I can provide more details (including screenplay, shooting plan, and so on) upon request.
Let me know. And thank you once again.
Comment by Stefan Aichholzer -
The Concept:
Collect digital photos via the Internet, print them, launch them into Space and return them to the customer. Similar to what the International Star Registry does for naming stars, but with intrinsic value imparted to the photo (it has been someplace very special).
Target Markets:
Children/Grandchildren of the Apollo era. Anyone with a desire to go into space or be a part of the space program. Gives individuals access to their dreams at an affordable price ($200k is a bit out of reach for most people).
Secondary Market:
Enthusiasts, universities or businesses seeking to send items to space including collectibles, experiments or research components.
Reaching the Market:
We can reach the target markets through the combined use of TV, Radio and Internet advertising. The novelty promotes the options for celebrity endorsements and news/talk show appearances. Using the ad campaigns to drive traffic to the web site we provide people the opportunity to sign up for a free flight on a test rocket. The user then is treated to an experience that takes them through every step of the process from the design and building to testing and flight using a combination of email, exclusive web videos and interactive Q and A sessions. Along this path of information are opportunities to enhance the experience by purchasing real-time video of the tests, collectibles, and value adds such as customized frames, DVD of the final flight, etc. All campaigns follow strict guidelines for distribution, (can-spam, etc).
The People:
Three founders, each with skills in marketing, operations, finance and aerospace. As a team they have successfully launched several vehicles. Everyone works, no one quits.
Current Status:
Most of the ground work has been completed and test flights have been conducted. Permits are in process or have been completed. Web site development is underway. New test vehicle in development.
Barriers To Entry:
These include working knowledge of federal regulations, design and development time, time to develop comprehensive marketing plan. Expected lead on competitors (for this market segment – 180 days).
Funding:
We are seeking funds to spin up the advertising, develop the ads and complete the web site. Initial investment of $100,000 to begin this process is needed. Additional injections of $50,000 per month for 2 months will take us to profitability. Percentage ownership: 25% initial, with 5% for each additional $50,000 invested into the company.
ROI/Exit:
Investors my exit at either the second round financing with a 2-3x expected ROI or they may elect to take a percentage of profits on a monthly basis beginning 90 days after investment. Exit strategy for the founders is to be determined at a later date.
Additional Notes:
We are passionate and committed to this business concept. A lot of time and effort have gone into the technical developments. However, technology does not make a company. It takes dedication and drive from the founders, the ability to be flexible but keep site of the goal and to work. We believe we have the skills to make this business a success.
Contact:
Joe Latrell
717.406.2394
Comment by Joe Latrell -
RE:
This is a repost of an earlier idea. In case it didn’t make the first cut I would appreciate the opportunity to approach it from a different angle with some added detail.
BIO:
15+ years in the IT industry as a software engineer and freelance application developer. Graduate of University of Nebraska Lincoln, B.S. Computer Science Engineering. Currently living in Keller, Tx.
MY PASSION:
The Stock Market. Particularly the area of creating automated screening tools based on technical analysis fundamentals.
PRODUCT:
A stock screening formula that has been developed and refined over the past seven years along with a hard won, self taught, love and talent for trading. This is not a stock buying robot service or a get rich quick in the market promise. This is simply the result of years of trial and error that, in conjuction with years of trading experience, is proving to provide returns equal to or better than any professional investment firm I have ever used.
SERVICE:
A subscriber sets up a subscription by simply creating an account on our website and providing some basic personal information along with an email address and optionally a mobile phone number. When a stock is identified and validated, subscribers will be notified that a pick is available. The subscriber will then be directed to our website where they can see detail on the pick including entry price range, stop loss price, target sell price, market segment, volume and comments. If the subscriber chooses to continue they will be directed to our secure payment server where they will pay a $9.99 fee to receive the identified symbol. From there they will be able to get further insight into the pick by a message board where charts, progress notes, strategy tips and updates will be available. THe subscriber is under no obligation to purchase. There are no monthly fees or setup costs. You pay for results, period.
Like with most service oriented businesses, securing loyal, repeat customers is the key to success. To that end, it is imperative that the service consistently deliver quality results and once it does so, we will easily convert trial users to customers for life.
Keep in mind, this is not a promise that every pick is a winner, that claim is garbage, this is a promise that through discipline, patience and quality analyis the overall effect is a gain greater than that realized by your “professional” broker or savings account.
Why continue to let some “professional” broker take 1% – 3% off the top and then continue to listen to the endless excuses of how the market is volatile, how everyone is losing money, or better yet to just sit tight so you can lose more of your investment. Win or lose, this service is fully self-directed and once the subscriber becomes comfortable with doing some basic analysis themselves and understanding the strategy, they will understand that the majority of brokers are simply overpaid, talking heads, that offer very little real value to the motivated individual investor.
TARGET MARKET:
Individuals frustrated over the current state of their retirement savings or interest accrual rates who are willing and able to spend some time learning to understand the fundamentals of technical anaysis with the goal of become solid, informed traders.
REVENUE:
I expect to add a minimum of 50 subscibers per month, and put in front of them an average of 3 picks per week. Assuming that each subscriber buys only 1 pick per week, in 90 days the gross revenue is around $5,900 per month. After a year, assuming that at least some of the existing subscribers are now purchasing 2 picks per week, we are looking at upwards of 30K per month. If the results continue to prove themselves out, the numbers at the 5 year mark are quite handsome even without considering the investment gains. Overhead is minimal and will consist mainly of monthly web hosting charges averaging around $75 per month.
It is important to me that a portion of each $9.99 fee be donated monthly to both local and national charities or other groups that have a proven track record of solid money management and community outreach, I would like to see at least 3% off the top go this way. After that, you and I could work out the ownership and distribution arrangements.
PROPOSAL:
First, it is important to understand that I’m not asking for startup money of any kind. My skills both as an investor and a developer have a proven track record of success and I am going to build the required service infrastructure out of pocket.
My proposal to you is this:
1) You provide a $25,000 risk free initial investment. This is risk free because I will personally guarantee this principal amount and am willing to provide whatever documentation necessary to prove that I can do so.
2) After 90 days I will return your initial investment and we will evalute the return. I would ask that the entire amount of the initial return is donated to the Central Dallas Ministries where it can do some immediate good, but that is your call.
3) If the return is such that it peaks your interest further I will immediately begin development on the communication infrastructure and website. I would have it fully operational within 60 days.
4) Once the site is operational I would ask for your endorsement of the service by whatever means you deem appropriate in order to ensure a good amount of early visibility.
VISUAL:
When I officially released the screener in mid January of this year I set up a simple, free google site as a proof of concept it doesn’t contain any of the communication functions and is used only by family and friends right now.
You can view it at the URL below.
The results are actual and can easily be co-oborated at your request. I update the site with every buy/sell that I make so if it’s not something you feel has legs right now, please check back often and maybe when I build a little more history you will feel differently…
http://sites.google.com/site/mjpicks4u/
Thanks In Advance For Your Consideration,
-M
Comment by -M -
Hi Mark,
What a wonderful opportunity you’ve created. I’ve tried to contact you in the past with an idea that would break the rules for this post, but could have made alot of money. Keep an eye out for my ideas, some may not be great, but some definatly will. Here’s the first of many. With your help (because you are ‘connected’), have short interviews, or submissions, from some of the most powerful/wealthiest people in North America, getting their thoughts, in one short paragraph/sentence, on various topics. Have a list of predetermined categories that they can choose from (such as Economy, Wealth, Television, Movies) and things that they are knowledgeable about, and things that people may not know about them, that makes them ‘human’. Now put all of this information in an organized book, publish and sell. Though I’m certain some of these people are extrememly busy, I’m sure with your pull, they could agree to a 5 minute interview. The book would be in good spirit and hopefully motivational to a degree. WAIT! THAT’S NOT ALL!. Have some of these people agree to making a position ‘open’ within their organization for a job hire OR agree to a one hour lunch with a select group of people to motivate them and let them know that things are not only going to be okay, but things will get better and become great. This can be done using a random lottery system picking a winner. The ‘meeting’ with this high profile person would be determined by preference of the high profile person. This is an exciting opportunity. If this book was available, I would buy it very quickly.
Comment by Jason R -
We do not draw money directly from advertising. We support companies in their advertising efforts by providing great email content that stands out and assisting them with the capture of all leads and usable data to assist in their sales process. In my humble opinion this fits into your specs as we create the content and get paid directly by our clients. We employ salespeople, graphic designers, and web designers. We have dramatically increased the response rates to our clients by creating exciting and engaging content not only in the email but also in the microsites and webcasting initiatives that we help them employ to communicate with their consumers. Mr. Cuban, this is a changing world where the impetus to spend money on printed materials such as direct mail has quickly become something that doesn’t prove to be cost-effective against other companies with large marketing budgets and in-house design teams. Our job is to help small businesses achieve enterprise level marketing without spending the kind of money to implement their own in-house teams. We are already profitable and will continue to be so in the near future. Just how profitable we can become has a lot to do with the type of talent we can afford to bring on board to help with the business management side. Please let me know if you are interested and I will forward you all necessary details. Again, I will stress, we dont build something for people to visit and then charge based on speculation, we sell our design services.
Nick H.
Comment by Nicholas Huppert -
One last thing and I’m gone…promise
2nd Theory proven: One ruins for everybody
Sorry everybody, no more Free Golden Tickets
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Mr. Cuban,
I was one of the few DISD teachers who RIFFed themselves. I did so for a shot at opening a franchised tutoring service (much like Sylvan). I spent the last three months doing research, visiting and calling other franchisees, developing my business plan, locating the space (free rent until net is upwards of $7,500/month–special family rate). I’m in the process of applying for an SBA loan, but am not getting good vibes from the banker. I asked him where the stimulus money was and he told me it was used to pay for all the defunct businesses. Right. I’ve put my plans on hold and am applying to Dallas once again. My plan is over 20 pages. Let me know if this is something you might want to take a look at. Thanks.
Comment by Chad D. -
No problem…
IM GONE. POOF’ 🙂
need to finish proposal anyways…
– hmmm did i mentioned creative entrepreneur…
scratch my head*
A ‘floating’ entrepreneur, yup that’s what I am…
And I love every moment of it’
Disclaimer:
Mark you get 10% of any business/donations I get from your blog…
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Stefan, you’re a fast clicker’
*** Three star for you
Disclaimer:
Mark you get 10% of any business/donations I get from your blog…
Not condoning stealing, but I’m up for fun’
who like to read million lines anyway’
ONE theory proven:
The blog is actually alive! yey’
Disclaimer:
Mark you get 10% of any business/donations I get from your blog…
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
hardsweat.com taken:
Record dates:
Record created on: 2007-09-21 15:20:17 UTC
Record modified on: 2008-09-22 19:53:38 UTC
Record expires on: 2009-09-21 UTC
Comment by Stefan Aichholzer -
unemployed creative entrepreneur –
Will you please stop spamming this board? You are neither creative nor an entrepreneur. If you were either you would not be unemployed.
Please stop spamming this board with your crap!
Comment by Ugghhh -
FREE GOLDEN TICKET: I don’t think hardsweat.com is taken,
you have…hmm…2 second to buy this domain
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
NOTE to my BRAIN:
‘Damn, can’t get away from this thing. I wouldn’t though i would actually dig ‘blogging’, don’t really like copy..hmmm’ BACK TO IDEAS>>
PRODUCT: HARDSWEAT.COM
It’s craigslist meet Mark Cuban’s blog site.
It’s a website that you can have access to a sea of HARDSWEAT people (willing, skilled, and people’s motivations alike) **Sorry guys, its not a porn site**
Hardsweat.com is a website that hosts folks that are willing to give SWEAT EQUITY!….
Yes, hardcore, back breaking, and mind boggling SWEAT EQUITY.
Man, I could use one right now…
Disclaimer:
Mark you get 10% of any business/donations 🙂 I get from your blog…
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Mark,
Here is my following business plan. As stated, its a plan, and someone like yourself could come in and fill in the gaps where needed:
The main idea would be to set up sometype of kiosk/ stand at local or national electronic store where people could come get their instant rebate from the product they just purchased, if it offers one.
Like most people (i am guilt myself), when we buy a new product at one of these stores, which comes with a rebate; we either procrastinate, totally forget about, or are just too lazy to fill out the proper paperwork, and wait the 6-8 weeks for our fractional rebate.
Instead, if we have our business there that offers an instant rebate, but we take a percentage (10-20%), we will pay them on the spot, and they do not have to worry about the headaches of filling out the rebate forms, then waiting the amount of time due before the recieve their money, if any.
After we collect the rebates, we have employees whos main job is to monitor the rebates to make sure they are collected, and paid in full.
Obviously, there are many more steps, but i think it is a very good foundation and if combined with the right people, could generate revenue instantaneously, because the only cost you would be investing are start up fees. You are actually taking money from the big cooperations or franchise , who usually fail to come through on their “rebates” and putting it back into the general populations pockets, i.e. me and you.
Comment by Sammy T -
Mark,
I own an insurance agency (in business for 45 years) with two other partners. I have been given the opportunity to purchase this business at below-market value for $500,000. It’s being sold to me below-market since a significant portion of it’s value is based on my hard work and the clients I’ve personally added to our agency. I’m young (32) and the current owner is looking to cash out and move on to other business opportunities. Our company is Pro Forma profitable at approx. 35% of total revenue. In 2008, our revenues were $439,000.
I have presented my business proposal to numerous banks and have been told the same thing every time… You have a solid track record and business plan and we see how you can easily repay the debt… however… outside of the stock of the company, you don’t have an adequate amount of collateral to secure the loan. In essence, the banks are skittish to make loans in this environment without solid collateral. I fully understand and respect that.
The needs for my business plan are fairly simple:
– $500,000 cash to purchase the agency or collateral of approx $400,000 to help secure a bank loan. For this collateral, a person would be compensated based on the risk they’re willing to pledge on my behalf. If cash were provided, we would work out a return % to the investor for their investment.
The company will be cash flow positive from day one and you would begin receiving returns on your investment within the first month.
I’ve posted my business plan and financials at the following link: http://www.slideshare.net/wheresthebeef/business-plan-cuban
This document has been redacted to protect the names of those individuals who currently own the company and will be bought-out.
If you’re looking for a well-established and profitable business to invest in… here’s your chance.
Comment by Chad Gardner -
Pingback: An Investor’s Stimulus Plan « Inventing For the Rest of Us
This is a silly idea, but maybe it will give someone else a better one.
As a sports fan the worst time of the game is garbage time, it’s just plain boring!!! The game is over, everyone just wants to go home, some folks do leave the arena.
But would you stay if you had the chance to call the last play or conduct a timeout? Would you pay to do so?
So basiclly, when, and ONLY when the coach agrees, a lucky basterd would get the chance to set the last play of a game that has been decided.
There are more then a few problems with this idea (mainly injury), but it might help get fans more involved in the game and help the teams during the crisis.
I know this is dumb idea, so pls don’t bother mentioning it in your talkbacks… 🙂
Enjoy the weekend.
Comment by eg -
Business Plan: http://www.hoursopen.com/docs/bp-ho.docx
HoursOpen.com is a website that lets you know what’s open around you right now.
Comment by Taylor Cleghorn -
Hi Mark
The following proposal is based upon the following facts and figures:
1. The average high school graduate is poorly prepared for the use of a computer in a typical business setting. Most (as well as many of their teachers) cannot pass a test designed for 6th graders.
2. Much of this problem is related to the amount of time available for this instruction. Consequently, many essential basic are leapfrogged in order to save time and enroll the more technically enlightened students in advanced courses. Case in point: Spreadsheets. Obviously many people are unable to use this powerful tool to create and live within budgets. Thus, we have a “bailout” situation, at least part of which could have been avoided.
3. The lack of these basic skills cost businesses many billions of dollars annually due to costly mistakes and lost time.
4. The rapidly changing platform situation (Windows 98 to XP to Vista to whatever is next) is confusing to many people and serves as a deterrent to learning.
5. The threat of adverse living conditions as a result of natural or manmade disasters means simply that every citizen must be prepared to survive on their own without help from the government. Studying the potential of such treats can allow individuals to draw their own conclusions and make their own preparations based on their findings. The recent disclosure by several top scientists that a 2 degree rise in temperature could occur by 2015 means that everyone needs a plan- even if it’s a simple a workable budget or a way to get food and water. There is currently no book of any kind that allows individuals to study and learn basic business skills, conduct research on all scenarios, and develop survival skills for business or simply life itself- except for the one described below.
6. School is stressful for many students and the effort to simply keep up with curriculum requirements is exhausting for them as well as students. Students are overcome by an already exhausting curriculum and need some motivation to engage them in the comprehensive study of computing. By combining these studies with real world situations including going green and saving endangered species, students can learn in an environment that motivates them to proceed.
7. Almost 50% of out student population in Texas (and most other states) lives at or below the poverty level. They need easy to afford teaching materials that can help them Textbooks that are available only online (Internet) seriously limit the ability of these students to learn. Materials that are “easy” on taxpayers are more likely to be accepted at this time in history.
8. Not all students who will seek employment will do so in a computer-related field. In fact, 90% or more will not. These future employees need strong basic skills for both success in business and personal lives. There is no publication that addresses the many issues that slow or stop learning.- except as discussed below.
I am an author/publisher (very small) of digital textbooks (IT, Computer Mastery) for schools, government, and business.
Over the past 7 years I have written 3 textbooks for Grades 3 to 5 and 6 to 8, a course for Texas Rehab, and a business-related publication for IC3 Certification. The school textbooks have been adopted for use by Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and South Carolina. The IC3 book is certified as official courseware by Certiport and thus has “universal” acceptance.. A new publication (see below) I am about to finish can be used from Grades K-12, college, and all businesses where exceptional computing skills are required.
I have had minimal success in marketing my textbooks due in part to lack of funds ( I have no salesmen or reps and can only show them to prospective buyers by “cold calling” using direct mail) and the fact that I am competing with huge publishers with well known names and the proper “connections” needed to have them considered.
The market potential is huge- every student, teacher, and employee in the US and every English speaking country that can read and needs strong computing and life skills can use this new book.
In order to become competitive with the “big boys,” I have created a very unique book that offers many advantages over even the best of the best, including:
1. Easy to follow video demos and tutorials that show students how a technique is performed on both XP and Vista. These almost 1000 hands-on techniques displayed on video on either Windows XP or Vista- and which can be upgraded for any and all new platforms that will be developed. These can be installed on a student’s desktop and used as a reference 24/7 all the way from grade school to college and beyond.
2. Comprehensive Coverage: Rather than creating multiple textbooks with large price tags for every grade, certification program, and business “guide,” we have created one rather large book that covers ALL standards for ALL states and ALL business applications.
3. Accessibility for all students/users regardless of ability or disability. Lessons can be read, heard, or visualized.
4. Community Preparation: Well-trained High School graduates are essential for the success of businesses on any community. We allow schools that use our site license plan to include adult education for parents, business employees, etc. for the same per capita fee.
5. Competitive Pricing: With the current bailout situation which is costing taxpayers dearly as well as the fact that 50% of Texas families live at or below the poverty level, we offer an annual lease fee of $500 to $1500 per district/business plus between 25 cents and $1 per student or employee per year.
6. No language Barriers: Video presentations help transcend barriers that might otherwise prevent students who do not speak English from understanding each technique.
7. Preparation of Students and Families in the event of any disaster- manmade or natural. Katrina, Ike, and other les spectacular but none-the-less devastating events have clearly demonstrated that the federal and state governments are NOT the best solution for survival. Our MegaProjects encourage students to research and prepare for any and all such events to not only become familiar with their potential but also to survive their impact.(See MegaProjects).
8. MegaProjects are activities that utilize the skills students are learning while researching and reporting on issues that are both compelling and necessary for the future success of each student, their families, and their communities. In order to stimulate student interest, the book recommends a number of activities that young students may find interesting and engaging, including professional sports, engineering, inventing, or entrepreneurial quests. Topics also include:
o Global Warming
o Species Survival
o Future Health/Longevity
o Campus Safety
o Preparing for Catastrophic Weather
o Earthquakes/Volcanoes
o Combating Terrorism
o Power Blackouts
o Bomb Threats
o Chemical /Biological Threats
o Infectious Disease Outbreaks
o Water Pollution
o Droughts
o Flooding
o Nuclear Accidents
o Forrest Fires
o Alternative Fuels
o The Evolution of Computing
o Getting Into College
o Living within Your Means
o So You Want to be President: A look at the lives and lifestyles last 10 US Presidents
o My Invention: What I Would Create to Solve at Least One Global or Local Issue
We also include a few ideas that we proffer that someone could create and, consequently, reap the benefits for, while, at the same time, improving the lives of all living organisms on this planet. Current and future projects in which they might become involved include:
1. Alternative fuels that can be made from readily available materials, including garbage
2. Ways to collect and use the methane gas emitted by livestock (the #1 source of green house gases)
3. Ways to convert houses and offices to reflect (rather than absorb) heat. Some have suggested painting everything white.
4. Portable hydroponic gardens for individual household use that do not require soil and use recycled water and nutrients.
5. Batteries that can store a charge long enough to make electric cars truly practical
6. Ways to generate electricity to run cars, charge batteries while the car is in motion (generators in wheels, “windmills” on the sides and top of each vehicle)
7. Overlooked or hybrid plant species that absorb CO2 and output oxygen in large quantities or can be converted to fuel. The abundant but undesirable Mountain Juniper of the Southwest, for example, grows like a weed and may prove to be a good source for ethanol, provided someone can invent a way to distill it economically and safely.
8. Better ways to obtain and/or purify water supplies. Humans can only live 2-3 days without water and are very vulnerable to shortages. Newer ways to convert salt water or even sewage to drinking water will not only help humanity but also make the inventor very wealthy.
9. Safer methods of transportation. Automobiles and aircraft still pose dangers to travelers in the event of accidents.
10. Ways to detect roadside bombs and land mines before that harm or kill people
11. Newer, safer methods of apprehending criminals without bodily injury
12. Better methods of communicating and teaching
13. Ways to detect and destroy harmful pathogens (bacteria and viruses) before that can hurt anyone
14. Ideas to care for an aging population. Visit a nursing home and observe the way elderly people are cared for. Then, design something that can help both residents and workers. Perhaps you could create a combination bed and wheelchair that would help with mobility, sanitation, dealing with waste, taking a bath or shower, etc.
15. Future Bailout Prevention, including emphasis on the use of spreadsheets to create budgets and live within one’s means.
Using one or more of these ideas, each student may find his or her own niche and be inspired to pursue it on their own or as teams or classes with little to no teacher supervision.
Of course, this is all spread out over some 6000 searchable pages so presenting it here does not do it justice.
Can one book really make a difference? Probably not for nations or planets but most definitely for individuals who are made aware of circumstances and possess the necessary skills to provide for their needs. One thing is for sure: They must be able to do it for themselves and not expect Washington to help.
There are currently 50 million students in US public schools plus 150 million more in the workforce that could use this training. Worldwide, this number is over 1 billion. I have developed several “packages” that include direct sales by unit with volume discounts, site licenses, and corporate sponsorships.
If a business or school is willing to assume part of the responsibility for distributing the course on CD/DVD/Internet, we can make it available for an annual fee plus 25 cents per student/employee per year. We supply only a few master copies. The rest is up to them.
In addition to the few business accomplishments, I have also achieved a bit of recognition from my peers. Beginning this June, I will become president of the International Society for Technology in Education, Computer Teachers Group.
Our products are complete, the market is established, and the need is great. We have completed every part of my business plan except the most important: product/company identity.
What do I need? Money to hire salesmen and an executive assistant, buy a professional looking sales package (I have found a good one that will cost $15,000 for every 1000 presentation packages), and begin spreading the word. I would like to build the business to a point where we controlled at least 10% of the IT textbook market. I am willing to give up part of the ownership in exchange for your participation. This would be predicated on the amount provided and the time involved.
The amount of money needed is directly proportional to the number and size of schools and businesses in each state. A state like Texas with over 1000 districts would need an equivalent amount of presentation packages, a state director of marketing, and a sufficient travel allowance to allow for personal presentations. Starting small (one state) and working with larger districts and businesses could require at least $100,000 per year.
As you can see from my poor attempt to describe this project, it is far more than a textbook or a computer course. It’s sort of a “guide for living” and includes lessons not likely to be learned in any other environment.
Samples of all our works are available.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jeff Foster, President, AlbaCorps Publishing
Comment by Jeff Foster -
I have had this idea for several years. It is a way to generate electrical power with moving water without building dams. It is not some kind of turbine or complicated machinery. My idea, although mechanical, is very simple and not patented. Therefore I cannot tell you about it on this blog. I do not have the ability to do the math and cannot get any of the so called experts on the web to answer my physics questions nor do I have the financial means to build a prototype. I am talking many many megawatts from one machine based on my simple physics equations, but I do not know the hydrological equations needed to really prove or disprove the idea. I my idea would prove true the Mississippi river is very long and you could line up my machine and reuse the water all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Ultimately I will tell my idea only to Mark Cuban himself. E-mail me.
Comment by ken finkenbinder (retired firefighter) -
I’ve been thinking about an expansion of something I’ve been doing for a number of years.
Basically, for a number of hobbies, there are people who want the full experience of putting everything together from scratch, and people who are willing to pay extra so they can just start playing with their fancy toys. Some examples of this are high end remote controlled planes and boats, wargaming miniatures or model train installations.
I’ve been operating on a commission basis as a small business for some time, doing this kind of work. I know the market and already have the skills needed. If I had some money to invest, I could quickly increase my output, and gain access to more customers. By hiring help to do the simpler work involved, I cold use my time purely for the more skill intensive finishing work, which would significantly increase the return on my own time.
Investment would also allow me to purchase and complete models to sell as finished, providing an additional revenue stream and catering to customers that don’t want to wait for something to be custom made. I could also take these models to shows and conventions for sale, which would also create additional exposure for my custom service.
Some might think that an economic downturn would be a really bad time for a business that relies on selling a service that nobody really needs, but if anything, I’ve had more inquires recently that is usual for this time of year. My view of it is that that business is still doing well for the same reason that bars never lose money in a recession. When things are in a downturn, people want something they can enjoy that takes their mind off of their problems. A hobby provides that feeling of escape for a lot of people, and buying something you want provides a certain feeling of control over your situation.
As far as numbers go, this would be a fairly small investment, no more than $10-20,000 would be required. Additional investment of a similar amount once stable profitability has been reached could accelerate further expansion, but even with no further investment it would continue to grow.
The turnaround to profitability would be quick, because this is an expansion of something I am doing now, I already have the skills and the contacts. As I see it, these are the steps that would need to happen to break even and then become profitable.
1. Hiring staff and training. Up to a week
To start, this should be simple, just a couple of people to handle basic assembly and prep work. Training would be minimal, I would expect less than a week. If I can hire people who are already involved in the hobby, as is likely, training would be virtually unneeded.
2. Initial production and expansion. Two to three weeks
The first batch of work is completed, and I can start advertising the new pre-built product. Again, this is really just an expansion of what I am already doing, so there should be little delay. Right now, I do most of my business locally and on the internet via referral, but I already have advertising information lined up, my thought was to start with advertising on online hobby forums, with a future expansion to hobby magazines and a presence at conventions and events.
I’ve done the online advertising before, and had a good response, I discontinued it only because I started getting as much work as I could handle on my own through customer referral.
3. Sales and new customer acquisition
Cash flow should hit the break even point very quickly after the first month, likely as soon as a week or two into month two. Expenses are low, the employee labor required to start is relatively low skilled and thus inexpensive. Profitability could be obtained as soon as the end of month two, the primary determining factors will be how quickly I am able to get employees trained and up to speed, and any possible lag time between running advertisements and lining up new customers. The advertising delay could be partially ameliorated by listing products at online auction, both at hobby related sites, and on eBay.
4. Post profitability expansion
Once the basic underpinnings are in place, and I have trained staff producing a product on a reliable schedule, I can begin to scale up. By this point, the initial employees should have enough experience to handle more of the mid level work. I could hire additional help to do the low level and prep work as before, and increase output further. By this point, I’d be able to focus my own work purely on the most difficult finishing detail, as well as business management.
The next major step would be traveling to events and conventions, both to sell finished product, as well as advertise more expensive custom services. This is the point at where it starts to offer a more significant profit, as well as providing the exposure needed to bring in more customers and allow for further hiring and expansion. From here I should have enough profit and momentum to continue to grow the business as well as begin to repay the investment.
That’s pretty much the idea. It’s something I’ve already been planning for a while, but actually getting the money together to kick things off is quite difficult while I’m the only employee and the work itself requires much of my time.
Since the amounts involved are on the low side, and the business itself likely to remain relatively small due to the niche nature of the product, a loan would probably work better than equity.
Thoughts and comments?
Comment by AllTheGoodNamesAreTaken -
Now, I shall pop the question: why does it have to be an online thing/business?
Keeping it “computer-related” would be still ok -as there is a vast need for solutions- but I believe the online market needs a brake, perhaps a new bubble explosion.
I have an interesting idea/plan which you might want to consider Mr. Cuban.
I grew up in South-America (I’m originally from Austria and now I live in Switzerland) and I have seen a tremendous need for good -let’s say powerful and fast- internal documentation managing software. Yes, there are many around, but most of them quite expensive, not customizable and not really what the end user expects.
So here’s the deal: We (me and a couple of other guys) develop a centralized application (stored and run under open source platforms -so no expenses on that side). Once this application is ready we sell it to customers at rates depending on their needs. Why would the buy this?, simple, they don’t have to worry about backups, actually about nothing, if we release a new version everyone has it already (no tedious upgrades, no data loss, no nothing, we take care of everything).
How do users access their data (documentation) using a standard browser, so no additional investment is required on their side.
So, we would need to invest only in some “hardcore” servers that provide the backbone for our application and the initial money to fund our work (our salaries). We all work, no one reports to managers, no one watches youtube while others code 24/7, no one is a waste of money.
The application will bring money back in within 3 months at most. Guaranteed.
I can provide an extended business plan and more details in case you are interested. As I mentioned I’m currently living in Switzerland and such an application would be very “sell able” here, although it might bring in more revenue in countries such as the states as there are more companies, therefor more demand.
Hope to hear from you. Thank you
Comment by Stefan Aichholzer -
Turn you life around – flying team.
The flying team (like flying docters) gives advice about finances, work, starting up a business, health care and so forth.
People pay a fee or a percentage of the money the flying team can save on their bills.
The team goes from one city to the other.
The flying team also has a good, effective database of people who are looking for jobs. Employers can go to the flying team and look for employees.
Comment by Jacobien -
How about someone developing a unified web scripting language? Right now websites are a mashup of four or more different programming languages such as html, xml, AJAX, php, Java, Javascipt, MySQL. This makes website programming a pain. Each language is mixed-in as needed on each web page because each provides unique features and functionality.
Someone needs to take a fresh look at how websites are programmed and come up with one universal programming language that has the power of all of the ones listed above. It would need to let the programmer have the flexibility to design intelligence into how the page interacts with the user based on user’s language preference, website traffic load, plus have built-in security options, etc. This is too big of an undertaking for a few individuals since browsers would have to be changed for best efficiency.
Comment by H F -
@ Denton
That is one pretty brilliant idea.
Being the friend of those in their 30’s, but being the only one without children… ALL of my friends would patronize your business.
Why?
The children AND parents need entertainment, but most often, my friends (the parents)… do not wish to go out. They are usually too tired (while their kids have an abundance of energy because… well… they are kids… LOL)!
My only concern on Mark’s thought would be that restaurant’s usually take a while to break even let alone turn a profit.
I am not in the restaurant business… but the thing that my great-grandparents (who were very successful business people) taught me is that as long as you provide a service that people want or need…
You will be a success.
Well my online amigo…
You just may have a multi-million dollar idea on your hands.
Good luck to you!
“I pulled over and went in, the answer was obvious as I entered.”
This truly blew me away – that you actually did this.
Most would have wondered… and simply kept on driving.
Good work. And again, good luck.
Comment by SW — February 11, 2009 @ 7:39 am
Hey thanks SW..as for your question on making money. Because Dinner & a Movie “Delivered” is actually 3 separate businesses they feed off of each other and drive the sales higher. by delivering food & movies you cater to the single working parents. By having a Xbox Live lounge it pushes sales of video games & systems, “as well as a butt load of food & drinks.” I focused primarily on three groups.
Single or Working parents..
Hardcore gamers…
and kids interested in making video games.
This triples the normal earnings of any restaurant model.
Comment by Denton -
BEFORE I DROWN FROM THIS BLOG>
I have to go back to work, I’m getting very impatient with looking at sea of type. i prefer graphics 🙂
So, i have to let go of the keyboard and your website Mr. Cuban.
I have a deal to finish. But before I go and forever drown in the blog…
PEOPLE here’s my email add dollarsanity@gmail.com
Do a ‘FIND’, ctrl + f (PC) and apple +f (MAC) for ‘unemployed creative entrepreneur’.
If we have something in common let’s get in touch…
peace out 🙂
GOODLUCK guys’ hope we can all make something happen.
——-
Mark you get 10% for any transaction and successful funding I’ll get from your blog. you can add it to funding the rest of us that’s about to drown from this bad economy.
We can do it, but timing is everything 🙂
Don’t have that right now…
So peace, and THANK YOU!
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Mark,
Here is the “NEXT BIG THING” that will catapult the US economy into one of the greatest successes in history.
******HIGH SPEED RAIL*******
Although a huge undertaking if we look throughout history we see that it is huge projects that are needed and wanted which takes an unbelievable amount of time and money to complete.
Some examples in history of economic booms:
Railroads – opening the west and mass transit
Automobile – if Henry were alive today
Roads & Highways – have to drive car on something
Electricity – building electrical grids nationwide
In-door plumbing – it is for the masses
Telegraph – across America
Telephone – across America
War – have to make “beans and bullets” guns, tanks, ships,
Space program – out of this world
Real estate – always in demand depending on location
Internet – what a wild ride!
Isn’t it funny how history repeats itself? If you look above and think about it most of these things have redeveloped with technology.
High Speed Rail is one of the mainstays of travel in Europe and is unbelievable! If we were to build a high speed rail system here in the U.S. that were capable of speeds of up to 200 mph think of the posibilities that would bring.
Jobs everywhere – you would have to engineer it, build it, manufacture it (steel, concrete, batteries, railcars, etc.) , upgrade power grids or at least relocate them, maintain it! WOW!
Real estate – negotiations of “right of way” to lay track through towns and cities over private property
Real estate again – Not only connecting to major cities but also having stops that branch off from other areas of the U.S. take Texas for example: Stops every 100 miles or so would be necessary, Mesquite, Terrell, Mineola, Shreveport. New stops with rental car companies, restaurants, hotels, etc
National security – Too many people in one place is an easy target. People are constantly moving to the city because the jobs in small towns are going away and being shipped to China. Therefore the cities become more crowded and congested and not to mention the pollution involved.
Think of it. Someone can live 100 miles away and work in Dallas and be at work in less than an hour with no traffic? Also, think of living in Mineola (east Texas) and being able to get on a train and come to Dallas to watch the Mavs play at AA Center, have a few drinks and get back on the train and go home in less time that it would take me to get there from the airport and park. Crazy huh!
Environmentally friendly – mass transit = less traffic and less cars on the street means less pollution. Not to mention that less dependence on foreign oil.
Emergency evacuations – Imagine how things could have been during the Katrina evacuation if we had High Speed Rail pulling in and evacuating people by the thousands without the total bottle neck on the Interstate. If we had a national emergency in D/FW how would you fair if you had to get out of town quickly?
There would definitely be a shift in the mass transit market, especially airline industry, but as far as I’m concerned the airlines will have to become more competitive and figure out ways to be profitable or go out of business.
Will it work? I say yes, but the government will have to change it’s policy and get rid of special interest lobbyist’s who are currently the ones keeping the airline industry our #1 mode of mass high speed transportation.
I checked into fares from Dallas to Charlotte, NC and found that the fares were reasonable but the time it took to get there was almost 2 days. I couldn’t understand it but then look at the route the train took. It went from Dallas to Georgia, then from Georgia to Chicago, from Chicago to Chatanooga to Charlotte. What the hell kind of route is that? It’s almost like it was designed that way to keep people from traveling on the train.
Then I remembered who was in charge of Amtrak. The Government! What a joke! No wonder Amtrak looses money every year. And the government wants to take control of the banking and real estate market? I don’t think so!
Think of getting on a train in Dallas at 10 pm crawl into a sleeper car and waking up in LA at 7 am ready to go and have fun for half the cost of an airline ticket.
Now all we need is approximately 2.6 Billion dollars to get this party started. Are You In?
Comment by Kelly Roberson -
re: American Inventor comment… American Inventor was a totally different concept – looking for the next “great” inventor in a reality show based on American Idol is not remotely what I was talking about. That show’s official website has been removed, indicating it will not return to the air.
The concept I was suggesting is designed to foster ongoing and widespread investment, not singling out someone for accolades. It seems to be Mr. Cuban’s intent with public display of this entire process, to share and replicate and encourage ideas – not weed out and reward only one person.
This concept is also not intended to be a product pitch session full of infomercials. The intent would be to give folks a chance to see what it takes to pitch to big money, see what makes the big moguls take notice, and to possibly encourage the creative drive in future generations… but it needs to contain enough drama and satisfaction to make people watch so you have to be sure to capture the essential investor disagreements and follow up with folks who do receive investments.
Comment by michelle -
Pingback: Financial Reflections
Mark: You said in No. 8 – You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on Slideshare.com , Scribd.com or Google Docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download.
People can also use Vator.tv. http://vator.tv/home We have thousands of entrepreneurs who are already openly sharing their ideas and community with other entrepreneurs and finding investors.
Comment by Bambi Francisco -
Dear Mark,
I am so excited to see that someone personally is making the efforts to help get the United States economy back on tract. I felt like I was experiencing a dream when I was reading your blog! Unfortunately due to the crisis that so many of us face with obtaining funds for start-up businesses my dreams face the reality of only remaining to be a dream. I have dedicated the past 2 years of my life to a product that I feel offers so much to so many people. Much sweat equity has been poured into getting to this level. Our mold is completed and ready to produce 12K per week. We also have an inventory of 10K ready to ship. Molds to increase production as needed can be made within weeks of demand. Now my biggest challenge that I face currently is the much needed funding to get it launched into the market place. I live in a small community outside of Louisville, KY where we received some media coverage; I often get stopped at my local stores by customers asking why my product is not being provided to them for their safety. Then I return home to open another email from a person that has become a victim of this crime. And the same question; why are these corporations not installing this product?
I am proud that I have developed such a product but if I am not able to get it in the market place, I feel like I have disappointed so many that could have been spared the agony of a crime.
I am very proud to advertise my product is totally made in the USA. All legal aspects of the Patent are in place as well as the Trademark.
As you requested in your requirements for full disclosure on your repayment or equity you would receive, I am completely open for discussion. It could be designed for you to receive 100% of your investment to get this into the market place plus an agreed percentage of future sales. Or if you wish it could be calculated on a repayment of your money invested and an agreed percentage.
I am so pleased to share with you my business plan for PurseAid.com
Best Regards,
Lea Ann Stiller
PurseAid.com
Business Plan for FISCAL YEAR 09
Mission Statement by President/Inventor
As a woman, this has always been a problem and concern that I had while shopping, taking care of my children and managing my purse. Once I started the process of developing this product I discovered that it is not only a concern I experience it is a universal problem. A simple purse theft affects so many areas beyond loosing your belongings and identity. It carries the risk of a home theft, since there is a possibility of having your home address with your house keys or garage door opener in your purse. Your medication that might be a must to take on a regular basis and this is extremely hard to replace quickly. Some people depend on their cell phones for everyday function and it can be lost as well. And the list goes on and on. Then the need for this in large cities where this is not limited just to women and purses, but extends to all professionals that stop by the store on their way home with their personal computer, imagine loosing that? This product has been needed in the market for as many years as there have been customers, thieves, and shopping carts. A functioning design has not been created until PurseAid. Several designs to modify new carts have been attempted but not accepted into the market. Nor does this address the millions of existing carts already in use. I am extremely proud of my new product and feel all customers will appreciate the protection it provides them to secure their belongings.
Statistics on Thefts
According to U.S. Department of Justice statistics, in 2005, the most recent statistics available, there were 43,550 purse snatchings and another 3,260 attempted purse snatchings in the United States.
According to the United States Disaster Center’s crime statistic, in 2006 alone a staggering 6,607,013 thefts occurred in the United States. That is an average of 18,101 thefts every day. Women are particularly targeted by thieves because women frequently carry a purse.
One purse theft is likely to be more costly to the customer than installing PurseAid on all the carts in each store! Not to mention how much it cost in loosing that customers and their families business. Word of mouth can be the most effective advertising good or bad!
Executive Summary
Mission statement for Product:
To provide an opportunity for users of PurseAid , to make their belongings & identity safer. The very best way to protect your identity is to protect your belongings!
Business opportunity
PurseAid’s objective is to sell wholesale direct to retailers that have shopping carts, resorts that have beach or pool chaise lounge chairs and to Zoos, Amusement Parks, Marine Theme Parks, and Large Malls to place on their rented babystrollers. This should be a standard feature offered to customers for their protection.
PurseAid’s objective to sell retail to individuals for baby strollers and carry on luggage. This involves a different approach that will include cable TV shopping networks as well as retailers to sell as an on shelf item to their customers. This product with have a detachable adjustable strap so it can be used in various applications. A traveler could use it on their luggage to secure their laptop case to their carry-on and then take to the beach on vacation to secure their camera case, beach bag, etc.
PurseAid’s online approach would include both of the above wholesale and retail clients.
Industry Environment
Overview of the industry
PurseAid is the only producer of a product to deter theft that fits any make or model of shopping cart. It also does not interfere with the function of the stacking of carts. The resin used can withstand any climate conditions. Approved testing has been completed by Piggs Corporation in California for steaming cleaning of carts.
Projected position for the future
To supply retailers with PurseAid devices as carts wear out and new stores are built. Continue to market to individuals for baby strollers and luggage. Sell direct to hotel/motel chains,cruise ships, parks, and malls.
Long Term Plan
Once the industry is being supplied to the corporate end for the customers use, we plan to design and market a product that can be removable to be used on portable lawn chairs for sporting events, movie theaters, etc.
Potential customers
Any company that has shopping carts i.e.; Home centers/Hardware, Supermarket/Grocery, Pharmacies, Discount Dollar Stores, Sporting Goods, General Department Stores, Home Furnishings Stores, Toy Stores, Pet Stores, Craft stores, Office Supply Stores, and Discount Warehouse Stores.
Amusement Parks, Marine Theme Parks, and large malls for their rented babystrollers.
Individuals to buy as a shelf item from stores to use to secure diaperbags, purses and shopping bags to babystrollers or purses, personal belonings, laptops to luggage.
Resort/Hotel/Motel companies and cruise ships to purchase to attach to their poolside or beach chairs so their guests can secure their beach bags, camera cases, etc. Thieft is on the rise due to information being obtained from hotel key cards, ie; name, address, credit card details therefore securing their belongings when not in their rooms is more essential now than ever.
Marketing
Company strategy
Obtain a major chain Corporation to allow PurseAid to be tested. Once this is achieved it will become a much needed necessity for all stores to provide for their customers protection.
Calling corporate headquarters and speaking with or obtaining the head of loss preventions contact info also confirming the correct mailing address in which to send samples of PurseAid. Follow-up calls to review any questions or concerns they might have after receiving sample.
To do a marketing campaign in which to get PurseAid into public awareness such as appearing on QVC-HSN type television programs and possibly making a commercial promoting and selling PurseAid to the general public. In doing this we will be able to cross sell this idea to the public so they request for it to be provided for their protection at their shopping & vacationing establishments.
Benefits matrix
Problem:
Stolen purses, lap-tops, beach and diaper bags, from shopping carts, baby strollers, beach or pool side, and luggage.
Results:
Customer/Consumer is devasted. They have possibly lost their identity, credit card information, cash, keys to auto & home/apartment, medication, insurance information, cell phone, computer data.
Problem:
Store and location disruption Commotion disturbs other customers and makes themselves feel unsafe.
Results:
Increases store revenue thru new customers gained by offering this for their protection.
Problem:
Down time for employee to deal with upset customer who had purse stolen and the police that are doing the reports for the crime.
Results:
Will save company money by not having employee time involved to deal with stolen purse.
Problem:
Customer with a purse stolen from your store.
Results:
The cost of installing on carts per store is less than the average loss one customer suffers.
Operations
Capital requirements
Capital is needed to produce products to comp selected stores to gain public awareness of the product being availble. Mold modification to adapt a detachable strap. Funds for an infomorical and advertising campaign for all products. Once sales are generated it will be self-sufficent.
Core operations
Product will be shipped directly from Beach Mold and Tool to prospective retailers for their shopping/grocery carts/baby stroller/lounge chairs and or to packaging company to prepare PurseAids for retail /shelf type sales. Packaging company will ship to desired store locations after packaging per the retailers specs.
Profit Projections
Our products profit margin is designed to have an average 25% after all expenses are covered. This is a simple, low cost product to manufacture and very little overhead expenses to calculate.
Financial Projections
Wholesale Market To Store Chains
Appx 50 million carts in the US currently exsist.
50M x $ 4= $200 M sold to store chains
If the US has appx 1/5 th of the total world market @ $200 M, Then the total world market is worth appx $1 B.
Retail Market To Individuals For Babystrollers
If total sales for retail to be used for baby strollers is based on the number of children born on an annual basis in the US,then appx 4 M per year at a retail price of $10 each will equate to appx $40 M annually.
Same calculation of the market is the US represents 1/5, then the worldwide market would be appx $200 M annually.
Retail Market to Individuals for Luggage and Travel Use
The value of this category, at this time, can only be a purely speculative one without more data gathered. Knowing that this is a very large market for the PurseAid we will put our estimate at 1 M – 5 M annually. More research is needed to get more accurate calculations.
Wholesale Market to Cruise Ships/Resort/Hotel/Motel Chains for Beach or Chaise Type Chairs
The value of this category, at this time, can only be a purely speculative one without more data gathered. Knowing that this is a very large market for the PurseAid we will put our estimate at 1 M – 5 M annually. More research is needed to get more accurate calculations.
Wholesale Market to Amusement & Water Parks, Cruise Ships, Zoos, Marine Theme Parks, and Large Malls, for Babystroller Rental Units also for their beach or chaise type chairs
The value of this category, at this time, can only be a purely speculative one without more data gathered. Knowing that this is a very large market for the PurseAid we will put our estimate at 1 M – 5 M annually. More research is needed to get more accurate calculations.
Comment by Lea Ann Stiller -
Mr. Cuban,
You have replied to my post, I am in the crime scene cleanup industry. I would like to have the opportunity to submit my business plan directly to you, not over an open source.
I could self fund if I was looking for 20-40k. We have a proven track record and have exceeded our business plan each year.
This business is a great opportunity, together we could be the next Walmart of this industry.
I am not asking for “a pie in the sky” type of deal. One market at a time until you realize the success and opportunity like we have.
The business plan is complete from executive summary to financial assumptions. You can contact me directly via email.
DM
Comment by Dm -
Mark,
Please send chasd00 my email and I will build his prototype and maybe your personal desk…. I also am in the metroplex.
Comment by Wayne Johnson -
Pingback: Mark Cuban is Funding Open Source Entrepreneurs « Dnyanraj’s Weblog
Do you remember the days when your parents went to visit someone’s house for “coffee and dessert”? Do you long for somewhere other than Starbucks and a shipped in often cookie recipe or premade pastry? Do you want some place to chat and have a nice conversation in a quiet setting without it being a Wi-Fi zone?
I propose a small scale, pastry and coffee venue located in a nicely decorated venue that specializes in gourmet coffees and freshly backed desserts that have a homemade feel with fresh quality and taste.
It would be open in the afternoons and evenings for small groups of 4 or less preferably in a restaurant district.
Want more details? Then let’s talk.
Comment by Patrick Nance -
DoMyPaperForMe.com is online way to get custom written papers for any level or subject. I have 10 writers on staff, who are very well qualified. I markup their price about 25%, thus giving me a 25% profit margin on all orders. I need funding for a newer website and marketing. We are providing anything illegal, just another option instead of writing your own papers. You will see profit within 90 days, as this is our busiest period. I look forward to hearing from you!
Comment by Jack Paper -
TREVOR, where’s your email
Mark, you can get 10% of the transaction, If we can actually make something happen here…
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
For Mr. Richard Easton II —
If you’re serious with your plan, let’s partner and push the cause.
Let’s get deserving entrepreneur 200,000 each…
So, they could do whatever that f__k’ they have to do to survive…
Let’s go to the whitehouse and present the plan.
I’ll do the presentation and speak up for the highly motivated young entrepreneurs.
Mark, you can get 1% (for starting the idea) of the transaction if Mr. Richard Easton II would approve it.
And let’s get it done.
I agree. you can do a lot for 200,000 or even smaller
That’s what’s sweet about open source eh’
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Dear Mark;
OK, let’s get this out of the way. Yes, I’m a Mavs fan, and my neice is in love with Dirk. But that’s not why I’m writing.
I heard about your stimulus plan on CBS 11 News.
My plan is very simple and very worthwhile. I’m developing an autombile that requires NO fossil fuels to make it run. As we drive our vehicles, we create our own wind, or airflow around the vehicle. We can capture this airflow and use it to generate electricity, which will propel the vehicle. ( That’s not all of it, but should be enough to get your attention.)
With just a little thought, I’m sure you can see how a true, fully electric vehicle would impact the global scene.
1) The Middle East and it’s oil become irrelevant.
2)Greenhouse gasses are reduced over time by a significant amout.
3)The political atmosphere would be radically altered with the reduced importance of oil rich nations.
4) We’ll make many billions of dollars,from which I would be more than happy to retun a 30% share of the profits to you.
5) Many thousands of jobs will be created and new technology will will continue to expand job opportunities.
Mark, this project is too important to let it slip into obscurity. It is my hope that you, or some of the investors you have connections with, would see the value of this vehicle, and the affect it would have on so many of our lives.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely
TR Scantlebury
Comment by TR Scantlebury -
Here’s my business plan
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12336606/Marko
tnx
Comment by marko -
I will like to build a web site to host all the Open Source Funding applicants. It will provide presentation and utility for all the business plans. The site can be a part of blogmaverick.com
The site can be organized into three catergories, Business plans, pending acceptance, and accepted business plan. The site will be open, keeping to open source funding model.
The website will charge a small fee ($5-$7) for entrepreneurs to post their business plans.
The site will cost $100, cost will increase if traffic increase significantly
The site will only need 30 business plans submitted a month to cover cost and even be profitable. Profits can be pocketed or use to invest in the submitted business plans
Comment by David O. -
Thanks Richard Easton II. for recognizing the enthusiasm.
I took my last savings to and started investing to myself. About 5-2000 dollars.
I’m running out soon,
hopefully the rent vouchers will come out soon…
Otherwise, I can do kick ass presentations,
One of the best in the world.
I can get you funding from creating sharp and on-point presentations.
I charge, hmmm, you can name your price.
Mark, you gut 10% of the transaction, if someone gives me a business here in your blog.
Just in case, I run-out…
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Hello Mark,
Here is our business model:
We create Sports Art for Universities and Awards Groups. The idea is to bring ‘fine art’ to sports that has been dominated by illustrators or work not often defined as fine art. Hopefully the time comes when the art supersedes the subject.
Our model continues to be unique in that we do not stand on the first amendment as decided by the 6th court of appeals, ETW CORP (TIGER WOODS) VS. JIREH PUBLISHING (RICK RUSH, ARTIST IN LA.) http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/CourtCases/6thCircuitCOA/ETWvsJirejPublishing.shtml. What we do, and have already done with one University, is license our work through all; this means the University, the Athlete, the Artist, and in some cases the Awards Group. By seeking the higher road we are not producing art gallery style, to sell randomly to the public, though we do pursue them, when we license with a University to do, say, “A Legacy Collection” of a beginning number of 5 Athletes. We propose the project to the University, after selling them on the business model we proceed. In this manner we are contributing to the University and they stand behind us, it is tantamount to an endorsement. Access to the Alums is worked out and sales commence.
What we sell: Our Artist creates a work that is presented free to the University with permission for us to sell 250 limited edition giclees. Retail of the University Giclees range from $350 to a signed stretch canvas of $750. For Awards Groups the retail is $1750 for an unsigned stretched canvas Giclee. Imagine if you will, being the official Artist of the Heisman Award, Naismith, or many other collegiate Awards. We only wish to do 5, repetition will devalue the art, so we only want the best and most romantic of the awards. AT 250 giclees produced of say, Tim Tebow as the 2007 Heisman Winner, at $1750 per, a gross of $437k is created. How long do you think it would take for the Florida faithful to buy up the limited edition of 250 “official” Heisman giclees of their athlete? My prediction is less than 90 days. Which is one of the stipulations in our contract with the Artist, if they are named the official artist of an award, they must complete the current winners portrait within 14 days of announcement.
I know you see many time constraints, such as licensing, completion of work of artist, contracts with Universities and Awards Groups, and more. This is a startup with one contract and work of art already completed. A very strong relationship and discussions with two of the most well known Awards group has been underway for the last 4 plus months, I was even invited as a special guest to one of their awards functions. Also, I am an X athlete in the SWC, even signed pro; have two nephews from the Big 12 that have played pro, one a first round pick you know. These connections get my feet in the door. Letters of support and endorsement from former SWC and Big 12 Coaches/A.D.’s lends to my credibility. And I have tried to surround myself with those smarter than myself in every need from marketing, web design and optimization (we are using Lead Maverick), to legal, licensing, production and distribution. What is great about this opportunity is that it can be done throughout the country on local levels also. Talent is the key as well as connections and perseverance, but we wish to take our company to a National Level. The Goal is to be the first company of its kind that does sports art on a National Scale. In 5 years I want 5 or 6 of the National Awards groups under contract, doing their winners annually and all of their past winners too. I propose to have at least 20 or more of the largest Universities under contract doing their “legacy” or “Hall of Fame” winners. From there, being the largest and most influential sports art company in America, there are many ancillary opportunities. We should be the largest sports art company in the World on line.
I am writing you because beginning cash flow is the obstacle. How to live, going on two years, without income has created debt (small to medium 5 figures). Most of all our needs is now, the next 3 plus months are critical. Funds are needed to make the proper presentations, two awards groups and two more universities are being set up or already are. References are not just available, but I think you would be impressed. References are coming from the actual awards group and the actual representatives of the University we are presenting to.
How much money, how big a percentage, depends on how much you like us and how much I am willing to give up. I control 70% as of today, the rest was outsourced as part of ‘sweat equity’ to others. I believe within 12 to 18 months after proper funding now, my company will have gross sales of $1M to $2M the first year and double annually for the next 4 to 6 years. BTW; our gross profit is between 45% and 65% per giclee sold.
As in all good ideas or businesses worth their salt, there is much more that is going on behind the scenes, you have my email, website and partners name via the website, we welcome your curiosity and hopefully your participation.
bobby
Comment by bob hawks -
Pingback: Mark Cuban Offers to Fund Your Start-Up « Labor Law Guy
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
I guess this rules out any manufactured products. Lead time for tooling and parts is longer than that. Perhaps this idea is geared towards financial product only.
Comment by H F -
Revision
Comment by David O. -
This is in response to Richard Easton II- great post Rich….-if our government really wanted to create jobs, they could, utilizing the methods you discussed and that many of us have posted. However, I am of the opinion that it is all talk and the bailout money is in the wrong hands and will ultimately fail.
I don’t think the economy will fail but it may get ugly before it gets better. Guarantee yourself a future folks. Don’t leave your fate in the hands of the politician. You enable him/her to have a job with your hardearned tax dollars when you work or are self employed. They live off you! Start a business or a dozen businesses and let’s send Washington a message. They are not our savior (we are the lifeline they need to keep up the big show) No consumer, no America.
We could actually use a few less politicians asking for pork. If they like pork so much, let them go to work on a pig farm. Don’t get me wrong, the good politicians are getting it done but the takers are a drag on the system..lead or get out of the way– $13.00 a week isn’t going to change anyone’s way of life– Doc
Comment by DOC -
Pingback: Mark Cuban Definitely Knows Business, But Not Grammar | Grammar Source: Englishpedia
Yeah, I’m gonna post my plan on a blog….rrrriiight….
Comment by James Moseley -
Hi Mark,
It is Ruby in Justin again. We really do need to put and Ice House in Justin by the Race Track on Hwy 156. We would call it Ruby’s Roadhouse. I know where there is a lot for sell off of 156 that has been for sale at least 5 years. You know the saying “if you build it they will come”.
Thanks,
Ruby
Comment by Ruby -
Mark and readers –
Please take a look at IDEASTOX (www.ideastox.com). We had the idea for outing ideas a while back and have acquired a number of good ones. Our business model is to upsell services around the ideas, like Idea Stores which allow people to sell (non-equity) rights related to their ideas. We have had some success in terms of a small loyal following, with no marketing or any funds for customer acquistion. As founder, I believe your challenge, is a perfect match for the social innovation platform IDEASTOX has and continues to develop. We ourselves seek financing to evolve and fulfill the great demand we believe exists for this service.
See:
http://cbs2.com/video/?id=74275@kcbs.dayport.com
http://www.dailycandy.com/everywhere/article/37824/The+Weekend+Guide
http://www.socialnetworkingconference.com/2009/FL/topic-ideastox.htm
And please consider the ideas on IDEASTOX in your challenge.
Readers, if you post your idea on IDEASTOX and mention you read about it on blogmaverick, we’ll comp you a month of Idea Stores for free, (for a limited time only, sorry).
Adrienne Becker
Founder, IDEASTOX
ideas@ideastox.com
Comment by Adrienne Becker -
This seems like a good advertisement for an angel investor to find the right business for you. Good luck. I hope you find it. I operate a company that has the power to increase profitability in the untapped 100 billion dollar ranching industry using a social networking e-commerce web portal. We are in pre-seed capital stages now. Thanks… your blog was interesting.
Comment by BRET WADE -
Mark,
Your criteria let’s a lot of young businessmen realize what a great start-up should look like. In 1988, I took $50,000 of my life savings and launched a small business. I worked 16 hours a day along side every person I hired as I built the business rather quickly. It was break even in two months and profitable in three months. I employed 10 within one year and 30 within two years, and several hundred within ten years.
That little business grew into a serious little company, all because I too believe in your criteria of selling something, getting paid for it, and turning an immediate profit. I think you are doing a wonderful job of reminding young entrepreneurs what a business is all about.
If our government really wants to create 3 to 4 million new jobs, then I wish it would set aside $200 billion for your start-up plan. Imagine what a million young entrepreneurs could do with $200,000 each if they followed your criteria.
Sincerely,
Richard Easton II
Comment by Richard Easton II -
I’m trying to be brief here, giving general idea so you don’t have to read 80 paragraphs to decide if you like it
true story
my child gets immunizations all prior to school
previous to big day entrance at kindergarten, school calls me to tell me i don’t have immunization record in school (school paid labor for that call)
i call doc, have to leave message nurse calls back, nurse goes finds my kid’s chart, makes copy, sends copy to me (doctor paid for this labor and stamp)
actual paper comes to me, i make copy, mail to school (another stamp)
school receives, pays someone to sort, somewhere someone checks a box that i got my paper in (school pays this labor)
repeat this for every child, not just for shots, but vision check, dental check, and physicals for sports.
how about creating “MYSCHOOLDOC” – before i lose you because you might think electronic health records are going to solve this problem, electronic health records do not give “SCHOOLS” access.
MYSCHOOLDOC – is a membership site where immunizations, vision check, dental check, and physicals are scanned at time of visit into a website in a read only format. at visit, nurse says “where is your child going to school and would you like this record scanned into MY SCHOOL DOC?” Great, that school code is 555. That school will have access to your child’s records and you will be sent thru email a password to access your child’s records in a read only format (you can’t edit). You can print any form you need from the website. (many day care providers need immunization records – they aren’t going to pay to be members, so i still want access to my records so i can print them)
docs, dentists, and schools would pay to be members to cut labor costs of providing all us frantic moms with papers we should have copies of but don’t because the dog crapped on them. Docs and dentists incentivize patients to join by charging for record retrieval when we need a record.
Even if we all to go electronic health records, somewhere there is going to have to be a portal for schools to have access to these records, so you would be in position to be that provider as we move toward that experience
Comment by Mia -
Hi Mark,
I’m the guy who originally informed you about “Kings” in Boston – you responded that you owned Rysher Entertainment, and that you were going to check it out when the Mavs were in town.
Just curious – are you reviewing this blog anymore? I have an idea for a business, and I know it would work. I’m hesitant to post it. I haven’t started it because a) I don’t have a private source of funding and b) I need a trustworthy team of developers with a particular skill set. It’s a great idea – they say the best ideas are the ones you assume are already being done – this is one of them. I’ve been cultivating the idea for 2 years now, watching the market carefully, and it still hasn’t dawned on anyone to do this.
If you’re watching, can you respond? I’ll build a presentation that includes an overview of the idea. It’s a big opportunity to create something with a soul, that makes money.
Comment by Frank Patterson -
Pingback: Venture Capital ( Transparency + Accountability ) « Global Businesses, India and Entrepreneurship
Richard from South Africa here again.
Another refinement of the idea is to build an earthworm farm to create “worm tea” as the feeding solution for the plants.
It has the advantage of being self sustaining, i.e. no need to buy growing nutrients and the earth worms feed on excess produce (usually spoiled food and leftovers from the fridge).
The down sides are its more complicated to manage, requires more space (although not much) and is not as clean (the pure hydroponics idea has no soil, dirt, odours or any other “side effects” of farming.
Regards
Richard
Comment by Richard Howes -
Hi Mark,
The basis of my idea is that one of the things people can do in hard times to ease the pressure is grow their own food. You can eat what you grow (at a fraction of the cost of buying food) and sell the surplus.
The secret is hydroponics and specifically Gravel Flow Technique (GFT), i.e. growing food in a thin film of water within a non-soil medium such as gravel. There are existing commercially available systems (at least here in South Africa) that allow hydroponics on such a small scale even people in apartments with a balcony could participate. Local prices for a single unit are around $500 but I suspect they could be built at cost for around $150 or less.
Basically you have a tray angled at 5 degrees (geyser drip trays work well), a small fish tank pump, and a small reservoir for the water and growing additives. The most common thing grown in these systems are vegetables.
In areas with cold winters you would have higher costs in manufacturing units as your would need heat/light producing lights and enclosed growing areas (for example your garage at home).
To meet your time to break-even / profitability criteria we would produce these systems and sell them at cost. The business model is to co-op these home growers, i.e. each day / week a refrigerated vehicle goes to all the growers in the area and collects surplus produce for sale to local stores. Co-ordination and
Even better would be to get local government to buy this surplus cheaply for distribution to the poor.
So in summary you are “collectivising” micro farmers.
The idea needs fleshing out into a proper business plan, but I’d be very interested in comments on the idea.
Regards
Richard Howes
Intaba Ingwe Game Ranch
Zululand, South Africa
Comment by Richard Howes -
We make a video of speakers and an audio of the speaker and follow discussion that can be used to burn a CD, listen to it in the car, and then pass along to a friend. The discussion then continues online.
Potential speakers should join the group first (free) at http://DenverStartupForum.ning.com and then contact me with their resume and suggested topic.
Comment by John Wren -
Mark,
Membership in my new Denver Startup Forum is free and open to all. I make money by using it as a way to identify serious entrepreneurs who become my consulting clients and who join one of my Franklin Circle peer advisory groups.
Join (free) at Denver Startup Forum
http://DenverStartupForum.ning.com
Mark, would you be willing to come to Denver to be our luncheon speaker one Thursday?
John Wren
Founder
Comment by John Wren -
Pingback: mj » Blog Archive » Open Source Funding?
Mark,
My concept is to setup a website for users to upload lists of items that they collect and then have the ability ot search, sell, and compare prices on items with in that category. For example baseball cards, movie memorbilia, wine, precious moments collectiables. It can contain a vast variety of different types of collectables. If I have a hundred baseball cards and don’t index them then I have no idea about my investment. This would allow collectors to track thier investment, inventory, sell, trade and numerous other functions. You could use it for insurance purposes if you insured the items. The posibilities are wide open. The catch is it is specifically geered to the person who collects items. There are millions of people out there that have items that the sell on ebay every day but nothing specifically to track or index you collectables. The only thing I need funding for is a development person or persons, a way to market it and the infrastructure to run the site on. The price would be subscription based. This project opens many other doors as well.
Thanks,
Charles
Comment by Charles Callender -
My business plan is for a comic book coffee shop.
Profit margins on coffee are amazing, but you can’t just open a shop and expect people to come flowing in when established places have brand recognition and/or a solid place in most people’s routines working to their advantage. You need a hook to steal customers, but not something so costly to you that you mitigate the sweet profit margins.
The best solution I came up with is to offer free reading material with every purchase, to be returned upon departure. People go to book stores to hang out and drink coffee, and they think they’re somehow beating the system by purchasing a cheap drink and reading several dollars worth of literature for free, but the truth is that they’re keeping book stores afloat by giving them more dollars per day through drink persons than they’d usually receive from people buying a book every few weeks or so. Given the success achieved through freeloaders who’ll spend money on coffee to read books for free, why not embrace their cheapskate mentality and open a library in your coffee shop that welcomes these customers by encouraging this behavior?
As for why I would make it a comic book coffee shop as opposed to one offering traditional literature, I believe comic books best suit the business model because they’re short enough to read in an hour or afternoon, depending on the length. This is ideal for encouraging people that they can fit a visit into their schedule and, more importantly, making sure people conclude their visits in a reasonable time frame. Also, you’ll get a surge in business every time a superhero movie comes out, and hopefully some lasting customers as a result.
Apart from the library, which will be comprised of older titles (as wide a selection as possible, selectable from a menu) there will be new titles available for purchase, as in a traditional comic shop. Comic book fans who enjoy newer titles will be encouraged to open pull lists at the counter (a pull list is a list of monthly titles that you wish to order in advance) with incentives like discounts on coffee, turning them into dependable monthly or weekly customers depending on how often their titles come up. Conversely, there will be a coffee club card which offers discounts on newer titles with the purchase of a certain number of cups. By doing these things, we can turn a customer of one half of the shop into a customer of both halves.
As for promotion, I’d like to advertise in high school and college newspapers, as that’s where the young males who read comics are, but if that’s a no-no then we can easily make do with online promotion through comic blogs and social networking sites. All we’d need to do is advertise a sale that comic fans can’t pass up and free coffee, and new customers will soon follow.
Comment by Benaiah -
Dear Mark,
Here’s our inquiry from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
My name is Michel and I’m chairman of a student’s society in Amsterdam. We’re a small society of a dozen, mostly, students. We think current postmodern societies don’t benefit enough of our young brains, our creativity and our way of creating solutions. As you might know: Every brain starts hedging neurons by the age of 30. So the best time to use them is when you’re young. That’s what we stand for.
Very recently we’ve developed and created a device that will solve a huge issue in Amsterdam and in the other cities in the Netherlands. This issue is parking, or to put in other words: the cost of parking space.
An unbelievable price of €5 per hour is asked by the municipalities to park your car. And everybody knows that the reason why they ask so much is not “to improve the quality of parking”, but more to fill up gaps in their budgets. We think this is unacceptable.
So we came up with a device to dodge parking fees. You park your car normally, you start the device and assign it to a special region. You leave and don’t pay yet. When a guy from the municipality comes to check whether your car is assigned as ‘parked’, the device automatically puts your into ‘parking mode’ by starting the payment of the parking fee. The controller will only know that you just started parking, so he ignores your car. 15 minutes after he leaves your car, the device puts you ‘off’.
So: If you park your car for 6 hours, instead of paying €30 you only pay perhaps two times 15 minutes, which is €2,5. An enormous reduction by 83%!
Here some quick facts:
– Status: Ready on development hardware-kit, now waiting for investment for custom hardware OR scale discount on ready-to-deploy hardware. Depends on answers from suppliers.
– Initial investment: €75.000 (to buy the first 500 units – if we buy the ready-to-deply hardware)
– Cost per unit about €120-150 selling at €300 (wholesale) – €399 (retail through car shops)
– Marketing: Minimal effort required. Draw media attention (they’re really interested!)
– Start dealer’s network through local car shops (garages).
– Joint marketing with local newspaper and national.
– Ordering through internet.
– Co-op with online magazines/forum on subjects like cars.
Legal issues: None yet. It’s a huge niche and they cannot outlaw it that quickly. It will take at least 4 years. By then, we’re finished.
Let me know if you’re interested.
Kind regards,
Michel
Comment by Michel -
Cooperative “Community Transportation Systems Package”
The Green Wave Project
Residual Revenue Streams;
Merchant Accounts
Telecom
Secure Industrial Strength Transaction Backbone, Ready
Real and Physical Community Social Networks
Piggy Back Corporate Merchandising
Automated Convenience Stores
Vehicle Manufacturing, $3-10B
ODM Original Design Manufacturing [Electronics]
New Jobs ,000’s
Vendors
Corporations
Government Savings of $5-10K per vehicle on the road
Family Savings, with 2 income earners earning $12 + $15 an hour enormous.
Incubation Phase started with pencil and paper
Book of 1,000 Clients with existing
Sub Contracted Transportation Providers
Guaranteed Cash Flow Positive <60 days in earnest
Tremendous Business Goodwill
Client/Shareholders own modulus 3-5,000 community bases
Elevator Pitch
A Woman in the grocery store check out line once asked me so what do you do?
I replied that “I save people, time and money providing transportation.”
She sheepishly asks; How?
“ A group of people walk to a common meeting area and when they are all accounted for they signal my vehicle which picks them up in around 4 minutes. Then our vehicle takes them non stop to a common destination area and they calmly walk to either work play or home. While ariving at this destination my vehicle gets a signal from a group 3 minutes away and the vehicle off on another trip. This happens for 5 hours in the morning and 5 hours in the afternoon and we will be able to offer services 24 hours a day.”
People react in the most varied of ways to this summary__On a 3rd grade level I would like to bring you around to some of the details that you may have questions about. Consider yourselves in the 3rd grade and think about the simulated stores you used to do in grammar school and beyond for some of you. As you have read the explanation for this service is easily understood. Imagine yourselves being in back in the third grade and obediently doing what the teacher asked of you. Here are some of the topic areas that I would like you to be asking yourselves.
1. I like Convenience, how are you going to provide that?
2. When my family members use this service will it be Secure?
3. Safety, Insurance, Regulations, etc. Who is in charge of these details?
4. How many forms of Transportation Utilities are you going to be able to provide?
5. I enjoy our Environment; will this benefit our environment going into the future?
6. Economics is a tough subject can you explain how we are going to Conserve Our Resources, our rental expenses and how are we going to be able to save large sums of money every year for our families?
7. If we received a 100 car to 1 vehicle savings in energy would that help us to be Energy Self Reliant?
These questions are the key measurement factors that this transportation model has been designed around in satisfying all of them with a grade of A.
There are marvelous concepts that I would like to share with you but first in order to grasp this transportation service more intimately as part of your community. I would like to come and speak to your group. And, When your group asks what do you need, I shall have client/shareholder registration, financials, requests for assistance, and other stuff. As your group is together wandering what is important to you regarding transportation.
You are invited to a get together to discuss a 5 week encampment in Massachusetts that could be set up for divergent technical and business groups to get together in a military style encampment. The money to be spent is well documented and basically scheduled according to progress being made in phases 1+2 simultaneously.
Incubation, small funding, much grunt work and gaining access to keys. This is a sustainable venture even on a small booking of 1,000 client/shareholders __ critical population mass would be even more powerful.
Phase 1, $750,000
Phase 2, Self Funded $3,200,000
Fiscal oversight is most welcome
Walmart has shown interest
A Former Democratic Presidential Candidate is completely in accord.
Proof of concept is excepted technologically
Issues, Constraints, Ideas and Questions are evaluated in tenses of Now, Transition, Systems Level Sales and Long Haul possibilities.
Humbly Submitted,
Allen King
The Green Wave Project
Comment by Allen King -
My idea is to retro fit or franchise fast oil and low end tune ups for motorcycles…just like the oil wells and fast lubes every where…I’ve never seen one for motorcycles…being a Harley owner I was told I would have to make an appointment a month ahead of time just to get an oil change…I believe cycle travel is growing and this might be a hit with all bike owners…in and out-air filters, plugs, oil change, fuel filters, just like cars…it seems to be working for the autos so why not the bikes !
Comment by Jim -
here’s the published version
Comment by Larry Vulpo -
The basic premise of this business is simple. The Health Care Market is broken because pricing information is scarce. Under traditional Health Insurance Plans the consumer has no real connection to the actual cost of the drugs or treatment that they receive. HSAs are the market’s response to this disconnect. Because consumers are able to keep money they do not spend in their HAS accounts, consumers are now rewarded for knowing and comparing the costs of health care. My plan will make it easier for consumers to compare the “cash purchase” price of the most commonly top 300 prescribed drugs/dosages at pharmacies located in a radius around a given zip code. Currently, there is no resource that will allow people to compare prescription prices. From personal experience my family spends about $112 per month on prescriptions and after a year of comparison shopping I discovered that the price of my 4 common prescriptions varied by 23% (an annual savings to me of $300). Frustratingly most of the pharmacies would not tell me what the drugs would cost until I had transferred my scrip to their business.
So here is the business plan.
1. Create a database of pharmacies sorted by zip code (available for free from google)
2. Give those pharmacies an option of disclosing their “cash purchase” price of the most commonly top 300 prescribed drugs/dosages
3. Allow the public to pay $10 per year for site membership
4. Allow site members to search available pricing and to upload the pricing that they actually paid at the various pharmacies.
5. Allow authorized reps of the pharmacies to confirm or deny consumer pricing posts
How does this plan stack up against your 12 rules
1. It can be an existing business or a start up. Start Up.
2. It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. OK
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days Possible but probably closer to 6 months
4. It must be profitable within 90 days. In theory sure probably not for 9 months
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops. OK
6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered. The information is free the software is mostly shareware and the real cost is the time I pay the coders, I would only take a salary if the membership fees exceed costs.
7. Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else This would be a 3 person shop, I sell they code.
8. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com , scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download. Done
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own. OK
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont. OK
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows. OK
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money. The Investment to get this up and going would be $25,000 you would get 33% equity you would get your money out in either a sale to a larger entity or in a buyback from the company once it has revenue.
13. No mult-level marketing programs (added 2/10/09 1pm) OK, and thanks for adding this.
Over the next five years, HSA growth will hover between 40% and 50%, resulting in 12.5 million accounts by 2012. Without available information on drug costs (10% of all health care spending) the real promise of HSAs to control Health Care Costs will not be realized. The market is there the information wants to be shared the sharing technology exists.
My expectation is that this is not a plan you would fund, however my hope is that this is an idea somebody will steal and bring to life.
Comment by Matt Nettleton -
Mark – Do you honestly believe that given the massive spending bill just passed, the Democrats’ assault on achievers, and the huge debt we are taking on, that entrepreneurs will be allowed to succeed, and can do so?
Comment by Ernest Lane -
I need funds to market this 54 year old business. They have started a new marketing strategy and have a great package anyone and everyone would need.
I would advertise my web cite across the country and seeking thousands of people needing income. I will explain the profit if accepted. They pay on a weekly basis.
Comment by Jerry Stansel -
Pingback: Open Source Business Plans « OPSU Finance and Economics
business concept
ETracks
runs similar to Elance
I am an amateur piano player and write songs. I would like to be able to develop my songs into an actual demo. I digitally provide the piano track and ask for whatever other tracks I would like to accompany that (drums, elec guitar, violin, bass guitar, addlib). Let’s say I have 10 people provide a sample bass track and their price – I choose the one I like and pay for that track.
By the end, I have a fully produced version of my song with whatever tracks I wanted. One can also put out a song and request lyrics (which of course can be purchased) and one can also lay a vocal track and request backup vocals (which can be purchased)
I think anyone on here who plays any instrument can see where this would go. This would give tons of amateur musicians a chance to get exposure and possibly get paid for their talents, and would allow amateur songwriters and composers a chance to have a much cheaper demo product.
Comment by Mia -
PRODUCT: The biggest multimedia ‘drop-off’ website documenting the biggest collapse of the global economy in years.
PROGRAMS:
FUNDED by Apple – ‘The Day I Got Layed-Off’
People upload series of photos, videos taken everyday after the day they got layed-off.
FUNDED by Communications Company – ‘Back to family’
Documentation log of ‘texts’ of people recognizing thing they never recognize before like mom and dad, your troubled brother, or your sister/nephew’s and nieces. Grandma and grandpa.
FUNDED by BANKS – ‘LOANS, HOUSING, and Free financial/debt management program’
List all funding, housing foreclosure, programs available for the community.
FUNDED by wealthy actors and actresses – ‘The Great Documentary’
Funding available for film makers, artist etc, to fund their documentaries, and sell stories.
FUNDED by collective of investors – A support system that helps young entrepreneurs understand the art of creating and cultivating a business
FUNDED by politicians – Money grants and scholarships
FUNDED by Microsoft – ‘Engineers of the future’
Scholarships, and grants for software projects.
————– that’s it for now, I’m tired…
ROI: Ownership of the biggest media documentary for historical collapse of 2009.
Also percentage for putting the foundation.
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
1.business concept=e-fiber
2.product=portable infrared heating elements with wellness or therapy field for gender marketing [baby boom]
3.channel=on line store
4.promotion=your team
5.profit=Through your NBA team to use our product to get big win and market image, the online store will hot sell my products ,you can get eps from there
6.everyone can read :[ Company profile 20090213 for maverick] on slideshare.com
7.2 million get 20% shares and one seat on board
8.you can get money back for company listing
Comment by arthur -
PRODUCT: Second Hand Malls
It’s a mall that sells second hand products.
One in each county.
Seller drops of their second hand product. Then they will process their own product, set RFID, and
put price. (Accepts any type of vouchers, paypal, service, or monetary exchange)
All second hand products will be tagged by RFID.
ROI: Percentage on sale and housing the product, (25 cents a day, depending on size)
or sell the program itself to store owners, so they can be a franchise of second hand malls that people drops their good to.
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Hi Mark,
I’m trying to start a online billing application that wouldn’t cost much for freelance professionals and small businesses and also provide collective intelligence (whether the client is debtor to any other provider) about their clients. I thought you might be able to help.
You’ll find the business plan at http://www.slideshare.net/mohanjith/zinglix-business-plan . Please do not forget to check out my Linked In profile, http://www.linkedin.com/in/mohanjith .
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Cheers,
Mohanjith
Comment by S H Mohanjith -
Pingback: Blog — John Keyes – Linkeyes 13th February 2009
Sell virtual fortune cookies.
Let people pay for instance 40 cent and then they can open their cookie on screen.
Comment by Jacobien -
PRODUCT: Specialized digital team designed to help get economy back together.
Client: Government projects, failing industries, and small businesses.
Team will consist of the best problem solvers and creative thinkers in the country.
The goal: to provide community benefiting programs and digital products. Think of it as a condensed talent designed to move things faster than functioning by itself
The group will support numerous cash flow positive companies, or companies in need of impromptu solutions. Provide them with back-end, marketing, web support, and digital strategy.
ROI: Own a part of their company.
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
PRODUCT: Artist and Skilled worker Stimulus Plan.
If you’re an Artist and a skilled worker that’s been recently laid off, you’re qualified to get a rent vouchers.
Government will issue rent vouchers for artist and skilled workers with maximum of 1-2 years.
Rent vouchers = free liens/back taxes/property fines for property owners.
For Artist and skilled workers, they need to give back volunteer work for the community.
For Artist = free entertainment, go to elderly homes and do volunteer work. Or provide volunteer work for after-school programs for kids.
For skilled workers = free repairs for property owners. Need to donate hours of free work from rent vouchers web site.
People need to check if their landlord offers rent vouchers. If not they could sell to people that does and offer their free service to the recipient.
ROI – for the government, prevent it from collapsing due to lack of alternative currency of exchange
ROI – Property owners, chance to clean your slate and start anew
ROI for Mark – Government funded programs to support back end of the program.
everybody wins
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Hi Mark,
Since my first comment (as well of those of others) apparently didn’t come through I will post my concept again. My apoligies if this turns out to be redundant but I want to ensure you’d at least took notice of my concept.
The startup is called MelPay and is a new kind of payment service provider. It’s uniqueness does not only lie within it’s unique approach to handling payments but also in the way the company’s held: it’s actually run in a Open Source Entrepreneurship kind of way. This means that I reveal pretty much already on my weblog about every aspect of the company (http://www.mmtercan.com). This alone, in combination with some Cuban funding, will create a free marketing buzz never unheard of for a startup.
What is MelPay about?
MelPay will actually be a next generation payment service provider (one mouth full) that enables developers, consumers and business to conduct transactions in a rather convenient and satisfying way that has never been occured before. Also, it is the ultimate bridge between on- and offline transactions, in a sense that it’s finally bringing the web 2.0 spirits and payments technologies to real life.
The most prominent feature of MelPay will be what I’d like to call: MelPayments. Here’s how it works:
1. The seller creates a MelPayment on our website and receives a unique MelPay code that can be communicated to his customers. This code contains all the basic info such as: the amount that has to be payed and the product or service details.
2. The buyer enters the code in the cross-platform MelPay interface (on the site, by phone, sms or mobile app etc.). Please note that at this point there are no further actions required by the buyer. All the extra information (personalia, shipment adresses, payment methods) are already known by us, thus effectively enabling one-step-shopping.
3. MelPay then instantly* transfers the amount to the seller and all the extra details that are necessary to complete the order. The seller can instantly deliver the order or service with the information of the client and amount of money transferred to his account. *Please note that buyers can choose between these automated transactions or choose to pile their orders up to be payed/processed manually.
4. About four, there is no step 4 🙂
Here are several advantages of using such a payment system:
* There is no hassle of creating and maintaining an account at every single website/webshop.
* All critical data (creditcards nrs etc.) stays with MelPay, giving sellers only the basic info that they need in order to process their order.
* MelPay will not be a closed payment system; instead it will give the buyer the opportunity of choosing a variety of already existing payment methods to complete the transaction.
* Selling parties only have to use the MelPay service to provide their customers an all-in-one solution enabling them to pay as they like.
Can-Do
The MelPay codes can be used literally everywhere, even on ‘traditional media’ as they do not need a typical order process environment in order to complete the transaction. See these on- and offline examples:
* At the end of a tv-commercial, showing the MelPay code enables the consumer to instantly buy the product or service provided.
* Driving on the highway, the water boiler that is displayed on the billboard can be instantly ordered.
* By turning the amount to zero; the MelPay codes can also be used by financial institutions to collect prospects who, for instance, are looking for a mortgage offer.
* While posting a listing on Craigslist, providing the MelPay at the bottom of your listing enables buyers to pay and order the old couch you were offering.
* Dell can use MelPay links at the end of their discount tweets to instantly convert sales.
* Putting a MelPay code in a glossy advertisement enables you to buy a barbie for your daughter while reading your favorite magazine or newspaper!
* The most futuristic example of use that I currently can think of is a heavily-shrinked Wal-mart with open doors where you can scan the MelPay codes on the products with your mobile phone and while walking to your home your groceries will be delivered at home. (It’s not likely that this ever will occur, but it’s always fun to fantasize)
* Etc. etc.
As you can see, the MelPayments are quite a revolutionary way to conduct transactions and therefore do business. While there is no need to hire bricks to set up your own shop since 1998, with MelPay, there is no need to set up a virtual shop either!
As “open source” this weblog will be, MelPay will be open as well. Specifically in terms of a MelPay API that enables developers to use MelPay to develop any kind of application that they can think of – on any platform.
As I said: I’m building the startup with the community from scratch, and I’ve just started this week. For this reason I do not have a business plan at hand yet. If you or someone else show some serious interest in this concept I can always speed up the process a little bit 🙂
I invite you and every one else who reads this post to visit my weblog and stay up to date of the developments on this startup.
Contact me at mmtercan@remove.this.gmail.com
Good luck with your Stimulus Plan!
Melvin
Comment by Melvin M. Tercan -
I had thought of open-source projects, I have some I’d like to do (we’re all just ants adding to the greater good of humanity)
Do I want to take my ideas to the grave, just because I’m too slack in selling it so that I can profit hugely from it.
But being profitable within “x” days is crap.
I think you’re on the right track, but still caught up in the old school way of “how things are done”.
Your involvement would be as seed funding (you are now a share holder), teams are found (globally via the net), they also become share holders. Those teams then use the greater internet for some of their sticky points in finding ways to improve the design.
Building the actual prototype is again thrown on you.
If any patents are written, they can only live for 2 years and then they go public (just think what would have happened to this world if the “wheel” had been patented and was owned by a bunch of money hungry Lawyers)
I want to design a new way of generating energy, solar powered of course
Comment by RogerP -
PRODUCT: Redemption Stamps (Entrepreneur Stimulus Plan)
Goal: Free Entrepreneurs with any government back taxes, ridiculous child supports (which most of the money will go to the system not the child), unexplainable fines, medical bills, and debt.
Government will issue Redemption Stamps for Entrepreneur.
Why? Because without them your economy will go down. And also, they have no way to pay either way. So, why kill them from your stupid rules. Unleash and free them up, so the community can gain from them.
So Redemption stamps = hours of work. The Entrepreneurs need to do free leadership for the community.
Not everyone is born Entrepreneur. This people don’t do it by choice. They do it to live.
So where does the private investor like you Mark comes in,
You provide housing/internet/living for this people while doing their community work in exchange for filming the experience and document this very interesting times we’re in.
Entrepreneurs will then need to sublet their house, or the government will offer tax credits for missed rent from servicing Entrepreneurs, or an option to eliminate fines otherwise.
again, everybody wins
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Pingback: Ideas, Money, and ??? « The Rex Blog
i have invented the following, and they are sure fire money makers:
a screen door for submarines
solar powered flashlight
fire retardant matches
electoral college based democracy
any one could take off. these are primed for the sucker market. get in on the ground floor.
hit me on my sky pager.
Comment by d-ster -
PRODUCT: Housing Stimulus Plan
Private funding buys foreclosed house/Government supports entrepreneurs by not taking advantage of them and looking at them as meal tickets/ People that are not able to afford housing can get a discounted housing from rehabbed properties.
Applicants for Housing stimulus plan can get a discounted rent like $400 month. They will need to allocate 20 hours a week to do unpaid volunteer work coming from (Government and Community-based support group to help grow economy)
Project Requirement:
50% Government Aid
30% Private Funding
20% Management/Community
————————————————————————-
Go to places where real estate are cheap and economy is down like Buffalo New York.
Establish a market like call centers, and manufacturing goods, or farming.
This will be a joint venture between the county/gov., private funding, and community.
ROI for the County – Improve local business by attracting new workers
ROI for Private Company – deductions/rent/long-term investment/
ROI for the community – alternative housing/work force for hard-hit families/artists/entrepreneurs
everybody wins.
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
How It Happened
Last fall, I approached Santa Monica College about helping the Career Center reform the way they present opportunities to Generation Y.
Most staff members do not fully realize what Generation Y thinks/feels. A lack of communication and understanding between generations causes an often inefficient education system.
I presented (to the staff) a plan to divert resources from wealthy corporations to the schools in a time of education budget cuts. The school, was open to this vision and they offered me a job to consult and aide in the planning of their job fairs & much more. Now we are talking to dozens of schools and I’m excited.
The goals of my actions include:
– Promote entrepreneurship & innovation to Generation Y and all those that follow
– Create jobs in this economic downturn
– Help students and teachers communicate more effectively
– Raise the morale of the American population
Since the day our new President was inaugurated, I began filming the day-to-day planning and implementation of the vision.
The documentary shows how this plan modernizes the way schools function. It will serve as an example to everyone that the kids and schools must be put on a pedestal and that real economic change starts with the students and the companies they follow.
When I went to the school, I was not fully expecting this.
Now I have a business plan that helps people.
You can have my thoughts.
Awareness is for everyone*
Thanks for your time.
Best,
Eric P
Age 27
CA
Comment by Eric P -
Hi Mr. Cuban, we are a very small company that will be breakeven within 60 days and are looking for capital to scale up. I have written up a summary of our business here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12317103/Summary
Thanks,
Justin
Comment by Justin Kuo -
PRODUCT: Footforhire.com
It’s a place where you can hire people to go do an errand for you by foot.
Mark, you get 10% per transaction.
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Green energy –
I need start-up capital to upgrade people’s homes with 2 products: Solar furnaces and solar water pre-heating units. Between these 2 products (production cost of about $1000 total) I can cut an average person’s power bill by 1/2 to 2/3. I would sell them installed for about $3500. There is a company in Canada that sells just the solar furnace for $2800 plus shipping, handling and tax without installation.
Start-up capital required: $10,000
Each unit takes less than a day to make, so the time it would take to start making a profit would be the day of the first sale.
Return on your money: Triple your investment in 6 months.
Comment by Keith -
hi Mark
I have a question is the offer you mentioned above in The “Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan – Open Source Funding” is worlwide?
As i live in Pakistan! is it also for me?
Comment by Ali -
Pingback: Mark Cuban’s Stimulus Plan: Fund Businesses That Hit Profitability Fast | Create a corporation online
Here’s another idea,
There will be about 50% of the population getting older or will be entering the nursing homes.
Babyboomers, this is for you.
Budgets are being cut-off from nursing homes. As a result, they will be cutting CNA’s (people that will be carrying and washing you when you cannot clean yourself) No more extra activities (you will be watching white walls for probably, hmm depending on how long you could last)
So, products that’re needed asap:
PRODUCT I: FUNCTIONAL CLOTHING
For people that can design clothing and saw, they (elderly from nursing home that will be suffering from staffing cost, and wounded souldiers) will need cheap ‘functional clothing’. do research on google about functional clothing.
Functional clothing, samples of functional clothing; clothing that has buttons on the back, so they can easily put it on you; specially if you’re half paralize. (my mother-in-law just got dropped from her bed, she’s half paralize. She broke her arm. Her bones is not weak. She didn’t have a sling for a week. And they have to change and move her. We asked for functional clothing, but they know nothing about it.) It’s clothing that are designed for elderly people. To help them keep their dignity, and help their care takers with everyday changing and moving.
Contact me if interested in partnering > dollarsanity@gmail.com
You provide product, we push the cause. digitally and by foot.
—–
PRODUCT II:
Digital handbook on how to deal with taking care of your loved in at their old age.
From protecting assets, to feeding. Everything you need to make your life easier and your loved one happier.
——
Mark, you get 20% equity if it gets funding.
30% from government funding.
50% community.
peace…
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
Shortest business plan with the highest ROI and broadest customer base. You ready for this…are you ready? here we go. Here’s my business plan:
Sell Drugs.
Comment by John -
Mr. Mark Hi I ask my husband can i get some of the stemules to and he asked me have you had a job in the past year are so. I told him thats not fare to house wives. I have a great plan that will help with the econemy I always wanted to do something big and builed from the ground up. you see i never new where i would get the money to this great idea.The name would be gale’s harvest kitchen set up to inspire young and the old to continue to come up with plans of action and incourage yourself teaching a willing team to train others to help where they can in there community.Family dinning, entertainment and fun for everyone in one locatoin.Sucesses and power you and i can makethe most out of this stimulateing opertunenity,a great purpose with a twist,time,prepration and control.Lets set a day where you and i can put this plan into action.
Comment by sandra page -
The world is changing, consumers are paying less attention to your marketing campaigns, which results in an efficiency decrease of your marketing activities. Why would you keep spending your money on activities that do not get noticed? Is it because the traditional way feels safe? Being safe is dangerous! The only way to attract attention is by being different and doing things people will talk about.
Space flight used to be for the happy few astronauts. Now Virgin Galactic is giving us the groundbreaking opportunity to become non-professional astronauts. Virgin Galactic will own and operate its privately built spaceships, making it the first commercial space agency. The first historical flight costs 200.000 dollar per person, which seems a lot, but is nothing compared to governmental flights.
The first passengers will become pioneers of commercial space flight. Adriaan Rijkens would like to become such a pioneer, however he is still a student who does not have money to achieve this goal. Therefore he wants to become the first sponsored non professional astronaut. He believes that the created media attention will make this sponsoring worthwhile. Sponsoring a student into space will be something people will talk about.
Comment by Adriaan Rijkens -
Mark,
I applaud this idea and have had great fun reading through the entries. I found this page via Seth Godin’s page…I am sure others will/have as well. Some are reasonable and some are completely laughable. It shows that people are still trying to do it…build the American dream…even in this economy. Now while I appreciate the ideology, I must say that most people will be fearful of publicly posting their ideas for all to see. Me included. I do have a revolutionary, industry disruption business idea. Who doesn’t right? It’s my researching and due diligence that landed me here. Good job with the publicity.
My main issue with this idea is that it is completely contradictory. In such, that while you have the income to assist people in their endeavors (money!), and you have posted your intention to help, it seems to me that you have created a set of rules ensuring no one can benefit. It’s almost as if this is a fun exercise for you in watching people dance for the carrot…a carrot they will never catch!
Best of luck with this project.
Comment by Tony -
Here is my ideal about a new product of “unbeatable master card”.
but I’m not good on English so soory to type on Chinese.>.<
一開始是這樣 悠遊卡都能坐公車 捷運
假如我在悠遊卡裡面裝的晶片技術
能夠當信用卡 (理論上應該可以)
than 最重要的是依個地方 就是裝個1g的記憶卡
好
比方說你家樂福原本有張會員卡
costco 有張會員卡
可能陶板屋也有一張這樣
然後漫畫店一張
某某餐飲業又一張
新光三月也一張
靠 那真是麻煩透了 像我爸媽卡片至少有50.60張左右
好 我在新的超級無敵霹靂悠遊卡裡面裝上1g記憶卡
他的功能就是假如你辦xx會員 只要輸入資料進那張超級無敵霹靂悠遊卡就好了
然後每天出門 真的是帶一張卡就可以走遍天下
那當然也是可以用我之前的thanks card的構想
假如裡面可以分信用點數 還有現金點數 也可以合併icash這樣
然後全台都有我們公司發派的讀卡機 就超方便
你到家樂福 拿這張卡就好了
到新光 一樣這張卡
到西堤 這張卡打95折 因為裡面有你的會員資料
這個預估投資2000萬之內絕對可行
獲利至少超過5億
看現在悠遊卡的老闆整天笑呵呵就知道了 他不過是整合公車跟捷運
假如我整合每一家 餐廳 賣場 百貨公司 SUper喔!!
計畫實行的難度在於晶片整合 但是我絕得程式應該是有人寫的出來 只是沒人敢TRY
就像是很多人會寫程式 比爾蓋茲的就是能夠幹掉人家 明明微軟一堆洞
這個計畫漏洞是”假如遺失不是什麼都沒了” 沒有關係 本公司提供隨時update你的會員資料
當然隱密度要弄好 只收卡費補辦這樣 而且宜失卡可以作廢
當然你會怕 假如卡被弄走就直接被盜刷200萬 又或是icash走5000快
這個沒問題 再辦卡的時候 公司會先請您設定依個 “每日上限提問金額”
就比方說你當初設定每天2萬元信用款 還有5000cash點
那麼如果人家盜刷 一天之內超過兩萬 那麼公司就會跟您作確認 有可能電話聯絡這樣
確認完成才能夠刷錢 那安全方面就easy啦
我想到的一個敗點是 會害很多銀行失業 因為沒人要辦他們信用卡
不過應該是可以合作 也就是表面雖然是霹靂無敵悠遊卡 但是其實在刷卡方面的業務由銀行負責 那應該就沒問題了
Comment by traditional Chinese -
I HOPE THIS THING ISN”T A BIG BLUFF.
This was a great idea. This is great free Advertising. Everyone wants the good life.
BUT I MISS THE WEBSITE WHEN WE TALKED STATISTICS and tech topics and Madoff.
I was so pissed the Mavs lost tonite. I mean we were up by 13 wtf is goin on?
Comment by Golfervette -
Wouldn’t it save a lot of time grocery shopping if you had a map of your grocery store that tells you the fastest route through the store to get what you need?
I envision a website with this capability–users can create a profile and save “shopping lists,” at their preferred stores, edit them, and print them (or beam them to their smartphone!).
Weekly updates would need to be made (maybe by the users themselves), because the stores usually change layouts or product placements, as well as “seasonal” aisles and products.
Profits would be made by selling space on the site to the grocery stores for posting their coupons next to the customers’ shopping list.
Initial startup costs are estimated to lie within $20-30,000 for architecture, design and implementation of the site and the first steps in enlisting regional stores.
Comment by Nick Thacker -
Hi Mark,
My name is Will Fosdick, and I am from Victoria BC, Canada.
I have a small independent clothing company called Hold Fast Army. I have two partners, and a three contributing artists. We do graphic screen printing on modern street-wear clothing. We have been doing small batches of clothing for about two years, and are currently selling clothing at Freedom Apparel in Victoria BC (www.freedomvictoria.com). We would like to expand our line of clothing, build a website so we can start online sales, and have enough funding to put together promo packages to send to retailers to try and get our clothing into more stores. I believe we could more fully develop our clothing line with $5000, build a website for under $2000, and put together promo packages for $1000.
Let me know what you think, also, feel free to check out our facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=2394840268
Cheers,
Will Fosdick
Hold Fast Army
Comment by Will Fosdick -
Pingback: Melvin M. Tercan » Mark Cuban’s Open Source Funding: I’ve submitted our concept.
MeetingWave.com helps members arrange face-to-face meetings with new people for business or social purposes. By focusing on offline networking, MeetingWave provides rich and targeted opportunities for businesses and individuals looking to drive online and offline sales and business development.
You can make new contacts by:
(a) Posting an Invite that describes the type of people you want to meet; and
(b) Approve or decline any acceptance of the Invite and thus control who you meet with and whether the meeting occurs.
You can post Invites for coffee, lunch, dinner, drinks or any other activity to meet new clients, network with others in their industry, recruit new team members, find new opportunities or jobs, or make new business contacts or friends.
Or, you can browse through Invites posted by others and accept those of interest. If the other member approves your acceptance, the meeting is confirmed.
MeetingWave is protected by US Pats. 6,963,900 and 7,483,946. We expect additional patents from patent applications and have filed international applications for improvements.
Look for a redesign home page and other improvements in the coming weeks. Let us know if you have any feedback. Thanks.
Comment by John -
Down a completely different path. Is there some way to formalize, as an actual business model, the ethical training & education of young adults? We always hear “the children are our future” and “education is the way out”. I have my doubts, at times.
There is a contigent of parents who are working to provide their children with educational excellence and a strong ethical underpinning to enhance their lives, and provide necessary skills for one day becoming a self-sufficient adult.
A personal excellence program. Shaping character. Or, Principles 101 in a non-religious format. Wonder if that could ever become a replacement for Grand Theft Auto, MTV, and sitting around 6 hours per day? Could everyday kids rise to the occasion? Or more importantly, would parents even buy in?
Perhaps Mark’s total premise here could become the first full day lesson in public school … day 1 of 8th grade. Teams of 4 kids brainstorming all day with a mentor who inspires them to produce the skeleton of a business model, and to think like little entrepreneurs.
Comment by M. Menius -
Very good idea. All the big underwriters like the multimillion dollar deals. Good luck…lets go economy!!!
Comment by MoneyMan -
Zany Family Fun. I use the word “Zany” to get your attention. Obviously Americans as a whole are tightening the reigns on their money. One good thing to come of this is the fact that families are forced to spend more time together. Look how sales of movie tickets are on the rise! Why not offer families more inexpensive recreational options. How about an atmosphere that caters to toddlers, kids, tweens, and adults all under the same roof? I’m thinking two main events daily, family amusement, games, prizes, souveniers,a meal, a dancefloor and a show!!! A family show. Idea is still in development, but I’d love some feedback to know you are interested. It should be a blast, so much fun that a television program should follow!
Comment by Jackie Brown -
How about a pilot for a sitcom for HDNet? Funded by advertising, but so is your business. Could throw in some variety to the channel.
Comment by Matt -
Here’s another idea,
PRODUCT: Digital personalized ‘mebook’ (digital personal handbook)
With the economy down, and no one can afford almost about anything,
the only thing that matters is your partner or finding a partner.
And if you want to get profitable fast, you might as well target a wide arrange of clientle..
So with ‘mebook’ you will accomplish two goals:
Business goal: create a digital consumable that is dirt cheap for anyone that seeks and would like to keep a relationship in failing economy.
Society Enrichment Goal: Encourage people to ‘accept’ and ‘understand’ people as they are. Read their ‘mebook’, and learn more about that person and how to deal with them. It’s like when you get married. You tell them everything about you before jumping the gun. IE., i like open relationships 🙂 ; when i say ‘get away from my face’ i really didn’t mean it, I’m just trying to get a goal done. Do it on a fun way. Make the ‘differences’ acceptable.
So for a price, depending on how extensive you want the application, you can have a simple one for 10 dollars, or a $100 with legal templates for will, prenup, and other important things that your parents forget to tell/equipped you included in the package.
The value for your client will be eliminating unnecessary energy wasting/expensive misunderstanding. After all, you can’t change a person, you can only accept their human nature.
Sample product endorsement on an animated format launched in YOUTUBE and other platforms that takes video:
Scene 2:
girl sitting on a bench. guys walks in, charms the girl, and asked if she could be his girlfriend. girl stared and gave him a handbook and says,
girl: I came with a handbook, read it…
guy looked at the book with a big warning “handle with care, for external use only.”
—————————————————————————
What you get: 20% equity and your own personal handbook for your legacy to come.
Overtime, you can also achieve affecting community on a positive way. This is the new era of renewal and acceptance. Because the cost of failure to understand, can cost the future.
Funding will go to formation, accounting, legal and copyrights.
And some development time.
Comment by unemployed creative entrepreneur -
After trying long,my last comment just got posted and since its still showing duplicate entry for my b-plan post,so here it is >
http://vaishrajan.wordpress.com/2009/02/13/the-mark-cuban-stimulus-plan/
Thank you so much for this cool initiative by you ! Looking forward to hear back from you ..
Thank you!
Rajan
Comment by Rajan Vaish -
Can’t seem to find my business concept. I assume it’s under moderation or such. To be sure, here’s the concept again: http://www.mmtercan.com/?p=62
MelPay
A revolutionary way of instantly ordering products and services in the online and the real world.
Comment by Melvin M. Tercan -
Pingback: The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan ! « Rajan’s School of Thought !
U-Paper
What:
Personalize wrapping paper through an interactive template on the web.
Continuous support directly to the consumer.
Photos, texts, animations, and default art can be uploaded to this website.
End product will be printed on semi-gloss, but, high quality paper that will accommodate consumer expectations.
This will increase the value of purchased items given to loved ones as gifts. (A great way to follow the economic curve)
Demand ensues all year-round (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Valentines, and the upcoming Mother’s Day for starters).
Technology will play an integral part in the successful growth and expansion of our model.
Additional products will emerge from within the company walls upon maturity of our business.
How:
Startup will include the acquisition of a large wide-format printer, packaging supplies, ink replacements, paper goods, and shipping cost.
These would be sought out through energy, or, Eco-friendly sources. (This will raise the bar for our company right from the jump)
In addition, there would be pre-controlled products leading to increased profitability by researching variable dimensions of box-sizes. (IE., After the product arrives to the consumer, an illustration displaying a how to wrap the object is supplied based on dimensions set by the consumer on the interactive website)
Where:
Test market will be right here in Dallas, TX.
When:
Immediate
How much:
There is a wide range of printers out there Lexmark, Cannon, Epson, HP, Etc.
Cost Ranges From: $10,000-$50,000
Mark, you will receive 30% of the equity. :)(Subject to Negotiation, of course)
Comment by Larry Vulpo -
Hi,Mark
I am facing problems while posting comment.When I was posting,it was not showing up ! (using Firefox),now when posting using Chrome/IE ,it shows error of duplicate posts !! I have sent you my comment through contact page too !! Is there anyway out ? Thanks ..
Comment by Rajan Vaish -
I’m hoping that step one to sticking out in a crowd of entrepreneurs is following instructions.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12313689/Branch-Records-Mark-Cuban-Stimulus-Plan
Thank you for the opportunity to share.
Comment by Joshua Street -
Mr. Cuban,
First, let me say that in 48 days, I will have a building for my business so with or without another entity’s help I will see this to fruition. The help would be beneficial to all concerned. In north Texas the demographic is children oriented business. But I don’t just want to draw the dollars for what I do, I want to make a difference. I want to give children an edge on their education and on their life. My business is Etiquette training for 3-12 year olds. There are 6 and 8 week programs giving children an edge on their world by helping them start life out on the right foot. Foundations in behavior protocols that help them from toddler to pre-teen. Eventually my training will extend from toddler to adult.
Growing up in a rural community like the one I am in now, I know the difficulties that children face in matters of social and educational competition. My classes will help level the playing field by giving children that wouldn’t ordinarily stand a chance in areas of social understanding break the cycle that usually comes with urban and dysfunctional families. The classes also lend to the educational realm from the stand point that when a child is less distracted socially the child will focus more academically.
My community is a wonderful and growing, family-oriented community. I serve on two PTA boards currently and hold down a full time job as a tax professional and have also been seeking another job with a paper writing an etiquette column, all are helping me meet and understand the demographic. Currently, I am writing all of my manuals though I could use the ones I have been trained on, I am writing all of the children’s stories that will be used in the classroom, and I am also creating all of the games from my own thoughts and ideas by hand. All unique to my business and all engaging for the children. Turning a profit in 3 months is doable because I only have my rent and utilities to expense out. I have been bootstrapping thus far and will continue to do so if need be. My only concern is that I let the children down by not focusing on the details of the business because the bootstrapping doesn’t lend itself much time for the preparations that are in the process. It would not take much to help me help the children.
I can honestly while turning a profit is my top priority I can say because of my past it is followed closely by one of equal measure in passion. I was one of those children that could have used the edge to make the most of my youth to prepare me for adulthood and the challenges of higher learning. Now I can give back.
My goal is to serve 150 children per month at 2 levels of spending. The 6 week program (1 hour a week) is $100 per child with breaks for larger families. The 8 week program is $200 per child again with breaks for larger families. I have heard nothing but great things about opening the school and look forward to an exciting 40th birthday celebration as I realize my plan has become a success.
Thank you for your time and please consider my school of charm as one of the contenders. Otherwise, simply wish me luck.
Blessings,
G. O’Neal
Comment by G. ONeal -
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dd5f593t_1fvv8ktgj
Comment by Colboy -
Compressor cages for REO/vacant homes. When a bank takes a property back, in most areas, it is a certainty the compressor will get ripped for a few bucks worth of copper. A new compressor must be purchased again.
My partner is manufacturing protective cages that shield the compressors, and can’t be broken through, and are secured on the ground. The cages are easy to slap together, and banks/property investors will buy all day long. We are already getting this off the ground, and we already have the interested bank buyers, but can expedite production with large cash infusion. Plenty of margins for return.
I would put you in touch with the guy getting this off the ground.
Comment by d curry -
Hi Mark,
I have finished designing a Solar Powered Steam Engine.
Simple to build, and mass produce.
The parabolic mirrors are aimed by a used computer and some
software that I purchased that aims telescopes at one star
continuously. This machine produces electricity, air-
conditioning, heat, and drinking water through condensation.
It works great in desert and near desert conditions.
This would mean that it has vast Military potential.
Our friends in the Australian Outback would be waiting
in line for this puppy !
I offer you 35% of the project for a revolving credit
of $5,000,000.00. This would cover a full size prototype,
at least 40 patents, and the incorporation fees through
the IPO.
All the Best , Rick
Comment by RickSeakan -
Pingback: First things first… :: Bill Tamminga Sales and Marketing
I give up ,thanks for the opportunity even though I couldn’t get it to work . I tried . This works but the My Idea doesn’t. Ok so
give me your worst shots . lol
Comment by John Harvey -
There are a lot of 20 somethings who come out of college and fall flat on their face. What about a service designed to help them make the transition into the real world. The only start up cost is in advertising (marketed toward both the kids and their parents) where they can get real work help on everything navigating the professional world to balancing their first checkbook and planning for the future.
Comment by Kate -
IT DID FINALLY WOW ! I WILL TRY AGAIN . THANKS
Comment by John Harvey -
WHY Can’t my PROPOSAL SHOW UP HERE? WHAT IS WRONG, I HAVE SENT IT
THREE TIMES AND EVERY TIME IT SAYS IT HAS BEEN EXCEPTED ? I DON’T
UNDERSTAND IT . IS ANYONE ELSE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM? PLEASE
TELL ME WHAT I AM DOING WRONG . WE CAN MAKE MILLIONS
STRAIGHTENING OUT THIS SERVER ! HELP
Comment by John Harvey -
Pingback: Mark Cuban’s Stimulus Plan « Clever Title
One final note..
You want a stimulus? How about saving people money better than even Walmart or Costco can, and while doing so, help to raise money for cash strapped non-profits and local / national / int’l organizations?
Now is a uniquely great time for you to believe in what Consumer Standpoint Corporation can do to put more money back into the pockets of those whom it really can make a difference for. We are not a solely-for-profit company, but that does not mean that we can not function and out compete any of our competitors in providing cost saving tools to the internet shopping community.
Thanks, and I KNOW you will love our vision and our intentions.
Comment by Saman Baghestani -
Good Idea Michelle. I believe that show already exists. It’s called American Inventor.
Comment by Jim -
WeMakeChange.com is distinguished as the world’s first shopping site to introduce: Phantom Stock options and Social Buying Networks, philanthropic marketing through fundraising, and an entirely transparent price comparison search engine.
From the heart of Dallas, the center of commerce, is born a revolutionary approach towards internet commerce that, when actualized live on the world wide web, will create an extra ordinary competitive landscape the likes of which have never been observed anywhere else, ever and whereby the consumer will always stand to benefit.
We are Consumer Standpoint Corporation, doing business as WeMakeChange.com.
We intend to positively disrupt the current ecommerce landscape via unprecedented consumer empowerment, where attention economies rule. Since conception, the WeMakeChange venture has greatly matured, transforming the unfiltered creative visions and ideas of its inventor to what is now an intelligently designed and fully actionable economic strategy.
There are three different groups that will appreciate our service business: >Shoppers: These end consumers will always benefit by the cost savings we provide them quick and easy access to, not to mention we pay them cash money when purchases are made. Free to use and no strings attached. If they prefer, they can designate their earnings from the site to a cause of their choice, however large or small it may be.
>Retailers | Retailers gain access to a new sales channel with NO risk on their investment, as we do not get paid until they get paid. We already have some very large retailers on board and intend to add several thousand more, but are merely waiting until the site gets development funding before we seriously begin the push to attract retailers, both large and mom and pop shops are welcome and supported.
>Fund Raisers | Participation on and promotion of the site is a new and limitless tool for use by organizations of all types, large or small, to raise funds for their causes. This provides these organizations with economic incentives to promote the use of our site, aside from the plain and simple fact that it is a great, FREE service that helps its users save money when shopping online.
How we make money: The Revenue Cycle: Visits to Sales to Members to Profits
> Commission from Retailers for Product Sales
> Interest Income from Members’ Cash Earnings Accounts as they sit in our banks for a minimum of two months (this is the period of time it takes for the cash to clear from the retailer to WeMakeChange.com)
> We make money by providing retailers with athe great service of providing high quality traffic and thus new sales.
>E-Commerce is growing and now is a unique time for our business, as all the evidence indicates that discount retailers like Walmart and Costco are on the rise, and charities / non profits are increasingly cash strapped, thus insuring rapid adoption of WeMakeChange as a new way to raise money.
>Our very in depth and research backed projections indicate that the business will become self sufficient enough to cover overhead and begin to break into the green within the first 90 days. This can be attributed to the relatively low overhead associated with most online businesses, as well as the reduced requirement to spend a fortune on traditional CPC advertising, which, we dont have to completely rely upon – One of the many benefits of our unique synthesis of SOCIAL NETWORKING and COMMERCE.
Perhaps the most groundbreaking feature of WeMakeChange.com is our patent-pending purchasing system called QBS. It functions by grouping together buyers with similar interests to unite like-minded shoppers and provide large scale quantity discounts that will drastically reduce the price of everyday products to consumers. The larger number of consumers the larger the buying power, helping us gain market access and accelerate opportunities. This remarkably unique mechanism will forever change the way people shop online and offers a networking utility that’s not available anywhere else on the internet.
WeMakeChange.com is focused on providing shoppers with options, educating them about their choices, giving consumers the transparency they deserve, rewarding loyal members through phantom stock, and empowering individuals and organizations to make change in their communities through their participation in Fundraising Initiatives and the “We” social buying community. When the choice is either getting paid to shop or not getting paid to shop, the answer from our members will undoubtedly be the same: WeMakeChange.com
CAPITALIZATION & OUR OFFER TO YOU, Mr. Cuban:
Provide the funding detailed below, and we will give you 20% ownership of the company. If you’d like to limit your investment, simply help us fund (~$300K) the development (Website and Underlying Tech) of WeMakeChange.com and we can talk about your needs and our warranties on our ability to take the venture the rest of the way on our own. We are motivated and thus anything is certainly possible.
Total cost to implement, including the first 180 days of operating costs, is $625,000 (Six-Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand dollars). This will successfully launch WeMakeChange.com’s prototype site architecture into a fully functional website ready for use by any and all online shoppers worldwide. Use of Funds 55% for operating costs for the first 180 days after launch. See Operations Section for Monthly Operating Expenses. 40% of the proceeds will go towards the full implementation and search engine optimization of the website, which includes all underlying programming, design work, and hosting setup / management for one year 3% of the proceeds will be spent on the team in charge of project management and development. 2% will be used for the legal expenses including terms of service and a privacy policy.
EXIT
IPO – Acquisition – A likely scenario is that WeMakeChange becomes an attractive acquisition target sought after by one of the remaining search market giants having yet to add a CSE to their collection. The past 7 years of M&A activity supports this conclusion. Examples of CSEs quickly bought up at high price tags include: In 2000, Kelkoo was acquired by Yahoo for €475Million and CNET acquired MySimon for $700 Million. In 2004, PriceRunner was acquired by ValueClick for $29 Million plus shares. 2005 was a busy year with eBay Acquiring Shopping.com for $620 Million, Shopzilla acquired by E.W. Scripps for $525 Million and PriceGrabber acquired for $485 Million by Experian. Most recently, Providence Equity Partners acquired two-thirds of Nextag and Microsoft acquired Jellyfish.com. Other potential outcomes include a buyback or an initial public offering, with the minimum expected return on investment in 3-5 years seven or more times the amount invested.
WRAPPING UP
We takes the best of what the web has to offer in comparison shopping and social networking, and provide our members with an irresistible new shopping experience that will revolutionize the way people shop online. The introduction of WeMakeChange.com should serve as a disruptive and positive force for the competitive landscape of Ecommerce, projected to grow 54% over the next three years ($282 Billion). Empirical data from 2003 to present shows the Comparison Search Engine (CSE) market will continue to grow and encapsulate ecommerce as shoppers become more interconnected and accustomed to streamlining purchases through Internet shopping hubs, elucidating the high-growth and high return climate of the CSE industry.
Comment by Saman Baghestani -
Imagine a television show ripped- er, based on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, featuring you, Mark, along with a panel of three or four other personable VCs and take THIS format of business presentation to television. Let people pitch their business plans, technological advancements, and Next Big Things to the panel on camera in 20 minutes or less, get grilled by the panel, then the investors on the panel can either make investment offers or send folks on their way. It’s not quite reality TV because it’s not serialized with the same business owners week after week, but there could be a competitive aspect when a particularly juicy presentation comes along that you all want a piece of.
I want to produce the music.
Comment by michelle -
Mark, I worked in the rock climbing gym business for seven years so keep that in mind when reading. However, I do know this product is scalable and customizable.
An online scheduling service that is designed to be able to “plug in,” with most businesses regardless of what POS software they use. It’s also designed to be able to link with any website to accomplish online scheduling. Clients booking groups would be able to view available dates and times based on the business policy (I.E. Groups can only be booked with start times one hour a part. A group schedule at 2 would mean the next immediate available time is 3, etc…) Customers can also pay deposits, view availablity 24/7 365, as well as holiday hours, etc… They would also be able to receive e-mail confirmations, directions, etc. Although all of these things are probably pretty standard for scheduling software, but the beauty is that all of these processes would be customizable, and/or automated.
This software would also be able to graph business trends, mass mail, organize customers into specific catergories (for indoor climbing that would look somthing like, birthday parties, church groups, team building, etc…) Softeware would also pop up reminders annually for groups that have booked in the past, as well as allow business owners to e-mail promotional coupons with coupon templates, etc…
The online software could also come with an accompanying software package that would include more features, including e-mail marketing strategies, etc…
I also think a great addition to the online software as well as the software package would be an iPhone app for the business owner, or blackberry/palm software to accompany the software.
Comment by Ralph Brynard -
It is a startup.
Summary:
Offer a list of one or two hour classes by noted local individuals in a specific field. The value that is provided by this business is identifying right courses, selecting a place for classes, and identifying teachers for special topics.
For a $40 one hour course the instructor can earn a minimum of $200 and the business can earn up to $180.
Look at the Google doc for more details:
http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=ah7n9kkmvxrd_59dct838gt&skipauth=true
Looking forward to hearing back from you.
A.K.
Comment by A.K. -
buy low sell high
Comment by jhon jhon -
Mark,
Well here it goes; I’ll make this as short and to the point as possible. I have been in the roofing business for about 14 years and have been trying to get out of the roofing business (too much liability). I have been working on starting a shingle recycling business. I am at a stopping point because of funding. The State of Texas is the largest producer of residential shingle roofing waste in the country, so getting the product is no problem. Only eight states currently recycle residential asphalt shingles better known as RAS, and until now Texas has not allowed it. I have worked with the State to write the protocol to allow the use of RAS to be used in hot asphalt mix that is used on our roads and highways. There is 25-30% usable asphalt in RAS, think of the oil that can be saved and the room at our landfills that will not have to take a product that is not biodegradable. Asphalt companies are paying approx. $360.00 a ton for Asphalt. They are willing to buy the RAS at $30-50 per ton right now and all that I can deliver. Four tons of RAS = One ton of usable asphalt it will save the companies millions on asphalt not to mention lessening our dependence on oil. In my search for land for the business, I have located approx. 80,000 tons of shingles at a Illegal dump that the people are wanting it cleaned up, what a great start, free material, no up front land cost, 80,000 tons x $40.00 = 3,200,000. I can have this moved in approximately 6months. I have applied for the proper permits with the state. I have been working with a former city manager to help with permits and TXDOT. After land is cleared, we start taking loads from roofing companies at a rate of $15-$20 per ton, current rate at land fill is $30-$50 per ton. So the roofers are saving money and we are getting paid to let them dump their shingles, which in itself will cover operating cost. I need capital for the recycling machine that grinds up used shingles, which is $440,000.00 (can be financed @ 10% down)and setting up our lab to test the shingles for asbestos, which is $30,000.00. The first few months of operating cost will be approximately $40,000.00 per month. I have spent a tremendous amount of money and time working on this project now that it can really happen, the banks will not loan money. This business will start making money when the first load is purchased and subsequently steady income from then on out. I am committed to this with all my heart. I will pay back on short term or long term loan. This is a great opportunity for me and the environment. I have commitments from asphalt companies to buy the product as soon as I can deliver. I will succeed at this regardless of the outcome of this email. Please let me know if you can help
Thanks
Steve
Comment by Steven Rutherford -
Mark,
What a monster you have unleashed! 1000 ideas in 72 hours, nearly one every 4 minutes. It is a great microcosm of what made this country great – spirited individuals getting excited about capitalistic ideas. Gets my juices going just skimming through the blog, thank you!
To those concerned about patent protection, fuggetaboutit. I’ve been in business for nearly 30 years. Unless you are designing something at the molecular level or have 3 rocket scientists on staff or your company name starts with General Motors or Johnson & Johnson or similar, you won’t get any protection from a patent that you can benefit from in your life time. If there is a good idea someone can find a way to duplicate it and get around the patent problem. The only ones who benefit from our current patent protection system are the lawyers. Ask ANYONE who has been in a patent battle.
Back to you, Mark – don’t know if you foresaw what you’ve uncorked but this is a beautiful thing….people collaborating on ideas, encouraging each other, laying out their plans from beautiful to repugnant, simple to convoluted, microeconomic to macroeconomic, completely self serving to heartfelt and completely giving and gracious. Personally, I think you are a little crazy but you’re the guy at the table with the big stack out front.
Generally I’ve found that people underestimate the size of the world we live in. There is something in here for everyone looking for an idea, for a business opportunity, a means to improve their station in life – all without bumping into or ever competing with somebody else.
Carpe diem everyone, hitch yourself to a star and pursue it with all your guts and commitment and determination. I hope Mark follows through on his offer and actually picks a few of you to strike deals with. I personally am sick of seeing production go offshore, and really want to see our country build more products here.
It has been said a number of times in many different ways in this blog – ideas are cheap, the test is in the execution. The people with the best ideas in this blog won’t be the winners. The people who have the highest level of guts and commitment and determination with an idea that works will be.
Comment by EAR -
Mr. Cuban
“One of the great killers of success is too much success”
Pyramids are built from the top down.
My business plan has been available for anyone to see. The preamble is located at this site….
http://southcoast4.tripod.com/
If you wish to see the entire business plan I will be glad to send it to you and you can post it if you like.
Some who have considered this plan and decided not to pursue it have said that just reading the plan was beneficial in many ways.
I am now living in the DFW area and would gladly give you 60% ownership in a local branch if you would make your legal staff available to cross and dot this areas unique t’s and i’s.
Ron Coleman
Comment by ron coleman -
Mr Cuban,
I uploaded my exec summary here, but I am more than happy to post my entire business proposal upon request.
THEIA: Cloud Application Market place
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcb67hdk_0gh84hfcj
Comment by Daniel Connery -
Foreclosure rescue model that provides the investor with significant ROI secured by real estate at secure LTV AND offers the following:
1. Reduction in the downward spiral of comparable sales
2. Keeps homeowners in their home with reduced mortgage principal
3. Capitalizes the banks
4. Job creation
Currently have endorsement by HUD, Nevada Bankers Association and other entities….catch is, if we use TARP or other public funds, there is moral hazard. With private capital using a profit model this is not an issue, the numbers make sense AND a difference can be made. All pieces are in place, we are ready when you are.
Comment by David Gunderson -
Tinkering with solar still designs led us to the idea of using ceramics – pottery – for the basin of a solar still. This solves a long standing problem in solar still design.
We are inspired by Potters for Peace (http://pottersforpeace.org/), who enable people to create ceramics for water purification. We aspire to make our solar stills as useful as their ceramic water filters.
Hundreds of millions lack pure water. Hundreds of millions purchase bottled water. Hundreds of millions might make use of solar stills. We can, however, start small.
Comment by chromodorid -
MC: Sorry for calling you Marj, and the various other typos/thinkos in my previous post. The main point was to try and demonstrate to the clueless how open source at its best can end up helping people who really need help. Which, as we both know, is neither you nor me.
Comment by Steve Holden -
Mr. Mark Cuban,
Thank you for this opportunity and for your time and expertise in evaluating my idea.
BRIEF:
Product: Sports Caps and Jerseys, with additional sportswear as brand evolves.
Market: Every sports fan, both national and worldwide.
Opportunity: Every item in sportswear today continues to be designed, manufactured and sold exclusively highlighting only one particular sports team. From collegiate to professional, and across every major sport, consumers can only purchase items depicting one particular team.
Consumers, however, are rarely singular in passion for any one team. That’s to say — they have MULTIPLE teams that they support. An array of varying teams from every major sports league, city, or university. As an example, it would be perfectly normal to boast about being a Dallas Maverick fan, along with being a Cubs, Penguins and Panther fan.
There is no competition for this product. No brand currently produces merchandise that satisfies this fractionalized market.
Concept: Provide easy to order, custom sportswear (starting with caps) where customers are encouraged to select THEIR favorite teams for stitch-embroidered logo merchandise.
Phase 1
1. Register name, business, etc.
2. Finalize budget, investor involvement (staff or contacts to negotiate logo usage – see item #3) and equity percentage (could be as high as 50% for seed money and negotiation cited above).
3. Negotiate and obtain proper licensing agreements from the major sports leagues – i.e., the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL.
4. Secure small facility and establish suppliers merchandise stream.
5. Procure (one) professional embroidery machine (MELCO or similar) and appropriate computer/software.
6. Create Web site presence.
7. Merchandise design and marketing initially through the Marketing/PR company I own and operate (Intelibrand).
NOTE: Phase 1 sale of merchandise to occur through the Internet. Subsequent phases to include kiosks at malls, as well as in sports arenas and facilities throughout the US.
Phase 2 (assuming favorable numbers)
1. Increase team licensing to include second tiered sports entities – e.g., collegiate teams, MLS, etc.
2. Adjust production facility accordingly.
3. Adjust marketing accordingly.
In closing, let me add that I have always had a keen sense of what consumers like. That combination of elements which come together and produce something fresh and remarkable. Stuff people like. Your particular expertise certainly includes knowledge of the inner workings of professional sports franchises. Who better equipped to objectively consider this idea than yourself.
Thank you for your consideration.
RAP
Comment by RAP -
this is not a business idea, just a suggestion on a way to keep this thing going:
instead of a big long list of comments would it be possible to set up a website dedicated to open source funding focusing on the 13 rules Mark stipulated? Maybe setting up categories based on the industries/markets that the businesses fall under? also include a way to comment on a particular idea specifically so that other readers could offer helpful suggestions.
it would be cool if this project continued and people could subscribe to different “feeds” for example, i am interested in new business ideas in the health and wellness market. i could then go to my google reader and everyday read the new ideas posted by entrepreneurs in this space and then offer up any suggestions that could help them out, this could help the entrepreneurs refine their ideas – and of course get funding from Mark or other investors that like them.
it’s clear that the demand is here for this project, but it definitely needs organization of some kind – my best guess is that organization by industry or market would be the best bet. i really, really, really, hope to see this continue it could be the start of something great.
Comment by Jason -
OK, so clearly a lot of people who read this blog don’t really understand, or haven’t really got, the open source ethic. I’m slightly freaked out, because less than a day ago I posted about how people should take this opportunity to heart at an upcoming conference, and now I see another couple hundred comments Fortunately I am not so egotistical as to believe this was solely (or even measurably) down to *my* influence.
Anyway, here’s the business idea. [Note: for the uneducated and otherwise not-been-around-business very much, business plans are based on an idea, but the idea is only the basis]. An email program for people who don’t do email.
Now, I realize the above isn’t a business plan, so let’s take a look at what’s missing. I suppose we might need some goals, right? And they really ought to be SMART (Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and with a Timescale). If you look at the parameters set by the original post you will have to accept that this was at least indicated.
A few selective quotes form Mark’s original post:
“””So here it is. Some people will love it, some will hate it. It is what it is.””” A perceptive remark, as exemplified by the many comments along the lines of “well if we can talk privately I will be happy to tell me how you can make me rich”.
“””Rather than trying to be a Venture Capitalist, I was looking for an idea that hopefully could inspire people to create businesses that could quickly become self funding.””” This isn’t a welfare scheme. The economy needs business plans that are (in the words of our esteemed thank-god-joined-up-thinking-at-last) “shovel-ready”, so what you are about to read must be read in the spirit of “bring your own shovel (or piss off)”. It’s open source, bitch, not a get-rich-quick scheme.
“””I also expect that other people will steal the idea and use it elsewhere”””. This is exactly why I am taking the time to make this post. You could call this my meta-response, the purpose being not to profit from Mark Cuban’s immense wealth but to come to his attention as a person who can read and follow instructions. It doesn’t hurt that I have open source credentials [hint to the clueless: Google my name and understand that soccer is not a primary interest].
So, now this response is long enough that the reading-challenged gave up several sentences ago (and also for MC to understand that there may, like the light at the end of the tunnel, be a serious point here if you keep reading long enough), here’s the plan.
If you are a serious hacker (and obviously I’d prefer you to be a *Python* hacker, but frankly if you can do it in some other language then I will be happy that someone can show Python what it needs to do to improve) then you could probably create this program within the defined timescale.
Week 1: feasibility: establish a framework that can read the incoming mail to a given address and display it to the user with a multiple-choice selection as to how to reply.
Week 2: marketing: work out how to get in touch with all the people like the guy who built my house who “don’t do email” and pitch them the deal that if they can use the web they can do everything they need with email.
Week 3: design: consult with [various industry-specific] “focus groups” to select the t op ten to twenty required responses to incoming email messages. Understand that this business plan can work for hundreds of different principals, because the *really important* thing here is to understand the vertical market you are serving and the demands placed upon those in that market.
[Parenthetical note: thirty-nine days left to break even. I hope you aren’t planning on employing anyone yet. The really great thing about this idea is that if the [industry-specific] group you target first is, say, billionaire capitalists, you might end up making your golden fortune from a single customer].
Week 4: Build prototype system that actually reads emails and presents you with multiple choices about your responses.\
Weeks 5 through 7: Read http://trac.chuzer.org/ and realize that if this project is going to make you rich then it would probably not hurt you to do something for whom being able to indicate a decision would actually be a life-changing experience. Act on this understanding to provide software that will improve the original concept by allowing people who can’t read to indicate their response to the email. For extra points, ignore the open question of how such users would know what response to make if they couldn’t read, and focus instead on the problems of people who can read just fine but have difficulty indicating that they would *really* like to have chocolate pudding for dessert today. Accept that such people exist. Try talking to one.
Week 8: [Fifty-six days out of your 60 already gone]. Realize that if a lot of disabled people will benefit from your project Cuban might just shell out the money even though you have no idea how you are going to become cashflow neutral (ok, plus one penny) in anly four more days. Solicit help from the open source software community, who will be at liberty to shun you for not engaging with them before week 1. Go to PyCon [us.pycon.org]. Oh, sorry, that was week 6/7. Guess you blew it.
Week 9: Solicit contributions from banks and various other (now non-profitable) organizations who should be ashamed they haven’t been funding this kind of shit when they were raking money in hand over fist.
Week 10: Inform Marj Cuban that his open source funding initiative has been so successful that his financial assistance will not be required.
Week 11: Reflect on how grateful you are that someone who did not have the time to act on this idea took the time to write it up as a comment on “Blog Maverick” so you could get to understand better what the open source ethos is really about. Donate moeny to the Python Software Foundation. Fund python.tv.
Week 12: Start a blog and post about how you will fund people who have sensible well-thought-out business ideas. Recognize that there *is* such a thing as “enough” and become a philanthropist. Vow that the Gates Foundation will never receive a penny of your funding [like they need it]. Think about investigating how open source everything actually represents the future of economics.
—
“Imagine there’s no heaven [John Lennon]” … and now imagine money has become irrelevant. How do you plan to make sure *your* life counts for something?
Comment by Steve Holden -
NAILS ON WHEELS….WHAT…YES,…NAILS ON WHEELS!
Hello Mark,
I am a time-conscious, busy professional woman, mother, wife,- M.B.A.-holding, African American Sister! I am constantly trying to manage my time in a way that is profitable that will allow me to reach my daily business goals.
A problem that a lot of busy professional women and men face: We still need salon services, finger nails painted, toe nails, back/shoulder/foot massages, mid day workouts…ect…BUT TRYING TO FIND THE TIME…
I have always thought that it would be great to be able to call
Nails on Wheels to come to my office and give me the services I need at that time (even if I just broke a finger nail).
My business model is similar to Mary Kay and it encompasses all your required criteria:
1. A completely flat organization – independent operators who would use their own gasoline and personal vehicles to get to appointments. Independent operators would build their own clientele base. Independent operators would share in the profit they work hard to generate!
2. Everyone works, if they want to get paid! (built in incentives)
3. It will be profitable in 90 days
4. No one reports to any managers – independent operators
5. Mark and I are cofounders: Mark you would hold no less than a 50% share in the business.
6. No multilevel marketing involved what so ever.
7. Even non-professional people who absolutly do not want to wait in line for these services could use Nails on Wheels!
8. The Nails on Wheels “Name” would quickly become a recognized name and logo because of my hard work and of course your hard working cash!
So, Mark, let’s get to work and go on Oprah and Donnie Deutch as the next big Million-dollar business & idea, Baby!
Thanks for reading!
Danita
I am working on my business plan for this start up venture! But, I will be delighted to send you what I have.
Sincerely. D.
Comment by Michelle Young -
Mark I know you have heard of fantasy football,people buying and selling players like stock,Madden football leagues,NBA video game leagues.Every major city have two or three sports only radio stations for fans to call in and second guess coaches and criticize or praise teams.This tells me that fans would like to be more involved in the desisions a team makes and would pay to participate in those decisions.My plan will put fans more into the game by charging a fee to let them call plays.This would work best in football.A fan would text in a run,pass or go for it on fourth down and the coach would call the play based on the vote.This could be applied to basketball decisions whereby the fans could vote on the starting lineup or on who makes the team or who to draft.
Comment by Darrell Washington -
NAILS ON WHEELS….WHAT…YES,…NAILS ON WHEELS!
Hello Mark,
I am a time-conscious, busy professional woman, mother, wife,- M.B.A.-holding, African American Sister! I am constantly trying to manage my time in a way that is profitable that will allow me to reach my daily business goals.
A problem that a lot of busy professional women and men face: We still need salon services, finger nails painted, toe nails, back/shoulder/foot massages, mid day workouts…ect…BUT TRYING TO FIND THE TIME…
I have always thought that it would be great to be able to call
Nails on Wheels to come to my office and give me the services I need at that time (even if I just broke a finger nail).
My business model is similar to Mary Kay and it encompasses all your required criteria:
1. A completely flat organization – independent operators who would use their own gasoline and personal vehicles to get to appointments. Independent operators would build their own clientele base. Independent operators would share in the profit they work hard to generate!
2. Everyone works, if they want to get paid! (built in incentives)
3. It will be profitable in 90 days
4. No one reports to any managers – independent operators
5. Mark and I are cofounders: Mark you would hold no less than a 50% share in the business.
6. No multilevel marketing involved what so ever.
7. Even non-professional people who absolutly do not want to wait in line for these services could use Nails on Wheels!
8. The Nails on Wheels “Name” would quickly become a recognized name and logo because of my hard work and of course your hard working cash!
So, Mark, let’s get to work and go on Oprah and Donnie Deutch as the next big Million-dollar business & idea, Baby!
Thanks for reading!
Danita
I am working on my business plan for this start up venture! But, I will be delighted to send you what I have.
Sincerely. D.
Comment by Danita Harris -
In the process of wading through the first 500 or so mostly lame ideas I was struck with a bit of a ‘Eureka!’ moment.
What you really need to do is monetize the idea of open-source funding itself, as is really a brilliant concept. An auto-incubator, if you will.
I call it the “Incubator/Percolator”
This is a very low cost, streamlined Web 2.0 application that automates the process of idea submission, peer-review and business plan generation while leveraging the uncanny business acumen of Mark Cuban and the ‘wisdom of the crowd’.
Here is how it works, in a nutshell.
Step 1.
(Registration is free and only requires a valid email address)
New ideas are submitted as ‘seeds’ via the home page. Users submit a one-line title and one paragraph summary of their idea for a business. The site itself is advertised via blog maverick. Users may submit as many ideas as they wish.
Step 2.
Users may vote once per ‘seed’ to either promote or demote it. A simple thumbs up or thumbs down is all that is required. Top seeds are ranked via a leaderboard and all seeds can be searched or viewed by submission time.
Step 3.
Top-ranked ‘seeds’ are promoted to ‘sprouts’ after either a certain rank obtained or up-vote count is exceeded.
Step 4.
All users are then free to submit business plans for all available ‘sprouts’ as well as purchase shares in them. However, this process is not free. Each business plan submission and share costs $1. The business plan template will be of MC’s design and include all the criteria he requires prior to initial investment. The business plan will include the total of initial shares allocated and what % of the business/revenue they will purchase. A fixed % of revenue will be allocated for MC and Incubator/Percolator employees (though they are of course free to purchase more if they wish).
The “sprouts” are organized like “seeds”, with the ones attracting the most business plans and shares achieving a higher ranking.
Step 5.
MC serves as a ‘benevolent dictator’ and may purchase as many or as few shares of a business plan as he wishes. He will also serve as the final arbiter of whether a business is viable enough to be ‘launched’ once all initial shares are sold. Users are free to comment on individual business plans and managers may update/revise their plan based on user feedback.
Business plans that do not attract enough initial capital to launch will be terminated after a set period and purchased shares refunded to users accounts. The $1 submission fee for business plans is non-refundable.
Step 6.
All financials of launched businesses are monitored/audited by an independent third party of MC’s choosing and available for shareholders to review. A 2nd round of financing may be allowed with 3rd party participation if MC deems it prudent.
Revenue for the site will be via three sources. Initial cash flow will be from fees for business plan submission and interest generated from shares held in a FDIC sweep account. Ongoing revenue will be generated from viable businesses that Incubator/Percolator launch. MC will be the majority shareholder in Incubator/Percolator itself; as it is essentially your idea.
Drop me a line if you are interested in getting this started; as I can probably hire some students to code this up on the cheap and simply lease the servers to run it on. I’ve even located a source of some free ‘seeds’ to add to what has already been posted to help get us started.
http://www.sixmonthmba.com/2009/02/999ideas.html
Comment by Cooper Nelson -
Here is my business:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12309112/Floppy-Cuban
I look forward to your response.
Comment by Adam -
Does 1004 comments make each of then kind of invisible?
Comment by alinescu -
Mark,
I hate to sound like a greedy SOB but I and most other people will balk a the idea of posting their complete business idea and allowing others to steal it.
I understand people wanting to open a florist shop, start a lawn service, maid service, tutoring business, etc. being willing to post their plan. However, someone with significant Intellectual Property/Competitive Advantage would be loathe to post their novel approach or patentable idea.
Sincerely,
Ayn Rand
Comment by Ayn Rand -
Would you fund international projects that don’t have a US corporation?
Comment by Cameron -
My simple, short, and fool proof business idea is this:
1. Buy wheel barrow.
2. Stand at the bottom of a big hill in any cities CBD.
3. Charge people $0.05 to take them to the top of the hill(but not down).
4. Profit.
It will cost you $100,000 for the research part of the business which involves buying plane tickets for me to nice places, accommodation, food, entertainment etc.
Contact me ASAP at best-idea-ever@example.com I would like to start IMMEDIATELY.
Thanks for your time.
Comment by Rene Dudfield -
Hola Mr. Cuban!
I had an epiphany last night after my 7th shot of tequila.
It was so profound and intense I kicked the stripper out and had to brainstorm and write it all down.
Ok are you ready…
A BOX OFFICE HIT.
It’s a Movie only you can make.
Why?
You are, “Fearless and could make this movie a SUCCE$$.”
A low cost documentary that would get everyone in the Country stirring.
I would have to fly you into Las Vegas and tell you this idea on the green felt. I just wouldn’t want any Scallywags taking this idea that I believe You are destined for.
You are the only person with the talent and knowledge to make it work.
I would also like to see Bill O’Reilly blow another gasket. This Movie would definitely do it.
Buenos Dias,
Golfervet
Comment by Mark Williams -
Mr. Cuban,
I am interested in starting tutoring firm for students in grades K-12, for Reading. Initial Investment needed: 25k-50k with 10% return on profit. Estimated profit between 3k-4k monthly.
I would employ at least 5 employees, myself and spouse included.
Our initial plan is to start with one site, and expand to other locations withing 1 year.
I look forward to your response.
Comment by Akisha -
I believe I can achieve profit in the first 60 days with my idea. I have always believed that Ebay has done a disservice to the capital sector. I want to create a forum online where people can purchase and sell used/new machinery. I have a few machines from a friend’s factory that I can list. I know from experience that a lot of factory owners constantly buy new equipment, but they don’t always have time to sell the old stuff. I believe I can find a way to be the middle man: bring the buyers to the sellers.
Thanks,
Jerry
Comment by Jerry -
Pingback: Mark Cuban’s Open Source Funding Environment « D-Mac’s Blog
Mark: The following is a proposal for a business , that in a smaller scale, I participated in in 200-01. We had an agreement with the N. Dalls Youth Soccer Association that proved quite profitable. The concept is quite simple, set up at youth sporting events and provide team/individual photos prited on site.In a small scale all is needed is a high resolution digital camera, a computer(Mac prefered as photo software is more user friendly), 2 Epson photo printers and an extensin cord(s) for power. In addition a tent, 8 foot table and 2 chairs would be usefull. For purposes of this proposal and to make the business easier to operate. I would need $ 2500 to $5000 to purchase a used Maco tools or similar panel van. These have their own power source and most are air conditioned. $1500 for a high resolution digital camera, addition lenses and memory cards, $1500 for printers and start-up ink costs. An 8×10 photo sells fot $15.00 with a 65% – 75% profit margin. Most days gross revenue will be $200 – $500 per day. This business will operate on Weekends only so it will make a great secomd income. Your ROI will be 20% of net revenue on the first 20k then 15% until 500% of investment is returned then 10% for life of business. If you have any questions or need any clarification, plese feel free to contact.
Comment by Monte G, Lee -
Here’s my royalties free business plan.
My work: I’m a student. I don’t have a job and my parents aren’t rich. In fact, no one contributes to my financial activites other than me. I’m all legal and I’m not poor which might mean I’m not stupid, or I’m just highly motivated. So my plan is to keep studying and researching knowing the best technologies are always that of the future.
Business matter: Within less than the 90 days required by the 4th clause, I can generate a profit . See, I have a 2.5% savings account, which makes 0.206% on a monthly basis. Generating 4000$/month from my business makes me rich implies that you getting 50% of it (2000$ monthly) makes you half rich, or just plain happy. That means you only need to find two people like me to be as rich as both of us put togheter. Thats twice as happy as any of us, thus double happy, can you imagine? So with a capital freeze of 1,752,813.56 USD (as of now) on your side, I can get you 2000 USD and keep 2000 CAD, monthly. Getting paid 2000$ per month while effectively funding a research venture is not an offer you can spit on.
Here are details to the rules you set….
1.It’s an existing business.
2.It has nothing to do with advertising except for this document.
3.CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 34-38 days depending on which day of the week the cash flow comes in.
4.Profitable within the same delay it becomes even.
5.My numbers are guaranteed through a third party. If somehow that third party can’t deliver its promises, that’s ok with me for the funding to stop AND you get your initial investment back.
6.Demonstrate profitability: done.
7.I’m the only employee and, consequently, owner, and I do work a lot on this venture.
8.Make business plan available to all: done right here.
9.No promises on further investment beyond the profitability point: that’s ok, I’m on my own anyway.
10.No promises at all: smart people don’t make promises, that’s true.
11.Cosigning here is not a problem. It’s your money anyway.
12.You get 0.103% of your investment back on a monthly basis and 100% of it whenever you feel like it, putting a term to our agreement.
13.MLM is not applicable here.
And as if I can anticipate the rule you will append….
14.I live in Canada.
There it is, to take or to leave.
Comment by alinescu -
Mark Cuban,
I’m competing with ebay.
Blake Southwood
Comment by Blake Southwood -
Mark,
What does everyone in the world have once a year? A Birthday! And of course people like to celebrate their birthdays especially children!
As a student at Oral Roberts University, I wrote a business plan and titled it Birthdays R Us (I am sure this name is taken by now).
There has not been a new business in this industry for years- well at least not in Dallas and the surrounding cities. And since my college days, I have had to search high and low for a new and exciting place to have my daughters birthday party each year, usually opting for a home party. I realize that my family, friends and the students at the preschool and child care my family started had the same problem-trying to find a fun, family-friendly, cost inclusive, and exciting place to have birthday parties.
Pros: Everyday is someone’s birthday (no shortage of customers)
Lots of reasonably priced rental space in every city
Easy reproducible business processes and methods
Profitable, creates jobs, and easily marketable
Cons: May not be profitable within your time frame.
Needs management/managers.
Thanks for your consideration. I will try to post my business plan.
Danita Harris
Major competition: Chuck E Cheese, but
Comment by Dantia Harris -
The Hub is a Non-profit Organization (NPO) start-up to enrich education for Students (age 16 or older), Participants and Worker Retraining Programs. It includes hands-on, distance-learning and mentoring provided by entrepreneurs, educators, industry professionals… The Hub will provide educational in addition to income-earning opportunities for designing, constructing, opening, operating, managing and growing a Mobile Web Software Helpdesk business and a Dallas, Texas Bricks-and-Clicks, E-Commerce, M-Commerce emerging-concept from scratch (A-Z)
Business Plan and Executive Summary link follows (feedback, ideas, recommendation … are always welcome)and thank you for your time.
http://www.slideshare.net/wgboren/the-hub-business-plan-and-executive-summary-february-12
Comment by William -
hello and may i say thanks for trying to help the little people that have big ideals and little money to make them come true. Ok and now for what i have in mind. MY man has 20 years exp. in fiberglass boat repair and when we moved back home from tennessee 5 years ago he has not found a job in the boat repair work that he loves .. Heres what i am asking .I would like to open a fiberglass shop on the Richland Chambers Reservoir. IF you need a boat repair around here you have to drive atlest 60 plus miles to get a good repair. So thats why i think this would be a good place to have a shop. I have the expert on fiberglass and the know how to get the shop up and running just very short on the funds to get it started . I will make sure every one in 100 miles or more knows about this shop. If i could start this shop i would like to be able to hire people that are in hard times so they can learn a new trade and be able to make there lifes better. I would love to make a change for the better in my life as well as other peoples. Now for what you can get out of it.. I will give 1/2 yes 1/2 the money i make . Im not in this to make a mil. i only want to make a better life for my son ..well let me know waht u think and thanks again for taking the time to read this .. Oh and if you happen to think this ideal sux i need a job very bad would be very thank full if you my have a place for me in any one of your companys ….. thanks Tina Rogers
Comment by tina rogers -
You are probably right about starting a little smaller. However, when dealing with CVN and some other reatilier, I have to be able to provide them with their order within a certain time frame. I am more looking for a line of credit just to secure the orders. I am more looking at an immediate cash needs basis of about $25,000.00. I need to file for an international patent because in order to get this product produced, it will have to be outside of the US. I have looked everywhere for an operational texitile mill in the US and there are not any left. There are distributors but no producers. Then I would need to contact an attorney to help me negotiate this contract since this is way out of my scope. We all know attorney’s are not cheap. I also need to patent a trademark.
I would love to post a picture but do not see a way to upload the image. If there is somewhere I can send the image or if you want to contact me, you have my email address. I would be glad to send you one and let you take a look at it. I know a mill/manufacturer would be able to produce a better finished product than I do.
Thanks for posting your comments. This product fills a gap and there are no competing products as of now. It also minimizes a security issue with peoples keys being stolen while they workout.
I am working on a business plan with numbers and hope to have that worked out soon.
Thanks again
YMA
Houston, Tx
Comment by YMA -
Jim:
I love your model. I wish the government would do something similar in some of the devastated neighborhoods in places like Boston-Edison, Detroit. Maybe buy a few square blocks, run some T1’s in, and create a silicon valley East where startup guys can live for free under the watch of professional management teams!!! Wow… did I just inadvertently give away an idea?? I guess this forum works!
Comment by Brad -
Pingback: Ikaruga -- you can start your gaming website now! - Cashgamers.net Forums - WorldWinner and King.com Fansite
This is a great funding approach. I think we’ve been over-trained to be obsessed with IP. I bet every single one of the CEO’s that are criticizing the openness of this forum will blurt their elevator pitch to anyone who asks in a line up at Starbuck’s anyways. The IP obsession is a VC thing… Let’s not get sucked into it.
The vast majority of businesses that are network effect dependent are not necessarily winner takes all. I highly commend the spirit of this funding approach.
Once we’re closer to revenue I will certainly consider this. Part of me hopes that what I’m doing is so revolutionary that people will rip it off left right and centre. I highly doubt any of them are as good at sales as me or as hard working, so I’m sure I’ll beat them all regardless.
Wouldn’t it be cool if someone came up with a business here that was so perfect and duplicatable that it brought an entire sector out of recession????
I love it.
Comment by Brad -
Mark,
It seems most of your replies lean toward companies with a high tech flavor.
What about a stuffy bricks and mortar business? Not glamorous or explosive, but a solid hedge against inflation or the looming hyperinflation.
Let us know what you think.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dvx9x8v_0f5kvvtgx
Jim
Comment by Jim -
Mr. Cuban,
Where do we send you our information. Please email me and I will be happy to see if you will fund my particular ideas to help create income in this US of A the old fashion way….through free market and capitalism….NOT SOCIALISM!!! Thanks.
Comment by W Staas -
Mark, this was my last year’s startup plan but my team was too busy w/ other ventures and we scrapped the work. Here I have re-tailored our business model to your rules–if you fund us and willing to partner w/ us, we can assume and create more jobs!
Pitch:
Imagine going to a Mavs game for the first time, taking a picture of Mavs cheerleaders w/ your phone, and texting your friends how Dirk just hit a buzzer beater at half time. Your friends at home see the message and asked you to post more pictures and bring back a Mavs-jersey. Meanwhile, other fans at the game see the discussion on their iPhones or Blackberries and post their own “snippets” of the event. In just a few hours, Mavs fans, and casual viewers around the world can access some of the best original coverage of the Mavs game through our product.
Our product is an experience-sharing platform that leverages the ubiquitous access of mobile devices, harnesses the collective perspectives of users, and establishes an event-based community. We empower event attendees (“social reporters”) to publish media snippets live and interact with “social viewers” interested in that event. We also enable “social organizers” such as sports teams, event organizers and free-lance writers to consolidate snippets and generate articles for event coverage. This unique ability to distribute rich content for an event in real time, combined with the ability to post content from anywhere creates a powerful system for social media, event marketing, and citizen journalism.
Our ORIGINAL revenue model is ad-based, but given your rule #2, in our new Cuban-tailored biz model, we will partner with you and other NBA teams (w/ your help) for monthly revenue stream and can be profitable in 90 days after fixed development costs.
We can discuss other details if you are interested. We already have a working product and probably need 2-3 months to integrate with the American Airlines Center and Mavs’ website (hopefully in time for the playoff!). We can use Mavs as the beta launch and sell this to rest of the NBA, MLB, NFL if we move fast 🙂 You can also see that we can scale horizontally to any other live events (concerts, Prez inauguration, etc). (Note that our original ad-based biz model projects revenue of $104M in Y5; I think we can do better w/ your partnership help)
Please email me if you want to follow up. Thanks!
Comment by bleung -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
Like most of the other people commenting on this blog, I think your idea is GENIOUS!
Business Plan: Citizen Review Website for the Government Stimulus Package
The website would provide opportunity for community voice in the spending of the public works part of the stimulus package (maybe other parts as well, I just came up with the idea so I haven’t had time to adequately research my proposal). Every project that the government gives funding to would be featured on this website. Perhaps a mash-up with Google maps would be appropriate. A citizen could zoom in on the map to their community, find the projects that are taking place and then find information about the project. The organizations (government or otherwise) receiving the funding would be mandated to provide frequent updates on project status, current expense and project expense. Citizen could have the opportunity to comment on whether the information seems accurate and would be able to report the project as unsatisfactory, un-needed, or etc. Projects that receive poor ratings would be reviewed by a government or outside agency. If it is decided that the project is full of wasteful spending, the funding for the project would be withdrawn and utilized elsewhere.
Citizens and organizations could provide and add all sorts of information. Videos, comments, blogs, articles, and more. If someone went to a town hall meeting and found out some shady information about the project, that individual could become a whistleblower and inform the community. There would be opportunities for interaction among community members and individuals from outside the community.
I have to keep this brief because 1.) I’ve been working for the past 12 hours and 2.) because I still have a few hours of work left. So I’ll get to addressing how this could make money. It’s pretty simple yet difficult – propose the plan to the Obama administration. If accepted, make a contract with the government to launch the website. Charge the government for the initial startup costs and future services.
You wouldn’t really have to outlay cash. Because of your financial success, you could be the one making the proposal.
Initial Setup Cost: $500K to $2million
(This could be recouped through government funding).
Revenues (very hastily projected): Either monthly or yearly fees. Possible fees could amount to $10’s of millions to hundreds of millions. I haven’t given it enough thought for a definite amount.
The plan could work within the 90 period because the government would have to make payments based on the contract.
I am the web content manager for a 10,000 page e-commerce website, so I have some good knowledge.
Anyway, just an idea, maybe someone else can take it and run with it. Feel free too! The government needs all the accountability it can get.
Regards,
Joe Kolb
Comment by Joe Kolb -
I propose to market and teach courses in technical writing, especially focusing on teaching new project managers how to write clear and unambiguous requirements specifications.
See: http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Technical_writing_specification
I get emails every week from around the world asking me when I’ll teach these courses live again. I’m ready to do it now.
To start, I either need to rent classrooms with computers, or buy a stack of laptops that I haul around with me as I go from place to place to teach. In addition, marketing and administering the courses requires both time and money.
With your investment in capital and start-up marketing expenses, the first students could be found and taught within 45 days. Similar courses cost about $2k per participant.
What I teach is unique because it’s not about tools and lists. It’s about how to describe the goals, functions, and structures of a new system. I focus on clearly understanding the users, capturing requirements, and writing them in a standardized English that saves everyone from confusion.
This course was originally developed overseas, and is well-suited for non-native speakers who find themselves responsible for writing critical project documents.
Companies and individuals who take this course get a huge return on their investment. Think of how much miscommunication has cost your companies over the years.
1. This is a start up.
2. This business generates no revenue from advertising.
3. The courses, once started, will generate enough cash flow to break even within 60 days.
4. It shall be profitable within 90 days.
5. Funding will be respected and our books will be completely open to you.
6. After the initial capital investment in marketing and computers, the courses become relatively cheap to provide while generating the steady revenues. Additional courses suited to a growing network of attendees will be development to ensure long term growth.
7. I am the only employee, though I’ll hire marketing and administrative contractors. As the business grows, I expect to hire and train more teachers but no middle managers.
8. This is my preliminary business plan. Anyone can also use the materials I created on wikiversity.
9. I’d like help making a start. After that, your level of involvement is completely up to you.
10. It’d be great if you gave some guest lectures as well as advice, but again that is completely up to you.
11. I agree to your terms on banks and account monitoring including cosigning outflows. If I cannot justify an expenditure to you, it won’t be made.
12. You can either take an equity stake or make the investment in the form of an interest bearing loan. I’m completely open in this regard.
13. This is not MLM.
Thank you again for your consideration,
Fred Williams
aka “TWFred” at wikiversity
(I welcome interest from others out there besides Mr. Cuban, and will happily answer any questions. Contact me through the wikiversity message system.)
Comment by Fred Williams -
For those who are apprehensive about sharing ideas, let me tell you…ideas are a dime a dozen. They drum this into you in business school. If you have a good idea that you’re passionate about, trust me, you have a huge advantage regardless of how much you publicize it. Don’t discount passion and surrounding yourself with good people.
Check out this site – http://www.killerstartups.com/
There are hundreds of ideas every week that people vote on. I doubt these people are staying awake at night worrying someone’s going to steal their idea from the site.
Comment by John S -
Mark:
This has been an interesting read…I am glad to see so many thinkers out there (as well as basket cases) have the opportunity to present their ideas to someone who can make a difference.
About me: I have spent many years working for mid-sized corporations, many of whom had great and spirited beginnings and have witnessed each of them grow beyond their roots and turn into cold, soulless cookie cutter operations with no hope of innovation. I have made a lot of money for these corporations and feel that the only thing that prevented me from making more money for them was the chains and shackles of the inward looking corporate mentality.
I intend to start a business that is small, yet profitable. Maintain that smallness and grow smart, and use the model as an open source so that it is easily replicated and improved upon.
The field I operate in is the distribution of automotive parts. There are many players in this field…from AutoZone to NAPA to CARQUEST to Advance each has their own semi-unique approach the market. Their similarities can be summed up as such: All of them serve both the retail and commercial market and none of them has a consistent focus on who their customers are.
Cars are getting more and more complicated. The retail segment, while sizable, is shrinking every year as consumers cannot afford the equipment and education required to work on their own vehicles. Most of them turn to professional installers and dealerships to service their vehicles.
The focus of my plan will be this commercial segment. Your average 2 mechanic repair shop will purchase between 9,000 and 11,000 in automotive parts and supplies every month. Larger shops purchase upwards of $20,000.
My plan would limit my sales to 9 or 10, highly committed, commercial customers. There are several advantages to this approach:
* No retail business means cheaper real estate (and/or rent) and less hours of operations.
*By limiting our customer base we can focus our efforts on these accounts with out suffering the white noise and distraction of trying to service the retail market and 30 or 40 different wholesale accounts(see the companies mentioned above).
*The talent pool for this industry is deep and inexpensive (the best of the best non-management makes under 40K).
*Payroll costs are low as these 9 or 10 customers could be fully served by a staff of 4 (2 on the phones, 2 delivering).
*All growth is controlled.
*Any location could be properly scouted and commitments secured before turning the key.
*Preliminary PnL’s show that profitability could be secured with as few as 6 accounts buying 7,000 worth of product monthly.
Selling this program to potential customers would focus on the three X’s:
Exclusivity. Offering them your utmost focus and making them feel privilaged to have you as a business partner.
Expertise. Spending that little extra for sales talent so you are offering the best of the best to them.
Execution. No retail, no cat herding….just one hundred percent focus on these customers.
I would be remiss if I did not point out the downside of this industry:
*The margins are not very high, usually in the 28-32% range for commercial trading.
*Inventory is expensive. An inventory of approximately 200K (start up) would be necessary to be viable.
I wish I had something more formal to present for you, but as this opportunity presented itself I figured I would just empty the contents of my brain in this fashion. Thank you for the chance!
Comment by Tom -
Maybe a website can be built for this where users can rate each idea and then you pick and choose the best-rated ones. It’s a shame but this is a great concept but very hard to read and follow on this blog.
Comment by John S -
well,our succinct plan isn’t posting so please contact through award winning film site wwww.buddhawild.com-info@buddhawild.com
Thanks
Comment by aw -
Grease Vehicle Campaign:
Like the garbage carrying trucks in L.A., the plan is to convert 90% of diesel engines to run on refined grease.
The Winners: All fast food ventures are now paid for grease they produce, even one cent a gallon would be enough.
Drivers: Refined plant oil fuel is not dependent on international politics or any metric other than obesity, which has been rising for years.
The Economy: The reduction in diesel usage allows for less domestic usage of gas, allowing us to sell more, it makes restaurants with deep fryers producers of a vital resource(transit fuel)
Heck, the refining could be done so well that when a diesel vehicle pulls into a fast food joint, they just pay five bucks extra and get their tank filled.
Comment by Austin -
THE LINE/ THE FRAGMENT
I propose a bit of a different idea! Give to be given, karma points.
The downturn in the economy is largely accountable to people giving to get, trying to make more and more money, trying to focus on the cash and losing sight of the people.
What if we gave to give, not to get.
I am a marketer/promotions/event planning/out of the box/creative with an idea.
I want to provide marketing (viral, campaign, branding, social networking), promotions and event planning (fund raising, awareness) assistance to non-profits, social organizations and NGOs.
These are the people on the front lines of assistance. They will be passing out the blankets, fighting on the front lines for jobs, for food and and for human right. Many non-profits are small staffed with people highly dedicated and knowledgeable on their issue. They often times have a huge desire to expand, grow, be creative and market and brand but are unable to due to size, time and ability.
Thats where THE LINE/ THE FRAGMENT comes in.
We provide assistance in either simple ideas to whole campaign planning and execution. We provide design and resources from branding and peripheral materials. We plan and execute events and mobile marketing. We connect small culture changing people to the media, sponsors, events, bands, promoters, and the people who want to make a difference. We develop and execute radio, tv, web, viral and print campaigns on local or national level.
Money is needed for simple start up.
Supplies, web and promo material…Salary for small staff and initial costs.
Revenue will be brought in by :
partnered clients pay for services. either one time gig fee’s or retainer based relationships.
attached clothing line and merchandise also brings in profit.
Why put money into a wall street business or hedge fund? Lets put money to the people who need it. Lets help them help america and the world by helping them get the word out and fund their actions.
Comment by Jake Dockter -
Business Plan:
Problem: Some cities have lousy public transportation, some taxi cabs are sketchy. Some people don’t like driving but need to get around.
Concept: Car Pool, people make weekly schedules for their plans, lincoln towncar comes to pick them up, ride them to destination, etc. It is, in effect, a cheaper taxi for which you are billed according to usage plan like a cell phone.
The requirements for the user is an internet connection/cell phone. In order to use the service, you log in to schedule your vehicular needs.
There is also short term usage plans, a sort of ‘short notice’ transport that is priced accordingly.
Target Audience: Jumpers, people whose transit requires ten or fifteen minutes of car time that would translate otherwise to ungainly public transit or expensive taxis, which do not reward planning in advance.
Comment by Austin -
For some reason my plan isn’t posting?
Comment by aw -
My business plan: Cuban’s Havana – A theme park based on Mark’s life. Have exhibits like an Obstacle Course (walk a red carpet while dodging gold digging women, paparazzi, and strangers chasing you with their business plans), the House of Angst (scream at an NBA player, scream at an NBA referee, scream at an SEC auditor), and the Freak Show (marvel at wondrous oddities Mark has encountered – featuring Dennis Rodman). It would be kind of like Dollywood, except it wouldn’t suck.
And here’s the best part: equity is 100% yours. My sole compensation is laughing my ass off at people’s reactions when you announce the plan.
Cheers!
Comment by Jason -
Thanks so much for the opportunity. I own KGS Bikes, the world’s premiere ultra high end bicycle fitting studio and boutique. I have developed a program that lends itself to growth as a separate JV although you may have better ideas to get it going. Here is the concept.
I have found that professional athletes, mainly basketball and football, use spin bikes to rehab and to warm up during events. Additionally, as these athletes age they become more susceptible to injury and after they retire, many have big problems with a newfound sedentary lifestyle.
Cycling is the Fountain of Youth. That is my mission in life and as it applies to some of these huge individuals, cycling is something that may never have been an option prior to now. The mechanics of really big bikes are unique and because of this, many poorly designed bikes have a speed wobble, which makes them very dangerous.
I have put together a four stage concept which addresses these problems and provides you with a tremendous PR opportunity, as well as the likelihood of changing the sport for the good. The trickledown effect of this can be remarkable given the role models these great athletes are.
Here are the four components:
1. I have developed a bicycle fitting system that is just as effective for a 7’6″ professional basketball player as it is for a 5’10” recreational cyclist or a 4’10” female triathlete. It defines the balance points that are needed to biomechanically line up one’s muscles so they are efficient. Coincidentally, this is the most comfortable position on a bicycle! Here is my protocol http://www.kgsbikes.com/go/news/kgs-bikes-fitting-process-how-and-why and here is a press release outlining my relationship to the Cooper Aerobics Center, http://www.kgsbikes.com/go/news/cooper-fitness-center-adds-bicycle-fittings-to-improve-cyclists-lives
2. The data set created by this fitting is used to create a custom bicycle that is truly an extension of the individual. This technology is what is used by the likes of Lance Armstrong and I have made it available to all.
3. Combine this custom bicycle with a Virtual Reality trainer and you now have an Ultimate Stationary bike. This not only fits the athlete perfectly but allows mental stimulation as well. The net result is more compliance for rehab and more likelihood of better aerobic conditioning during a career and a sustainable active lifestyle after the career. http://www.kgsbikes.com/go/news/the-ultimate-stationary-bike
4. Finally, I am an expert in cycling technique. My consulting services would teach the rider how to properly, safely and confidently how to ride a high performance bike, and to teach the techniques that the pros use to safely ride on our current roads. This allows the freedom to ride anywhere and become a marvelous role model for sedentary fans, while keeping the stationary trainer for in-season use or other times when riding outside is not possible.
The program is self funding. I need access and a partner to help with a massive PR campaign to jump start the program. I also need a partner who wants to change the face of professional sports to address the following issues:
1. Team owners are facing flack for the fate of many professional athletes whose lives disintegrate after they are on their own. The trainers can keep structure in their lives but when they retire things get difficult. We can make a huge difference here.
2. Existing athletes can reduce injury due to fatigue.
3. Better aerobic fitness could result in more minutes of play before fatigue.
4. Rehab time could be reduced as their personal bikes would match their structure more accurately, eliminating secondary injuries.
My program is called “Size Matters” and is ready to deploy. I have plenty of other data to back up my proposal.
Thanks so much for the opportunity and your concept is incredible.
Best Regards,
Kevin Saunders, President
KGS Bikes, Inc.
Comment by kgsbikes -
Mark,
Thanks for this opportunity… Our company is called Alternate Fuel Group, we’re in Dallas, and our product is BioFry®. It’s a environmentally, feel-good product and we need a little jump start to get it all going. The full proposal available at:
Our proposal is available on google docs:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhsz3fp9_0d8gqpwg2
Briefly:
BioFry®, is a cooking/fry oil for the food service, HRI, and restaurant industries.
Available in both BioFry® Canola and BioFry® Soybean, our oils are top-quality oils that meet the highest standards expected at restaurants and their clients. Restaurants using BioFry® can tell their patrons proudly that they are not only providing the best cooking oils but are also participating in the production of a national biodiesel Alternate Fuel program that is good for America.
More available on google docs:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhsz3fp9_0d8gqpwg2
Thanks again,
Craig
Comment by Craig Spivey -
For some reason, my plan isn’t posting, so here’s a link to it:
level10realty.com/z.php
Thanks!
Seth Parker
Comment by Seth Parker -
My post has not published either! I cannot understand it.
Comment by kgsbikes -
I have the opportunity to acquire the container printing for a large food manufacturer but lack the start-up capital. One press, one punch, one blower, miscellaneous supplies, and a forklift would run about $100,000. Then the building, leased. I can get a commitment for the business if I can prove to the customer I have the start-up funding. It could take up to two months to put it all together, would employ ten individuals, make a profit the first month, and repay your investment within six months. If you are interested, I can provide you a business plan in a week.
Comment by Robert Lantz -
Testing to see why my post isn’t publishing…
Comment by Seth Parker -
Micropayments. The lack of micropayments is the reason the internet has languished so far. As soon as we get micropayments going, another tech boom begins and the funny thing is that it’s really not that hard technically to implement micropayments. I’m working with a startup right now to make this happen, but I think the idea is so important that it’s worth mentioning here too. If my company don’t make micropayments happen for whatever reason, somebody needs to make it happen. Needless to say, once another micropayment-driven tech boom begins, the current economic difficulties will be forgotten like a bad dream.
Comment by Sprewell -
My plan is nothing new actually, although I have seen some pretty good ideas on here already. My plan is to start my own sub-contractor business installing siding windows and the like with my son and daughter and hopefully some more disabled people like my son and myself to not only get off public subsidies but to give us back our pride and dignity. I would need funding too get insurances, a dependable pickup, and some basic equipment. It’s not much actually but a bit out of my range on disability. I am a hard worker and I would work very hard to make this work.
Comment by Bill Kullberg -
Mr Cuban, first let me say that I applaud your willingness to help others achieve success, even if I question the method. But you are the billionaire and I am the one writing on your Blog, watching your Basket Ball Team and considering asking for your money and help promote my business. So we will assume you know better than I how to get businesses off the ground and profitable. :o)
I am not sure if you are familiar with the industry our program deals with but the concept is simple, do it better and do it in a way that is less expensive for the customer.
The cost of developing has already been covered with sweat equity, I have worked on this for 3 years, with last year being our first year of operation.
All that is required now is a marketing budget to turn this into a profitable venture. I will share with you some of our projections and market analysis information and feed back from our industry leaders to back up the projections if you are interested after looking over our web site.
In a nut shell we are holding online competitions for a new equestrian event that we also designed in order to fill a gap in the performance horse industry.
Our new event (Performance Horse Development) is designed to allow people to compete while learning, PHD also allows the exhibitors to learn the basics of training their own horse while competing. This is different from other equine events that require a certain amount of skill before being able to compete.
IPHDA is the association we created to promote this sport and we are using the internet and video to make the competitions accessible to every horse owner world wide. We also promote live competitions that are run by local groups in their area if and when they have enough exhibitors.
In case you are not familiar with our industry the Performance Horse business has a multi billion dollar impact on the economy in Texas alone, and the International Performance Horse Development Association is international in scope thanks to the internet.
Hopefully the website will serve as a business plan
Comment by Rod Miller -
Why do people go into buisness? To make money. How do you make money? By providing a service or product used by the public or a a target market that, once said product, service, is produced or provided to the customer base there is a sum of money left over above and beyond the expenses incurred in producing, providing
said product. That left over money is called profit and is kept
by owners or paid to stock / share holders as a return on thier investment. This is how the owners and share holders make thier money and support themselves and thier families. Some time, these owners and stockholders generate enough profit to more than provide for thier needs, they actually make a surplus of money, enough money to have more than they and thier families might need
these people are said to be wealthy. Some of these people make so much surplus money that they and thier families could never want
for anything ever again. There are more of these people around than you might think. Our government his this kind of money as well. Well, how much is enough? What if some of the people who have this kind of fortune were to put aside a bit of thier surplus profit to fund profit making ventures where there were no owners or stock holders with needs to be met? I’m talking about day to day businesses that at the end of the day after ALL rent, supplies, reasonable salaries, advertising, the whole enchilada is bought and paid for, the profit could be put into a holding account or even invested in no risk bonds and allowed to grow
until not only could the original startup money br given back to the source, not at a profit, just a repayment of original money
so you’re really not out anything, but allowed to grow enough to finance another of these day to day businesses and the process repeated again and again. Providing employment and services and products where there were none to start with? Costing no one anything really and propetually making money for no one in particular, yet everyone all at once? Just wondering? Bill Gates this question is for you and alot of others as well.
Thanks,
Rob
Comment by Rob Brown -
Just wanted to say: Great concept Marc.
We don’t need any investment, the hot line of our outsourcing business is iPhone App development. Turns out we are helping people make good money on the apps. Classic win-win situation.
All the best to you!
Comment by Peter -
I just want to say I love the wood shop idea by Mark…I rent a place each month in an expensive city with limited space. To be able to go to a fully equipped “shop class for adults” without having to purchase expensive equipment and find a place to store it would be pretty fun!
Kinda like the little “do it yourself” pottery places you see all over the place, except for guys who like power tools.
Comment by Niels Fogt -
Mark,
Check out http://www.ideablob.com. It’s open-source, idea-sharing for new businesses. Let me know if you ever want to get involved.
Best,
Will Robinson
Comment by Will -
Mr.C,
Satellite Installers currently use meters to locate satellite signals/positioning when installing satellite. It would make more sense to have a tv monitor included. A hand held satellite meter with a screen to instantly check picture and audio quality. It’s like taking the tv with you to the roof at installation. This would save time and money. I made a few prototypes at my job and the Installers sware by them. I’m 35 years old and hard working. I’ve been at my current job for 12 years. I like to provide quality work as efficiently as possible. That’s what inspired me.
Thanks for listening,
Ray Jones
Comment by Ray Jones -
another thought: cookie dough. my mom built her business around her cookie recipe and has been throwing around ideas about selling the pre-made dough to restaurants around the city (and eventually country). these restaurants would bake off the dough in-house so they could serve an awesome, freshly-baked, great-smelling product that they wouldn’t have to devote scarce and expensive kitchen space/equipment to making from scratch. this dough is infinitely better than crap you’d get at the grocery store, but could be cheaper than buying from an “artisanal” local place who can’t take advantage of economies of scale.
great idea, mr. cuban! (the open-source thing, not the cookies) i’m sure nassim taleb would agree that this kind of “tinkering”, en masse no less, will get you some solid ideas. very cool.
Comment by jdk -
Its known as the Matrix of Social Media, its algorithm lies within advanced chaos theory – The Butterfly Effect. A pitch already exists publicly on the walls of my facebook site and the idea is completely sustainable and offers opportunity to anyone plugged in to the web.
It suggest the values of transparency, respect, good will, relevancy and value for value will create the harmony the globe so desperately seeks. One of its most basic elements is something I call the Good Will Virus and its something with the potential to accomplish what you suggest.
What the Matrix of Social Media will do is define a radical new set of Rules of Engagement that lead to empowering human interaction as well as sustainable income and success for all who follow the path, and it creates a globe full of jobs.
Currently in a very successful experimental phase its an Interactive Experiential Authorship – the worlds first, and its a course in Personal Fulfillment for individuals and corporations alike.
Now since Social Media platforms already exists and are free, all that is really needed is some sort of salary for myself, perhaps some other writer’s, mapper’s, interns etc..
My research and experimentation yields training programs that can be taught to some who in turn teach it other individuals and corporations so on and so forth.. It will fuel countless jobs, opportunities, and success stories..
Thank You for Your Consideration
Comment by Curtis John Mitchell -
Hello Mark,
WHAT: To sell fresh fruit just sliced and pierced by a wooden stick. (Pineapples, watermelons, melons, apples, manga, papaya, mixed fruits, etc)
WHERE: Places with high affluence of walking and standing people, like touristic spots, monuments, beaches or natural spots.
HOW: Network of autonomous and self-contained point of sales, where the fruit is constantly being sliced and showed in a bed of ice.
PRICE: No more than 50 cents per fruit slice. (size of slices may vary depending on fruit types, but price must be unique).
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: Develop a network of sellers big enough to consider itself a retailer as a whole. This way we could negotiate with the crops themselves for better prices and qualities on the fruits. No need of middlemen or buying in groceries or auctions. Develop more efficient logistics for constantly delivering fresh fruits to the points of sale.
EQUITY: In exchange of an initial investment of $100,000 I will give you 10% of global monthly net profits. Another 10% would be for me. 50% of the profits would go to the seller of each point of sales. 30% would go for re-investment in the business, development and expansion. The company would be owned 40% by you, 20% by a collective of the workers and 40% by me.
SET UP COSTS: -$30,000 : initial cost for developing 10 point of sales (PoS), consisting of an ad-hoc built wooden cabana, around 1x1m.
-$10,000: initial cost of administrative fees and attorney fees for study of local legislation.
MONTHLY EXPENSES: -Cost of fruit : $12,500 per month initially. ($1,250 per PoS)
-Licenses and taxes : $5,000 per month for 10 PoS (Estimation on local laws, may vary on place of development) ($500 /PoS)
-Transport : $2,500 per month for a van and driver to pick the fruits from the crop, and deliver to each PoS on daily basis.($250/Pos)
– Total per PoS per Month: $2,000
The Initial investment will cover the set up costs, monthly costs for three months and leave an operative margin of $10,000 from the initial investment.
Estimated sales of 500 pieces of fruit per PoS and day would lead to:
-$250 income per day and Pos.
and considering 25 days per month of full-activity:
-$6250 income per month and PoS.
Minus $2,000 of monthly expenses:
-$4250 of net monthly profit per PoS.
The seller would retain 50% ( $2,125, probably a very happy and motivated fruit seller)
The first two months, the 30% for reinvestment, my 10% of profits and your 10% of profits would be summed up to cover set up costs, and therefore breaking even in two months. ($2,125 x 10 PoS = $21,250. Two months: $42,500, more than set up costs.
On the third month we will start seeing profit, 10% of $4,250 x 10 PoS = $4,250 per month each of us. I understand this for you might probably sound like spare change, but the idea is to create a self sustainable enterprise from the second month, generating profit since month two, and generating jobs for several non-skilled workers. With the 30% dedicated to reinvestment, the idea is to increase the network to more PoS and places and therefore exponentially increasing profits creating a brand recognized for healthy fast food and with motivated happy workers.
Thank you for reading up to here. Any feedback?
I think it is a round idea. ru.ro.ma@gmail.com
Comment by Ruben RM -
Here’s my idea idea:
A Social Network / Web Service Connecting Bloggers with Public Relations People
The current solution
ProfNet is a great service for the PR industry. If you’re unfamiliar, ProfNet is (quoted from their site):
“An online community of nearly 14,000 professional communicators, ProfNet was created in 1992 to connect reporters easily and quickly with expert sources at no charge. We now provide this same free service to other professionals looking for experts, including:
• Academic Researchers
• Authors/Screenwriters
• Bloggers
• Consultants
• Corporate Researchers
• Financial Analysts
• Government Officials
• Industry Analysts
• Meeting Planners
• PR and Marketing Professionals
• Publishers
In action, it work like this: journalists put a query out, seeking something specific for a story (interviews, experts, products, etc) – it is then distributed to thousands of communications professionals simultaneously via email, and matches are made. This is all done through email addresses or ProfNet inboxes (I am guessing most of the interaction here is email).
I use ProfNet daily as a communications professional, and while I do notice some blogger requests coming through, it is made up mostly traditional media people using and interacting with the service.
This may be to the fact that it is a very web 1.0 type of service, and (probably) has not had to radically change in years (I’ve only been using it for more than 2 years, and it seems the same as when I started).
It does work great – but…
The service was created in 1992 and was designed to connect PR folk with traditional media. It works wonderfully for that, and is an extremely useful service for PR people and journalists alike. When the service works best, it’s a win for everyone – plus I have used it to make some fantastic media connections.
The question is this: is something that was designed to connect traditional journalists with public relations people the right solution to connect bloggers and new media content creators with public relations people?
It feels like to me there could be a niche solution, geared specifically toward connecting bloggers and PR professionals. Do you agree? Seems like a great startup idea to me.
As a public relations professional, I’d highly consider subscribing, especially if there was a wealth of bloggers seeking content to connect with on the service too.
Bloggers are constantly seeking out fresh content within their niche, and PR people have clients that are experts or have news in that niche. There are so many unmade matches in the blogosphere that are potentially great stories for bloggers and their readers, and opportunities for businesses to reach potential new eyes.
A new approach is needed for wide adoption of this type of service in the blogosphere
Perhaps a new system could work to better bridge professionals in both these fields. I know these kind of connections are traditionally a personal networking game, where bloggers and PR people have to do the legwork manually (which is why services like Twitter are a great way to interact).
But, the best startups throw “traditional” out the window and reinvents the rules. It just feels like there is an opportunity here to do something specific to bridge content creators like bloggers with people who are sitting on tons of content and want to get it out there. It could even bring traditional journalists into the mix.
There are such amazing new social and connection tools available to connect people on the web. This current service doesn’t use much of the networking tools, rating systems and crowdsourcing techniques that startups in other industries are taking advantage of to connect with each other.
I have a layout in mind of how this network could be executed properly to have mass appeal for both bloggers and PR people. Unfortunately I’m not at a point yet that I can embark down the road of creating startups.
Mark – if you want to fund me, you have my contact.
Thanks!
Adam
Comment by Adam Singer -
Pingback: The Cuban Stimulus Plan to Save the World?
Just curious, how many established businesses don’t have any form of advertising already? Not many, most have Yellow Pages at the very least.
Comment by LLF -
Pingback: Pets.com owner funds business ideas via blog comments
Mark,
1. You have probably tried to play guitar at one time and may have one at home…if you have not, then you have a family member who has…guaranteed.
2. Guitars are everywhere….it is a cultural phenomenon…..it is still the most popular instrument in the world and drives a huge percentage of all musical equipment manufacturing, yet schools don’t offer guitar classes…what an oxymoron!
3. The majority of guitar players [that’s all of us who ever picked up a guitar] think we really suck….Why do we suck? We suck because we never had the opportunity to learn and play guitar with a private guitar teacher who had a sustainable teaching model.
A quick joke…”How do you get a guitar player to turn down his/her amp?”………..put sheet music in front of them.
Ok one more….”How do you know a guitar player has a gig?”……………….by the dominos pizza sign on the roof of his/her car.
Those jokes are a snap shot of the problem and the opportunity.
The problem.
1. Our private guitar teachers don’t know how to measure our unique ability level, with an academic benchmark and then match our unique ability level with the ‘right guitar teaching program and resources.’ The academic benchmark is an internationally recognized guitar curriculum. IRGC
2. There are thousands of private guitar teachers across the USA, teaching tens of thousands of guitar players who bail after a few months of lessons from boredom or frustration. Its a cycle of lost opportunity for the guitar student and lost revenue, lost referrals for the private guitar teachers.
The Opportunity.
1. Mentor the private guitar teachers, with a ‘train the trainer’ program, teach them to run a savvy guitar teaching business, inspire them to become entrepreneurial about teaching guitar!
2. Provide them with the academic benchmark IRGC, to measure the unique ability level of enrolling guitar students and match the students unique ability level with the ‘right guitar teaching program and resources.’
3. Offer the ‘right guitar teaching program and resources.’ through my web site Musicians Academy for a low monthly subscription of $10-$15 to every student of the private guitar teacher as a resource partner of the guitar teacher.
4. Continue to measure the progress and development of every guitar students unique ability level with an exam every year taken a designated exam center.
This model can be overlaid on every instrument but guitar is the primary focus.
Resources are defined as online guitar education videos. There is a one time cost to develop a single online video that will be viewed by thousands of students. It is a low-cost production model, with ongoing residual income model.
Here is a FAQ on my web site. – http://www.musiciansacademy.us/Tour.html
Look forward to your feedback.
Gavin
Comment by Gavin -
Mark, thanks for the chance to talk about our ideas in this way.
Humans At Work (http://www.humansatwork.com) is a new business with the goal of changing the way people work together. The business model includes an open-source component that I hope will resonate with you.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dtzg487_3hkwxdtfb
Comment by Kelley Eskridge -
the idea or business plan is the easy part – it’s the implementation that’s hard 🙂
I’ve hundreds of ideas. And several business plans. But no time / expertise / desire to implement most of them.
And the ones I do want to implement, are on their way 🙂
Comment by warren -
Pingback: Free Ideas — and Free Money? « Dan Miller’s Blog
Pingback: antipaucity » the open source pitch
Executive Summary:
Have an excess of 250k held at a single FDIC backed banking institution? If so, odds are that your funds are not protected by federal above 250k. Maybe you don’t have over 250k lying around, but you do like to get the best return on your Money-Market (MM) or Certificate of Deposit (CD), does that sound like you? Not enough money in the bank to bother thinking about interest, do you have a *cough*, a few, credit cards which you like to earn rewards on? Maybe you fit into one or more of those categories, if so it is painful to remember what account have the best rewards for what you are purchasing, or what your local banks CD rates are.
The idea is simple, all your financial information in one place (Phase 1) and only one card to use at the store (Phase 2). You log into a single portal, all your financial institutions online sites are polled for the latest statements and other useful information, and brought back to you in seconds on a single screen. Thus, providing full functionality to all of your institution’s online features via your personal portal.
Phase 1:
Portal is initially built with major institutions like Wells Fargo and Bank One templates already defined to access their online sites on behalf of the client. Server-side would access the client’s account and store information for later statistics, polling only when client logged into our site. Client-side would use individual requests for each account maintained to bring back to the client’s portal the current balance and recent transactions. If an institution’s site has been modified and the requested information wasn’t able to be found by the server-side script then the client would be asked to visit the offending institution’s site from within our portal. We would then request the user to do a couple functions, such as; login, highlight their current balance, highlight their most recent transaction, so on and so forth. We would be logging actions and events client-side until they have completed mapping the new site’s features. This would then be sent back to server-side, sanitized, and used for future requests to this site. Using a threshold that must be reached before a new site template replaces an existing would keep things honest. Open-source tools like Firebug already have the ability we would need to exploit to enable client to map for us, saving in development time. We would use same concept to obtain the latest CD and MM rates (along side the already popular aggregators of such information), posting those in the sidebar. After server-side has been developed, focus would shift to mobile devices and web, interfacing with all the major accounting programs.
• All financial assets viewable on a single site/page
• Statistics of spending and trends between all accounts or on individual accounts
• Comparison of your spending habits versus others (anonymous others)
• Client would be able to update all accounts information (if available to do online)
• Potential to do bank to bank transfers without the ACH overhead imposed by bank (debit/credit)
• Potential to withdraw CD and deposit into desired account
• Trigger rates could be set to automatically move money to highest earning account
Banks, Creditors, and the like would pay for advertisement and ranking (hiding) of their CD & MM rates. It would be subscription based for mobile devices such as iPhone, maybe a couple dollars a month (you can probably tell me better than I you). For the web I would be tempted to make it free or a one time signing fee after a period of free use. Until we had a fair sized client-base I don’t see use needing too much hardware.
Phase 2:
Each client would have to sign up for an unsecured loan ranging in amounts and authorize us to draft and deposit in all accounts. If a client has over a certain threshold of funds on hand then a loan agreement may not be necessary. The idea is that the client uses our credit card for ALL purchases and then at a later time can delegate between which accounts they would like to actually debit the amount against. The process would be helped by notes on each purchase and account to which gives suggestions for what the incentive for using one account over another would be for a particular purchase. The client would have the option of defining a liquid account which all ‘pending’, un-delegated, purchases would be posted against if not specified within the defined time period.
I am struggling to think of how exactly to implement this phase, some barriers to entry would be getting the creditors to give bonuses based on initial transaction and not on the basis that the transaction is coming from us (maybe some banking or encoding tricks could be done). Another barrier would be making the loan agreement for the pending drafts and agreements with banks. A lawyer would be better to say what troubles we would run into.
We could make money on interest for amounts not delegated to another account within the defined amount of time, or a yearly fee like American Express, or just about any fee a bank can impose we can certainly think about…
I’d be willing to give 49% share to you!
Comment by Brandon -
Here is my business proposal for your review.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df4bwksh_0h72b8fcz
Comment by Victor Couture -
US BUSINESS GARMENT MANUFACTURING STIMULUS
President Obama wears made in America suits from Hart Schaffner Marx in Chicago. Bankers, lawyers, accountants and executives wear business suits everyday as the uniform of their profession. However for tax purposes those individuals can not personally deduct the cost of purchasing their uniform. In a recession this cost factor inhibits individuals from purchasing business garments and adversely impacts manufacturing and retail jobs in the domestic clothing industry.
The proposed business model would coordinate a lease financing program for business clothing, which stimulates purchases of made in America business garments and sustainable growth in related domestic manufacturing and retail jobs.
A bank or law firm with a business dress code policy should be no different than Fedex. Staff wear a uniform mandated by a written corporate policy for legitimate business purposes. If the bank acquires business clothing for its staff under a leasing program, it can deduct the cost of that clothing as an expense. It is not a capital cost subject to depreciation, it is a leasing expense. The bank would have an option to purchase the leased clothingworn by its staff upon expiry of a 1 year lease term at fair market value. Based on the market value of clothing worn by someone else for 12 months, its residual value, and any implied tax benefit to an individual, is minimal.
At the end of 1 year the clothing could be purchased by an individual staff member from the bank for a nominal amount equal to its minimal residual value. Alernatively it could be donated by the bank to charitable programs which provide second hand business suits to needy men and women for job interviews. The bank gets a charitable donation receipt for tax purposes.
The leasing program could be made available to staff to acquire business clothing of any origin, but 100% cost coverage by the employer would only be offered for items made in America. Banks may find that offering this program not only improves its image, but is a cost effective hiring incentive, particularly for new graduates for whom a business clothing wardrobe is a huge expense. The stimulation of growth in the domestic business garment industry could be significant.
The business model is the equivalent of GMAC, or Ford Motor Credit for the business garment industry. Floor plan financing with qualified clothing dealers would be established with funding secured with guarantee backed leases from participating banks, law firms, accounting firms and corporations. Staff of participating businesses would shop and select qualifying products with a program card and the purchase costs would be consolidated and allocated to the applicable lease. Revenue streams would include an interest spread and administration services charges.
The business mode would be profitable within 90 days and is scalable. The outcome should combine profitability with meaningful stimulation of a sector of the domestic economy.
Marc if you consider that the thinking behind this plan effectively captures the intent of your Stimulus Plan, contact me to discuss another technology based proposal which resolves a significant current commercial problem concerning lack of interoperability among technical standards in the digital satellite radio sector.
Comment by David Robinson -
Mark,
Great Idea.
A little tough posting a full doc under 500kb. This is a request for Phase II funding of an existing Licensing LLC. I also have a new business that I will post in a moment.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhgn9bk3_26669zfxcw Overview
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhgn9bk3_28f5vxqzdn Funding/Outline
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhgn9bk3_30fswj23j3 SJM Team/Partners
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhgn9bk3_45g343gccm Composers
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhgn9bk3_53hnhzwsgn Studio
Comment by Michael St James -
Dear Mr. Cuban
I’m unable to find a good fried chicken wing in San Francisco, so that why I want to start a deep friend wing business in the Bay Area.
Executive Summary
Toby’s Chicken Wings: take-out and delivery extravaganzas with a few eat in tables. Toby’s wants’ to position it to take advantage of heath revolt that is eating at San Francisco’s very soul.
The San Francisco population is rapidly growing with new east coasters and mainlanders that cannot find a good wing in the city. We believe a locally owned and southern grown restaurant is the best option to serve the rapidly growing population of slackers, stoners, game players and other wrenched souls who consider gyms and jogging a waste of a good time.
This business plan calls for an exciting, profitable start-up year ahead with future forecasted growth as we meet the demands of the community. In all, this plan describes a company with good growth prospects, looking to capitalize on a growing market with real wings and finger and of course Toby’s very own food invention “the Crustie”
1.1 Mission
Toby’s Wings creates a weird but fun atmosphere for all the cutthroats and cutpurses, assassins and troopers, humans and aliens, gangsters and thieves (exert from the Star Wars during the Cantina visit) we will also cater to the many bars, nightclubs, 20 something population and of course the 6 weed dispensaries located in the lower haight. We will be sensitive to the look of our establishment and will trade our food for decorations such as paintings, furniture, artifacts and anything deemed valuable by the eccentric owner and shadow master “Toby”. We look to provide the best possible value to our customers who desire a great chicken wing and Crusties (type of pizza roll) and to provide customers with the satisfaction of receiving a great value, both tangibly and intangibly. Additionally, we deliver to all the bars and dispensaries in the area.
Our customers are our neighbors as we are residents of our market area. We will also create and nurture a super creativity, surprise, respectful and fun working environment, in which our employees are fairly compensated and encouraged to respect the customer and the quality of the product we produce. We seek fair and responsible profit, enough to keep the company financially healthy for the long term and to fairly compensate Toby and investors for their investment and risk.
1.2 Keys to Success
The keys to success in this business are:
Delivering the customer value proposition and the best damn wings on the west coast.
Supple: Finding the best possible wing for the best possible price around the Bay Area.
Marketing: promoting a new company, product, and delivery channels to a rural community.
Product quality and consistency.
Pricing effectively with respect to the project quality and customer value proposition.
Freaky but Fun -oriented atmosphere with occasional nights of tomfoolery.
Management: products delivered on time, costs controlled, marketing budgets managed. There is a temptation to fixate on growth at the expense of profits.
Reporting and controls in place for inventory and financials.
1.3 Objectives
The objectives for Toby’s Wings are:
To establish the market presence needed to support marketing and sales goals and to attract customers.
To reach healthy monthly sales by the end of 2009, and average monthly sales increasing modestly by steadily through FY 2010.
To achieve double-digit profit margins.
To create a new epicenter of mischief and tomfoolery.
To develop top-rated relationships with 2-4 well respected, all encompassing distributors.
Company Summary
Toby’s Wings is a privately owned chicken wing restaurant offering a product menu that does not currently exist in the area and first to offer a decent chicken and tofu wing. Our customers are many of the 20 something, hipster, old punks, stoners and students in the area.
2.1 Company Ownership
Toby’s Wings will be established as a limited liability company (LLC) with Toby Dixon as the sole owner.
2.2 Start-up Summary
Our start-up costs cover the renovation of the occupied store space, professional fees, and expenses associated with opening our first location. The start-up costs are to be financed by direct owner investment, financial institutions, and private investors. The assumptions are shown in the following table and illustration.
Start-up
Requirements
Start-up Expenses
Professional Fees (Legal, Accounting, Consulting) $1,800
Placemats, Stationery, Business Cards $1,100
Renovation $8,300
Marketing $1,500
Rent $5,000
Expensed Equipment $5,000
Insurance $350
Website Development Free
Misc Expense $3,800
Total Start-up Expenses $26,850
Start-up Assets
Cash Required $13,000
Start-up Inventory $16,000
Other Current Assets $5,250
Long-term Assets 0
Total Assets $34,250
Total Requirements
Start-up Funding
Start-up Expenses to Fund $26,850
Start-up Assets to Fund $34,250
Total Funding Required $61,100
Assets
Non-cash Assets from Start-up $30,00
Loans from Friends $8,000
Additional Cash Raised $0
Cash Balance on Starting Date $0
Total Assets $38,000
Total Cost $61,100
I will need at least $23,100
Liabilities
Current Borrowing $0
Long-term Liabilities $25,000
Accounts Payable (Outstanding Bills) $9,500
Other Current Liabilities (interest-free) $0
Total Liabilities $34,500
Capital
Planned Investment
Investor 1 $15,000
Owners $30,000
Additional Investment Requirement $1,000
Total Planned Investment $46,000
Loss at Start-up (Start-up Expenses) ($25,850)
Total Capital $20,150
Total Capital and Liabilities $54,650
Total Funding $80,500
Services
Toby’s Wings offers high quality chicken wings, tofu wings, chicken fingers, tofu finger, and Crusties (type of pizza roll) to a growing community that currently has limited availability of fried foods. At start up we will be open for dinner 4 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Sunday – Thursday and 5pm to 3 a.m. to Friday and Saturday. This will allow us to get the outgoing bar customers.
Our menu will include 3 sizes of wings and fingers and 3 sizes of Crusties with various combinations of toppings. Additionally soda and extra ranch and blue cheese will be included in the initial menu offerings.
Market Analysis Summary
Our primary target market are people who just want to take a break from the health craze and dig into the best fuckin wings in the Bay Area. Our secondary target market also desires a delivery service for wings and a take-out approach. There is overlap of these segments and keep our rent costs low.
San Francisco’s Lower Haight and its surrounding communities have a growing middle-class area with nearly 14,000 residents. A majority of these residents are in there mid to late 20’s and are from other parts of the country other than California. The boom in the area is primarily in response to an exodus of “cool” kids moving out of the boring ass areas of the mid west and east coast and into a more hip/exciting setting.
Additionally, Lower Haight residents frequently visit the 8+ bars in a two-block radius every day of the week.
With the expected continued growth in the area, estimated at 15% annually, opportunities to serve Lower Haight and its surrounding areas will increase. The company will sell predominantly to individuals, but it will also accept some catering jobs to individual parties, schools, and company functions in the San Francisco area.
4.1 Market Segmentation
Those residents of neighboring communities of San Francisco are included in the Market Segmentation. Only those residents of a 3-mile radius of Lower Haight are included in the delivery, as bike messengers who are looking to earn more cash at night will perform delivery.
4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy
Including Deauville and its surrounding areas, no pizza establishments exist. In Deauville one to two restaurants serve pizza, but not as a primary menu item. These pizza outlets are in taverns which are not conducive to family-type atmosphere. No eating establishments in the Deauville area provide home-delivery service.
4.3 Service Business Analysis
Other take-out restaurants in the area include: Rosemonds (Polish Sausage), Last Resort Pizza (name says it all), Love-n-Haight Sandwiches, and a horrible taco joint that no one goes too. Rosemonds will be the number one competitor but they only serve sausages.
There are two other chicken wing restaurants in San Francisco but the wings are over priced, super small, and the environment is very corporate.
In conversations with an independent pizza operator in San Francisco, 10 min. drive away; he indicated pizza sales in his community are thriving despite competition from 4 other pizza establishments, including Pizza Hut (R). While exact figures were not shared, he indicated a high level of penetration into the take-out market in his area with profitable margins. He also provided suggestions and tips to minimize costs, and components of his restaurant he would do differently, including payroll handling, vendors, and layout.
4.3.1 Competition and Buying Patterns
There is minimal competition for chicken wings in the San Francisco area. Many of the small Pizzerias in town sell baked wings but the taste is not the same as a fried wing. NY Buffalo Wings on Valencia Street is a side in/take out wing restaurant that is run by people who have never had a tasty chicken wing. Yelp ranks them dead last in the city for wings and I agree.
Strategy and Implementation Summary
Our strategy is based on delivering a strong customer value proposition in a niche market. California is full of southern cooking but people who have never had any real southern cookin run them. We are going to change that and offer San Francisco a new choice in food unhealthy options.
Also:
What begins as a need to satisfy a need in the community can eventually turn into a mainstay in the SF market and we can expand?
We are building our marketing infrastructure so that we can eventually reach additional areas in the city and neighboring towns with the same offering.
We focus on satisfying the needs of small towns residents that have moved to the big city
5.1 Competitive Edge
Our competitive edge is to be first-to-the-market with southern chicken wings a friendly, crazy, non-family-oriented take-out experience, and first-to-the-area with bike delivery service.
Additionally, the location of Toby’s Wings is crucial as a convenience model to customers. Lower Haight residents frequent the many bars adjacent to the restaurant. This location is directly in the center of activity in the lower haight–it is within walking distance to all the major clubs worth going to
5.2 Marketing Strategy
To drive customers to Toby’s Wings we will employ every technique in the book and those outlined below. One of the keys to Toby’s Wings being sucesfull is to use new marketing tactics that do not cost much money and to utilize the community’s creative nature.
Marketing in Bars: Toby’s Wings will work with all local bars in order to market its goods in them. Toby’s Wings will supply the bar workers with free food in order to have them name drinks after Toby’s products and allow Toby’s Wings employees to pass out free samples at the bars.
Market to Pot Clubs: Same as above.
Additionally, circus-oriented events will be hosted by Toby’s Wings to attract customers such as midget Monday’s, birthday parties, and Crustie giveaways. Frequent buyer cards will be employed to entice repeat customers. Toby’s Wings will also sponsor a local Lady’s Roller Derby team.
Future plans of working in coordination with the adjacent video store to offer, “bundle savings” if both wings and video rentals are purchased will be pursued within the second year of operation.
5.3 Sales Strategy
The San Francisco area has expressed its need for “real” Sothern cooking restaurants, specifically a desire for fried wings. Because of this, there is pent-up demand for wings in this area. We will expect a high rate of sales growth within the first 3 months as this customer desire is met.
For the next year, we continue to focus on a growing presence in the community and creative advertising heavily throughout the community.
5.3.1 Sales Forecast
Our sales forecast assumes a modest change in annual costs to accommodate new entry into the market.
We are expecting to increase sales modestly but steadily over the next year, which is a respectable growth rate. The growth forecast is assumed given this is a new product for the area using new channels of availability. We are not projecting significant change in the product line, or in the proportion between different lines.
Based on industry averages and the absence of competition for pizza in the San Francisco area, we are predicting an average of 20 wings orders sold each week night (Sunday – Wednesday). On the weekends (Thursday – Saturday), we are estimating 50 wings sold each day. In addition we project Crusties will become our most product but it will need time to gain in sales since it is a new product to San Francisco and the world at large.
Wings (reg. and tofu)-
6pc- $4.50
12pc-$7.50
24pc-$13.50
Finger (reg. and tofu)
4pc-$5.50
6pc-$8.00
Crusties (add $1 per ingredient)
6pc-$4.50
12pc-$7.50
24pc-$13.50
Drinks (try to find unique ones)
$1.00
Extra Ranch or Blue Cheese
$.50
Sales Forecast
FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011
Sales
Wings $90,00 $150,00 $150,000
Fingers $70,000 $100,00 $100,000
Crusties $37,000 $120,00 $180,000
Drinks $15,000 $30,000 $30,000
Total Sales 212K 400K 460K
Direct Cost of Sales FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011
Wings $40,000 $70,000 $70,000
Finger $30,000 $50,000 $50,000
Crusties $10,000 $40,000 $40,000
Drinks $3000 $15,000 $15,000
Subtotal Direct Cost of Sales $83,000 175K 175K
Web Plan Summary
The Toby’s Wings website will be the virtual business card and portfolio for the company, as well as its online “home. It will have some photos and fun facts and of course the menu. However, it will be only another marketing tool and major focus will not be needed.
The Toby’s Wings website needs to be a simple yet fun and well designed website that the owner is very well capable of making
Future elements of the site can contain online ordering, if customers express an interest in this functionality.
6.1 Website Marketing Strategy
Our Internet marketing activities will be focused on product information and offers. Future opportunities exist in offering online ordering.
6.2 Development Requirements
Toby the owner will design the website.
Management Summary
We are a small company owned and operated by Toby with the help of his amazing and highly creative girlfriend Erin Lasky. Management style reflects the owner’s bizarre tastes and the need to make people laugh and remember what’s important like laughing. The company respects its community of co-workers and treats all workers fantastic but we reserve the right to yank everyone chain from time to time.
Toby Dixon is a marketing graduate from San Francisco State. He has operated two other businesses in San Francisco.
Siesta Sleep Systems 1999 to 2001: A whole seller of mattress to the hotel industry.
Stick Man 2004 to 2005: firewood delivery business
Imaginary Foundation 2004 to Present: T-shirt company
These business were not successful for one reason or the other it has allowed Toby the opportunity to see how small business work in the Bay Area. He has learned from his successes and from mistakes (don’t go into business with friends)
7.1 Personnel Plan
Toby worked with developmentally disabled adults for over 5 years in the Bay Area and has a huge pull of DD workers who are more than capable of handling the food preparation and kitchen duties. With this knowledge Toby will be able to hand pick the correct personnel to get the job done correctly.
The personnel table assumes a level need of employees, and 5% per annum pay raises. Staffing for a 7-day a week restaurant necessitates two shifts. In addition to the hours open for serving we anticipate an additional hour before opening for prep and as much as an hour after closing for cleanup. This is approximately 9 hours of staffing necessary Sunday – Thursday and 12 hours on both Friday and Saturday.
The two kitchen lead positions are part-time, earning $13/hr. The kitchen leads will serve as the shift leaders of the kitchen/wait staff. Kitchen staff will serve as the wait staff. There will be one dedicated dishwashing position per shift. Wages for kitchen/wait staff, dishwashers, and delivery drivers, who are all part-time, are $10/hr, with opportunities for all to share the combined earn tips
Hourly part-time positions as kitchen/wait, dishwashing, and delivery staff average out to be approximately 30 hours per week each. Delivery staff will work 5 hour shifts each night, with an extra delivery staff member added on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. During the week if this person is not delivering, they will work in the kitchen as needed, directed by the kitchen lead.
Personnel Plan
FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011
Kitchen Leads $28,080 $29,484 $30,958
Kitchen/Wait $37,440 $39,312 $41,278
Dishwasher $15,600 $16,380 $17,199
Owner $9,000 $9,450 $9,923
Delivery $15,600 $16,380 $17,199
Total People 12 12 12
Total Payroll $105,720 $111,006 $116,556
Financial Plan
The financial picture is quite encouraging. But currently I have little to no cash on hand. However I do own a house (Grandfather left it to me) in Virginia. Its current worth is around $75,000 in this gloomy economy we find ourselves in. I can take out a lean on it. I have 2 investors that have given me the thumbs up and are willing to lean me $10,000 collectively.
We will be slow to take on debt and heavily investing our own assets, but with our increase in sales we do expect to apply for a credit line with the bank, to a limit of $50,000. The credit line is supported by assets.
8.1 Important Assumptions
The financial plan depends on important assumptions, most of which are shown in the following table. The key underlying assumptions are:
We assume a fairly high-growth economy for pizza in the Deauville area, given the lack of competition and interest in having a pizza restaurant available in the area and pent-up demand.
We assume, of course, that there are no unforeseen changes in technology to make our products immediately obsolete.
We assume access to equity capital and financing sufficient to maintain our financial plan as shown in the tables.
Comment by Toby Dixon -
Open Source Funding – How About Ultra-Low-Cost Cinema Franchises?
Movies were credited with giving Americans a much-needed escape and lift during the Depression. I’d like to think that the same thing would help lift our spirits now, but our viewing options are so limited at the megaplexes. What we need is more Landmark Theaters! Tens of thousands more for the “long tail” of cinema.
Every year over 14,000 films go to the festivals worldwide, but only about 600 make it to the movie theaters. Even Slumdog Millionaire almost never made it to the theaters. What other movie gems are we missing?
What we need is the democratization and open-sourcing of theatrical distribution. We can do it with online digital distribution and by putting thousand of people to to work as independent theater operators, complete with their own cinema franchisee kit – only costing about $1500, and including:
A 12 foot inflatable projector screen – $200
http://www.amazon.com/Airblown-Inflatable-Movie-Screen-Storage/dp/B000TLDCRS/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1234478725&sr=8-1
A 3200 lumens projector that can support HD – $750
http://www.amazon.com/Vivitek-D732MX-3200-Lumens-Projector/dp/B0013916FK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1234479252&sr=8-5
230 watt portable amp/speaker system – $120
http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PWMA230-Pwma230/dp/B000CHJTG2/ref=pd_cp_e_2?pf_rd_p=413863501&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000CHHS5Q&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1VPYTZKEX2QPS7BZMTAA
Multimedia Laptop – $500
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dndopm2&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=features~laptops_great_deals
This setup can be used in cafes, bars, restaurants, parks, and even parking lots, and can accommodate 50-100 people per screening. We will offer a web-based SaaS service that allows users to plug in to do online ticket sales, HD video delivery, webcasts, and more. you can learn more about CineGoGo at http://www.cinegogo.com/investors.
Comment by Kal Deutsch -
Hey Mark,
I posted our business plan on here twice and both times it’s been taken down…are you still accepting proposals? If we’re doing something incorrectly – just let us know and we’ll fix it.
Thanks!
Dwight
Comment by Dwight -
I submitted our plan thanks for the opportunity.
Comment by GKeller -
Me and the old lady have wanted to open a doughnut shop in Key West every since we went there the first time. Lot’s of nichey
lunch and dinner spots, LOTS of fancy dinner spots but not much in the way of quick breakfast and no doughnuts. I say we go down
right before tourist season, find a locality, pick up a used proofer a stainless work table and bust out some bear claws. We could even offer lunch, I’ve been Smokin’ Texas Beef an Pork Since I was knee high to a grass hopper. Plus don’t forget the fajitas.
The wife has years of experiance in the doughnut business. A big plus would be that making doughnuts is cheap and the mark up is
incredible. I’ve also got a recipe for a margarita that’ll get ya tighter than Dick’s hat band, I gaurantee. C’mon get ya a pull!!
I’m telling ya, this would work, the foriegn visitors would flip.
I’m also a painter and sculptor and we could section off part of the shop to sell custom made trinkets and what nots. I’m serious
as syphaliss! Let’s do this thing.
Thanks.
Rob
Comment by Rob Brown -
Hi Mark
Botego (http://www.botego.com/english.htm) creates intelligent virtual agents that work on the web, instant messaging platforms or mobile devices. Basically our bots respond to customer questions automatically, reducing inbound call center and e-mail traffic significantly (11% in one case). We’re based in Istanbul, Turkey, and we’re already profitable. Our proprietary algorithm is platform-independent, and language-independent. (You can see a demo prepared for a US-based company at: http://www.botego.com/demovideo.htm)
Our clientele includes Turk Telecom (Incumbent telecom operator of Turkey), Avea (Second largest GSM operator of Turkey), Hepsiburada (Largest e-commerce website of Turkey, owned by one of the largest conglomerates of Turkey, The Dogan Group), TEB (a partner of BNP BARIPAS, sixth largest bank in the world, and the largest one in the Euro region), Tefal, TTNET (Largest operator of DSL and dial-up services in Turkey)
Younoodle predicted valuation at 01 March 2010: $8,630,000
Younoodle score: 347 / 1000
The biggest international competitor Colloquis was acquired by Microsoft and is now a part of the Microsoft Live Agents Platform. Another one based in Europe (VirtuOz) recently closed a $11.4 million Series B funding round.
Should you be interested in investing in our company, we might offer up to 25% ownership.
Comment by Ekim Nazim Kaya -
An interesting problem in the elderly community is remembering if one already used shampoo in the shower. Trivial to you and me, but after surveying 46 retirement communities (a total of 564 60+ US citizens), the problem of remembering if they shampooed is present in 74% of this demographic(p<0.05) with 52% (p<0.05) feeling angry and frustrated by their lack of memory. Again, a laughable problem to you and me, but an inconvenience to these folks. Our solution:
A gel button that sticks on the shampoo bottle that changes color when held and stays that color for 5 min.
We will sell these “sticky” buttons at a price of $4.00 per button and primarily market them to the 5,000+ elderly communities (NOT the same as homes) in the United States. It costs $0.15 to make a single button and we are expecting to spend $15,000 in marketing and advertising to retirement communities.
If we assume that in the first month we can sell buttons to 30% of all folks in 200 communities (avg. of 90 homes in each community), profits would come out to be: [(200)*(.3*90)*(4)]-[(200)*(.3*90)*(.15)] = $20,790; With you taking a 30% for the first three months.
I didn’t want to waste your time, if you want more numbers and the complete plan, please request.
Comment by Gogol -
Mark,
I’ve got a couple of ideas for you:
1) If you’ve ever seen a good photograph turned into a painting, it’s pretty impressive. Takes it from being a good picture, to being something you want to mount on your wall and show off. Very easy, even for non-artists. Idea: An online store dedicated to this niche with video tutorials and pre-packaged supplies.
2) Custom motor oil. People are crazy about the oil they swear by (Mobile One, Royal Purple, etc.) — how about giving people the opportunity to ‘build’ their own oil. They start with a base and choose the additives (seal sweller, long mileage) etc. which they want. Shipped to their door.
3) Financial bootcamps strictly for WOMEN. Part vacation/part education. Take away the intimidation and ignorance with a week at a resort where the mornings are spent learning about personal finance and the evenings are spent doing social things/relaxing.
4) A service where you enter the URL of an out-of-stock product. The service checks the website every few hours and sends you an SMS to your mobile phone the moment the product comes back into stock. Might be able to persuade buyers, sellers, or both to pay for this.
Let me know if interested and I’ll flesh out further.
-j
Comment by Jason Smith -
Pingback: Got a business idea? Write a plan and get money | Freedom Reeves
Hey Susan, here’s a newsflash: Earth is finite. That means one day we will NEED to develop resources in space or die. NASA may not be the most efficient at exploration and development, but that doesn’t negate their valuable accomplishments.
I also recommend you start looking into near-earth objects and think about how close we are getting to the probability of a comet or asteroid collision. Once you get it, join the rest of us and lobby NASA for a more important near-term mission: monitoring the NEOs and developing plans to deal with them.
Comment by Randall Arnold -
Very simple idea – allow customers to decide what movies they want to watch at the movie theaters.
If you go to a movie theater on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, they are nearly empty. Reason – there is little incentive for a movie lover to go watch a movie on Tuesday night when she can watch the same movie on Saturday.
Pain for customers: Not enough choice of programming.
Pain for theater owners: Empty theaters means no concession sales.
Pain for media houses: Excess inventory of older movies with no returns.
But times have changed. We have the internet & social networking tools now.
Solution: Think – “NETFLIX MEETS FACEBOOK/INSTANT MESSAGING FOR MOVIE THEATER RESERVATIONS”. The idea is to have a site that does for multiple customers what priceline.com did 10 years ago for a single customer. In our approach, a user can submit a bunch of movies they would watch on Tuesday (think of your favorite movie or even NCAA/NFL game from yester-years). If enough people make the same request (vote for it) – the theater ‘decides’ (actually the algorithm does) to show that movie on the day.
Why is this possible NOW but not earlier? Companies like Qualcomm have spent billions of dollars in coming up with digital distribution of media/movies. And to upgrade theaters to
be able to display using the new digital mode. However – they are not earning any ‘new’ business as a result. This is the Killer App for Digital Distribution.
What do I need? Three things:
1.I have filed a patent but on my meagre resources I am close to abandoning it due to USPTO back and forth (i.e., lots of laywer fees). I need $10K to sustain my IP protection.
2. Proof of Concept – I don’t need to tie to a national chain to do a POC. I can convince a local theater to offer a limited version of this with a website & some advertising. We can run the program for 3 months and see how many more teenagers/customers show up on Tuesday/Wednesday & calculate the returns. Cost: $25K
3. After the POC, we can make go or no-go decision.
Profitability & Business Model: Charge $1 per ticket sold (or revenue share with theaters) just like Fandango. We could even partner with likes of Fandango/NetFlix/Blockbuster/AMC.
Equity Sharing: You get 25% for 35K including the rights to the intellectual property.
Defensibility of Patent: Priceline.com has a patent on its approach (1 to 1 match) – this is an algorithm that does 3 way match (n to n between customer, theater owner and content owner). The Patent application was filed in 2002.
About me: I am a software engineer by training but currently a product executive at a software company.
Comment by anshusharma -
Sorry Mark! I didn’t realize the first link to google docs wasn’t viewable. This should fix it. Let me know what you think.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhgk8rmb_0dqwnhtxv
Thanks again,
Greg
Comment by Greg -
I really like what you are doing Mark and I admire you as a business man. I know that sometimes you have negative media on towards you, but hey, you are in the media and others are not. Sometimes its good to be known for being a bit out of control. Isn’t that the reason we ALL know who Dennis Rodman is?
Anyways, I have a wonderful business proposal but I fear that I will make others try and do what I want to do. I do not have a financial backing, which is the main reason that I do not have THIS product out for the public to purchase and purchase they will. I have test subjects for my product and they love the stuff. I do not want to reveal much. I know you said that it should be something that may be shared.
So here is where I draw the line and end my proposal. If you wish to, contact me via email and lets get together on this. I know it will be successful and willing to put all of my Mavericks stuff that I own on the line.
Thank you for taking your time and I know that you will love the idea(s).
Sincerely
Gabriel Sas
PS. what I can say that it will consist of:
bottling of product
Selling in bulk
distribution wanted world wide (guaranteed)
Comment by Gabriel Sas -
Mark for your consideration ::
http://cid-69444bad87a54bcb.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Business%20Plan%20for%20Mark%20Cuban.pdf
Comment by Abbie Watters -
I’ve got the cure for the economy, it works like this:
1. Abolish the healthcare mandate, the one that forces employers to offer health insurance, and pick up part of the cost. That’s what’s driving the jobs overseas,and driving health care costs up, because the insurance carriers have a captive audience. Notice they charge more and more, and cover less and less? Duh…
That should start the beginning of the end of outsourcing, and of China owning us.
2. ZERO funding for NASA/Space Toys – we aren’t going to live on other planets, if there is life out there, so freaking what? This money could be better spent on the housing crisis and education.
3. As my grandma said “Charity begins at home, with the people who belong there” If we are not feeding, clothing, housing, educating, and employing every American on American soil, we do not have dime number one to hand out to another nation, or to its citizens who’ve migrated here; it’s not about ‘hating’, people hide behind that argument. It’s about reality, fair and square.
4. The federal income tax has always been based on ability to pay; if you earn it, you can pay your share; end of story.
5. If we imposed, say, a 50 to 60% tax on those obscene ‘bonuses’ they’d actually do more good.
Comment by Susan Lewis -
As of 2009, baby boomers now outnumber any other age group in America. This marketable group is very well educated & wealthy. A large number of them are managing the care or are caring for an aged parent. Older Americans & baby boomers now request elder care group homes instead of nursing homes & other type centers. Group homes provide a home environment instead of a clinical environment. Just as parents prefer a home environment for child care, older Americans & baby boomers do, also. We are wanting to open several group homes that will be very lucrative & provide a much needed service. We have done the homework and are ready to start immediately.
Thank you.
Lula R. Lewis
E-Mail: TISHTISHMCE@AOL.COM
Comment by Lula R. Lewis -
Mr. Mark Cuban,
Hope all is going well! Here is my plan!
Death Care Industry
I already have some prospects in the Los Angeles area.
Profitable within your 60-90 days guideline ( sooner if my lead time was shorter)
Quick Facts:
-A person dies every 1.8 seconds
-Potential historic boom for the next 20 years (death of the baby boomers)
-68% are buried in USA
-Recession and Depression Proof
ROI:
-20% Return on Investment
-Principal and dividends paid quarterly for up to 15 months (5 quarters)
-Paid back within 15 months or sooner.
or any terms you have in mind.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12294760/Funeral-Pro-Business-Plan
Thank you for your consideration
Comment by Jon G. -
Mark,
I want to be the new king of junk mail (a.k.a. direct mail). My plan is to start a fullfillment house that hand addresses each envelope to increase the open rate. Here is the plan. You pay me to go to India or South Africa, and I’ll start hiring people to send hand written notes to direct mail marketing firms with the following:
“Dear Marketing Agency Person,
The reason you opened this piece of mail, and are reading this now is because this letter was hand addressed and this note is hand written. We are a fulfillment house located in South Africa that can hand address your direct mail for approximately $.20 each. We know that is probably double the rate you are paying today, but the increased response rate will be worth it for your clients.”
Within 60 days we will have contracts, and we can grow the business organically. A little work, and a lot of bics and we should make decent coin. Of course, people will eventually learn to ignore hand addressed envelopes, and there is nothing to stop competitors.
Cheers,
John Campbell
Comment by John Campbell -
Mark,
The idea is simple and adds the on-demand factor to a slowly fading skill. I propose to open up a wood shop which enables people to go build furniture and other items. With the overhead of purchasing tools, finding the work space and gaining the working knowledge to build, it is a skill which has been left to the experts and craftsmen and not taught to our generation. I would like to open up a shop which provides all the tools, workspace, and skilled craftsmen to teach the Everyday Joe how to build household furniture. It would also sell lumber and hardware at a slight premium for those who can’t transport the lumber to the shop.
The key market for this shop is to provide a working area and service for those in apartments, condo’s and inner-city housing which do not have space to build goods for their homes. In the falling economic times it would be beneficial to have the opportunity to build your own furniture and re-instill a working knowledge of woodwork.
The membership for the company would be relatively inexpensive, but depending on demand, would work like a time-share and availability would be scheduled in a calendar. There would always be a professional in the building to help and give tips on building. Every member would have to sign a document to waive all legal responsibilities of the company in case of an accident.
As you stated, no marketing will be provided. The company will succeed from buzz and will be spread by having all apartments offer 1 free month of service to new tenants and the shop can be used to build free furniture for Habitat for Humanity and other non-profits.
Still have a lot of polishing but think it would be a good type of service to bring back to the people so we can all start doing more for ourselves.
Comment by JD -
Todslist actually looks worse than Craigslist. I never imagined a site that could look worse than Craigslist, but your colors, fonts, layout and CSS are pretty bad. Definitely should work on that before full launch.
Comment by Brian Pontarelli -
Pingback: Grown Up Digital » Got a sure-fire business idea? Say hi to Mark Cuban
Mr. Cuban –
Thanks for the opportunity. I’ve uploaded our business plan to Scribd.
* the business has been in the works for nearly 2 years
* we’re 6-8 weeks from launching, but have run out of funding
* mature, experienced team with a successful record & lots of skin in the game
* innovative model leveraging current trends of telecommuting, broadband access, and entrepreneurialism
* direct and indirect job creation
* hot location in downtown Austin
* high end design & architecture
* proprietary supporting software is in testing
* already raised $800K, need another $900K
* excellent returns
* tremendous opportunity for future growth
Business plan:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12294052/LPC
Comment by Julie G -
An apartment building brokerage here in Chicago. I work at a large brokerage house that “employs” independent contractors. I have the name and phone number of every apartment building owner in Chicago. With some office space and more manpower (hiring+stimulating economy)we would have a number of proeprties under contract in the first 60 days as we already have experience and some “deals” close. not only could you knock out the competition here in Chicago, we could expand throught the couuntry with little expenses are large revenues. there are buyers and sellers. standard comision is 6% ona an average sale of 2 million. we’re doing this with or without your investment, but this would employa lot of people.
Comment by William Cassin -
BUSINESS NAME: TODSLIST
WEBSITE: TODSLIST.COM
PRODUCT: GLOBAL CLASSIFIED ADS WITH “VIDEO CLASSIFIEDS”
ANNUAL SALES POTENTIAL: $18 BILLION
COMPETITORS: CRAIGSLIST
INVESTMENT: $2.5 MILLION
90 DAY ROI: 30%
PROFIT SHARING: 50/50
CURRENT STAGE: BETA
THANK YOU
Tod
Comment by Tod -
Mark,
There are 2 huge problems that there is no easy way around: 1) Energy and 2) Water. My plan is to fix #2 and make money doing it. This is a real, no bull plan with real, no bull technology. This is not an incremental improvement, this is revolutionary. If you want to make a difference…here it is. I’m in the process of getting funded anyway, but money would make it happen faster. The timeline shown in the plan is predicated on having to waste half of my team’s time wooing investors for the next year. If we had the money now, we could realistically start selling this within a couple of months.
Google docs page here:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg46zmps_5ggpxgrdg
If nothing else, I’d love to hear your feedback. We’ve begun execution of the plan already, but your input would be helpful.
Thanks,
Tom Joseph
Comment by Tom Joseph -
I have an idea that can save many lives and the technology to do it is available — we just need to put it together. Tornadoes, severe storms and flash flooding have taken many lives, especially those of travelers who do not know what county they are in or what stations to listen to for weather warnings. Unfortunately, it is frequently the travelers who are on the highways who are killed or injured because they haven’t a clue as to where they are or where to go.
I propose to take the Doppler Radar System Map (in real time) and impose it over automobile or hand held GPS systems during severe weather warnings. Of course, there could be warning sounds as well. I have a 2009 Nissan Murano with all the bells and whistles — but not this one. Tornadoes seem to be hitting in non-traditional places throughout the country and I think this is a simple fix to help people get out of harms way. This could also help boost the sales of GPS’ and auto’s with them!
I am the president of a business based in Tulsa — we specialize in psychological and performance assessments.
So this is a new venture idea for me and fresh on my mind after the deadly tornadoes this week.
Let me know,
Nancy
from Oklahoma
Comment by Nancy Parsons -
i think its cool more owners and players should be involved with the success of americas economy sine they feed off the people for profit im a personal chef who has developed my own line of spices and marinades geered for the african american market i need financing 214-815-5449 dallas tx
Comment by soul wasabi williams -
Good Afternoon,
My friend and I have a start up business idea that we have much faith in. It does include some advertising though. This advertising is not the main focal point, it’s only secondary, and will benefit our business in the end. Our idea is to create a play, and eventually make it into a movie. We have already written the script for our movie, so cash flow break even within 60 days of when we start the play will be capable. Likewise, the play will be profitable within 90 days. We’re confident that we will meet the monthly funding numbers. We will start our project by first staging a play at one location. This will give us some money because it will not cost a lot to prepare it. Everyone will work. The actors will work as crew members also, just as we will. This too will benefit us in the end because it lowers our budget. Like I stated before, our plan is to put on a play. This may sound like a waste of time, but let me explain. As you know, we’ve already written the script to our play, and plan on making it into one. Once we perform the play at one location, we will travel around the United States, staging it for more people. After support, and fan base grows, we assume that our revenue will also. Thus, we will be able to turn our play into a movie. The reason we feel that this plan will work is because our script covers a touchy subject that is intriguing to many. In addition, during these tough economic times, anyone enjoys the chance to escape from reality for a while. Yes, people don’t have as much money to spend, but they still enjoy going to the movies. What better area to invest in then the entertainment industry?! We would be very thankful for initial funding. Any money received will not be used youthfully, or wastefully. It will go to the dedication of our business plan. You will receive a profit from our plan, but as to how much initially, we are not sure. Once our movie is going, revenue will surely increase rapidly. Thank you, Mr. Cuban, for your time. It’s much appreciated. Thank you.
Comment by Lucy Carter -
Business model:
Typical contingency recruiting agency that charges 15% placement fee vs. industry standard of 20-30%. Focus initially to be on financial/accounting placements, but could move into technical, engineering, physicians, etc. over time.
There will be no office and minimal overhead. All placement consultants will work from home and cell phone. A “salesforce.com”-type contact management system will be set up initially, and non-compete/non-solicitation agreements will be set up initially and will be rock-solid to avoid competition from exited employees/consultants.
A media blitz will occur in the first 30 days on talk radio in one major market (suggest Dallas/Ft. Worth) and select FM stations to advertise the service and announce the game-changing 15% fee.
Competitors:
Robert Half, Spherion, etc. Their overhead would never permit a 15% fee.
Target clients:
Middle-market and large public companies doing business in the DFW area.
Upfront capital required:
Website – $15k
CRM software – $10k
90 days advertising – $100k
Miscellaneous – $25k
Total investment – $150K
Resources:
Utilizing an existing network I currently have of people who know people in the accounting and finance market in DFW on a COMMISSION basis only. Commissions to be 50% of the 15% fee.
Ownership to Cuban: 40-50%
Comment by David Mc -
Estimated Mark, my business plan is to open a management consulting firm here in Argentina. We´ll be consultants on Customer Relationship Management, Strategy and personal work management -in a David Allen way- (Getting things done).
The structure will be flat, as I´m friend with some very hard working (and capable) persons who are willing to make the companys here take a step further on their economic development.
Companys here are willing to be adviced by people who studied evidence-based management, and we´re willing to make this happen!
Please contact if you feel interest…
Comment by Horacio -
See my plan for renewable energy produced hydrogen fueling stations at http://newghas.com. Thanks
Comment by John -
Pingback: deepikabajaj.com » Open source funding
Pingback: Rabbit Valley Road / Newspapers and the Three-Legged Stool
I feel sorry for the people posting their Phone Numbers. We need to make some rules about posting to protect people from evil doers 🙂
Comment by Murpythadog -
A good company to start would be your versio of the lottery. You could have stratch off tickets, daily or weekly drawing. Not to mention free advertisements because once the news get wind of the ideal they won’t be able to stop talking about it. You could break even way before the 90 days. Look around no on can afford their light bill but have lots of losing lottery tickets and stratch off laying around the house.
Comment by mary -
Hi,
WOW ! SUPER COOL – I WANT A LIMO PED!
Thanks for listing it!
Phil S.
Comment by Phil -
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12291928/Pellet-Plant-Business-Plan
We have been working on this plan for almost six months. It is a substantial business that would generate long-term profits, offer employment and be a real asset to the local economy.
Thank you for the opportunity.
BD
Comment by BD -
Pingback: Turulcsirip - Haim Schlesinger
Here is my idea….
Everyone in this online community, plz let me know your feedback, as I am a firm believer that before executing any business idea, sustainable market research and study must be done…This upfront work, saves your a** in the long run!!!
My idea is similar to espn’s streak for the cash idea seen here http://streak.espn.go.com/
However, as Mr. Cuban pointed out, capitalizing on ones idea and executing is key, in which espn has NOT been able to do.
I propose to have a site similar to espn’s streak for the cash. Where we have a website where if someone picks X amount of games correct in a row, they win X amount of money. Espn has generated millions of extra web traffic/hits per day, however, they have not capitalized on it. They have one partner Progressive insurance, who gave them a chunk of money for putting there name on the site, but that’s it!
Where my site differs from espn’s and what set us a part is:
1)Our site will offer a bigger cash prize (BUZZ generates more traffic)
2)We will create strategic partnerships and place certain adds on our site..The adds that appear will be related to what people have been browsing (through ones “cookies”) The adds will constantly change accordingly.
3)Also, by signing up millions of users, there address, email, phone number, etc will be collected/required…Another opportunity to capitalize on.
The above is just a “teaser” to solicit your feedback…Obviously, there is a lot more too it! In a way, this business model is similar to plentyoffish.com which makes almost 5 million dollars a year on internet traffic. Similar business model, just different “driver” to get people to the website.
Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from everyone!
Regards, Zach
Comment by Zach Hasman -
Very simple idea – allow customers to decide what movies they want to watch at the movie theaters.
If you go to a movie theater on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, they are nearly empty. Reason – there is little incentive for a movie lover to go watch a movie on Tuesday night when she can watch the same movie on Saturday.
Pain for customers: Not enough choice of programming.
Pain for theater owners: Empty theaters means no concession sales.
Pain for media houses: Excess inventory of older movies with no returns.
But times have changed. We have the internet & social networking tools now.
Solution: Think – “NETFLIX MEETS FACEBOOK/INSTANT MESSAGING FOR MOVIE THEATER RESERVATIONS”. The idea is to have a site that does for multiple customers what priceline.com did 10 years ago for a single customer. In our approach, a user can submit a bunch of movies they would watch on Tuesday (think of your favorite movie or even NCAA/NFL game from yester-years). If enough people make the same request (vote for it) – the theater ‘decides’ (actually the algorithm does) to show that movie on the day.
Why is this possible NOW but not earlier? Companies like Qualcomm have spent billions of dollars in coming up with digital distribution of media/movies. And to upgrade theaters to
be able to display using the new digital mode. However – they are not earning any ‘new’ business as a result. This is the Killer App for Digital Distribution.
What do I need? Three things:
1.I have filed a patent but on my meagre resources I am close to abandoning it due to USPTO back and forth (i.e., lots of laywer fees). I need $10K to sustain my IP protection.
2. Proof of Concept – I don’t need to tie to a national chain to do a POC. I can convince a local theater to offer a limited version of this with a website & some advertising. We can run the program for 3 months and see how many more teenagers/customers show up on Tuesday/Wednesday & calculate the returns. Cost: $25K
3. After the POC, we can make go or no-go decision.
Profitability & Business Model: Charge $1 per ticket sold (or revenue share with theaters) just like Fandango. We could even partner with likes of Fandango/NetFlix/Blockbuster/AMC.
Defensibility of Patent: Priceline.com has a patent on its approach (1 to 1 match) – this is an algorithm that does 3 way match (n to n between customer, theater owner and content owner). The Patent application was filed in 2002.
About me: I am a software engineer by training but currently a product executive at a software company.
Comment by A.S. -
OK. Here’s my idea — the self-cleaning microwave oven.
As with a stove, you just set it to clean, and an hour later, viola!
The innards, which were encrusted with chili beans that explode when overheated, look brand, spanking new.
Whadayathink?
Comment by mrthorne -
BUSINESS NAME: LIMOPED, INC.
WEBSITE: LIMOPED.COM
PRODUCT: PATENT PENDING MULTI-RIDER SCOOTER
ANNUAL SALES VOLUME: $80 MILLION
COMPETITORS: NONE. ONLY MULTI-RIDER SCOOTER ON THE MARKET.
INVESTMENT: $1.2 MILLION
90 DAY ROI: 25%
PROFIT SHARING: 50/50
PROFIT DISTRIBUTION: CANCER RESEARCH AND NON PROFIT CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS
CURRENT STAGE: MANUFACTURING – GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION NETWORK
POTENTIAL JOB STIMULUS: SALES, MARKETING, LOGISTICS, MANAGEMENT, DISTRIBUTION, PACKAGING AND MORE.
ABOUT: LIMOPED IS A UNIQUE PATENT PENDING MULTI-RIDER SCOOTER THAT WILL BRING USERS HOURS AND HOURS OF FUN. NOW MORE THAN EVER, FAMILIES AND KIDS CAN SPEND QUALITY TIME TOGETHER AND TAKE THEIR MINDS OFF OF THE DAILY STRESSFUL ROUTINE. LIMOPED CAN PROVIDE FATHERS, SONS, MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS TO BOND WHILE DEVELOPING THEIR BALANCE AND COORDINATION SKILLS. $1 OF GAS CAN PROVIDE HOURS AND HOURS OF FUN OUTDOOR ACTIVITY AND EXERCISE. WE CAN ALSO BRAND IT AS “MARK CUBANS LIMOPED” WI TH OUR EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS.
PLEASE CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION.
THANK YOU
RON
LIMOPED, INC.
Comment by Ron -
Hey Mark … here’s the pitch.
People love celebrity crap/sports memorabilia (especially if it is mired in some sort of controversy, i.e. O.J. Simpson’s glove). Indeed, people pay exorbitant amounts of money to own something that has some sort of pop culture significance (i.e. anything belonging to Paris Hilton and/or Brittany Spears, for example). My idea is to have a central auction site (maybe utilizing eBay to start with) that deals exclusively in previously owned celebrity crap (i.e. clothing, jewellery, NBA basketballs, etc). I am using the term celebrity loosely here … it could be Al Gore’s socks, Bill Gates glasses or your NBA ticket stubs … you get the idea.
The distinction here is that all items would be “personally given and endorsed” by said owner.
The business plan is simple … we start with your contact list, you call up a few of your buds and ask them for an item or two to contribute. I handle all the logistics and the setting up of the auction, etc. We use the personal brand of yourself and your celebrity friends to create awareness of the auction and drive demand. Proceeds from the auction are split as follows:
50% goes back to the celebrity (and/or split between themselves and their charity of choice)
25% goes to you for the use of your brand and your rolodex.
25% goes to me for handling all the logistics and for making it painless for you and your celebrity friends to participate.
Each of us could donate all or a portion of our net proceeds to a charitable cause, if we so desired. There is no upfront capital required. We could start with something small (i.e. an item of yours that would generate some interest?) and see if it took off. Depending on the initial success, we may want to look into our own dedicated web site to drive traffic and establish our own brand. Everything would be transparent between you, me and the participating celebrities.
Let me know
Mike
Comment by Mike Parsons -
Mark,
Why not convince healthcare companies like Kaiser to offer discounted gym memberships (or better yet open their own gyms.) Just seems like a no-brainer to me that the obesity epidemic that plagues them (causes increased visits, treatments, medications) could be mitigated with pro-actively decreasing the risks, thus lowering their overall costs. As incentive they could even offer people credits toward reducing the premiums.
-scott
Comment by scott -
Hello Mark
Your Idea is great; I believe that after a while everything will be done Online – EVERYTHING
but enough about you – my Idea , if you’ll willing to accept it is simple , already in use in other place but brilliant –renting bicycles
I live in Tel-Aviv, Israel’s largest city and it’s a great city for bikes. It’s rather small, its flat (no hills or anything) it has NO parking space it’s mostly populated by liberal young people and it has a bad mass-transportation system (no subways or railroads. Only buses and overpriced cubs).
The roads are always full and it’s a real pain kipping a car and bikes get stolen pretty often.
The idea I’m suggesting is similar to the one they have in Paris. There there’s a bunch of “bike station” where you slide in your credit card and get a bike for 1 euro per hour. There are more bike stations there then bus stations. I’m thinking of doing it in Israel.
Of course I’m not that clever, the city of Tel-Aviv already began thinking of such a program. The trouble is it has been suffering really bad Bureaucracy problems that wont be solved for at least a couple of years.
Another thing you should know about Tel-Aviv that in every corner there is a kiosk – a small store selling just candy and cigarettes and stuff.
Because there are so many of them, and because you can’t build such “bike stations” as in Paris because it’s public property , my idea is make the kiosk owner perches such a station for his place.
The bikes will be those foldable once so they won’t get much space. The kiosk owner will choose the amount he is willing to invest (special prices will be given for firs timers or for purchasing a lot of bikes).
The client will be able to pick up a bike and ride with. When he will reach his destination he will simply find a kiosk and leave the bike there. At the end of each night, If a kiosk would have a spare bike it would mean that another kiosk will be a bike short. A truck will drive through these kiosks and over the night collect the bikes form over populated kiosks and bring them to empty spaces.
Damage
If a bike will be broken the truck will bring it to a repair zone. If it’s just something went wrong we will suffer the coast. If a part is missing we will take a penalty from the client
Theft
The costumer will give out his credit card when renting a bike. If the bike won’t be returned he will simply pace a hefty fine
Parking
Special hang-out central places or work spaces will have special rent stores where you will be able to park your bike
The numbers
This bike is costs around 450 each (and of course it will be a lot cheaper once you buy a whole bunch of them) we will have the kiosk pay one fifth of its price and rent it for 3$ per day, and our company will get 2.4 $ out of it. A bike will start bringing money after 150 days. We will be making 72$ per bike a month after that we will have to worry only about the tracks, the parking, repairing and publicity.
Lets say we will have 2 repair men and 1 collector per 100 bikes , we will pay them a total of 4100 $. We will be making 3100 $ a month. Per 100 bikes.
Of course you will have to add some 5000 $ for publicity and another around 5000$ for those bike parking lots so that if we will making money after only 330 bikes are on the market
what do yo think?
Comment by Elia G -
*Name of Business: VoltageX
*Nature of Business: Universal chargers for mobile devices
*Products: Ultimate Phone Charger, Solar Charger for Mobile, Mobile Charger
*Length in Business: 2+ yrs
*Existing customers: Regional retailers
*Target Customers: National Retailers
*Target Market: 85% of US public own cell phones, PDAs,MP3s,GPS,etc.. over 500 million devices in use today.
*Why we’re needed: Increasing # of users requires need for additional sources of power to operate devices. Additionally, consumers can consolidate into a single charger to serve all their devices.
*Summary: We are debt free, cash flow positive. We currently employ 10 commissioned sales reps. We have 200K invested in business to date. We need another 150K to satisfy inventory requirements from retailers, warehousing,and to expand sales and marketing. We are willing to give up 10% equity in the company and its products,both current and future. Product portfolio available upon further request.
Comment by Jerry D. Erickson -
What productive, socioeconomically beneficial role might the venture capital industry play in the upcoming economic stimulus/recovery efforts?
http://bgladd.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-now.html
Comment by BobbyG -
Hey Mark,
I live in rural area with no high speed internet service. My dial up connection is 33.0kbps. It took almost ten minutes to load the graphics on WFAA’s website. I’ve had 3 different wireless broadband cards and they are a little faster (230kbps) but they are expensive and have a tendancy to drop off often.
We need to make the whole country affordable WIFI. This would create new jobs and the money would start pouring in overnight. The next time you fly, just look at all the rural housing and business that are in the same boat I’m in.
I know that the new administration has allocated 2 billion (I think) to expand the internet coverage, but us un-employed need it now.
This is just like back in the 30’s when the utility companies wouldn’t run service to rural areas. No money in it for them, so it’s going to have to come from some private endeavours to create this service.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know how this can be accomplished but somebody out there knows how to set up this technology.
Thank you,
Ken Gatlin
Comment by Ken Gatlin -
Maybe we should all go back to old times standards of saving practices. Look at some reports on China’s economy. 70% of there total take home pay per week goes into a savings account where we spend about 30% more than we make on average. Get ready for the nation to be bought out. Check out the article at http://liquidmarket.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/chinese-house-hunters-tour-us-in-search-of-sweet-deal/ about the chinese investors taking group tour trips over here to look at foreclosed homes as investments to place their children in who will be going to college etc. in the state! Comment with thoughts on this matter.
Comment by mhanna43 -
Kickin’ It, Apparel and Leisure Wear
…Wear it Cause Its Cool…Wear it for a Cause.
Kickin’ It Across America RV tours the country for exposure and to help bring awareness to well deserving organizations.
We decided to trademark ‘Kickin’ It’ because it has so many applications. You can be Kickin’ It with family, friends, or a loved one, leisurely together. The phrase is used in songs, movies, and interviews expressing a variety of different meanings. Bon Jovi used the phrase as a lyric in ‘We Got It Going On’ from the Lost Highway CD, ”You got a Ticket….To Kick It”. Country singer John Michael Montgomery released a CD titled ”Kickin’ It Up”. In 2007 the movie ”Kickin’ It Old Skool” was released, and the movie ”Just Kickin It’’, was about soccer techniques. NBCOlympics.com posted an article on August 8th, 2008 titled ‘“US Taekwondo Team, Kickin’ It in Beijing“.
The phrase is often said during casual conversation. Shemir Moore, of Criminal Minds used the phrase during his April 15th 2008 interview with Ellen DeGeneres. Venus Williams used the phrase in an interview after Wimbledon, Emeril Lagasse is always ‘Kickin’ It…Up a Notch’, Sean Combs, Jay Z, have also been known to use the phrase, the list is endless! Not to mention nearly every high school and college student uses or hears the phrase on a daily basis.
The most rewarding aspect of this phrase it can also be marketed to promote awareness for illness, addiction and/or neglect. One can say ”Kickin’ It” when referring to a habit or an addiction, like smoking. This motivational phrase can also be used to show determination when one is wanting to ‘Kick’ an illness or a disease or when just wanting to be optimistic about an unfortunate situation.
We have designed it where each color Kickin’ It logo, represents a specific charitable cause. Now, no matter how the context of the phrase is being used one thing will transcend… this little phrase ”Kickin’ It”, will make a big impact in this world and to those in need.
As to your specific requirements:
1. It can be an existing business or a start up.
**Start Up
2. It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. Why ? Because I want this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. Thats the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time.
** The applications for this phrase are limitless, which means the marketing potential is limitless. It can be licensed exclusively by one company or marketed with a multitude of companies. Each, non-competing, company could choose a specific color Kickin’ It logo to help with a cause. This in some cases would also connect with their product.
For instance, a company who makes products designed for those who want to ‘Kick’ smoking, if they were to put a red Kickin’ It logo somewhere on their packaging, a portion of the proceeds would be donated to an organization helping to ‘Kick’ Cancer. If a pet food company, were to display a blue Kickin’ It logo on their cans, bowls, collars etc., a portion of the proceeds would be donated to organizations helping to ‘Kick’ animal abuse and neglect. A soda bottling company could use the orange Kickin’ It logo, helping to ‘Kick’ Hunger. Any athletic company could put a lime green Kickin’ It logo on any type of sporting equipment or athletic gear and a portion of the proceeds would be donated to organizations helping to ‘Kick’ pediatric illness. Silver would apply as well, to help buy equipment for youth centers. Pink for Breast Cancer, Purple for Epilepsy, so on and so forth.
Kickin’ It, can be advertised on various types of sports paraphernalia, household and pet products, any apparel from caps to wristbands and would compliment any footwear. It can also be licensed as a catch phrase for numerous products, as Nikes ‘Just Do It’.
Kickin’ It could be marketed with, but not limited to schools, leisure, sports, entertainment, pet events, health and fitness.
Currently, there are 23 color Kickin’ It logos which on the business side we could attract 23+ completely different companies/products for each color.
Being each color represents a cause; the charitable organizations will also be pushing the related company and their product. As charities hold marathons, funds raisers, telethons, and special events showing their determination in a motivational way ‘We’re Kickin’…Breast Cancer, AIDS, etc’., each company involved, the product and charity would all be receiving exposure from all sides of the spectrum.
We could reach out to so many individuals and bring something that is much needed, a way for all of us to unite together in a motivational way, while making positive changes.
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
**With the right exposure and opportunity, this business, can break even immediately, but no one can predict or sign off confirming that fact, if the opportunity does not present itself! All I can do is confirm that I will do everything in my power to work for that goal.
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
**The potential is there with the right exposure and backing, but no one can predict/sign off confirming a profit within 90 days. To have a profit within 90 days would be a goal for any business. The only thing I can confirm is that I would do everything in my power to continue working night and day to have that happen.
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops
**Understandable.
6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered.
**Agreed.
7. Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else.
**I am the sole officer and am completely hands-on. I answer each email, design and mail out products, I meet with each charity, attend charitable events and venues, while driving across America in the Kickin’ Across America RV. My co-workers and I have the same vision…to get everyone Kickin’ It, while making a difference to those in need.
8. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com , scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download
**Edited Version
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own.
**Once it becomes profitable, there is no requirement for future funding, as the company will generate funds on its own. This concept sells itself, I just need the exposure, alone, I do not have the voice/clout to escalate this phenomenon.
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont.
**A few other options….If you dont want to inject funds into the business… Would you invite the RV to attend a game(s) allowing pictures to be taken at a game? Can the players a do meet a greet with fans, at the RV before a game? Could a player(s)wear our apparel? Does a player(s) have a cause they would want us to help bring awareness to/raise money for? Would a player(s) want to get involved with Kickin’ It? Would you have another company/business interested in advertising on the RV or interested in my vision for Kickin’ It?
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows.
**Agreed.
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money.
**negotiate a percentage of profit, dependng on the equity injection. no too mention the greatest return, helping those need.
Thank you for the opportunity to present this concept.
Respectfully,
Gina Marie
Kickin’ It, Inc.
Comment by GinaMarie -
The Business:
With advertising becoming noise, companies have a need for a medium that is uniquely relevant, engaging and news worthy.
The proposition is for a new style of agency that services their clients with highly creative forums for product expression and then delivers them on a silver platter to appropriate news organizations as both unique content and conversation pieces.
A client will receive guerrilla/grass roots and tactical marketing based on disruption briefs designed to make the targets engage or think differently about a product or service.
The event will be chronicled entertainingly and delivered to news organizations.
The plan involves heavy lobbying of the news organizations, many of whom are desperate for original and entertaining content.
Ideal locations for this agency include small to mid-size cities where impact through word of mouth and news organizations remain strong.
Building publicity and awareness in a fresh and engaging way.
The Personnel:
Creatives work on unique output.
A relationship manager will be busy with customer, production and new business communication.
Both will collaborate on strategy.
Freelancers and outsourcing as needed.
The Pay:
Start-up funding roughly $12,000.
Starting small is how it should be and has to be done.
Basic software, a pencil, paper, gas and a touch of liquidity to make things happen.
Invoiced to the client will be direct billable hours and up-charges on producing an event.
There are no delusions; this is not a business that can be started as a full time project.
It is a work of passion for all involved.
One that has a great propensity to grow.
Reason for Success:
This is a plan that will create reputations and relationships that will generate great future income.
The clientele base will be broad as both significantly large and small business will express interest.
Low cost of overhead, inspired and dedicated personnel and the direct initiative of doing things that no one else can or will do creates tremendous potential.
Comment by Todd -
My god, people! What part of 60 days break even, 90 days profitable can’t you understand? And, if your project is so incredible that it requires a lengthy national roll-out or confidentiality, why are you posting about it here?
The man set some rules. How about you figure out if your great idea actually meets the submission requirements!
Comment by Scott -
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd3826ns_21fmxcfbcj
for prototyping I don’t need money, but may require for expansion, adding premium features. If you give me your feedback, we can discuss further.
Comment by Kousik -
I am looking to purchase the franchise of Stretch N Grow that I currently coach for. There is a very low franchise purchase cost, below $30,000, it is already profitable and established. I am the only employee currently. If I was to own this though, I would like to grow it atleast double in 2 years.
Stretch N Grow goes in to public and private daycares and schools and teaches 20-30 minute fitness classes staarting at 18 months. They are all themed and to music, so kids do not feel like they are excersising. We do a warm-up,and a mix of cardio, arobic, and tuning of fine motor skills. They are also taught about healthy eating habits, and muscle anatomy.
I am open on rates for the return on the franchise cost, or even part ownership. This is a great company that is starting children out to a healthy lifestyle.
Comment by Charle Whitted -
My company is a communications equipment manufacturer. We have developed a satellite communications modem based on excellent new technology. We have three patents pending.
Our satcom solution enables the small network service provider to bypass the vertical supplier chain by drastically reducing network startup and operating cost. We eliminate the large ($100K-$500K) cap-ex needed to create a small network that can scale to thousands of terminals. The op-ex of our network is about half that of competitive gear. Our solution also supports mobile satcom without requiring a dedicated, specialized network as our competition does.
We have operational alpha units after six man-years of development on our own dime. Our potential investors vanished on the eve of product launch last September. We need $300K to roll our working alpha units into sellable beta units, build out a sales demo network, and commence sales. We are asking $3M pre-valuation.
Of the $1B+ market for satcom modems, we are initially targeting the $100M small to mid enterprise segment where we provide the greatest value proposition. In addition, our product far outperforms competitive equipment in mobile satcom, expected to exceed $1B by 2012.
We have a customer, call him “x-sat”, who has agreed to purchase $50K of gear, provide about $75K of engineering services to build a network management system, and sign on as a stocking distributor, handling warranties, tech support, etc… We will give him a stake in options for his risk and investment.
X-sat currently integrates, installs, and services networks using competitive gear. They have identified end-customers that will benefit from our solution and they will sell direct to them. We have identified another 300+ businesses similar to x-sat and will work them as soon as our beta network is operational.
We have also begun discussions with mobile antenna manufacturers for a potential joint project to build a turnkey mobile satcom service. We do not expect revenue from this segment this year.
With $50K/mo over six months, we can meet these milestones:
2 months, sale to x-sat
4 months, system network operational
6 months, turnkey network available, general sales.
Our proposal:
– employs many contractors
– creates a disruptive product
– has high profit margins (>50%)
– helps small enterprises
– has good opportunities for an exit
Thanks for your consideration.
Comment by Nate -
My partners and I own a gold property in Brazil. We have at least 50,000 ounces and possibly up to 400,000 ounces in the ground. The property reserve is too small for the public gold companies to buy. We need a money partner to mine the property. We have reports as well, you and your own geologists can of course visit the property, verify and perform due diligence. It does not fit your criteria on this blog, but I thought it might interest you anyway.
Comment by Tzvi -
Hi Mark,
We believe that our Coworking Environment Business Concept still meets your criteria and objectives. The model works elsewhere, in much less entrepreneurial cities than Dallas.
http://www.slideshare.net/guesta9f365c/mark-cubans-stimulus-plan
What do you think? We’re ready to hit the ground running, and we would love to offer incentives to the viewers of your blog to “office” with us to start off with a great base of entrepreneurial customers working together to create jobs.
Thanks,
Blaine Iler
Benjamin Hurt
Comment by Blaine Iler -
Playing video games for money online. (example) $2.00 entry fee. 20 person race. winner gets $40.00 -7%. If you hold a tournament with a $2.00 entry fee. you have to win a race in each tear of the bracket, 5 tears. winner gets 6,400,00. minus -7%. It is not gambling. It will create jobs ? There will be teams and sponsors. Team leaders,coaches,scouts,artist, etc… etc… Different game types, run like leagues – sport,racing,FPS,RTS,etc. It would be a virtual Economy,its own denomination. we could call it the cuban. You could use you’re winnings – cubans- to buy products or cash them in. minus -7% . (products = jobs). Self contained system setup to multiply, accessible anywhere theirs’ Internet. Anybody can play but talent and practice win games.
Game developers (jobs) release free game demos. nascarr, Basketball etc. For 2 cubans you get entered into a nascarR race with the free demo the winner gets a free full version of the game. We would be buying allot of games. and eventually be making games for tHe system. Game worlds-maps have tons of potential for sponsors advertisements.
0.50 cubans Beginner
2.00 cbns Intermediate
4.00-20.00 cbns Pro
Could the cuban get on the stock exchange(cbns)? hmm that would make the dollar on the systems stock exchange now I get it, a little.
I think you can use the games currently on the market to run the tournaments it would sell a ton of games and its like buying a tennis racket or a football. You use those to compete.
Comment by Ryan McKenna -
@cullen pearcy
I think you have a good idea, something that you know and are interested in. To be an entrepreneur though, you have to just get out there and do it. A statement such as “It would be wild if you took this on, it sure would change my life” still portrays that employee mindset. I would encourage you to read the book The E-Myth Revisited; it’s a great book to change a person’s perspective on what small business is really about.
With that said, I think have a very viable idea. Something that I think would make it stronger would be to serve a specific niche instead of going for the full-service shop. Don’t try to be too big too soon. I think it’d be best to become THE go-to EXPERT in a specific type of surveying. In this way, you can differentiate yourself from the competition who probably are the type of generalists you’re talking about. As you establish your expertise in the one area and people use and are impressed with your services, you will soon find them asking, “Do you also do this or that type of survey?” – at which time you can decide whether it’s time to expand into another niche.
Comment by Scott -
This is a nice idea. In general I like it. I’d be happy to disclose my full business plan to a potential investor, but making my business plan fully public for everyone else to see isn’t an option. It contains all my costs, margins and forward looking plans, which is not unreasonable for an investor to know, but quite a bit to just give away to anyone who wants to browse it on the internet.
Comment by Scott Moore -
Dear Mark;
Thank-you for the opportunity to openly air some entrepreneur opportunities with you, and with others who may have the funding available to help fund such endeavors. Since the economy and the environment are our main concerns I would also like to see funds go to good causes. During my travels I have seen many things, and have sat and thought about many concepts to improve our nations situation. Below I have listed some of those ideas;
1) Create Solar Panels/windmills for everyone to purchase, and profit from, (ALL of mankind could profit from these inventions) Solar panels on top of everyone’s home may save up towards 50 to 80% of the homes utility bills! This is a BIG area of concern to the general public!
2) Developing better roads in high congested areas. Where there is NO ROOM for more roads,I have an idea to build Double or Three tier highways. This would come in handy in areas where there are backups of an hour or more. All of mankind would benefit from this concept.
3) Many areas need more parking garages……..metered , or not. Metered would provide you with imcome.
4) More powerplants are needed to convert ocean water (Which covers approx. 80% of our land) into viable drinking water in most of our communities! How about a salt water car?
5) Gas consumption for our vehicles…………… What about electric cars, or conversion of carburetors, ethanol, other means of cheaper running vehicles.
6) I would like to start up a coach service, for our local towns people to be able to ride to rummage sales every week-end in a comfortable half bus like coach. I would like to have two or three coaches, covered with insurance. I would drive, and hire two or three other drivers, who would bring in a profit weekly, by charging $5.00 each rider ($10.00 if picked up and dropped off at your home)…….Have you seen how MANY people are rummage sailing now-a-daze?
I would also like to sell this concept to our local township; They have warned people about having only two sales per year. But have not begun charging people yet who have unlimited rummage sales, and do NOT advertise properly (Like putting addresses on boxes placed out on corners) OR, when they do NOT take down their boxes properly after their sale is over. If their going to start policing the situation, OUR business could provide both services, and generate revenue for the townships also. Which could in return help pay my company’s salary.
I would need enough seed money to get licences, coaches, insurance, salary for three employees, and beginning gas monies.
This business can turn profit within your timetable limitations!
And I’d like to be the one running it!
It’s a shame when a man can get more help from a Domestic Abuse Center for Women than his wife. It’s a shame when people who come up with viable ideas to improve the community are bought out by large corporations who burn their ideas, just so improvements are NOT made! And what about the entrepreneur who started the barter system……but, the government shut him down because they couldn’t figure out a way to tax him?
Do people like you REALLY want to improve things…….or just gain profits from the ideas of entrepreneurs. People NEED someone to believe in! Leave your mark on the world by really helping those who need to Change the laws, rules, restrictions, regulations. Or find a way to make a living around them!
If our government would not regulate so many rules, restrictions, bylaws, and red tape, I believe there would be MORE entrepreneurs starting up small business’s, trying their hand at creating a profitable lifestyle for themselves. But can they really?
How can you help them start a business, without teaching , or giving them the necessary tools to do so?
I have also written an inspirational book, will you help me publish it, and distribute it around the world?
Comment by Roxy -
BIO: 15+ years in the IT industry as a software engineer and freelance application developer. Father of two boys, married 14 years. Graduate of University of Nebraska Lincoln, B.S. Computer Science Engineering. Currently living in Keller, Tx.
Passion: The Stock Market. Particularly the area of creating automated screening tools based on technical analysis fundamentals.
Product: A stock screening formula that has been seven years in the making along with a hard won, self taught, love and talent for trading.
Motivation: Use the market for something other than perpetuating the current cycle of greed and excess. I believe that God can and will move markets for the sake of helping others. It is my destiny to prove it.
Proposal: First, I want to prove to you that I haven’t wasted the past seven years of my life and that the screener works.
I would ask simply for my 90 days and a $25,000 no risk initial investment. No risk because I will personally guarantee this principal amount and am willing to provide whatever documentation necessary to prove that I can do so.
After 90 days, you will get your $25,000 back and any profit that is generated will be donated to the Central Dallas Ministries where it can do some immediate good right here in Texas.
After 90 days, your financial obligation is complete, I will not ask another dime from you. I will develop a communication infrastructure where subscribers can receive future picks and join the cause. The picks will be delivered via email and text message and will require the subscriber to pay a $3 fee to retrieve.
$1 of every purchase will go to a local or national charity of my choosing, I lean towards the Salvation Army and Team In Training at the national level but am open to others. All I would further ask from you is that in return for your stake in the continuing operations you provide endorsement of the service and that you become it’s first subscriber.
Why This Is A Winner: While your risk is absolute zero, the ability to help others is limited only by the results achieved by what in affect is my lifes work.
If the market wins you are out nothing. If the desire to help others by tapping into a market system that desperately needs to do some good with itself, wins, I believe that you will have accomplished at least a small piece of what you set out to do.
Why do I need your money if the formula works? I don’t.
The $25k risk free inital investment will be guaranteed by money I have already realized using the formula.
I ask for it simply so that I can turn a handsome charitable donation and earn your heart-felt endorsement.
Thanks In Advance For Your Consideration,
-M
Comment by -M -
you really are the most greedy idiot i have ever seen! reading your comments to peoples ideas makes you seem like nothing other than greedy and rude. but then again most of the million plus people i have met are assholes so this does not suprise me. why don’t you stop worrying about how you are going to make money (which you clearly have enough of) and do something even half charitable. or something that actually helps people who don’t normally get a chance in this money crazed world in which we live.
ps. my start up just signed a 6m deal which you aren’t getting any of, because you seem like an ass and I don’t let assholes invest in my company. But being as you already have more money than that and are clearly already an ass I know this won’t bother you and you will just delete my comment which will ultimatly prove my point! oh deal the whole world just failed by producing someone like you. i came to this site with good intentions and you have just made me sad.
Comment by tom -
Mark – I’ve heard you speak about the economy in the past few months and I think you’re taking a lot of unnecessary heat. It’s making me mad that you’re being misunderstood and it detracts from others jumping in and doing what you’re doing to help. I’m just a little person – but I found a way to help too. Would you like to explain this to our Dallas audience and we’ll record it for you to use as it makes sense?
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfkqd9w8_16gff934fd
Comment by Robin -
The idea is for a company which provides niche church management software.
The first idea is for software for church worship leaders which allows them to keep a database of musicians, with their skill sets and skill levels, song list, with an online list of mp3 song recordings and song sheet pdfs. They choose a song list, a set of musicians for that week, hit a button, and it sends an email out with links to the mp3 and pdf lead sheets and any comments the leader wants to send. It is also set up to handle copyright issues for them for a particular song, and a way for people to post better song sheets and recordings to share with others, which they have to agree not to charge copyrights for. Money comes from a charge is for the software and a monthly service charge for handling serving files and handling legal copyright issues for them. There are millions of churches and most have a worship leader and many of them would love to have a product/service like this. The revenue stream would be great initially but would continue to come in as long as they used it, so one sale would mean an ongoing revenue stream from that customer.
I also have plans for a similar product aimed at children’s service coordinators, and a digital color photograph church directory which can be quickly created from a digital camera and disseminated. The directory would be more of a one time product sale. I also have an idea for recording church giving through a very simple data collection interface which keeps it private (a big issue) and automatically uploads to Quickbooks via the QB XML API.
I also have a much bigger idea for a worldwide collaborative biblical commentary application, which would accommodate every day students, small group Bible studies, scholars, people of different languages, and people of differing theological bents, verse by verse as well as word and topical studies. I purchased biblicalcommentary.org but work is going slowly because I have a day job right now doing programming.
I plan to use a development environment called runtime revolution which builds Windows/Mac/Linux compiled apps and coordinate them with a web service. Making it web only is a deal killer in many rural or older church environments.
Thanks for considering this!
Comment by Jim McNeely -
@JVick Re: “Old Boy’s Club”
No chance in the world $100k would cover all the initial costs of setting up the kind of environment you’re talking about, especially with all the equipment you name. It’d more than likely cost more than that just to buy the space you would need, let alone renovating and stocking it.
Also, you say it will be profitable in 90 days…how? What is the monetization, the business model? Hair cuts, shaves, and $.50 pool games don’t bring in much revenue, so where do the profits come from?
On your target demographic, what makes them interested in something like this? I’m exactly the demographic you stated and I would never want to hang out there. It sounds like an old man’s lodge to me – a place where I’d expect to find a bunch of dirty old men.
Comment by Scott -
My idea involves:
I heart Etsy. They are an online boutique of handmade items. Sellers and buyers alike love this place. I’ve been thinking for quite some time, how on EARTH can those who have used materials give it or get it to those who will MAKE stuff out of it.
For example: Everyone has jeans that don’t fit, carpet they will replace, bottles they buy and will either be recycled or end up in the landfill. How can we get this stuff onto the hands of those who will use it to make new stuff out of it. And sell it.
1. establish a marketplace portal but for used materials
2. get buyers to pay for access to portal
Essentially this portal will be where sellers/artists/creators go to when they want to get their hands on the used materials they need.
Instead of recycling and instead of landfilling, everyday items we all use – will go into this portal, and picked up by those who will use it to create stuff with it. A win for regular everyday consumers, a win for entrepreneurs, and a win for our ailing environment.
We can call it: Upcyclery
Comment by Missy (from G34 Media) -
Dear Mark,
The dance world needs an on-line video dance dictionary and clearinghouse for everything dance. (Think Wikipedia + YouTube). There is a similar subscription service called Personal Training on the Net (www.ptonthenet.com)which serves the fitness industry world-wide. This service generates $4M annually on subscriptions alone.
My business idea is to bring the IT, dance and entrepreneur programs at a university to produce and operate a similar subscription website for the dance industry – in all its myriad forms.
Thanks for your interest. I hope to discuss this with you further.
Fran Riggs
Certified Professsional Trainer
214-929-8096
Comment by Fran Riggs -
Pretty impressed by your idea. Thanks.
My team was already in the process of developing a new project, and we’re pretty deep into it. Then a friend pointed us your direction, and that set off a buzz of conversation. Whether you fund our idea or not, your set of requirements sparked some brainstorming that lit up our conference call.
We are going to tailor our original idea and submit a proposal on Monday.
I’ve seen a lot of people whine about posting their plans publicly – I’d tell them to ‘get over it’. If they have a good idea, and it is defensible, post it. If not, it’s probably not that great an idea or position or market in the first place.
I did have a concern though, about #2… If we can prove our market with Widget A and Widget B and still meet our/your income & profit targets – would you penalize us (i.e. not fund us) if we also made a non-negligible income from Widget C (advertising)? We will make money advertising. But it is neither primary nor secondary; but tertiary. That said, for us, ad revenue is still too significant to ignore or write-off.
We understand (and agree) with your goal of “sell something and get paid for it.” We are going to sell something that is in high-demand, and short supply and get paid very well for it. But we will also make money selling ads to the people that want to read about our Widget A and Widget B.
Your thoughts?
Thanks.
Take care.
Michael Laine
twitter.com/mlaine
Comment by Space Elevator Guy (Michael Laine) -
As of 2009, Baby Boomers now outnumber any other age group in America. This marketable group is very well educated and wealthy. A large number of them are managing the care, or are caring for an aged parent. Older Americans and Baby Boomers now request Elder Care Group Homes instead of Nursing Homes and other type centers. Group Homes provide a home environment instead of a clinical environment. Just as parents prefer a home environment for child-care, older Americans and Baby Boomers do, also. We are wanting to open several group homes that will be very lucrative and provide a much needed service. We have done the homework and are ready to start immediately.
Thank you.
Lula R. Lewis
13776 Spring Grove Ave.
Dallas, TX 75240
972-239-1155-Home
972-352-8498-Cell
E-Mail: TISHTISHMCE@AOL.COM
Comment by Lula R. Lewis -
Dear Mark,
Physician Research Intelligence is a subscription service that provides doctor’s with ideas, alternative or differential diagnoses to assist them in making a correct diagnosis.
Doctors are overwhelmed with new medical information. Many doctors rely on each other for differential diagnosis, but due to the demands of taking care of patients and maintaining efficient office administration they do not have the time to talk extensively with colleagues, read, and digest enough new data that allows them to serve their patients best. Unfortunately, doctors are also human and sometimes just forget a possible diagnosis and follow another route that is wrong. I can personally attest to this occurring with family and friends numerous times. Doctor’s have also acknowledged this occurrence.
Physician Research Intelligence is a subscription service that provides doctor’s ideas to help them make a correct diagnosis. Revenue is generated by Doctor’s paying a flat monthly fee. There are three subscription fee levels from which to choose. The level depends on how many diagnosis they wish to obtain per month.
The doctor or assistant faxes or e-mails his written notes without the patients personal identity to PRI. We do not offer online input because it takes too much time. Our medical researchers use the worldwide medical network and offer possible diagnosis within 24 hours. A rush fee can reduce the research turnaround time.
The doctor can login to our website to maintain his account and see his purchased reports and cases.
Funding is needed to build a website, pay staff and basic admin costs. No office rental, it can all be done from home offices until the business is built up. Staff includes two researchers and myself. We would all market at the beginning. The website would be built by a small web development team and is relatively simple because it is just user accounts and a file depository so it will only take about three weeks to test and build.
I would hire two researchers for three months on a consulting basis. We will be cash flow break even within 60 days and profitable within 90 days.
Strategy is to develop the marketing materials, hire credible research consultants and then start selling subscriptions immediately that can start on Day 30. Simultaneously develop the web site and procedures.
Total funding required is $75,000 and I am willing to offer 15% equity. If you are interested I will post a more detailed plan.
This business fits all of your stated criteria.
Thank you for your consideration.
Comment by Bryan -
By the way Mark…
I am so confident in my business I won’t take a dime until your quota is met first. I am also willing to give you 45% percent equity!!
thanks
Denton
Comment by Denton -
@Jevante Qirashawn
Something else you could try instead of sinking costs into making the designs yourself is to have other people design them for free. Check out threadless.com as an example. It’s a t-shirt company that doesn’t employ even one designer. Anybody who wants to can submit t-shirt designs, the designs are then voted on by anyone who visits the site, then the best scoring ones are put into production.
With your business, you could hit a similar demographic – young graphic designers eager to build a portfolio and who would be excited just to see their design in print. If you wanted, you could also offer some kind of reward for designs that make it to production, like a free line of flyers with the design they submitted, or a specific dollar amount of credit at PrintinZone. I know that Threadless does something like this with regular design contests that have pre-established prizes.
Comment by Scott -
Idea #4 (or 5?): ‘The Old Boy’s Club’: a low key place for guys to get haircuts, massages, play pool, drink beer/scotch, get an old school shave, watch the game, and smoke a cigar. $100K would get a location, renovate it, stock it with all the necessary chairs, staff, rooms, pools tables, tvs, leather couches, and smoking room. The rest of the the initial $100K would be used for hiring and training staff (cute girls for hair and massages and an old school guy to shave you with a straight razor). The company would be profitable quickly and net positive cash flows within 90 days. The key here is location and marketing to the up and coming late 20’s and 30’s crowd who has a little extra cash, but isn’t involved in a country club or any other societal club. This is a scalable model that is entirely execution oriented and represents the class and old school feel of Dallas and Texas.
Comment by JVick -
Hey Mark,
First off I just wanna let everyone who reads this know that I am a 23 year old AA male from Atlanta, who’s highest education level is a GED and who’s also a convicted felon. I’m about to give away a goldmine idea simply because I believe in universal abundance and because someone may have better resources to execute this sooner than i will be able to. If this idea falls into the wrong hands I am placing the blame on Mark Cuban. (I’m a Hawks fan anyway)
The name of the idea is CoolBandz. It revolves around the principal that nobody has truely taken advantage of the silicone rubber wristband boom that started with Lance Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG bands and bankrolled it into a fully exploited niche.
Basically instead of Non-Profit usage, the ‘bands would be sold for profit via the web, via mall-kiosks, via direct mail and via independent vendors. The “catch” or what would make the ‘bands SO popular is that instead of printing only “inspirtional messages” on them you’d print real-life slogans & sayings: “I Always Play to Win” or “Sexy + Classy = Me” or “Make Love Not War” or “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy” or “I Make Power Moves” so and so forth, on and on and on.
THE BENEFICIAL VARIABLE is the customization-ability of the wristbands: they can be embossed,debossed, custom printed, laser-engraved custom-designed, etc. THE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY: the bands only cost 15-85 cents to create, the more you purchase the cheaper they become. Your mark-up would be about $3-5 per band!!! The gains are astronomical folks!!! (I can’t believe the Universe has set me so free, i suggest meditation to any who can not find peace within themselves for whatever reason) MOVING ALONG!
THE TARGET is obviously young adults ages 14-26. These bands are A HIT with them! (I know my Barack Obama bands went like free gourmet burgers!) You target them through a catchy, custom-made website, ad links and exchanges through ringtone sites, game sites, custom MySpace and Facebook sites, initial promotion through giveaways, bonus offers, and sponsorships, etc. etc. etc. JUST BUILD THE BRAND AND THEY WILL COME!!!
This will create jobs for the same target-market your selling to! The macro-objective of the business is corporate promotion via “Greater Guest Gestures”: free custom wristband, lanyard and keychain giveaways upon sign-ups, subscriptions, purchases, renewals, etc. etc. etc.
The bigger your brand the more jobs you can create. Realistically, this is a business that can meet Mark’s requirements in terms of timeline return on investment and profit. Create custom bands just for the high-schools and universities around this country and you’ll make a small fortune.
It’s on you Mark. If you really are doing this to “help the people” then help ’em. I’m a socialist anyway but that doesn’t mean capitalists are not an essential part of OUR world. Thanks for the looking out for the little-guys Mark.
-dw
Comment by Dreyton Williams -
Pet Toy Boxes
=============
If you’re like me, your pet is part of your family, and as such, normally has toys to entertain itself with. But where do you put them?
You could have a box, or some cheap looking overpriced storage bin you’ve bought before.
What I would be interested in selling is custom made pet toy boxes.
I already have one that I’ve built for my own dogs. It looks like a big bone (2 pieces front and back) with a box hidden in the middle to hold everything.
Its painted, has a border, and the pets name (Jaeger) in the middle of it.
The website to order from could be setup with a bunch of pre-made designs, or give the user the option to upload their own, and if possible, we would create it and charge extra.
It could also be shipped assembled, or as a kit for them to put together themselves (cheaper).
I don’t have a business plan as of yet, as this just occurred to me while looking at my existing box, but I could write a formal one and re-post if you’re interested.
I would assume no more than 5k of initial funding would be needed, including the website and raw materials and upfront costs (tools, initial shipping, advertisements, etc). I would also be willing to split profits at 60/40 after your investment is returned. Until it is returned, it would be 50/50 so you could be reimbursed for your investment.
Depending on the advertisement setup, 60/90 days is *possible*. This would be completely from scratch, so I’m not 100% sure on that. But just simple calculations would be:
Total cost of box creation/shipping: $20
Sold for: $30
Profit:$10
500 orders would break even, and everything from there on out would be complete profit.
On a side note, advertising could be a *bonus* income, as it could eventually integrate into stores such as Walmart, PetSmart, and other online vendors of other pet goods.
So, if this seems like a decent idea to you, email me back – josh@morta.net and I will write a formal business plan and re-post.
Comment by Joshua Lewis -
Mark,
I am sitting in my living room, having just read Seth Godin’s blog and he pointing to the fact that you are offering an open sourced funding option for businesses to get off the ground. Amazing! So now I am sitting here composing this off the cuff. I was fired from my job last week, I am on the verge of bankruptcy and foreclosing on my house. Wonderful economic times, eh?
I am a professional land surveyor in the State of Oregon. I just got my professional license to survey in the state in 2008.
If you want to invest in a profitable business land surveying is a good choice.
It is a non-advertising ethical profession. It is a word of mouth and being there advertising profession.
Initial investment into the equipment required to perform the surveys would be.
1) Total Stations, GPS, a surveying truck and supplies, i.e. wood hubs, tape measures, flagging, and drafting and data reduction software.
2) salary wages for a couple of employees for a couple of months, until profits roll in.
3) A rental space for an office.
If we drum up enough business to stay a float right now, then the future is bright. Right now the times are bad for everyone, and I see that this will not be the case always, if we get in and succeed now, we will play ball with the big boys when the times get good again.
I would run a full service shop, we would do all types of conventional surveying: boundary, topographic, construction, American Land Title Surveys. I myself am competent enough to finish the products solo, with the help I have in mind we would be all around successful.
Initial and total investment would be around 100k, this would more than likely cover the ALL investment and salary expenses for a couple of months. This is an off the cuff response. If you are interested in pursuing this further the numbers could be worked out precisely but that would take a couple of days.
It would be wild if you took this on, it sure would change my life.
Comment by cullen pearcy -
Obvioulsy, this getting lots of attention.
I will make you a website where:
a) individuals with ideas matching your criteria can post their ideas
b) other sources of funding (people like yourself) can sign up to evaluate these ideas and fund them under your terms
c) The site makes money through a service fee, overhead would be low as the site manages itself
d) promotional cost would be low. As long as those in b) committed to the effort, individuals would get funded, and word of mouth would be strong.
Comment by Mike -
Hey Mark,
I have an oldschool business proposition that worked wonders for Ponzi back in the day. Currently the post office is selling “Forever” stamps at the rate of $.42 these stamps will pay postage forever no matter the current postage rate. Starting May 11 the rate for postage will jump $.02 to $.44. I think we should buy “forever” stamps at the current rate and resell them at $.43. I have laid the groundwork for this business by setting up a new Ebay account. Please get back to me as soon as possible because time is running out.
Steve
Comment by Steve Lilly -
For the love of god, why didn’t you make a separate page for this with features that are conducive to your goals. This is the worst interface immaginable. How about:
1. ideas submitted are listed on the main page.
2. users can comment on the submitted ideas in a threaded fashion.
3. You mark cuban can rate the ideas, so you can filter the list on which ideas have been or haven’t been rated.
4. Maybe let users rank the ideas on each of your 13 requirments to help you focus your attention.
Comment by Tommy -
Here’s another…
Practically everyone these days has a cell phone. Practically everyone these days has a credit card.
Every time a credit card is used it goes through an authorization service. I would like to set my credit card up in such a way that part of its authorization process involves making a phone call to my cell phone, whereby I am prompted to enter a pin code, or answer a security question randomly chosen from a list of questions I have previously answered. That way, no one could illegally use my card without 1) having my card and/or card number, 2) having access to the phone tied to my card, and 3) having knowledge of the pin or security questions tied to my card.
I would feel a LOT safer as a consumer knowing that my credit cards were protected this way
If something like this could be figured out to work in conjunction with my social security number that’d be even better!
I have no business plan or even any desire to profit….
Comment by lajotu -
Future Generation Dental Heath Program – Dallas Texas
Dear. Mr. Cuban:
Thank you in advance for your contribution to stimulate people to dream again! You are known for your Entrepreneurial spirit, it is with Grace that you have come forward and are offering such a wonderful program to help our Economy right here in Dallas, Texas. Our program is unique for it is cause driven and addresses a National problem regarding Dental Health Care. Below is an outline of how our program will work. We are a Dental Manufacturing Laboratory, Dentist contract our services to manufacture dental prosthetics.
Today Dental Practices across the Nation are experiencing an economic slow down, people are loosing their jobs as well there benefits WE want to HELP!
I hope that what is outlined here will strike your interest and then we can escalate to the next level of communication that will go into great detail regarding your lucrative compensation.
Entrepreneur – Jan Rainey, CDT
Jan Rainey, CDT a National Board Certified Dental Laboratory Technologist specializing in Manufacturing of Dental Laboratory Products and Services for patient care. Our desire is to work in a capacity that supports the Surgeon Generals National “CALL to ACTION”, for Dental Health Care Professionals. The “CALL to ACTION” is asking Dental Professionals to work on a community level to educate the underserved families on the importance of Oral Health Care. Our team is highly experienced with over 75 accumulative years of experience.
Phase One February 14, 2009
Future Generations’ mission is to form as a 501(c)(3) and provide dental healthcare services to low income and the underserved population. Our objective is to educate the general public on the importance of Oral Healthcare and Nutritional Health while providing effective programs and proven concepts to increase Oral Health in America.
Phase one will developing relationships with Dental Professionals, State Associations, State Representatives, Community Leaders, and Churches to identify low income families who are in need of Dental Healthcare.
We will develop a non-profit program for Dentists in private practice to participate and support Future Generations’ mission to serve low income and underserved families.
Program Outline:
1. Build relationships with Churches, Community programs and Non-Profit agencies to identify people in need of dental care.
2. Create aggressive marketing campaign to offer Private Dental Practices a not-for-profit program.
Future Generation’s goal:
Future Generation will refer qualifying patients to participating dental practices.
Example: 1 Dentist is referred 30 patients; each patient receives one – standard porcelain to metal crown.
Year one:
1% of 155,000 Dental Practices equates to 1,550
1,550 dentists provide dental care for 30 patients; each patient receives one – porcelain to metal crown. Total of 46,500 crowns produced.
Year two:
3% of 155,000 Dental Practices equates to 4,650
4,650 dentists provide dental care for 30 patients; each patient receives one- porcelain to metal crown. Total of 139,500 crowns produces
Educational Programs
Future Generation will develop educational programs on “The Importance of Oral Health” and “The Importance of Nutritional Health” for the General Public. Future Generation will partner with other Non-Profit organizations and actively promote Oral Healthcare through the Educational System by providing educational programs for K-12.
Jan Rainey
Future Generation
Dallas, Texas 75208
Ph: 214-213-1213
Fax: 214- 941-5699
Comment by Jan -
Hey gang, hows everybody doing out there? I’m not in gridlock this time on the L.A. freeway typing a fast blog in ten minutes or less while on my way to see Creative Artists Agency in Beverly Hills to see an agent. Or swinging by 2929 Entertainment, Inc., in Santa Monica to hopefully be allowed to drop of my new science fiction spec script, “Manipulations.”
I’ll type this up more carefully.
This is a free idea and offer. Anyone out there or even a dozen open minded inventors are welcome to jump all over it and produce the product. As this is an OPEN SOURCE community, share and share alike.
Some years back, I contacted Apple Computer, Inc., about my design which I labeled at the time calling it “Macglass.”
“Macglass” was my idea of keeping the personal computer industry spotlessly virgin clean. Never a hint of smudge, damage, dust, dirt or damage would ever occur to your brand new perfectly shiny computer after you took it out of the box and set it up on your desk and/or home office.
Let me explain by easy example. Have you ever seen a freshly baked cake housed under a glass lid. The cake sits on the kitchen counter correct, and your mother or wife immediately puts the glass case over the top of it after she cuts a slice. Thats pretty much it. I designed a small line of sketch diagrams and submited to Apple my version of the ultimate dust cover.
See, to me wrinkly old fold up dust covers for your computer were and still are boring. No one uses them really anyways. But not using one, well you know what consition your computer and keyboard are in after 9 months. Dusty and smudgy. Marked, licked, kicked, maybe even barffed on at a company party. Horrible thought. But true. But most likely, coffee stained spilled on.
So what I invented, and what still isn’t out there on the open market in glass designed product conforming to the exact model style of any major computer. Lets call it Compglass. the CompGlass series would encompass the desktop computers and the laptops as well.
I had built into my “Macglass,” now Compglass design, a round grove in the bottom right hand side of the keyboard cover. follow me now. One glass cover that sits constantly over your computer mainframe, and one glass cover that sits over the keyboard. The keyboard glass cover is removable. You pick it up and off the keyboard after you return from lunch and set it ff to the side.
The round grove I mentioned. When the glass cover is on the keyboard or off, it doesn’t matter, the grove provides a natural coffe cup holder. Set the cofee mug or cup in the grove nd it holds the cup perfectly. Thus you will never, ever spill your coffee cup on your computer keyboard again. Never.
The CompGlass I & 2 series as we’ll call it would be sold in major computer outlet stores and WalMarts. Comes in a box. Two glass cover products. The desktop series and the laptop series.
Why glass and won’t it break if it falls and someone gets cut with glass and dies! Slow down folks, it’s not that scary. The glass will be tempered, unbreakable. As for more clutter on your desk when the glass is off the keyboard, not so. The beautifully designed CompGlass unit acts as a paper weight for all you loose papers in a pile on the desk.
Have you ever driven by an expensive car dealership? Top line cars. Where do they house the most pristine cars? In the window of the dealership of course, behind glass. Always, no matter what the expensive product is, fine watches, diamonds, gold rings, Hummers and Porsches, they are all showcased behind or under glass.
You have spent upwards to thousands of dollars for your computer. It is a thing of beauty and prestige to own one. Yet most of you just go ahead and let it rot away under the deteriation of the environment. It looks pretty bad in a year or two unless you are constantly wiping it and cleaning it up. Why? All you would have to do is make one purchase, The CompGlass and set it up over your brand new HP, or Apple, Sony, Dell or whatever you bought. Now not only does it look great under glass, but it makes you feel good starting out each morning walking up to and sitting in front of a perfectly brand new looking computer.
That was my initial selling point to Apple Computer. Your Macintosh would look as freash and as new a year later as if you just took it out of the box for the first time. Their Director and Senior attorney of the Trademark and Patent Division for Apple contacted me. they replied that my letter ws forwared to them from the office of Steve Jobs nd that they were not going to produce my idea as they inhouse all new developments. But thanked me anyways.
I’m on to other things right now in the entertainment industry. I’m writing and developing a sitcom entitled, “Ping Pong” which I have submited to David Lettermans company Worldwide Pants, Inc.
So as you see, I cannot possibly pursue my CompGlass idea.
This idea is open to anyone with the interest and experience to further develope, design, promote and complete the manufacturing
of it. Mr. Cuban’s financial input is probably essential.
I can see the CompGlass boxes flying off the shelves next Christmas. Let’s hope they are and it is a small role in helping jumpstart this economy.
– patrick
Comment by patrick.actor -
This Tourism Project Is Immediately Profitable Once It Is Built…All Governmental Due Diligence Has Been Done…Please Review Links For A Complete Business Overview. Thanks Mark For This Opportunity.
http://www.fototime.com/EAA9EA5D83C501B/conv.wmv
http://www.slideshare.net/secret/ARhzDVSbRXqC4E
http://www.slideshare.net/secret/MIicJBoOHWNBgd
Because of the present economic global conditions we have adjusted our projections dramatically. Also keep in mind this project will take 1 year to complete. Spring2010.
* Total Cruise Ship Tourism was approximately 500,000 in 2007. While most economic forecast reflect a 3% to 5% decline in worldwide GDP for 2009
we have applied a 20% discount to tourism traffic for 2009 to 400,000 visitors.
** For 2011 and beyond, we assume full economic recovery to pre-recession levels of 500,000 cruise ship visitors per year.
*** Total visitors from airline travel totaled 3,900,000 in 2007. For 2010, we have discounted this traffic to reflect a 20% decline in airline traffic to 3,200,000 visitors. We have conservatively maintained this level throughout the projection period despite the likelihood of increased airline travel on a post-recession basis.
**** Our projections reflect capacity utilization of 65% over the projection period. Our hourly capacity is 48 rides per hour. Our daily capacity is 384 rides per day. Our monthly capacity is 9,216 rides per month and our annual capacity is 110,592 per year.
Mark when the project is complete my philanthropic activities will be partnering with the “Dream Project”, The Dominican Republic Education And Mentoring (DREAM) a US based nonprofit organization, that provides quality education for all children born into poverty in rural areas and small communities of the Dominican Republic. http://www.dominicandream.org/
Comment by Michael -
Hello,
My business plan has been published and is available for download at the above web address. We are an online Ticket Brokering business. We are profitable but need to expand operations to get to the next couple of levels. Our webiste is http://www.ez-ticket.com
Comment by Michael Davis -
I have a company call Printinzone.US that have created and implemented the first online printing service that create pre-design graphic designs that event producers in the urban market can purchase to promote their events. Instead of waiting day for their graphic design company to come up with a concept for their flyer their can go to our site and purchase a pre-design concept. This cuts down on time spent finding a designer, coming up with a concept, printing the final art piece and cost. Each week we will place new design concepts online. Due to the success of this service we will now put together concepts for different business entities.I simply need funding to increase development of these pre-design concepts and promotion. So many businesses (especially start-up businesses)can benefit from using my service due to cost and time. The designs only cost $50 and at times I can even provide it for free base on the added services there are requesting from me. This is a business I have run out of my home for 5 years. Most people who visit my site and use my service think we are a huge company due to our presentation online.If I sell 200 pre-designs for $50 each that is $10,000 profit. My present cost to produce 200 pre-design templates will be $300. That is a $9,700 PROFIT!!!!! What do you think about that future partner?
Template:
http://www.printinzone.us/template/browseDesigns.asp
Hope to here from you soon.
Jevante Qirashawn
Comment by Jevante Qirashawn -
Mr. Cuban,
I am a 55 year old woman who has a love for quilting. I live in Terrell, Texas where no fabric stores exist. I actually presented a business plan to a local bank to open a quilting shop, which was also reviewed by the small business bureau. Both the bank and the bureau thought the plan was intact and showed positive potential for success with profits. I was approved by the local bank for a $60K loan on the condition we put up our home equity as collateral and my husband co-sign for the loan. My husband was reluctant to put up our home and co-sign since he felt like this was my business venture and not his.
I belong to a local quilting guild and I know there are literally hundreds of women, like myself, who quilt and sew. This is a passion hobby for women as hunting and fishing is to men. Woman spend a ton of money for materials, notions and other items related to quilting and/or sewing. I still have my material I presented to the bank to show my cost with a 110% mark-up for resale. Please tell me you want to know more. Ask your mom or any middle age women about the potential of an fabric shop in a area such as mine. My shop would service women in a 30 mile radius. I would work the shop full time and hire help when needed. I know this is not a large organization and it will not make me a millionare nor add to yours. But it would provide a good income for me and let you help some older women enjoy their hobby without having to travel 30 miles.
Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.
Comment by Sharon -
Hey Cuban,
You’re embarrassing me at the shul. Go to medical school or something, will ya?
Comment by Will -
Dear Sir
My idea is to buy housing and renting it to section 8. The rent will be a minimum of $300 per month clear. This is guaranteed government money. Once there are 10 houses rented out I will buy and then rehab the 11th house using the rent to pay the local people. This will establish decent affordable housing and put local people to work. I already have one house. The locals will be the electricians, plumbers, and carpenters. I am already showing income just not enough to start rehabbing the house. My email address is cable@cyberwc.net thank you for your time.
Donald this is the correct email address
Comment by Donald -
> I also expect that other people will steal the idea and use it elsewhere.
I emphatically object to that statement:
theft is not only illegal, but immoral too.
There is an important reason why we have
a Patent and Trademark Office in D.C.
America is deteriorating because business
has become extremely cut-throat here.
I do not plan to meet my Maker
with any blood on my hands.
PLEASE REMOVE MY POST ABOVE.
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
/s/ Paul A. Mitchell, Inventor and
Systems Development Consultant
All Rights Reserved without Prejudice
Comment by Paul A. Mitchell -
@RT
Mint.com already does that…for free. And they do a great job.
Comment by JB -
In difficult economic times the gray market (aka surplus) inventory levels increase substantially.
I propose a system enabling the sale of surplus inventory at a rate of 1 item per minute.
The scalable operation would require approximately 8 employee’s per item sale per minute along with approximately 10,000 square feet of warehouse space.
A solid average wholesale cost of mid-range items is $25 each. When purchasing surplus we would be looking at no more than 20% of wholesale or $5 each. Typically one can sell an item for about 30% of retail which in this case is $15.
For one line of 8 employees and a 10k square foot warehouse the revenue would be approximately $21,600 per 24 hour operating period (the maximum capacity of a full line per day). The acquisition cost of the goods is $5 each or $7200 per operating period. Add in the assumption of FOB shipping from the west coast and we’re looking at around $8600 cost.
A single 8 hour shift would look like $7200 in revenue with CGS of $2867, thus gross margins of $4333.
8 employees averaging $18/hour would have an effective cost with benefits of about $30/hour. So the cost of resources would be around $1920 per shift. Net after taking into account employees, benefits and taxes are at about $2413 per shift.
The salary for the founder would be $15k/month commensurate with his current position. Operating expenses for the warehouse and utilities would be a projected $10k per month in the proposed area.
With an initial startup cost of $250,000 to secure a warehouse, racking, forklift, employee training and initial inventory the 90 day projections would look like this:
Month 1:
1 Shift operating @ 50% capacity = 10 operating shifts.
10 shifts * $2413/shift = $24130 – $25000k monthly operating = ($870)
Month 2:
1 shift operating @ 80% capacity = 16 operating shifts
1 shift operating @ 50% capacity = 10 operating shifts
26 shifts * $2413/shift = $62736 – $25000 = $37738
Month 3:
1 shift operating @ 100% capacity = 20 operating shifts
1 shift operating @ 80% capacity = 16 operating shifts
36 shifts * $2413/shift = $86868 – $25000 = $61868
Your share as the angel investor would be 50% share of net profit until your contribution had been doubled. This is high risk and deserves high return. In addition a negotiable share in the ongoing business would be well deserved offering the potential for very large ROI on potential IPO, etc.
This business starts out almost immediately being profitable. I have owned an online auction based business previously and my learnings are reflected in my pitch. I eagerly await your questions and look forward to the possibility of getting this off the ground. I’m also aware of where to get initial inventory, acquire employees, etc.
Thanks you in advance for your consideration.
Comment by JD -
Dear Sir
My idea is to buy housing and renting it to section 8. The rent will be a minimum of $300 per month clear. This is guaranteed government money. Once there are 10 houses rented out I will buy and then rehab the 11th house using the rent to pay the local people. This will establish decent affordable housing and put local people to work. I already have one house. The locals will be the electricians, plumbers, and carpenters. I am already showing income just not enough to start rehabbing the house. My email address is cable@cyber.net thank you for your time.
Donald
Comment by Donald -
Pingback: links for 2009-02-12 « Overton’s Arrow
follow up tag
Comment by Russ Lambert -
Dear Mr Cuban:
We have a simple and unique product: anatomic models for education made out of latex (rubber).
Nice haptics, low price.
Normally they’re made out of plastic which is cold to touch and environmentally unfriendly.
The products are about 40% lower cost than the plastic products currently available — if you are interested we can send you samples.
The market is huge: schools, universities, midwifes, doctors and and and…
Let me know if you like the idea and I will post the business plan.
Your conditions are all accepted.
Uli Kaiser
Comment by Uli Kaiser -
Empowering small business by creating meaningful jobs
As former president of the New York City’s 350th Anniversary Committee (www.nyc350.org) and CEO of BlackAthlete Sports Network (www.blackathlete.net) and currently (http://www.prweb.com/pdfdownload/1952384/pr.pdf) running for Mayor of New York City for 2009 (http://rr4mayornyc.com), I sought to find a way to revitalize some of New York City’s impoverished neighborhoods. After conferring with Wall Street brokers and small businesses I’ve come up with a novel strategy of melding Wall Street with Main Street by forming a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) to either buy or rent buildings within the five boroughs to empower and enrich all of the citizens sense of ownership. My plan would restore neighborhoods and commercial corridors to create new small businesses and jobs. This would become a part of a broad new initiative by all New York citizens, who by working together, can find unity, hope and create opportunity in commonly supported and unique urban development programs over ten years to reshape New York for the next century.
Its focus is to create and encourage pathways that facilitate the fluid establishment of community business entities while utilizing established business sector acumen. In those arenas where small and community based businesses best serve municipal development, this fund would serve to produce public funding to work in concert with private capital formation to achieve profit oriented goals of magnitude. The benefits of this device would be earnings and annual dividends for members and meaningful jobs for the community. As structured, the REIT would pay either diminished or no taxes.
A brick & mortar retail sports theme store and restaurants will compliment our online operations selling athletic merchandise and exotic food dishes that will serve as a venue to promote the athlete’s relationship in inner-city communities around the world.
The Black market is currently a $500 Billion+ annual business. African Americans will get a significant new economic boost to equality as they utilize the Internet. On the Internet, they can circulate their funds to businesses that serve their needs and those of Black America with ease. And beyond economic issues, the Internet offers a huge potential for greater organizational, educational and political cohesiveness than ever before by becoming a syndication content provider (an electronic Black Sports Wire); traditional publishing (re-utilizing content creatively and cost-effectively to create books; calendars; magazines etc.); long term convergence (as BASN bandwidth increases BASN evolves into multimedia Internet/TV/Radio network with round the clock, global BASN coverage).
No income figures can be applied to the category prior to product selection or audience development, but the income potential is huge, not only among blacks in the US (942 million annual expenditure on sports equipment alone), but worldwide where there is tremendous interest in African American sports figures and culture.
That concludes our summary of capital needs for the foreseeable future. We are prepared to address each of these elements in more detail. Please also realize we are presenting what is a sophisticated understanding of the reality of Internet dynamics, but also inclusive of a brick & mortar environment – and as has been proven over and over and over again, Internet financials are a whole new breed as evidenced by America Online, Google, EBAY, Kmart, etc., etc.. So-called “traditional” business plans are a thing of the past when applied to the revolutionary reality of the Internet. And note that our major investors will have included in their agreements full involvement in the spending decisions regarding all their investment capital, and our larger investors will each have a seat on the Board of Directors.
Partnering with a wide range of major corporations, a “branded” (widely-known) site (with a distinct format/content), BASN is a natural to use its ‘broadcast’ network and its audience to develop “community” in the real world by co-hosting a variety of sports related events (State of the Black Athlete in 2010, Miami, Fla. during the Super Bowl week) and other major cities, and on various campuses. And the logical formula will be having a partner who assumes most, if not all, of the cost as an investor, and assist us in packaging each component that guarantees BASN will realize income from each event thus contributing to the investors return on investment.
Comment by Roland Rogers -
My wife and I are teachers in suburbs of Dallas. Because of a family situation, we are going to return to her home of New Orleans to help care for her father. Its crazy to have to resign from good and fulfilling jobs but our situation necessitates this. We both plan to teach in New Orleans unless another opportunity comes up and even with that, we may be able to do both. Maybe this will be an opportunity.
My idea is based on my love of New Orleans (even though I am Dallas born and raised), my desire to not only help ourselves prosper but also contribute to the rebuilding of New Orleans, and my love of pizza.
Dallas has a couple of Papa Murphy’s pizza establishments left. They are “take and bake” pizza establishments. The pizza is very good, the pasta, salads, and cookies, not so good and not really necessary. Many closed due to issues with the supply distributors. In New Orleans, there is nothing like a take and bake pizza place.
I would like to introduce a take and bake pizza store to New Orleans or one of its parish suburbs.
The product is simple-take and bake pizzas much like Papa Murphy’s. I have my own crust recipe though. Toppings would be fresh and traditional meats and vegetables with consideration given to some of the more hometown loves like crawfish or shrimp. Pizza and possibly beverages would be offered (cokes, and possibly beer since the alcohol laws there are different). Other than those things nothing else would be offered i.e. no salads or pastas. I believe in keeping things simple and consistent and branching out too much would compromise that. Packaging would be on disposable baking pans (ideally from recycled materials-would require research).
Real estate there is cheap as it is all over but the difference is that many properties are sitting idle. I would want to work with a friend who owns a chain of coffee shops there. He was able to bring them back after Katrina so he knows the city well. I would ask him to help find a location preferably with an abandoned fast food restaurant that has a drive through. Location there is very important, and it would need to be uptown, in Metairie, where there is a concentration of people but not an abundance of eateries. Once the location is found, funding would be needed to secure a lease.
The operation would be low overhead. A dough machine may be required along with ingredients for my crust recipe, sauce, and toppings from distributors. I would like to use local businesses such as vendors in the French Market for fresh vegetables, local fishermen (seafood is cheap there) and then whoever has the best meats for the best price. Pizzas are ideally cheap-very cheap to make and it should be kept that way without giving up freshness or taste. No pizza ovens and No delivery drivers will be needed since it is take and bake. A stove top would be needed as would adequate refrigeration. It would be run by the founder/owner and the “rest” as specified. Duties would be to take orders (phone or drop in), assemble the product, and service the customers as they come to pick up their orders be it store front or drive through. I realize there can be a great deal of waste with any restaurant so it would be paramount to carefully gauge traffic in accordance to preparing the daily fresh ingredients so waste is minimal.
Profits and ownership would be at your discretion. I realize restaurants are always risky and a majority of new restaurant ventures fail.I consider this a pizza shoppe. I would be ok with your part ownership (30-40%) or a loan with intrest repaid and a lasting interest. Naming could be negotiated along with my crust recipe should you like it enough to take it to another level.
Yes, New Orleans is about fine food, different food, Commander’s Palace, Mandina’s, Cajun food, French food, but people there also like everyday kinds of food like pizza. This would be a different kind of pizza than Pizza Hut or even some of the other mom and pop shops there. I believe this concept would become profitable and very popular because it would offer a different product, fresh pizza with unique toppings available, piping hot because it comes out of the oven at home & it’s not delivered, and it would contribute to the rebuilding of the city by helping its economy and provide employment.
I hope you will consider this but if not, you are still doing a great thing by getting people to think and propose solutions to our nation’s financial dilemma. Regardless, New Orleans is soon to be our new home and we are going to not only live there but celebrate life there.
Comment by Kevin B -
I wrote up a whole thing but it never got posted on here 🙁 Anyway, Mr. Cuban, here’s my pitch.
I already run a profitable t-shirt site called BurnTees (www.BurnTees.com). We currently use CafePress to print our shirts on demand and therefore don’t pay upfront for inventory. With a little cash, we could purchase our inventory and sell our products at a MUCH higher profit margin. It’s a pretty simple plan of taking an already profitable business to the next level.
Comment by BurnTees -
Pingback: On Bailout Plans and actual plans | disGovernance
Interesting indeed – especially when you combine it with this post:
http://www.sixmonthmba.com/2009/02/999ideas.html?cid=148305427#comments
Comment by Bill Smith -
Mark,
I work with a group of business consultants in Canada. We have many clients, including some sport related ventures, that would love to submit a properly developed business plan complete with cash flow statements marketing analysis etc. Are you interested in Canadian based ventures?
Comment by Ian -
This is an idea I’ve had for many years, and it comes out of the desire to be a customer.
The concept is a delivery only restaurant that has multiple menus and restaurant names that are marketed distinctly and individually allowing for repeat business within the same week by our targeted customers.
There are many areas of the country with a high density of apartments, university students, young families, etc.. We all need food, and we all want something quick, delicious, inexpensive and convenient. Much of this market will order delivery once or twice a week, but rarely from the same restaurant. We can get that second order.
The concept of delivery food has certainly been done before, and when done right has been very successful. What has not been done before however is to localize multiple distinct menus and cuisines (Subs, Chinese, Mexican, Comfort Food, Catering, etc..) under one roof, one delivery service. Since a delivery-only restaurant does not need foot traffic or need to be noticed from the road, the location can be in a cheaper, discrete location within any high-density population area. It should be targeted around areas of town that meet the target audience as described above. Instead of investing in “location, location, location” investment money should be targeted at a high rate into marketing, direct-mail, coupons, web-based ordering, etc..
Each cuisine offered will have its own distinct restaurant name (quickly made up examples: “La Plaza Mexican Food”, “Monster’s Hoagies”, “Chin Chan Chinese” “Connie’s Catering”, etc…) and its own printed menu and website. The idea here isn’t to deceive however, there’s no reason to hide or deny that these places are housed under the same roof….the idea is to offer multiple quality choices that are reliable and consistent and gain repeat customers throughout the week. Housing multiple “restaurants” under one kitchen changes the game in terms of costs/repeat customers.
For lunch time we will go into a slightly different “mode” to focus on promoting a simple box lunch catering service for local businesses. Free lunch for the person that calls in the order, heavy marketing of the box-lunch menu to the business community, easy to use website for business lunch ordering, etc.. Managers (me) will spend a lot of time working with receptionists and admin assistants around time to make us the first-call for any business lunch needs.
A kitchen is a kitchen and can be built out with multiple stations. One station will be built out for each menu/cuisine however all other operational functions will be handled as one restaurant.
There are many delivery restaurants make a killing from an order once a week or so from each regular customer. This arrangement would leverage your customers and allow for multiple orders in the same time frame from the same customers.
It would be important to have me leading this business because I am very passionate about serving my customers. I want them to be happy with each and every order. This would result in a company culture that is highly respected and known for being customer-responsive.
Start with two so we can leverage some of our marketing (offset by 3 months) in almost any city in the country (pick locations with a high-density of the target customer) and work towards franchising.
Start-up cost estimates:
75k for each build out
50k for pc’s, ordering systems
50k for heavy marketing and web-based ordering system
25k for the first month of hiring, training.
We could go from concept to up and running in 50 days. By the end of 90 we would be a profitable, sustainable business working towards opening many, many more locations. After a few years begin franchising.
Comment by Kent -
You should ask people for “invention” ideas, claim the right to patents, etc, and try to market them. I’m so sick of people trying to look at the internet as a way of making money, instead of creating actual products.
I’ll give you a couple of examples of things I’ve thought of in the past 15 minutes…
So last week, a friend tells me that the family dog ran away, and they had to hire a pet detective, but no luck finding the dog. No more than 10 minutes later, I’m listening to The Ticket, and Norm is interviewing a lady from California who wants to put GPS into footballs to make it easier for officials to spot the ball. She is convinced that the technology exists such that the GPS devices are small enough to not affect the weight/rotation/balance of the balls, and that the devices would only add $20-$30 to the cost of producing he balls. So why is it that when I search on-line for “GPS Dog Collars” do I find this huge bulky things that look like I’m putting my dog under house arrest, and that cost hundreds of dollars? Seriously, sell me a GPS dog collar that *looks* like a freaking dog collar for $25 and charge me $5 a month for the tracking service. Me and thousands upon thousands of others who treat their pets as members of their family would no doubt buy one in a heart beat.
Second … my thermostat sucks. Especially this time of the year where it’s > 72 during the day and < 72 at night. All I want to do is keep the temperature at 72 regardless. I shouldn’t have to guy manually switch between Heat/AC. (Maybe something like this exists already?)
Finally … my shower valve sucks too. There’s like one tiny microscopic location where the temperature is “just right”. One micron to the left and it’s too hot, one micron to the right and it’s too cold. It’d be nice if instead of turning that valve every morning, I could just press a button, “Put it at the temperature it was at yesterday morning”. Be even nicer if it’d have enough spaces to remember different temperature for different members of my family that use that shower.
All of these ideas may be great, may be retarded, I don’t care one way or another. Someone can steal all these ideas, or they laugh at them and point me to websites selling the very items I’m describing. I don’t care. It’s not like I put my life’s research into this. My point is simply that I’d like to see you try to stimulate people into coming up with ideas for tangible products that can be built in America by American workers.
Kinda like that TV show American Inventors or whatever it was, but where you don’t have to be lucky enough to get picked for a TV show to share your ideas.
Comment by lajotu -
I have an idea and I think it’s good, yet I have no idea how to do it without adverstising. My plan is to bring together small businesses and community by interviewing and personalizing the owners. Have them talk about their passions, what they want to achieve,how they make a difference. Make them known to their customers before they even walk into their shops or call for their services. Then bring all the info online into a directory (sorry yellowpages) that one can navigate according to need (massage therapist, dry cleaner, tutor, home based entrepreneur, etc.). It would begin with an e-newsletter promoting the businesses and directing the reader to the directory for future use and even possibly doing interviews on local cable tv. It has great possibility for expansion. Why not pay it forward to help those who need exposure and keep business local?
Comment by Terry -
Mark,
We know you are busy – so we made it quick and to the point. We posted our proposal at:
http://www.nakedpizza.biz/open-source-cuban.htm
Thanks for your time –
Looking forward to hearing from you – Jeff and Randy (New Orleans)
Comment by Jeff and Randy -
Mark,
I am a former telecom engineer who lost his job 8 years ago. Because of the difficulties in finding work, I’ve had to rely on my ingenuity, determination, and talents to make ends meet.
I had crafted a small business which only need is the financial backing to make it a success story. This business is based on sports ranging from football to golf. Over the years, I have had some success but not enough to put me over the top. I put in yeoman’s work, sometimes going 20 hours a day to make the business work.
The idea is simple, based around kids who are active in sports, and would be a source of employment for many people, ranging from high school and college students to senior citizens.
My idea focuses on a type of sports memorabilia. What we do is create sports figurines of children, ranging from pee-wee sports to high school. Because high school football is a huge draw here in the state of Texas, this appeals to the high school athlete, middle school, and pee wee athlete.
If the child wants, the parents usually will get it. I have done a market study of for Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California to determine it’s value.
The product is a miniature sports cube of an athlete. It is in a 3 in. cubed display with a photo of the athlete plus his stats or highlights of some kind.
This can be done in any sports from football, baseball, basketball, etc. Even there is a market for women’s volleyball as there are volleyball leagues throughout the country with tournament play.
The benefits of this product is twofold. One, it creates immediate employment opportunities in sports marketing of the product. This allows for college students and high students to get in on the ground floor and develop their marketing skills. These young people would be sent to sporting events such as high school, middle school, and pee-wee sports such as football games armed with information on the product.
This product would also need craftsmans, artisans, and a host of administrative-type people to ensure the product is delivered with the utmost customer service.
The profitability would be tremendous (and here is why). This is a product that booster clubs would be interested in at a discounted rate. With that being said, it would allow the school to buy in large quantity which would stimulate interest in that school’s program.
In the state of Texas alone, there are more than 1,000 high schools alone. There are possibly 4-5 times middle schools and many pee wee sports programs. If at every high school, if just 5 football players alone bought the product, the financial profit would be astronomical!
This is not limited to Texas, but think in terms of other great states that play football. This would not be limited to football but could definitely be done in baseball, volleyball, basketball, volleyball, etc.
Furthermore, this opportunity would allow for research and development of other product lines. I have a vision of what these product lines could be and how they could best be pitched.
This product has been in a patent-pending state but I have not been able to further it due to lack of financial capital. The bottom line is that this venture could open up employment opportunities for sales reps, marketing agents, and many others.
You can look at my work at:
http://www.sportsminis.net and http://www.footballfigure.net
Comment by Reginald -
Sorry Mark, but my business plan is far too good to ever make public.
Looks like we both lose.
Comment by James -
Customized Vitamin Drinks
http://www.elementbars.com/
Same exact concept except with beverages. Maintain a manufacturing facility and operate business via online store. Further ideas to include promotional items, suggested drinks based on lifestyle and customized container options.
Much more information to be disclosed if interest follows.
Anxiously awaiting your thoughts…
Comment by Eric -
Appears may message did not go through..this is canned
Judges Need for Miss Funrunners Costa Rica Contest and concert. TicoTimes.us will be coming to Columbia and Panama after we get things going in Costa Rica. I am going to have on the new TicoTimes.us website, A TAB for INTERNATIONAL. Any country that has OWNER OPERATED Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, Tours, that we recommend, we will put you on the site.
If you want to be the first and probably only one for awhile let me know, Our deal is simple
Hotels – 2 nights room a month,
Restuarants – 8 meals a month,
Bars 4 – 25$ Bar Tabs a month, we get then in your bar
Tours – vary
TicoTimes.us MY job is bring people to your door.
Alot of things have changed since we talked before, might want ot take a look at this.
joshua
Funrunners@hotmail.com
All I would need is to email any photos that are not on your main website already. I can build you a site on Ticotimes.us with the information on your main site. We build you a site in ticotimes.us and then send them to your main website to book rooms or ask questions,
let me know
Also looking for a partner for Columbia, 40% for 60k
Looking for partners in Panama 40% 70k
MIght look at the posssible numbers for the online magazine could grow to the 1000’s percentage return.
Comment by Josh Porter -
Mark
I have a start up non-profit 501( c )3 that will employ many in all states. I need 10K for printing and 10K for distribution.As for your return that is not possible with a non-profit but the tax deduction is! This is purely educational and encourages the american public to be donors.Please see website for information. I would love to have your sponsorship!!!!!!!!!
F.E. Phillips
Comment by Frank Edward Phillips -
Concept: HOOSIER DADDY’S Home of the Original Indiana-Style Breaded Pork Tenderloin.
I would like to start-up a small chain of kiosks and/or free-standing quick serve restaurants worthy of franchising which would feature that delicious, one of a kind giant breaded pork tenderloin that is hard to find outside of the midwest. You went to IU. You have to know what I’m talking about!
Comment by Kevin -
for the above, equity, I dunno, 25%?
Comment by Robert Evans -
Ok, I have some of this mocked out already and will be building this at some point. More curious to get your thoughts on it Mark. If selected, great, if not, thoughts I’d love to have.
Name: Disaster Info
During the recent California Wildfires, we discovered a tragic weakness in our ability to report
accurate and timely information to the evacuees and their families. In the age of technology, this
should not be our reality, but unfortunately, for many, it was. Survivors of disasters, such as
hurricanes, floods, fires, and tornadoes need access to reliable information and immediate updates in times of crisis. Disaster Info will revolutionize the way many people stay informed during an ever changing emergency.
Disaster Info will provide a searchable map based system that gives quick and easy access to all
people. It will gather disaster locations from various government websites, automatically mapping
each one on its comprehensive map. Individuals will be able to search any given area to see if any
disasters are currently present. They will also be able to do radial searches (distance from a given
location) to determine how far a disaster area is from their home. People will also be able to
search for evacuation centers, relief centers and any other areas that may be of help in such times
of emergency.
Not only will people have access to this map, but Disaster Info will provide a social network
that allows people to submit disaster locations which will be analyzed by the system and mapped
accordingly. This network will also provide a place where people can talk about local disasters and
share support. During the California Wildfires, bloggers that lived in the affected areas reported
updated news before Network News Stations are able to arrive on the scene. Disaster info will
provide a place where locals can report what happening in their area as it occurs.
Disaster Info will use mobile phone technology to provide instant access to the information
available on the website. Recent studies show that mobile phones are replacing landlines in the
home at an increasingly fast rate. * Disaster Info will allow people to use their mobile phones to
recieve updated reports via their text messaging service. In recent disasters, reverse 911 calls
successfully notified people who were in potential fire areas and Virginia Tech used text messaging
to notify the students of their shooting crisis. Registered users will be able to use their mobile
phones to access the site, give a specified location, and be given text-based search results of any
disasters for the given area. This service is necessary for people who have lost power, are without
computers or internet, or are already evacuated. Disaster Info will allow people to subscribe to a
mobile syndicated service that will automatically notify the subscriber, via mobile phone, of a
disaster that strikes within a given location(s) by the subscriber.
Comment by Robert Evans -
Mark – if the goal can be expanded to employers keeping more people in their jobs we have one answer. Here me out on the jobs issue – in this business climate not having to lay more people off or eliminate more positions would result in an overall more immediate economic benefit than creating new jobs. We need to stop the bleeding.
We’ve been involved in consumer advocacy for over six years now and are focused on debt issues. We morphed into a publishing house (long story) knowing that it wasn’t going to make anyone rich. And after all this time, we’ve boiled down an answer to the question of “who has skin in the game?”
In reality it’s employers. They’re paying for their employer’s personal debt problems, directly and indirectly.
The problem we see is employee productivity – at all levels from the hourly wage earner to senior management, and the fact is, companies aren’t getting eight to ten hours of work each day out of too many of their eight and ten hour workers. Why? Because so many people are trapped in financial situations that eat up not only work-day hours but mental energy and attention. Debt-stressed employees are not only distracted by their problems, they can even be a hazard to themselves and other workers. There are health implications for people facing a financial crisis that affect not only insurance costs but attendance. Alcohol and prescription drug abuse aren’t uncommon; families suffer – in particular if the job performance deteriorates to the point where the employee is fired. Debt-burdened employees are also far more likely to steal from their employer – just ask the people in loss-prevention departments.
We have one answer – an “Employee Assistance Program” that is not the typical financial planning/investment or retirement planning/education program – its focus is debt-avoidance (prevention) and predicting their direction and helping them to change it if they’re on the way to becoming a prospective bankruptcy filer. And it’s entirely private and confidential. No meetings, no embarrassment. It’s a self-help, self-analysis tool that can direct the user to either resources they can use on their own or ways to find effective professional guidance and assistance. Instead of charging a fee to the user, it’s paid for by the employer (monthly subscription, priced per employee). Again, like many confidential EAP’s the employer has no way of knowing who is using it or the results being obtained unless the employee decides to talk about it. The only feedback an employer can get is the aggregate numbers on users.
We have to face it, the traditional way of finding help on the Internet is like taking a sip of water out of a fire hydrant and far too much of it is nothing more than promotional advertising. Our EAP carefully evaluates the individual’s situation and provides a customized shortcut to what we believe are the best (non-affiliated) authoritative resources without them being inundated with advertising or being steered to sites because of advertising. It also can help keep people away from scams that are popping up everywhere.
We’re comfortable “going public” with the idea at this point. It is now in the latter stages of preparation for beta trials. There are enhancements that could be included and the entire process can be accelerated with your involvement.
As to your specific requirements:
1. It can be an existing business or a start up.
Existing business, new program offering.
2. It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. Why ? Because I want this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. Thats the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time.
There is no advertising component.
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
No guarantees. If the program sells as we predict, a handful of large subscriber customers could make that happen.
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
Can’t do – we’ve got a lot sunk into it already that will take a lot more than 90 days to recapture.
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops
Agreed. If we can’t make the projections it’s not worth our time or your money.
6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered.
Agreed.
7. Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else.
That pretty much describes it at this stage.
8. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com , scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download
An edited version, yes. Details of the proprietary analytical tool and sales/marketing plans won’t be.
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own.
Once it becomes profitable, there is no requirement for future funding.
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont.
Can we show your name as an investor?
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows.
Agreed.
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money.
Negotiable. You need to see the numbers first but we’re not offering more than a minority interest at this point.
13. No mult-level marketing programs (added 2/10/09 1pm)
No kidding.
Comment by Dave -
Pingback: The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan » The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp
Chris Aikins
Aikins Venture Capital
(940) 595-8803
February 12, 2009
Mr. Mark Cuban
Financier
Dear Mr. Mark Cuban:
Some people have posted counter offers to my “Real Estate Investing” business plan. These people are inadequately trained in finance, as I am. They don’t know what the hell they are doing to provide a substantial investment for a billionaire. I’ve read several of the proposals on the blog post, and they do not offer the quality of active investing as I do. If you still don’t realize the value of my proposal, I have failed my company and I have disappointed you. I’m going to try this again, cut-throat style.
As a long-time admirer of the outstanding work your organization has done in the community, I particularly enjoy having the opportunity to see how you function from the inside. As you indicated in your outline, you want a streamline investment opportunity that works for you. This proposal outlines the complete scope of work, objectives, procedures, identification of responsibilities, and estimated fees associated with my abilities.
OBJECTIVE
Provide a lucrative investment opportunity for Mr. Cuban for a proposed real estate investing company. Aikins Venture Capital provides all estate contracts for the buying and selling of properties, as well as necessary accounting and financial projections. My company provides full disclosure to all investors, because if you aren’t making money, I’m not making money. Success of this project not only depends on your support, but also on your personnel’s skills, efforts, and willingness to work with me to get this company operating in your favor.
SCOPE OF SERVICES
1. Procedures
A. Assist in the planning implementation of Aikins Venture Capital to suit your profit needs
B. Recommend steps required to successfully advance my real estate investing proposal.
C. Establish specifications for the bridge from monetary assets to real estate assets, and vice versa.
2. Training and Testing
A. I will work with you and your staff during the transition of assets to help gain a general understanding of real estate investing.
B. I will annex the talents of other investors to aid Aikins Venture Capital to acquire more properties; income is based on commission.
3.Conversion and Post-Conversion Support
A. Provide full disclosure of operations to Mr. Cuban and his financial advisors
B. Provide 24-hour support for tracking financial assets
C. Acquire additional capital through the Foreign Exchange Market to provide economies of scale for potentially bad investments.
D. Hire insurance agents, on commission, to work for Aikins Venture Capital to provide insurance for the properties we manage. This brings in more money for the security of the asset.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
The only responsility you have is to accept 50% of all profit for the first and last year of operations.
FAULTS WITH OTHER INVESTMENT PROPOSALS
The faults with the other proposals are that they do not offer a profit within 60 days. The other proposals aren’t streamlined enough to offer security to your investment; they are a high-risk investment. The reason why a person invests is to acquire finances to advance an alternate agenda, whether it is to retire or buy the Cubs. The other proposed business plans to not provide for the advancement of your agenda, Mr. Cuban. The other plans aren’t progressive and advanced enough to operate in several markets. Their operating budgets are extremely high, they aren’t trained in finance, and they cannot offer you a 50% split on all realized profits. They need employees who make a salary, I don’t. I work on commission. The harder I work, the more money we both make. They don’t provide progressive and active investing of your funds that eliminate RISK.
BENEFITS
With the acceptance of my offer, the going concern of the company will be extended indefinitely, as long as real estate exists. Being a real estate investor and a salesperson, I have the ability to work anywhere in America. This allows me to operate in every real estate hot spot in America. It is possible for you, Mr. Cuban, to own a great percentage of the real estate in DFW. Rental properties produce thousands of dollars a month. You need a progressive company that works for YOU, so you can sit back and collect a check every month with little work involved.
PROFESSIONAL FEES
Aikins Venture Capital works on commission. Commission is the best way to go because it determines the quality of work being done and you are paid what you are worth based on the work you provide.
CLOSING
We appreciate the opportunity to service your investment needs. If you choose to accept this proposal or you need additional information, please give me a call at (940) 595-8803 or shoot me an email at chris.aikins@christopheraikins.com. If I still have competition, I will certainly eliminate doubt on the next proposal.
Sincerely,
Chris Aikins
CEO Aikins Venture Capital
Comment by Chris Aikins -
Mark,
My startup idea is for a ‘personal finance’ aggregator website. This site will essentially link up to all of your online personal banking / credit sites and display them side-by-side; creating an easy and efficient environment for interacting with all of your accounts. Our competitive advantages will be the ease and portability of such a site.
Our revenue model will be subscription-based: initially, charge ‘customers’ a nominal monthly fee for services provided ($1 / month); secondly, create a ‘mobile-device’ accessible page (iPhone app) for which we charge higher rates due to the increased convenience ($3 / month).
To pay-back within 2 months, we would need to capture only a small portion of the online-banking market share. This startup will have high fixed costs of development; however, the marginal cost of adding an additional user will essentially be $0, making profitability within 90 days a realistic goal.
We are currently exploring seed financing options. We have a formal business plan available as well as an annual budget and 13-week cash flow. I’ve estimated the total cost to starting this business to be $250k. For an investment at this level, we would be willing to cede up to 15% of equity; for active participation and industry guidance on your part, we can offer as high as 25% of equity.
Please contact if you would like more information / are interested.
Comment by RT -
Every time I get laid off (like now) my unshackled brain starts storming. The last time (2002) I came up with this idea and it’s even more viable now:
Recognizing current business needs means moving quickly past the traditional 9-to-5, commute-in-traffic status quo. More and more roles can be performed virtually now (I could have done my last job from Antarctica with a decent internet connection). Telecommuting is more viable than ever, and for jobs that were once impractical to operate that way.
With that preamble out of the way, my suggestion is a franchise of operations that combine elements of Kinkos, Office Max, Starbucks, hotel conference rooms and mom-&-pop UPS store ops. Locate them butt up against airports, hotel districts, shopping centers, et al. For Marks’ reference, in DFW prime locations would be around Centreport, Alliance, Grapevine, etc. Anywhere you have the perfect confluence of population, hotels, and major businesess.
These operations would be no larger than the typical business products store (office Max) but would only sell the essentials in that line (paper, pens, whiteout, etc). Emergency office supply stuff. The main offering would be the fastest internet available, access to business printing, plotting and repro equipment, ad hoc meeting areas, reserved conference rooms, virtual conferencing (known as Halo by Nokia), delivery service, networking, tech support staff, snacks– in other words, the typical amenities of a corporate office without the corporation. You would have a mix of companies represented, which could stimulate business for them.
Free wifi (throttled) would be available as a draw, with various tiers of performance available for pay. Facility usage would be by membership levels, with higher-tier members having bumping privleges for conference rooms, etc. The interior environment would be open for the most part (supporting free, ad hoc gatherings) with some private and semiprivate rooms for meetings. A small cafe would provide healthy snacks and drinks. Lots of plants to improve the air and appearance. Maybe even a masseuse service…
I really think the time has come for this. In fact, a survey at my last employer hinted that they were thinking of breaking corporate campuses into small satellite ops closer to the homes of employees. If I had the money, I’d have already opened one of these up– but here I am laid off again, watching my savings and severance go up in smoke…
Comment by Randall Arnold -
Pingback: Free Business Ideas | Business Idea of the Day
Also, Mark – I can show profit margins on this already – I just need more money to leverage it. This is real.
Comment by Clayton Williams -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I had the pleasuer of meeting you at the game this past Tuesday.Thanks for the website information.The idea and desing that I have will change sports history. This desing will benefit both players and fans.It is a self selling product that conducts a high flowing profit that sells on its own.This nba product focuses more on fans than players.But I know that the players are really going to want to be apart of the change thats about to happen in the nba family.Mr. Cuban, I want to introduce this product to the world threw the greatest fan base team in the nba, The Dallas Mavericks. Please contact me at 214-756-0678 or gsross12@yahoo.com.Thanks and God Bless
Comment by Isaiah Ross -
19 Year Old Ayn Rand Fan Requests $4,900
This is purely online advertising, and it is the best business plan here. You said no advertising, well this is selling in a fast & scalable way online, and I’m telling you anyway.
Mark, I appreciate this opportunity. I am the 19 year old Ayn Rand fan that keeps commenting on your posts.
I have experience in this industry and have made money in it. I am simply seeking money to leverage and grow. I am requesting $4,900 that will allow me to market products initially in search engines which pay a $33 commission per sale that are sold on a 14-30 day free trial terms online marketed to women 18-55. THIS IS NOT MLM. Ad networks like http://www.cpavalley.com broker products like these to internet marketers and this is a very big industry. I have a range of offers to promote from here- see one of my landing pages – http://www.thedietingmom.com where I am promoting 2 supplements – acai berry and a natural colon cleansing pills. $4900 would allow me to advertise in search engines and obtain traffic as low as .05 cents per click. I would need a conversion rate of roughly 1 out of 600 clicks to break even- which can be easily done. A tracking url from cpavalley is provided that tracks the click & commission from my landing page leading to their final advertiser page. My advanced tracking software tells me everything about the user including the keyword that they searched to find my website under sponsored search listings – so I can further fine tune the profitability of my advertising campaign.
Not a dollar will be wasted as I do not need to pay anyone to design any website or banner. I watch every penny so that I can double and then triple this within the next 3 months to purchase a banner advertisement in instant messengers where there is an influx of massive/cheap traffic. Acquaintances of mine are really making a lot of money at this as they have the leverage power to buy a banner ad on high traffic websites which require deposits up front after the initial test spend. That is my goal to get to that point.
I have no girlfriend right now, I don’t enjoy sleeping, and I just want to work. I can be profitable on Day 1 – you said it yourself the fastest way to make money is to resell things, and this is the fastest way to do it.
Comment by Clayton Williams -
My idea is a web based personal fitness trainer. I see it being used in two ways and for two crowds. First I believe you have the popular. This is a type of group you are looking to fit into a category of something simple and easy to follow. Many of them are looking to make changes physically but do not have the direction or knowledge of how to begin. This would create an online training program that is easy and simple to follow.
Secondly you have the passionate group. These are people who are wanting more than just something that everyone else wants to be a part of. The are really looking for real change and want to be challenged. You create personlized programs and maintain the ability to stay in touch personally through phone or e-mail. Adjust the training programs as needed and hold them accountable to making changes.
Many want a personal trainer but don’t because of cost, schedule or a variety of other excuses. This meets people where they are at. It provides them with an easy way to get started and simple to follow.
Comment by tbrush3 -
Mark,
We have an existing wind turbine company. We hold several patents and enjoy significant technical advantages over other companies.
We have an opportunity to secure large contracts which will drive our costs down due to dramatic economies of scale. Also, our approach takes out about 30% of the cost of building wind farms.
We are looking for someone like yourself to join our board. We don’t need any financing. We are willing to give up equity based on who the board member is and their involvement. In your case, as little or as much as you want to be involved.
We have very senior and well connected people on our team. We would like to visit with you and share our differentiators (our secret sauce).
William
Comment by William -
I am amazed…its no wonder our country is in trouble!! 90 percent of these are either illegal, plain idiotic, or just bashing. Your idea makes perfect sense…if one idea spreads a hundred times, thats jobs people. A 5 million dollar tennis resort business doesn’t garner anything but massive overhead,a night club people counter…been done (SST America), and it logs their id’s as well. My idea was researched for 4 years, did anybody but a couple of us do any??? Who are your competitors??? Can you survive your first year??? Did any of you read Mark’s rules???
Comment by Denton -
LKG Designs Inc. is an incorporated design firm in its beginning phase that will provide consumers of fine jewelry with unique designs, exceptional quality and craftsmanship. The uniqueness of its designs, use of diamonds and gemstones will offer to consumers jewelry pieces that are uncommon in the jewelry marketplace.
The business plan is prepared to obtain financing in the amount of $25,000.00. This will be used to have sample pieces made of LKG Designs first jewelry collection to be offered in the jewelry marketplace, to have photographs taken, to prepare a press kit and to set up an office. LKG Designs is expected to be profitable within one year.
LKG Designs Inc will offer original jewelry designs consisting of bracelets, rings, earrings, pendants, anklets and necklaces. These jewelry pieces will be crafted in gold and set with diamonds, precious and semi-precious gemstones.
According to research from NPD Group, Inc, “jewelry shopping is driven by an experiential passion that goes beyond the item’s features and benefits. They buy jewelry based upon emotion, not reason.” It is estimated that approximately 85% of American women own a piece of diamond jewelry, according to Unity Marketing Online. The NPD Group, Inc, states that in 2003, half of American consumers spent approximately $53.6 billion buying jewelry and watches.
In the fine jewelry market, LKG Designs Inc will face competition from national jewelry store chains and small jewelry stores, home shopping channels,
department stores, discount chain stores, and the internet. Although this is a lot of competition, LKG Designs Inc will stand out due to its original designs,
reputation for quality work and use of quality materials, focused customer service, and the strength/power behind the operation of the company.
Comment by Kenya -
I don’t get it.
I would think a billionaire could devise a more fruitful plan for finding and aiding business ideas. Most of the posts here are obviously not what you’re looking for… you’ve said so in almost all of your replies. If you truly want to help fund good ideas why not start a VC firm that will attract true talent instead of just people posting random ideas online? Doesn’t seem very efficient to me.
As far as the open-source concept… it’s ok for the people with the ideas to give up ownership (by giving their idea away for free) yet you want total control down to the bank account? Seems like sounding the “open source” bell when it works in your favor then silencing it when it doesn’t.
You chastised a guy on here for having time to read blogs instead of “working his ass off”. Who’s the billionaire here? How is someone with that kind of money not so busy that a project like this would be unfathomable? Or is someone else replying as “MC” on here?
Lastly, ask yourself this question. If I came to you with the following business plan…
“We start an open-source VC firm such that people have to submit their ideas online for all to see and we only invest in companies that can be profitable in 90 days?”
…would you invest? Or would you reply…
“How is this different from other VC firms? Why would I as an entrepreneur want to give my idea away online? I don’t see how it can be profitable in a year, must less 90 days.”
Peace.
Comment by Chris -
Rules are made to be broken and since I know ‘grace establishes the law’. Where is 10% and for not for profits’ contribution in your new game, Mr. Maverick; to address issues like the sexual trafficking of children, now a part of our business model? Greed got us into this mess, tithing may help get us out. There are ‘issues’ in global market entry and development, sreaming for fixing, or we are all toast. God hears…the cries of children.
(King of Kings Streaming Network, CE0, Marcia Eichenauer)
Comment by Marcia -
Dear Mark Cuban,
In another blog you wrote: “Probably one of the most annoying things I have to deal with in business is that people never question the status quo.”
So let me question the status quo and challenge the rules you set for investing in the following project:
Project: Practical development of the BTS engine (a new highly efficient vehicle engine)
Patent: US7305963
Funding: at least US$50 million in five phases (0.25+4+7.75+13+25=50)
Duration: at least 10 years in five phases (1+2+2+2+3=10)
Initial revenues: from 5th year of th project
The BTS engine itself questions the status quo set by the car industry which keeps using inherently inefficient piston engines, and now pushes expensive and complex fuel-electric hybrids as the green future.
The BTS engine is a new concept engine that features very low friction and reduced exhaust losses. Despite its simplicity the BTS engine offers:
* fuel efficiency in the same range as fuel-electric hybrid vehicles, at a fraction of the cost and complexity;
* 33% less fuel consumption than state-of-the-art gasoline engines
* 18% less fuel consumption than state-of-the-art turbodiesel engines
Details on the BTS engine are available at http://btsmachine.com.
I would recommend reading this article first: http://btsmachine.com/BTS_engine_Article.pdf
A brief of the business plan is posted at http://btsmachine.com/BTS_engine_business_plan.pdf
Please drop me an email if you are interested in the BTS engine, either financially or technically.
Besides my “questioning”… 8:), congratulations on the initiative!
Juan
Comment by Juan -
SIMPLY TRACKABLE MOOD MANAGER
BUSINESS PLAN
11 FEB 09
THOMAS TROMBLEY
contact@simplytrackable.com
Prelude:
As an Open Source Funding Environment proposal, this business plan demonstrates with our business how to take an idea for a piece of software that is needed, but does not yet exist or is not yet perfected, and develop it into a viable program with market penetration and acceptance. Come up with an idea for the software you would like to create (preferably something that has not been done yet, or has been done but needs vast improvements), and replicate the heck out of this business plan!
Summary:
The software of interest is a manager for those who live with Bipolar Disorder (manic depressive, etc). There are currently two basic types of management utilities for this demographic, those being (1) paper-based, trying to capture the whole day with a single entry on a scale, and (2) web-based utilities that require a large amount of keystrokes and navigation (logging in, browsing pages, mandatory entries) to accomplish simple tracking. What these methods fail to compensate for is that a person with Bipolar Disorder will not be able to (1) accurately capture their multiple episodes within the day by entering a single entry on a scale, and (2) will not, when having a bipolar episode, be able to navigate the complexities of the current solutions (nor do these solutions provide the clear, concise package needed.)
There are (conservatively) over 10 million people that have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. A common thread established in the care and treatment of the illness is that good self-management is essential to living a life as close to normal as possible. To do this effectively, a tool is needed that can be used at any time during the day; and is simple enough to use that, even when swinging up or down, a single button-press is all that is needed to effectively track the condition.
Current Status:
A large amount of the necessary work to accomplish this project has already been accomplished.
1. The overall need was identified through friends, loved ones, and research both online (articles, forums, existing product reviews) and written documents.
2. Existing “solutions” were carefully researched and found to be lacking in functionality, or prohibitively complex.
3. The specific requirements of the software were “fleshed out.”
4. The requirements were grouped into an orderly flow, and the program was mapped out.
5. The graphics were drawn in Photoshop for each screen in a manner which allows them to be easily extracted for use in the programming.
6. A programmer was identified from a candidate pool (www.guru.com), and selected for the job based on the breadth of experience that he brings to the project, as well as his proximity to our locale.
7. The programmer entered into a Non-Disclosure Agreement, and was briefed on the details of the project. He is ready to start the project as soon as funding is assured.
8. The distribution medium was identified as a download card, similar to an iTunes card. The top portion of the card serves as a bit of advertising that is designed to be passed to a friend, detailing how they can get a free trial of the software. The bottom portion is the size of a credit card, and has information that is useful to the user, such that they will likely carry it with them in their wallet or purse. The bottom portion also contains the product key. The card design is also completed and print-ready.
The Product:
The Mood Manager is a one-click solution that allows a person with Bipolar Disorder to easily log their current condition regardless of how incapacitated they may feel. If they can just bring themselves to click one button, they can help themselves. This ease-of-use and design from the perspective of the user with Bipolar Disorder is what sets this product apart from the other attempts out there.
Easy functionality includes a quick and intuitive setup process, a program that reminds the user for inputs on a frequency specified during setup, one-button and unlimited logging of real-time conditions, ability to revisit logged entries and journal in greater detail what cause/effect and other information, easy and helpful charting, and one-button, behind the scenes submission via secured internet channel to the user’s care provider(s).
In the same way that Adobe made the pdf popular by providing everyone with a pdf-reader free of charge, we will freely and proactively distribute the Mood Manager Report Viewer to care providers nationwide. This will allow them to have a tool which is free to them, and allows them greater insight into the lives of their patients. The file that the care provider receives from their patient will open with a simple double-click in the Report Viewer. There, the care provider will be able to track the trends of their patients and recommend better care accordingly.
Market Research:
The software has received favorable to rave reviews from the doctors, counselors, pharmaceutical contacts, and people with (or who have family with) Bipolar Disorder, who have been shown a demonstration of the product. The research show that people are in need of, and ready for, this product; and are willing to pay about $50 for it. Therefore the product price has been set at $49.95 for retail, and $29.95 for wholesale.
The Costs:
1. Programming for Mood Manager: $8,000
2. Programming for the Report Viewer: $8,000
3. Programming (licensing tool): $1,500
4. Programming (graphing tool): $1,000
5. Programming for an integrated website: $5,000
6. Distribution Media: $4,500
7. Incorporation of Simply Trackable: $750
8. Laptop and Projector: $1,800
STARTUP COSTS: $30,550
Units to Cover: 1020 at $29.95ea
9. Business Liability Insurance: $125/mo
10. Phone Service (Land Line w/800#): $50/mo
11. Phone Service (Cell w/data): $120/mo
12. Telephone Answering Service: $500/mo
13. WebEx: $100/mo
14. Salary: $4,500/mo
MONTHLY COSTS: $5,395
Units to Cover: 180 at $29.95ea
The Opportunity:
The American Psychiatric Association has over 35,000 physician members who care for the (at least) 10 million afflicted. (www.healthyminds.org) Assuming the relatively low number of 5% of physicians adopting Simply Trackable’s Mood Manager, there are approximately 500,000 patients in the care of 1,750 doctors ( or 285 per doctor.) Of those 5% of the doctors, if only 5% of their patients purchased or were prescribed the software, there would be 25,000 copies of the Mood Manager in circulation. Assuming that these were sold to the doctors at $29.95 per copy, that is a gross income of $748,750.
Simply Trackable also has contacts within AstraZenica and Pfizer. Drug companies routinely look for solutions such as this to increase the effectiveness of their drugs through the promotion of effective daily habits. Assuming that AstraZenica picks up the software for its clients, the contract would be worth 5 to 10 million dollars. Considering approximately 1/3rd of the people taking prescription drugs for Bipolar Disorder are prescribed AstraZenica’s Seroquel (approximately 2 million users), this would be a smart investment for them, while benefiting their customers as well.
Our Market Approach:
Upon the release of our software, we will schedule internet-based webinars with counselors, psychiatrists, and psychologists to introduce them to the software, get them set up with the Report Viewer, and orchestrate the delivery of product-for-sale to their offices.
Starting in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and working out from there, we will also perform face-to-face visits with local clinics/offices to establish good relationships and place the products for sale at these locations.
We will populate all known on-line communities and forums with tactful requests for users to download a free trial of our software.
We will utilize the viral nature of our distribution materials and our Mood Manager/Report Viewer relationship to leverage word-of-mouth and other social engineering expansion. The patient tells the doctor what he is using, so the doctor downloads the free Report Viewer in order to view their patient’s charts. The doctor then recommends the software to other patients. These other patients will, from time-to-time go to different doctors and/or counselors, who will, in turn, download the free Report Viewer; and the cycle continues.
We will leverage online distribution methods, such as CNET (www.download.com) to capitalize on their large distribution networks.
We will solicit press releases, research, and articles in periodicals to further validate the quality of our product and continue to spread excitement. Such publications should always drive the prospective clients towards the free trial.
We will approach retail stores about placing the product on their shelves.
We will approach strategic drug companies with recognized market share and influence (starting with AstraZenica) in order to provide the software to their clients across the board.
With this multi-tiered marketing approach, the software will have a variety of ways to infiltrate the market. When the client continually sees the product before them, they will become continually more inclined to take the trial, and then follow up with a purchase.
How To Get There:
1. Enter into a contract with Mark Cuban that guarantees the funding to start the project. The funding, and therefore the 60/90 day clock will not start until the funding is delivered, which will occur with the release of the beta software (as noted in points 5-7.)
2. Start the programmer. The software will be completed no later than the second week of May.
3. Start the web developer on the seamless web-integration with the licensing software.
4. While the software and website are under development, compile a strategic list of the local offices/clinics in order of preference. Also compile a list of contacts with which to do webinars upon the release of the product.
5. Upon the completion of the software, pay the programmer $18,500. Start the 60/90 day clock.
6. Upon the completion of the website, pay the developer $5,000.
7. Receive the software from the programmer, and beta test for 1 week.
8. At the beginning of beta testing, order the distribution materials. Pay $4,500.
9. During the last couple of days of beta testing, begin to schedule local appointments and webinars with counselors, psychiatrists, and psychologists.
10. During the last couple of days of beta testing, line up interviews and press releases to strategic periodicals and news sources detailing the product release and features/benefits.
11. Product release day: Load the program onto CNET and configure appropriately.
12. Product release day: Hit the internet forums early to drive consumer demand towards the product.
13. Product release day: Begin to perform the street-pounding and webinars.
14. Product release day: Ship product to any pre-arranged destinations. Strategically seed the market with samples.
15. Schedule and perform demonstrations for major drug companies. Create proposals based on their specific markets/situations, and get the software in the hands of their clients.
16. At 21 days on the 60/90 clock: perform a performance reality-check and make any adjustments necessary
17. At 45 days on the 60/90 clock: perform a performance reality-check and make any adjustments necessary
18. At 60 days on the 60/90 clock: evaluate the business for a break-even cash flow
19. At 90 days on the 60/90 clock: evaluate the business for a profitable cash flow
FINANCIAL DATA:
Simply Trackable carries no debt, but also has no resources at this time with which to complete the objective of bringing the Mood Manager and Report Viewer to market. It is our desire to become funded in exchange for consideration in order to bring this product to market.
How Mark Cuban will get a return on his money: 33% profit sharing of all profits; we may, upon the agreement of both parties, negotiate a buy-out of Mark Cuban’s profit sharing, provided that the terms agreeable to both parties.
MARK CUBAN COMPLIANCE:
1. It can be an existing business or startup. (STARTUP)
2. It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. (THIS IS A PRODUCT-BASED ENTERPRISE)
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days. (THIS SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM)
4. It must be profitable within 90 days. (THIS SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM)
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you don’t make your numbers, the funding stops. (UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPTED)
6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product of service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered. (THIS IS DEMONSTRATED ABOVE)
7. Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founders/owners and everyone else. (IN COMPLIANCE)
8. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com, scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download. (HERE IT IS!)
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own. (UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPTED)
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to, I will. If not, I won’t. (UNDERSTOOD AND ACCPETED)
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and that I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows. (UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPTED)
12. In your business plan, make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money. (AS DETAILED ABOVE, AS WELL AS OPEN FOR NEGOTIATION)
13. No multi-level marketing programs. (UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPTED)
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Thomas Trombley
dba Simply Trackable
P.O. Box 771
Denton, TX 76209
contact@simplytrackable.com
Comment by Tom Trombley -
Cooperative “Community Transportation Systems Package”
The Green Wave Project
Residual Revenue Streams;
Merchant Accounts
Telecom
Secure Industrial Strength Transaction Backbone, Ready
Real and Physical Community Social Networks
Piggy Back Corporate Merchandising
Automated Convenience Stores
Vehicle Manufacturing, $3-10B
ODM Original Design Manufacturing [Electronics]
New Jobs ,000’s
Vendors
Corporations
Government Savings of $5-10K per vehicle on the road
Family Savings, with 2 income earners earning $12 + $15 an hour enormous.
Incubation Phase started with pencil and paper
Book of 1,000 Clients with existing
Sub Contracted Transportation Providers
Guaranteed Cash Flow Positive <60 days in earnest
Tremendous Business Goodwill
Client/Shareholders own modulus 3-5,000 community bases
Elevator Pitch
A Woman in the grocery store check out line once asked me so what do you do?
I replied that “I save people, time and money providing transportation.”
She sheepishly asks; How?
“ A group of people walk to a common meeting area and when they are all accounted for they signal my vehicle which picks them up in around 4 minutes. Then our vehicle takes them non stop to a common destination area and they calmly walk to either work play or home. While ariving at this destination my vehicle gets a signal from a group 3 minutes away and the vehicle off on another trip. This happens for 5 hours in the morning and 5 hours in the afternoon and we will be able to offer services 24 hours a day.”
People react in the most varied of ways to this summary__On a 3rd grade level I would like to bring you around to some of the details that you may have questions about. Consider yourselves in the 3rd grade and think about the simulated stores you used to do in grammar school and beyond for some of you. As you have read the explanation for this service is easily understood. Imagine yourselves being in back in the third grade and obediently doing what the teacher asked of you. Here are some of the topic areas that I would like you to be asking yourselves.
1. I like Convenience, how are you going to provide that?
2. When my family members use this service will it be Secure?
3. Safety, Insurance, Regulations, etc. Who is in charge of these details?
4. How many forms of Transportation Utilities are you going to be able to provide?
5. I enjoy our Environment; will this benefit our environment going into the future?
6. Economics is a tough subject can you explain how we are going to Conserve Our Resources, our rental expenses and how are we going to be able to save large sums of money every year for our families?
7. If we received a 100 car to 1 vehicle savings in energy would that help us to be Energy Self Reliant?
These questions are the key measurement factors that this transportation model has been designed around in satisfying all of them with a grade of A.
There are marvelous concepts that I would like to share with you but first in order to grasp this transportation service more intimately as part of your community. I would like to come and speak to your group. And, When your group asks what do you need, I shall have client/shareholder registration, financials, requests for assistance, and other stuff. As your group is together wandering what is important to you regarding transportation.
You are invited to a get together to discuss a 5 week encampment in Massachusetts that could be set up for divergent technical and business groups to get together in a military style encampment. The money to be spent is well documented and basically scheduled according to progress being made in phases 1+2 simultaneously.
Incubation, small funding, much grunt work and gaining access to keys. This is a sustainable venture even on a small booking of 1,000 client/shareholders __ critical population mass would be even more powerful.
Phase 1, $750,000
Phase 2, Self Funded $3,200,000
Fiscal oversight is most welcome
Walmart has shown interest
A Former Democratic Presidential Candidate is completely in accord.
Proof of concept is excepted technologically
Issues, Constraints, Ideas and Questions are evaluated in tenses of Now, Transition, Systems Level Sales and Long Haul possibilities.
Humbly Submitted,
Allen King
The Green Wave Project
Comment by Allen King -
Global Art Inferno Explanation
Having bare walls is really not that big of a deal. No one is going to starve because there isn’t anything hanging on a wall; no one is suffering injustice because of vast expanses of nude sheetrock. It is just one of those things where you look at the wall and you say to yourself, “Hey, wouldn’t it be nice to have something hanging there?”
Global Art Inferno is bringing exclusive art to the nonexclusive customer. By forging partnerships with Vietnamese artists Global Art Inferno is able to bring real talent to the American market for a fraction of the cost of traditional artwork. We are not selling prints. We are selling original works of art that represent the vibrant color and style of contemporary Vietnamese paintings.
It is no fun to have something on your wall that other people have too. Therefore, Global Art Inferno only produces small run commissions of art, never over 500 paintings in any collection. Consumers can be assured that they are receiving something that very few people in the entire world have.
Through this innovative model we are offering premium products that are sold at less than wholesale prices. Our mantra is art for all. We will change what it means to have access to art in the 21st century.
PS We really care about our world. We believe that businesses should follow the same moral and ethical parameters that govern our personal lives. Therefore, we have committed to give 10% of all profits, pre-tax, to Glocal Ventures. GV is an NGO doing great work in Vietnam and since our business is largely conducted in Vietnam I’m sure you would agree that is where our money should go.
I have sinked in a lot of my own money to try and make this work as an exclusively online marketplace. The purpose of the business is to help start art communities in demographics where there hasn’t been access to art. I believe if I could open a gallery in a local shopping center for approximately $75,000 I could reach a local following in the Keller area.
Comment by Ben Roberts -
How about a way to finally monetize Social Networking (over 300MM people)? socialwise.blogspot.com
Comment by Damon Smith -
Mark,
We know you are busy – so we made it quick and to the point. We posted our proposal at:
http://www.nakedpizza.biz/open-source-cuban.htm
Looking forward to hearing from you – Jeff and Randy (New Orleans)
Comment by Jeff and Randy -
Mark,
I have long thought that three types of businesses would be extremely prosperous if connected or situated together. Oil change/auto repair, carwash and nail salon! What a combination! Women and men alike would patronize. I feel certain you would have to make an appointment!
Thanks for your attention,
ck
Comment by Carole -
Start a rival to TicketMaster using cloud computing. Largest investment TM has is in the infrastructure to handle millions of hits every few days for a top-drawer event. The rest of the time it idles along at less than 1% of capacity.
The purchasing public is begging for a less expensive option to the behemoth and TM is becoming a monopoly simply because they think they can’t easily be duplicated.
Only problem is – I’m Canadian. But I know a bunch of people in the US who could work on this. I don’t care if I’m involved – I just want to see TM brought down a notch or 10.
Comment by Richard Pitt -
Hey Mark! I’ve got an idea.
First, we create the “big theory”.
#1) Then we get some celebrity or politician to produce a documentary movie based on the big theory, junk science included. Maybe ghost write a book or two as well.
#2) Then we leverage the celebrity status & media product into a global marketing campaign and lobby with the purpose of inducing national governments into passing legislation based on the “big theory”.
#3) Once we have governments passing legislation all over the place, we can create a venture capital fund that will invest money in companies who innovate products and services based on the artificial market trending opportunity created by legislative action.
#4) ?????
#5) PROFIT
Okay, so it’s already been done.
I just wanted to be the guy who posted a reference to a South Park meme while simultaneously taking a jab at Al Gore on Mark Cuban’s blog.
Comment by Michael Hiles -
Hello Mark,
Good luck on stimulating the economy. But I think your time limits are a little tight. If someone has ideas for machines that will allow people to save money on there electric bills so they can spend it in other ways, it would probably take more time. If a mill or lathe are needed to build the prototypes you might need to add a few weeks for delivery. If a patent is needed before production starts, it can take a couple years.
By the way, if I had about $10,000 dollas to spend I’d buy a small lathe and mill and hire a patent attorney.
Good luck, Andrew
Comment by Andrew -
And Cuban gets HALF EDDIE! 🙂 Sorry Mark!
-df
Comment by Dan Funkhouser -
Hi Mark, in kicking this around with some friends a question has come up that I’d like you to address. Many companies are adjusting to the economic conditions with net terms that have stretched to 60 and 90 days. If I put on the table a concept that has orders closed and delivered within your 90 window that demonstrate a clear ROI will you fund such an endeavor?
Comment by Tom Stockwell -
I have a mini business plan that I would like to submit. The plan is for commercialization of a novel device for diesel emissions cleaning.
In what form and manner can I submit this plan?
Ed Mirosh
Comment by Ed Mirosh -
On second thought, if you would buy my house for my bottom selling price and then swing it later when the enonomy recovers for profit, that would free up some money NOW for me to buy more inventory for my current business and launch my new one… but buying my house for resale just may be risky… UNLESS you have HAVE COMPLETE FAITH IN THE NEW STIMULUS PLAN! 🙂
Comment by Anita Knapp -
Pingback: Bookmarks for February 11th through February 12th | Francois is running on the Sidewalk
What we do here at Funkhouser United is invest time in counselling children ages 8 and up using athletics, technology (web conference, etc.), and simply the good ol’ telephone. Whether it’s in person (travel/trip expenses are right offs!) or over the phone- the entire philosophy is promoting positive, constructive criticism as well as teamwork while developing leadership as well as an appreciation for education and most importantly; arts and entertainment (LAUGHING IS REQUIRED) 🙂
GO MAVS!
Comment by Dan Funkhouser -
Pingback: T=Machine » The Rules: Open Source Startup Funding
Brilliant!
Comment by gregscott -
Okay, Mark, for your $100,000, here’s what you’ll get:
I’ve got an existing little window cleaning business ready to enter its 7th year in May 2009, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We’ve been profitable for years, but I’m hampered by old debt personally, affecting the company’s ability to substantially grow, since I have to pull money out to pay off my personal stuff.
I’m sure you know what I mean.
Looking for $100,000 firm in exchange for your 49% ownership stake in the business, and to free up the cash flow. Exit strategy involves me buying you out sometime down the road, and until then you and I split a monthly dividend, with me accepting no wages beyond the dividend. No funny business.
The last few years, we’re hovered around $135,000 (one hundred and thirty thousand dollars) in gross annual revenue, with me working about 1/2 day a week (SUPER part-time, not a misprint), while the 2 seasonal workers and 1 subcontractor do the actual work on the company’s dime.
I’m big on the volunteer part of my life, for which I don’t get paid, but which is far more important to me than this work stuff. (which is why I only work part-time, in case you were wondering)
With your cash infusion, we’ll be able to get another truck on the road, another small 2-man crew, and kick up the marketing saturation and reach within a few quick months.
My unique strength that you need to know about: I have some developed some sweet and effective window cleaning marketing materials.
Right now, 44 window cleaning business owners around the world pay me every month to belong to my brand-new Window Cleaning Marketing forum that allows them to use my ideas, tools, and templates for their window cleaning companies, and they’re working for them, too. They’re from Canada, US, and the UK.
Incidentally, I launched the forum only 6 weeks ago, or so, and have never spent a dime advertising it. I just have a bit of a reputation within the industry as being “the WC marketing guy”.
(I’ll send you a link when we chat, I don’t want to turn this thread into some foolish webtraffic hijack)
I even wrote a 218-page book about it, which I’ve been selling to window cleaning business owners all over the world, too. I like helping people, too, and found this to be an interesting and rewarding way to do that, while making some money along the way.
You can google me if you want, that’ll work too.
Anyway, back to your opportunity! Sorry about the digression…
We have a strong existing repeat client base, and have an existing 60/40 Commercial/Residential split, revenue-wise.
I spend time on the marketing stuff mainly within my own company during the 1/2 day a week, and am increasing my role to 3-days-a-week within the company starting this week actually, to pull off a $300,000-$400,000 year for ’09.
This with me still working part-time of course, which will never change. Life is too short to waste it all working, right?
I figure that we’ll be able to hit the million mark with less than 10 staff, within just a couple more years, once this little debt hump is overcome with a small infusion of cash (your part if you’re still interested).
I’ve got some local JV guys interested too, but since you asked, figured you might want in, too. Your call.
This is my first day ever hearing that you even have a blog, I found it from Seth Godin’s blog.
I’ve heard about you, and don’t know a lot about you, but right now, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you know who I am and what I’ve got on the table for you right now.
It would be interesting working with “Mark Cuban” the slightly crazy entrepreneur, and to see what can happen when a bit more money gets poured into the tweaked engine that I’ve built.
$100,000 could be just the start, because of this fact:
I’ve managed to do what I’ve done with no seed money, no hand-outs, no connections, no free rides, in North America’s 5th largest city, amidst over 450 local competitors, and working SUPER part-time nearly the whole time.
It will be remarkable to see what’s possible when gallons of gas are poured on this little fire I’ve built, and when I quintuple the investment of my time and energy.
You now know how to reach me if you wanna chat.
Email kind of annoys me.
If you have to email me, please go ahead if you must, but I’d rather talk on the phone. You could send me a text, too, if you wish.
Kevin
416-779-7263
P.S. Incidentally, the window cleaning business is a great business opportunity because of its ridiculously low overhead.
P.S.S. You’ve gotta scrap the “you get to sign off on the withdrawals of funds from the bank” stuff, though.
If this is a deal-killer, as you said, so be it, it is what it is. 🙂
You and I could split 49/51 a negotiable monthly dividend instead, as agreed in writing and all that stuff. I will forgo receiving any wages beyond the monthly dividend payment, assuring you of my commitment to the company’s growth, and to maximizing the value of your investment.
I figure your $100,000 would generate a 12-15% return in the first year, based on a healthy dividend, and much (much) more in 2010 and 2011. As I said, your $100,000 could end up buying you 49% of a million-dollar business within just a few years.
Small potatoes for you, of course, but fun, too 🙂
Fun + solid $ = pretty good reason to drop me a line today
Comment by Kevin D (ubrosky) -
i sell buttons, selling it worldwid just on internet revenue is huge.
each button benefit goes over 500%.
just like moo.com doeas with cards.
tic tac.
Comment by manelgarcia -
Concept – Residential installation of Wind Turbines/Solar Systems.
How my idea will benefit community – residential wind turbines and solar systems are available at a reasonalbe cost. There are available credits to install renewable energy sources and there may be more incentives with the government giving away yet more of my money. Any energy not used by the homeowner, the system will reverse the meter and the electric company will issue credits to the homeowner. This idea will further benefit the community by re-thinking existing businesses that already have a proven track record of providing customer service in-home installations. Perhaps they have an out-dated service they provided and business is slowing but have the track record of excellect customer service. This business would already have in place the personnel, insurance, and trust of the community. Any modification to change their line of business or expand into green installation should be minimal. Also, this would benefit the business by expanding the opportunity for its employees to exercise thier engineering capabilities to create tools, methods processes that would improve installation techniques (possible patent).
Long term possibilities – After the initial installation, there should be a component for yearly maintenance, on-going relationships with customers.
This is a green idea and I believe this idea also has long term potential and benefits.
Comment by Karen Howell -
Mark,
This is an idea is to have user generated comic site. It is 2009 people are ready for a walking talking penis named JoesPenis… Users can make and edit there own episodes pertaining to JoesPenis getting into human situations. He is an outcast from the rest of the world because yes, he is a penis. Last week JoesPenis joined celebrity rehab for being a sex addict. Users can write, create and upload the episodes to the site. Its harmless but funny. Yes I do believe that JoesPenis can save the world from economic disaster. And no this is not a joke..
Thank you for listening.
Comment by Cam -
Mark, I think this is a fantastic idea and hope people respond. I have always been a fan of helping anyone needing ideas for starting up a business or getting an their own idea off the ground. For 10 years I have offered up anything I can – except money I do not have to help others. If readers posting the details of their ideas on line help others (at the risk of loosing the business to so someone with more talent or money..) – so be it, call it good karma.. and remember one door opens another. I have some cheesy websites I have had for years selling jewelry I import directly to consumers. The sites are small and constantly need updating which I do myself – I am NOT a web designer – clearly!! I am the owner of over 100 domain names for ideas I have. I have had to cut back some though… since November I have had to refund money to customers every day because I am sold out of just about everything- will no money available for more inventory. Unfortunatly a year ago – I thought it would be “FUN” to build a new house. I was the only one I knew building a new house, and instead fo being joyful about it – I was EMBARASSSED.. on a positive note I have helped keep the local economy floating for the past year. 🙂 When I started building.. who knew the economy would be in the dumpster and I would not be able to sell my current house. YEP – now I am the proud owner of TWO houses I can not afford carpet or appliances for the new one. I was SOOOO disapointed to see the 15K credit come out of tax bill – with NO 4% interest rates in site. Anyone who has been sitting on the fence in my area to buy a new house, just jumped back onto the comfort and safely of their snow covered lawn. Want to buy my house? I am going to have to re-list it for a lot less today, leaving me less money to spend on inventory or my new business ideas when and IF I sell it. I am in my 40’s and stay at home mom. I have always started a business on a shoestring and find it is easy to do. (I think I am on business number 4 – one door opens another.. this is the best yet) I think everyone should at least try! I bought a web site I wanted to launch 2sisters4sisters.com with my sister a year ago – but not good with the web blog style design. Wanted to offer free help to women starting their own business. Maybe write a book. With my own sites I make a decent amount of money for “extras” and would make a lot more if I expanded and hired people, which people tell me to do all the time. I have no desire to do that. I would be a terrible boss. I am picky and expect everyone to work as hard as I do… impossible. I also have an idea a minute. I have a hard time sleeping my head is so full of them. (Smallish inventions, jewelry ideas and such – not saving the world kind of ideas!) I am not a big risk taker however, and money borrowed is money owed… so I would rather just toss up some ideas for others, or inspiration for those sitting around wondering what the next step is. Personally I know a local family with a real winning product they just do not have the money to get marketed. It is such a tangible dream I would love to see them get it completed. I will pass on your site. In regards to economy and helping boost it now? Women are responsible for most day to day family purchases, along with balancing the family checkbook. We must help them! I also have a couple great ideas I am launching for Home party based businesses, I am sure other readers may also have good ideas.(NOT MULTI_LEVEL!!) I do not want to owe anyone money – so I will continue to work on it myself, but I encourage woman to get invloved in this great form of making money. You are always your “Own boss”, if you find a decent company like mine that will have little up front investment – you have little to loose. You make extra income to supplement your family income to buy “stuff” that in turn will boost the economy, You work your own hours being “true” to raising your kids and taking care of your family. One is almost ready to launch with 10K of inventory I have. My home party idea is NOT multi-level, but will need a manager consultant for every area whom I will be in direct contact with. I need to reach women all over the country to get sales consultants. It will create hundreds, if not thousands of jobs for stay at home mom’s like myself. Not only that – the two I have created will be home parties that people will WANT to go to, not just feel obligated to show up and buy something. (Which most everyone does, and what makes the home party market such a sucessful one.) Thanks for letting me BLOG. Will toss around some bigger ideas – but for all you stay at home Mom’s – you CAN start your own business… it is not that hard – but it does take work, time and time. Best if you have a partner to help or freind. Well back to work and real life.. thanks for the chance though to perhaps dream BIGGER. Working on it.
Comment by Anita Knapp -
Hi Mark-
I’ve been sitting on this for a long time, and while I just dashed through the basics in the office just now I’d be willing to dig up some more current numbers if you’re interested. I dropped it for lack of start-up capital the first time around.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgpcptbz_5ds46z6dq
From MC> Its not a bad idea. The question is whether or not the local printing company can start doing this quickly and easily
Comment by Chris -
Mark Please read my ideal and give feed back. I want to hear what you think? It was sent on 02/12/09 @ 11:55 a.m. You can also e-mail me at ruby10williams@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Ruby
Comment by Ruby -
I apologize that I failed to mention that the Regulatory Agencies I am refurring to are the FDIC, GLBA, FFIEC, OCC, etc.
Comment by Shawn Eftink -
I would think Doorknobs and Musical instruments would be two common uses that would sell. Fishing lures as well to go with all the pink fishing poles that are being sold. Possibly jewelry for women allergic to gold or silver. Sam Moon would be a popular launching pad for that.
I’d check into the numbers of women getting concealed and carry licenses and buying handguns. The numbers are staggering. More and more are flocking to the woods to hunt as well. I’d stay with that idea and expand from there to other things. You’d get your money back in a hurry. 60 days is not a lot of time to get the other things going.
There are a ton of uses for pink brass. All the ideas would sell. If a girl is presented with a pink musical instrument or a brass colored one, it is a no brainer which one will sell. Parents and girls wanting to personalize their rooms will choose a pink doorknob over any other color. Jewelry is also a no brainer. Style, function and how original the pieces are would be more important. I’m sure a man of your stature could imagine a host of other ideas.
Comment by Jeff Reed -
1. The Challenge: – Regulatory agencies, as mentioned above, require that banks of any size meet the same criteria in IT security. Larger banks ($1B in assets and up) have the resources required to meet these goals. Smaller banks ($10M-$1B in assets have a much harder time).
2. Those Affected: – Primarily Community Banks that range in asset size from $10M to $1B. They lack the financial resources to higher the necessary technical staff and acquire the necessary technology to meet satisfactory goals. They are meeting them now, with our help, and at great expense.
3. The Solution: US based IT Outsourcing combined with US based Infrastructure Outsourcing.
4. The Concept: Move the majority, or all, of the core infrastructure and technical team to a central location and gain economy of scale by leveraging larger resources and spreading the investment of those resources across numerous clients (a jump in the MSP model).
5. Why our Team: Our organization already has 80% Community Bank saturation in our market. We already provide US based IT Outsourcing, network infrastructure monitoring and management, project implementation, and most importantly, Regulatory Compliance services in the form of required documentation, vulnerability assessments, and penetration testing. We already have the necessary skills on our team to implement and provide the services. We have utilized the MSP model for 5+ years and have historical information to prove its success. We already have a structured and staffed helpdesk providing 24×7 technical services. We already have a healthy client base (low hanging fruit) from which to tap. We already have contacts in the Commercial Banking vertical that will allow us to staff up to meet required goals in a short time frame. We have recently partnered with another company that provides temporary onsite or remote facilities to the banking vertical in the event of a disaster or pandemic that has National coverage. We are already working with this partner on other projects for our clients and theirs showing a mutually advantageous relationship. This service compliments the services already provided by our partner and us. We are already familiar with Regulatory Compliance and the requirements of a SAS 70 (which would be required to provide this level of service). Most importantly, we already have a 10+ year proven track record of maintaining the trusted advisor level relationship with our clients and helping them to meet regulatory compliance requirements.
6. Why this Vertical: Community Banks are the least affected by the current economic climate, but the most affected by Regulatory Compliance.
7. Investment – Minimum of $5M to ramp of services, deploy to data centers, bring on necessary additional team members, and address marketing needs (i.e. collateral)
8. Pay-Back/Equity – TBD (sorry not trying to leave this open, but we would need to go into great detail here and would involve my co-owners)
9. Your Requirements
1. Startup or Existing – Existing
2. Revenue Generation – Not advertising
3. Cash flow break even – Already exists
4. Profitable – Already exists
5. Funding – An initial larger upfront investment would be required to acquire necessary equipment. Smaller monthly thereafter would be acceptable.
6. Flat Organization – By definition this isn’t a flat organization as we have structured management in our 35 person organization. However, as a co-owner of this company, and CIO, I am still out in front of clients doing the presentations for our IT Arsenal (current managed service offerings) and closing/deploying deals. Likewise I also hold industry certifications (CCNA and CCSP) and am currently pursuing my CCIE Security to continue to be a team member generating revenue. Another owner is one of our top Account Managers. The 3rd owner, our CEO, focuses on expanding our foot print by building partnerships with the right companies and tweaking/improving our internal processes to make us more profitable. He works well beyond the 8-5 as it is not uncommon to receive e-mails from him at 2:00am.
10. Closing – I look forward to your comments and the possible opportunity to work with you.
Comment by Shawn Eftink -
Hi Mark,
Don’t need any funding, but if our idea spreads, others might. And if giving up a small slice of what we’re doing means you’d commit to helping others fund their businesses based on our idea, we might consider it. We’d need to see a picture of you in a Dwyane Wade jersey first, however.
We built a better kind of fund. I think we can help provide a blueprint to the next generation of fund managers…and by that I mean the guys and gals way off Wall Street who can compound money faster and safer than the usual clowns. That said, I’m more interested in changing the way investors think about mutual funds. Like much on Wall Street, mutual funds are broken.
One of our clients called our approach Mutual Fund 2.0, but that sounded a little too hip to me. For better or worse, I’ve been calling it a spoke fund. In short, our fund is built on a hub and spoke model, in contrast to the pooled model of hedge funds and mutual funds. The hub is a core portfolio which represents most of the life savings of my immediate family. The spokes are our investors’ accounts – secured, insured, and monitored by a third-party. With one click on the back-end, trades made in the core portfolio are made simultaneously in all investors accounts. So, we’re all in it together.
The advantages of the spoke fund model to investors are many, especially when combined with the same level of communication, education and transparency that customers would demand of their plumber. Its also easier for portfolio managers to administer. The fees we charge investors (and ourselves as investors) are about half that of the average actively managed mutual fund, while our margins are probably twice as large. Michael Porter would go nuts.
So, everyone receives shares at the same cost basis, investors know what exactly we’re doing with their money, and its infinitely scalable. We don’t get paid via commission, referrals or by any other conflicted means. If the fund performs, we’re paid more, and if not, we earn less. It took some time and effort to figure out how all the pieces should work…the back-end technology, the best/cheapest CRM tools, how to build accountability into fees, and how to navigate a regulatory maze that must lead to at least a few homicides every year.
There are some additional barriers to start-up, but I’d argue they are a good thing. We’re currently regulated by two states, for instance, and compliance-related tasks are an important part of each day. There are also some hoops to jump through to setting up the kind of company (an RIA) needed to run a spoke fund, but they are by no means insurmountable for people willing to study and ask for help when needed. And clearly, people need the magic rocks necessary to be a fund manager or none of this works. Investing strategies aside, however, I am willing to help others describe how we built our fund in as much excruciating detail as anyone can stand.
While our approach resonates with investors, it’s admittedly hard to gauge interest in the spoke fund model from portfolio managers. Judging from all these silly “social investing” sites, however, I’d say there are more than a few aspiring stock pickers who think they can do better than the Street. And if most of what they’re risking is their own money…the hub…I say let ‘em try. Jumping through a few hoops to get set up is probably the best form of self-selection, and subsequent track records will bring the Darwin to the process. And after all, who is the Street to dictate who should and should not be qualified to run money anymore?
Here is a slideshow that discusses our first fund built on this hub and spoke model:
http://www.slideshare.net/islamoradaim/welcome-to-yall-street-presentation
So if you’re willing to fund a new crop of spoke fund managers, I’ll write the business plan they’ll need to start up, and then the operating manual they’ll need to run it. For free.
Any takers?
Cale Smith
csmith@islainvest.com
Comment by Cale Smith -
Hi Mark…I didn’t see the business plan that I posted here yesterday (although I received a confirmation from WordPress) so I thought I’d repost just to be on the safe side. Thanks in advance for your consideration! http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgn25vbz_31gzbpqhgx
Dwight
Comment by Dwight -
Hi Mark,
A buck says this is the biggest idea your stim plan will elicit: http://www.earthnationlive.org.
Qualifies on all counts, 1-13, with the proviso that break-even and profitability — which in this case will occur on the same day — hinge on how many programmers you’re willing to fund in the early going. Your equity is open to negotiation.
You can read the whole thing in four minutes at that link. As you’ll see at the beginning, some of the thrust is charitable. Read to the end, though, please: the for-profit arms that will enable and direct that thrust are many, enormous, and long-term. You may or may not care about the karmic credit, but I believe the immediacy, size, and long legs of the cash flow stream will interest you.
Brian
Comment by Brian Browne Walker -
simple: buy stuff that’s hard to find and resale it at a higher price. at the same time resell designer stuff that’s been gently used at cheaper price. people always want what they can’t have and don’t mind shelling out a couple of bucks when they know it’s in good condition and it’s authentic.
Comment by LA -
…Also, you find 10 malls in large metropolitan areas that don’t have this, you’re looking at 136,000 month total. 13,000 per mall. If we start this up, We can go 50/50. I don’t care. I just want out of 9-5
Comment by David -
Mark,
Once again you offer innovation.
I’m a successful headhunter with a simple idea. To attract and represent the best candidates in any industry market, offer candidates an active web portal (as opposed to Monster.com) staffed with professional recruiters who act as their fiduciary in every transaction. Further, each candidate receives a percentage of the fee collected from the hiring company.
I recruit the top producers in the Insurance Brokerage community. These people must be actively pursued and do not post on Job websites.
Comment by Bryan Blakeman -
Mark,
This may be the silliest thing you are proposed… However, I will give it a try.
First, yes this is at some malls already, but many of them don’t have this:
Every time I go to the mall with my family, we see this guy with his train carting around moms and their kids. They pay $3 for each person that rides. The ride lasts for roughly 5 minutes. Lets say he does 10 rides per hour. I’ve taken sample times (1 hour slots) and studied his results on separate occasions. On average, he has 10 people on each ride. And he does it for 4 hours on Friday night, 9 hours on Saturday and 6 hours on Sunday. According to my calculations, he makes about $5700 in just 19 hours of work. I’m assuming he has a normal weekly job as the crowds aren’t the same during the week. I don’t know what the cost is for a train, but I’d probably use an electric golf cart for the engine (with some body work, of course) You can get a used golf cart for about $250. Alot of wood and various metals to build the rest of the train. I’d say you wouldn’t go over the $5000 mark to build the entire train. Then you would have to factor in the cost the mall would charge to let you do this ($400), on top of the monthly insurance you would need to carry($300).
Talk about your break even- I’ll be generous with these figures:
Cost:
Initial cost of train- $10,000
Monthly rent going to mall- $600
Monthly insurance- $500
Revenue:
Kids/Parents per train ride- 6 (not 10 that I’ve observed)
Cost per ass- $3
Rides per hour- 10
Hourly revenue- $180
Weekend revenue- $3400
Break even- Achieved on week #5. And this is with assumptions that the cost of the train will be that high and the number of passengers per ride will be lower than observed.
what do you think? Thanks, David
Comment by David -
Good Morning Mark,
I have great ideals but not the funds to make it happen or the knowledge that you do to make it happen. That is why I need your help. Here are a few of my ideals.
1st I would like to relieve traffic around Texas Motor Speedway. There is a railroad track that runs behind the Speedway on Hwy 156.We need to run a shuttle train from Fort Worth & Denton to the Speedway on race days. We could open up a station that has a restaurant/bar. The restaurant would be open year round. I live in Justin and they need a good restaurant with reasonable priced food that is not home cooking or SONIC. The restaurant would serve areas such as Haslet, Rhome, Krum, Justin, Roanoke, Trophy Club, etc.
2nd If the train station won’t work this will. If you have ever been to Houston they have what are called an Ice House. Living in Justin we have a lot of bikers both on motorcycles and bicycles that ride in the area an Ice House would be perfect. We would have a fountain bar for the non drinkers and a beer bar for the drinkers. We would serve the best burgers in town. The decor would be simple. We would have two sides of the building be a garage door where they could be opened on nice days. Winter months they would be closed and we would have a fireplace going. We would have shuffle boards, pool tables, and darts. Maybe even a pin ball machine. It would be a fun place to come year round. We would really make a killing on race weekends.
3rd We need a full service car wash in Roanoke area. All we have around here is a coin car wash where you do it yourself. I would like to open a full service car wash. I even know where a perfect piece of land is loacated that it could be built on. We would service Trophy Club, Roanoke, Justin, Rhome, Haslet Krum, Ponder, etc. This area is growing in leaps and bounds and we need a full service car wash.
4th I would also be interested in opening a inexpensive wine and beer shop that had wine tastings and cheese tastings.
Thanks for your time and hopefully you can help me make one of these dreams come true.
Sincerely,
Ruby
Comment by Ruby -
Hi Mark,
My startup is developing a new semiconductor technology specifically for solar power systems. The technology increases efficiency in power conversion process. As a result, your electricity bills would be reduced and you would have better ROI.
Sounds interesting to you?
HJW
Comment by HJW -
Mr. Cuban,
Could you please help me get in touch with Mr. Lin? I’m interested in speaking with Michael Lin who posted a comment on February 10, 2009 @ 8:43 pm. I think we can add value to your proposal and make a more compelling case.
Michael Lin, if you are reading this please contact me at: aslnoel@gmail.com
Comment by Noel -
My other idea – eBay for Product Placement.
I lost my business plan document when my PC crashed, so I can rewrite it, but here is the gist.
Basically, with product placement being a $50 billion a year industry, the market is already there. My solution would allow advertisers and consumers to communicate directly with each other. This would give those companies who are not well-known to have a chance to break into mainstream media.
Below is a sample of how it would work.
For a provider looking for product placement(ABC, Paramount, Lucasfilms, NBC, etc)
* provider logs in to site via credentials we provide (to insure they are a legitimate representative, they can change information later)
* provider can post a new project, describing what they are looking for, when the project will start and end, and keywords that will be used to aggregate (explained later).
* wait for bids
For a client who wants their product placed (Apple, McDonalds, PotteryBarn, etc)
* client logs in, specifying profile information (contact, company name, etc etc)
o client specifies default keywords. These keywords are used when the client automatically logs into their profile, matching against posts made by providers.
o client can also search on keywords that are not in their default settings.
* if a client finds a project they would like to be considered for, they can click on a listing, enter their pitch, and submit it.
For a provider (part 2)
* provider logs back in after email notification, and can view submissions to their projects. These appear instantly, as soon as the first bid is made.
That is the basics of the site. I did not implement a bidding system (like eBay), instead counting on subscription fees, or ad-based revenue.
For this investment, I would want to be 50/50 partners. You would be the public face with your background, I (and potentially other programmers/designers) would have the product working.
Since I dont have this type of experience, you let me know how much you would like to invest. I will re-write the business plan if you are remotely interested.
If you are still interested, please contact me and I can setup my development machine so that you can login and test both the provider and the client aspect of the site.
Thanks again for your time,
Joshua Lewis
Comment by Joshua Lewis -
Mark,
On the multiple businesses-
Barter,Newswire,Golf,Grocery,Movies,Film Festival,Healthcare Alternative, Magazines, Salsa & Dip, Seed Company and Pizza. We bring a lot to the table in the form of existing revenues and long time established businesses and a successful track record.
I have recast and made significant reductions without stunting growth, thereby reducing the amount of capital from $235,000 to $93,500. By revising my offer to you (not sure if you even saw it or not) I consolidated operations and will produce 2 fewer films.
It would reduce your potential equity equally.- However, to have you on the venture would be worth it to me as previously stated. The cost of waiting is not necessarily the most beneficial or even profitable but as they say, “patience is a virtue.”
At this point, I am fairly close to having the total capital needed (within 6 months or less)without the necessity of borrowing or giving up the equity and/or rate of return.- Best Wishes, Doc
Comment by DOC -
Mark,
Happy to see open source collaboration! I’m happy to share my business plan but this format does not support my plan. Business is about execution and I believe I can execute my plan better than anyone else out there so happy to share.
My Life List™ (www.mylifelist.org) uses a proven methodology and the power of social networking to help people achieve their goals!!
Funding Request:
We are seeking additional Investors as part of a $100,000 Round A Financing Investment (10% Convertible Equity Raising) to support the implementation of our phase 3 marketing of products & services. We are nearly fully subscribed but I have $25k available for you to participate. This will be in form of Convertible no interest Loan for 2.5% equity in My Life List LLC. (A California LLC)
To meet your deadline, we will be publishing a guided journal within the next 3 weeks to support people to accomplish their goals using our proven methodology. (You seem to want to help people make change, why not support a product that can help reach more people to develop solid goal achievement habits!)
Product & Services Revenue Model:
My Life List™ Guided Journal – Completed and ready to be published
My Life List™ Top 90 Life Experiences Book (Publish in May)
My Life List™ TV & Radio – Concept ready to pitch
My Life List™ Life Experience Game ‘Social’ – Seeking Partners to develop
My Life List™ Kids – Goal achievement trading cards for kids
My Life List™ Concierge – Value added goal achievement support
My Life List™ Corporate Training – Life Balance workshop for teams
Key People:
CEO Bill Starr is an avid ‘life lister’ and a founding partner of My Life List LLC. Bill is a Chartered Accountant with 15 years of corporate experience with PwC and most recently with an Australian Investment Bank.
Why this opportunity?
The market for My Life List™ social media products is significant. Combining goal achievement with social networking provides a tremendous opportunity to create a new brand that enables people to accomplish their goals through our products & services.
CREATE. ACT. CELEBRATE.™
Bill Starr
CEO, My Life List™
http://twitter.com/mylifelist
Comment by Bill Starr -
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Mark,
I received an email this morning about your blog and thought I would take the time to read over it. I found your proposal quite intriguing to be able to help offer your services to businesses that are either existing or starting up. I have thought many times that why it is that people who have money don’t try to help those who are wanting to make a difference in their lives as well as others. Those who remember the concept of “Pay It Forward” would understand. I am probably one out of 80% in the US, that has thought up an idea to create a successful business but never had the complete funding to get it going. I would say that I was hesitant at first posting a private business plan for anyone to see. But as I read on through the blog I realized that a business isn’t at its best just because of the money, it takes a great team to put forth the effort into making it something big. In today’s society we are constantly looking over our shoulders to make sure that our great ideas are kept a secret but some how some way you start seeing your ideas pop up in your competition. Its all in who does it first but the point is who can do it better with more of a creative twist to it.
In the economy that we are in, we constantly hear that people are at a freeze in spending their money. I know as well as many others that we will not remain in our 4 walled homes forever. If you take a look out your window, people are shopping, going to the movies, eating out, or even catching some entertainment at local venues. Therefore the entertainment industry will not be affected by the economy as much as people believe. I have a completed business plan and structured LLC for a start up Sports Bar/Club in one. The sports bar side of the company will have all the amenities that you would see in other bars but with more of updated equipment. The club portion will offer entertainment bringing in local talent as well as professional talent. If you are interested, I would be more than happy to post my business plan for your review. A business is only as great as the person who is executing it. Please let me know.
Comment by SML -
I want to start a company named “Made in China” and trade and service mark it. I would then sue every company who makes a product with the words “Made in China” stamped on it. I would then give money back to Americans.
Comment by Mike Alexander -
How do you comment on a comment?
For Josh Thatcher (tumbleweed Fire truck): if you set up your truck to use the tumbleweeds as a fuel source–either as a bio-fuel or through burning–you can use that energy. I’m sure you’d need additional fuel, and the design changes required to make the engine run on that might not be worth it, but you could look into it.
Find out the following: what is the current budget for tumbleweed removal?
What would be the cost for your specialized vehicle?
Are there laws regarding burning in city limits? How could the vehicle be designed to fit within these laws?
Comment by Jason -
Basically it involves a huge tumbler where you can throw in large amounts of brass (10k plus at a time) with various ingredients you can order over the web. One of them is a toilet bowl cleaner and the other is sulphuric acid.
We would need a great chemist, and about 50k for a small shop and re-loaders and other equiptment. One thing I have learned is advertising is everything. I’d spend about the same or double the 50k just in advertising and flood every female website/ammo site/gun site with ads. I can also get us into Cheaper than Dirt. Avon came calling and a couple of the reps absolutley love the idea. One thing women like is their own personal stuff.
Costs per bullet is about 21 cents. The pink ones sold for a dollar a piece so the markup is pretty good. I reloaded my first bullet with my grandpa when I was 9 years old. I’m now 40 and still doing it so I can honestly claim 30+ years of knowledge in doing this. What I lack is a good chemist to help me to preserve the colors once the brass has changed, and the capital to get the thing off the ground.
From MC> What about products other than bullets ? That would be of more interest since it seems the markets would be bigger
Comment by Jeff Reed -
If you are pitching a business with new product which is your invention make sure you have your patent filed before you pitch in public, once its out there without protection its fair game for someobdy with more money than you to copy it fast. Watch the Dragons Den on BBC America for a a few episodes and you will get more free advice than you could ever pay for as a start up.
Comment by Fionnd -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I just wanted to throw out a few of my ideas. If you like any of them, you can just shoot me an email and I can go into many details.
IDEA #1.
Living in a snow bound area such as Chicago or or Canada can really be a pain when a blizzard hits. People need to get to work, especially in this economy. This can be hard though if your driveway is iced and your windshields are covered with mounds of snow. Adding layers of materials inside the glass or running lines of heated metal in order to heat a wind shield can’t be done. One must use their inside window defroster. If you had a hot wiper blade that didn’t crack your window you could use the cold temperature wiper fluid and then swish it around with heated wiper blades for a maximum speed of defrost. Then you can turn your defroster to a different setting to heat the inside to help defrost the rest of the windows.
IDEA #2
Along with the windshield idea, there has to be one other part. Your windshields might be totally clear of ice and snow but what if you can’t get out of your driveway because it is covered with ice/snow. You maybe just that kind of person that doesn’t like waking up at five in the morning everyday before work, just to shovel snow in the freezing cold, only so you can make it to work on time. The key is specialized, in ground sprinklers that automatically come up and de-ice your
driveway by spraying an ice/snow melting agent. It will either be automatic or you can start it with just the press of a button in the house! This would be better then a heated driveway because heated driveways just take to long!
Thanks! And please get back to me if you would like to go further. Sincerely, Jake
Comment by Jake Teichman -
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Also needed to mention that there is nothing at my url for now, its just parked.
I would say, at MOST, 20k would be needed. The site would have virtually no expenses except just for uptime. As I’m not involved in the advertising world, I would assume that most expenses would be setting up “meet and greets” for ad agencies, getting them to list with us.
Down the road, I would also integrate Facebook/MySpace apps, so people could list what they have on their site, which would link back once they clicked to ours to generate the revenue.
Comment by Joshua Lewis -
Nail Jack Tools, Inc. has developed an innovative and patented family of tools to remove nails, staples and brads from a myriad of materials. Nail Jack Tools intends to aggressively address an unmet need within the $6.2 billion dollar a year U.S. hand tool market with a family of hand operated fastener removers that can both dig and grab. Nail Jack Tools’ business strategy will combine “Made in the USA” quality with ease and effectiveness of use in their ongoing development of the new tool models. While the market has other products that are currently utilized to pull nails and other fasteners, there are no tools in known existence that dig, grab and pull fasteners. You can see how effective this tool is on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e94IwXKzJJw
Nail Jack has also secured the option to purchase a fully equipped, world class tool manufacturing facility and trained workforce from an exiting toolmaker at a substantial discount (they left for China!). The exiting toolmaker invested over $50M in the plant and until recently it produced over millions of hand tools per year. There is a highly trained local non-union workforce that is unemployed but standing by to start making tools again.
Owning the intellectual property together with a low cost basis production facility delivers outstanding returns to Nail Jack Tools shareholders and provides an immediate asset base for the investment. Nail Jack Tools is seeking an equity investment of $5 million to fund the purchase of the manufacturing facility and to fund initial production startup costs, materials inventory, marketing and promotion, and rollout of the product into mass market. A “Base Case” Pro-forma with conservative sales ramping over five years demonstrates less than a year to profitability and substantial ROI. A $5M equity investment in the company will purchase a 30% ownership interest, or a mix of debt secured by the real property and equity will work as well.
Please advise if you would like to see the full business plan.
Thanks
Russ
Comment by Russ Lambert -
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THIS AWESOME but wont might make me a dallas fan….maybe….
Comment by mike -
I’m a silversmith who could use help purchasing casting equipment to increase my production and reduce the cost of one-off manual fabrication. I sell my work at art shows and am a popular addition to the circuit, but I am in a growth period where I cannot keep up with demand with my current production methods.
Comment by Mouse -
Oh, my bad – it would take about $100,000 to bootstrap Harmony (paying for the developers for a few months, doing a viral marketing push to get the word out about the service). In return for that bootstrap I’d be willing to give up 10% of the company.
Comment by Robert Hayes -
Cool.
My startup 9 is a cross-platform consulting and content production company that services brands, entertainment, media, retail and internet businesses with digital and traditional initiatives. In a nutshell, multiple industries are struggling with adapting and adopting business to the IP and converged (broadcast, broadband, print, etc.) platforms and that’s where we sit. We operate like specialists in the market, servicing specific problems, framing and launching initiatives, etc. It’s done on a customized basis for each client based on need and objectives. We have relationships with every major internet, media and most entertainment companies, A-list talent, investor and VC relationships, etc, which we lend and leverage to the companies we work with through partnerships. I’m the founder and have nine years of experience in Internet protocol at the engineering level with equal length experience in consumer facing sites, founded the first fashion social media company in 2004, which I ran for three years then sold in 2007. Our approach is to establish bullet-proof businesses and ideas on the platform, whatever the platform may be, and marry audience to it. website is http://www.whatis9.com
9 just received seed funding and secured revenue in less than 30 days of launch with two signed this past month with alot of strong prospects, so there may be other startups that could use the funding in your program, but we’d like to be on the radar and are happy to be provide a free advisory session to anybody funded in your program that falls into the categories we service.
Comment by patricia -
Hi, Mark. Great concept – I’ll be excited to see how well it executes.
I have a business plan available at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc4xwrcn_0dkk4q7dn
The plan is for Harmony, a system to let professionals across multiple disciplines self-organize into functional teams. The plan was written a few years ago and has assumptions that don’t fit into your current scheme, but it could easily be adjusted. I’ll be honest – cash flow positive in 60 days isn’t realistic for Harmony, because there’s a software development process that has to occur. However, that process could be accelerated, particularly with the advances in social website APIs in the last five years.
What excites me about the Harmony plan is that it empowers individuals to find their own jobs by networking with like-minded entrepreneurial types. We don’t need IBM; we can make new IBMs whenever we want. Existing companies can use Harmony to build project teams from scratch in minutes.
Comments and feedback on the Harmony plan are appreciated, from anyone who has something constructive to contribute.
Comment by Robert Hayes -
Mark, I’m happy to put something more formal together for my own and your benefit if you think it is viable. I’m interested to hear your thoughts as an entrepreneur:
I’d like to start a grocery cart cleaning and maintenance business. All too often I find myself sanitizing and scrubbing grocery carts, especially the specialty/fun ones that look like cars, before I put my two year old in it. Between general usability of wheels locking up, child straps missing, and leftover food residue, I know as a consumer I would view this service as a reason to shop at a certain store.
Much like the ServSafe certification many small restaurants pay to get, this could be something that a store proudly posts above their carts. Think of all the stores that have carts, rental strollers, or hand baskets. Between grocery stores, hardware stores, big box stores and the local mall, I count 16 in my small NH community alone. Best of all there is a continuous need for cleaning and maintenance, and a regular schedule could be part of the maintenance agreement.
I have been batting this idea around in my head for a while now, and this challenge to your readers has me seriously considering it again.
From MC> Its an interesting idea. Have you talked to any grocery stores to see what they would pay ? And how that would compare to your costs ?
I look forward to any comments or feedback you or the other readers may have, and as I mentioned earlier am more than happy to put a formal business plan together.
Thanks,
-Bob
Comment by B R -
Mark-
My proposal is quite simple and straight forward however it may take upto 120 days to realize the profit.
Here goes:
I have access to the options to 2 parcels of land directly across from the new stadium in Arlington. The land is very attractive and has genetrated interested. My issue is the cash to satisfy the options so that I can capitalize in the opportunity. If I cannot take advantage of the options than at the end period of the option the land will likely go to highest bidder. The said starting bid would be 100% higher than my option purchase price.
Not having the monies myself to take advantage of this I am looking to bringing the deal together and making a generous fee. I am confident with further discussion you will see the opportunity to more than double your money.
I have substantial back-up info and specifics which is too confidential to post here but can share in private.
Hope to hear back.
Thanks, Patel.
Comment by Patel -
Pingback: Get a billionaire to invest in your business plan. « Apple and Orange
Business Idea:
Ever go to those stores like, CVS, Walgreens, Dick’s Sporting Goods, PetSmart, insert Grocery store name here? They offer these cards that are suppose to save you money or keep track of your spending habits. Whatever they do, you sign up for them you have a ton of cards that you can’t keep up with. What if there was a Universal Card or UniCard where you could go online and sign up for all your favorite stores, one card no hassles. We will collect the data and then give the data back to the stores and they could use it as they wish.
Most people shop by convenience and not what card they have in their pocket. I’m sure people would prefer to have one simple card rather than worry about keeping up with a plethora of cards.
I’m in the IT industry but not a programmer or database guru so I will need to hire a few people.
Comment by Murpythadog -
The Pitch:
– Improves quality of life for elderly
– Benefits individual and family assets
– Reduces government costs for long term health care
Please find the Summary here:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d5nrds9_1f7tqzwhp
Thanks for your consideration and for taking the bull by the horns.
Comment by Real Home Comfort -
I am selling a product that people already use in everyday life but has a new innovative and exclusive delivery system that is rapid acting and side effect reducing. The products available now are great for anyone but especially great for athletes. Introducing you and your team to these products would offer an opportunity for many people to earn an unlimited income with very low investment. You would be helping average people earn a above average income and all you, Mark, would have to invest is time. Thank you for your consideration.
Stacy
Comment by Stacy -
Hello Mark:
I been a fan of the Mavericks every since I moved here 14 years ago. I work with state funded program to help people add Attic Insulation Wall Insulation and Radiant Barrier to homes and business. Its a great market because there is not much competion. I need money for 3 truck 3 insulation machines and MARKETING. Radiant BARRIER is paid in cash when job is finished. The company will have cash in the first 30 days and it will be profitable in the first 60 days. I been doing this for 5 years working for some one else. All I need is just an opportunity to succeed I have all the knowledge and experience in the market.Please call me
Comment by Alex Ochoa -
Hi There, I love this and have blogged on it (http://allabouttheidea.blogspot.com/2009/02/so-have-you-got-big-idea.html ). This is a wake up to all those who say they want to do something and dont. Look forward to seeing what happens.
Tom TH
Comment by Tom TH -
Mark,
We are a Pittsburgh based company with a unique voice medium for social communities which is unparalled and significantly increases social intensity and engagement levels. Technology risk is gone! There is no other medium which stimulates and engages topic based communities like ours. Imagine the Mavs having their own solution for 300+ fans to phone in for FREE and/or chat simultaneously after a win! Our average visitor stays engaged for 63 minutes! I’d love to tell you more…
Comment by Gary Miller -
This is very inspiring. I developed a similar prototype for a proposal to the Obama/Biden Administration. “America’s Ideas,” lifted from http://change.gov are posted on http://whitehouseofficeofcreativeaffairs.wordpress.com. A committee of 25 then selects eight ideas a week to post on http://thinkhardamerica.wordpress.com . At that point the ideas are open for development. The only caviat is that the ideas address some aspect of the Obama/Biden Agenda. “Economic Recovery” is the posting category for anything that doesn’t address the agenda. Like all 40% of the ideas posted on this site. Which with your permission we will be posting (with a link to your terms) to http://thinkhardamerica.wordpress.com along with those from change.gov. “Open-source development is certainly the wave of the future. Good to meet a fellow surfer.
Harry Webber
http://MadisonAveNew.com
hpp
Comment by The Committee -
Hello Mark, I don’t have a formal business plan, but I would like to start a technical school to start teaching people how to install Audio/Video systems. Corporate A/V systems, Video Conferenceing, and Home theater systems. Teach them from start to finish including programming of control systems and digital processing equipment. We could contact corporations and get our students in to survey, troubleshoot, consult, and possibly install. We could grow this into an international training program. I currently own a small A/V systems integration company that services corporate, government, and sport stadium’s, So I do know the industry. If this seems like something you would be interested in let me know I work on a business plan.
Comment by Brian V -
Where do I post the business plan?
Thanks,
Frederick Penn
Comment by Frederick Penn -
Mark:
Great idea, good luck. I would like to encourage you to consider a parallel open-source project for the non-profit sector. The commonly cited statistic is that the US nonprofit sector employs 10 percent of the workforce – more than the auto and steel industries combined. Most foundations are singularly focused on mission-related impact. Some charitable missions stimulate the economy, some do not. If properly written, the criteria for investment could be targeted so that there can be a stimulus for job growth in the non-profit sector and, consequently, an overall economic benefit. At the same time, mission critical work could be achieved. Unlike foundation investment, therefore, the ultimate test for investment is not only impact on the mission, but impact on the mission and ability to create jobs or in some other way stimulate economic activity.
Just a thought from the other sector.
Thanks.
Comment by Steve Meltzer -
Mark Cuban,
I always brainstorm and come up with great ideals and have no money.
1st I would like to relieve traffic around the Texas Motor Speedway. There is a railroad track that runs behind the Speedway on Hwy 156. We need to run shuttle train from Fort Worth and Denton to the Speedway on race days. We could open up a station that has a restaurant/bar for race fans. The restaurant and bar could be open all year long. I live in Justin; they need a good restaurant with reasonable priced good food that is not home cooking or SONIC. The restaurant would serve areas such as Haslet, Rhome, Krum, Ponder, Justin, Roanoke, Trophy Club etc.
2nd ideal is we need a full service car wash in the Roanoke area. All they have is a coin car wash where you do it yourself. I would like to open up a carwash but do not have the funds to make it happen. I even know which piece of land I would but it on. The car wash would service Trophy Club, Justin, Rhome, Haslet, Krum, Ponder etc. This area out here is growing in leaps in bounds and we need a car wash.
3rd ideal I would like to open a wine shop where you can purchase good inexpensive wines and beer where you can taste the wine and also sell cheese; in the same area.
Sincerely,
Ruby Williams
Comment by Ruby -
Mr. Cuban,
I came upon your blog via a post by another blogger ripping on your idea. After reading it and the comments, I want to say that I think its brilliant.
Even if you never funded any of the ideas, you are giving valuable advice to people and connecting others. I’ve even posted comments on a couple people’s slideshows because I found the ideas interesting.
Getting people started rolling again will most certainly help the economy – with or without your money.
Thanks for doing a small favor to the world – you’ve definitely got a new devoted reader.
Concetta Phillipps
Comment by Concetta -
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12273445/Computer-Business-Plan?secret_password=13tdgl3xse4u1rlt7wf3
A plan that could work with the proper application of effort and also has some buyback and resell opportunities.
Comment by Scott Patterson -
Where is the application? Who do I send my packet with video to??? Thank, Chef NiCK
“Cookin, Somewhere, Somehow, Someway!?!?”
Comment by chef nick -
This is an AWESOME opportunity Mark – the kind of stimulus an Entrepreneur truly needs.
My venture is AStrokeofPink.com – a social network & business/career development community for young women who desire a career in the fashion industry.
I raised $50K in seed capital in 2008 to form the business & build the community assets – business website, blog (AndSpeakingofPink.com) & now the network – we launch on Valentine’s Day.
I can be profitable in 90 days & will forgo ALL planned ad slots (with adequate operating capital, we don’t need them!:-) & offer you 10% (neg) in equity, along with first right of refusal for future ventures.
• Link to Executive Summary – http://www.thelittlepinkengine.com/ExecutiveSummary_LPE_Final020709.doc
Cheers,
Luckie Daniels.
Comment by Luckie Daniels -
Hi!
At this time it’s going to be hard for good business ideas, because people are more careful with their money.You must actually make something really good.We can not just go and buy staff for dollr and sale it for two dollars.So magic word is charities.To get something ,you have to give something.Many people will spend dollar if at least 25 cents are going to folks that need help.I know that word “give” is not good for for business , but everything aroud us is changing so is business.
My idea for exemple include music , Itune ,AT&T and biggest charity ONE.
First :I really don’t know how much investment should be
Second : One celebrity singer (Chris Daughtry) which will help project for less or no money because it’s for charity
Third : if we do everything right we can have over million downloads on Itune
Every musician is looking for good songs , so if Chris likes it ,99 % of job is done.
I don’t know if I am wrong ,but what if I am right.I would love to know how good I am.
That ‘s why we are alive,to turn our hobby into business for charity. I am probably not good businessman ,but when I see those CEO’s that lost billions , I think I can’t be so bad. I am fortunate that i am debt free and that i live in this great country with so many opportunities , so i can relax and do what I love to do. My goal at the end is to help people. It would be biggest accomplishment in my life.
I lived around white rock lake area so it wouldn’t be hard to contact me.
Thanks
G.S.
Dallas , TX
Comment by G.S. -
People buy expensive things.
People need to sell expensive things when they need cash.
A lot of people need cash right now.
People like to be “famous” in their own way online i.e. facebook.
Can’t get that internet recognition on ebay or craigslist.
My idea is to create a unique consignment for individuals on http://www.raidmycloset.com. They post a picture of themselves, any info they want, etc. and post items in their closet they need to sell. Preferably limited to items of value higher than $50.
Buyers will like getting things from people they can see (get that gucci purse from your classmate). Buyers will also like being able to purchase expensive items at a low cost, keeping up appearances for not much money.
Items can be listed as a list per “closet”. No need to post individual items seperately as on ebay.
We get a congignment fee based on price of item listed. No bidding. Just sell it for what you think it is worth.
Startup fees include website design and functionality. Simple searches online will get people to the site based on words they have used in their posting. As it grows, so will the google ranking and no need for advertising.
Comment by Kellie -
I have some ideas…read my blog
http://rayofgoodhope.blogspot.com/2009/01/one-stop-shop-for-all-finance.html
Comment by Abhisek -
Thanks Mark. I’ve been looking for a way to articulate exactly these business goals. I don’t think I could have done it so well.
I’m starting small, growing very slowly – so I don’t need your money. What I needed was specific concrete direction on evaluating growth and earnings.
You’ve blessed me. Wow.
Comment by Claudia from Denver Cereal -
Pingback: Business Opportunities Weblog
Way to think outside of the box Mark!!!! Obviously by the feedback you have gotten you are getting the synapses firing of many folks. I’ll pass it along to the ontheroadwithiv.com folks as well as CLUB E. -iV-
Comment by Ingrid Vanderveldt -
Good Morning!
I posted my proposal & doc links yesterday but don’t see them populated on the blog. Should I re-post or take the hint?!:-)
Luckie Daniels
Comment by Luckie Daniels -
I love the idea, but I too am concerned about that firms that generate revenues from advertising are disqualified. I think the intention was to eliminate firms that create websites and say they will capture eyeballs and thus get funds from advertising. However, my firm is a mobile advertising solutions provider, essentially we generate revenue by selling mobile marketing ad campaigns. These could include SMS text campaigns, iPhone Application development, or mobile websites.
Given the above, please let me know if we would be disqualified from participating. Mobile marketing is one of the few advertising bright spots this year.
Comment by James Briggs -
Mark:
You need to install Disqus Comments so that people can respond to individual ideas/Comments (i.e. threaded). It’s impossible to write an individual evaluation at the bottom of 200+ Comments.
Comment by Timothy Post -
Hi Mr. Cuban,
My name is Soren Hall. I founded IQueue Media Company LLC, an I.T. company, in 2005. Perhaps you have seen our brightly decaled service van around Dallas. We’re much like any other Audio/Video/Computer Support company in several ways- friendly support, insured contractors, free estimates… but its our vision of a store that sets us apart from our competitors- Best Buy, Geek Squad, Starpower, Kellum, Modia, Radio Shack, Dallas Sight and Sound, etc. The store’s concept removes many items from the shelves and replaces the products-in-boxes with interactive digital signage catalogs and replaces media-room-demo-areas with revenue-per-square-foot-suites. It’s sort of like renting out the Inwood Theater for events, but on a smaller, more compact scale. I spoke with Jamie about the idea just before the release date of Halo 3 some time ago. IQueue Media Company’s electronic sales and services already total over $19,000 this quarter, and over $100,000 last year. Average profit is around 20%. I’m 1 guy, age 25, with a good looking service van. Now, IQueue Media Company needs a physical location where people can visit. It’s the mysterious elements of Willy Wonka’s Choclate Factory meets the trendy Apple Store… where someone could shop the latest in electronics and imports or use the newest technology in a completely private environment for a price less than computers at Kinko’s. People could bring in their computers (PC or MAC) for repair. This project would create at least 2-3 new jobs immediately, and at least 6 (hopefully more) within the first year. I would expect your loan to work with interest. You would have to determine the rate. What a great opportunity! BTW– If you need computer services or some wiring done, please give me a call!
Thank you,
Soren Hall
(214)478-8644
IQueue Media Company, LLC
Automation
Cinema Design
Computer Support
Electronics
Comment by Soren Hall -
My Dear Mr. Cuban
A small lighted magnifier built into every medicine cabinet in America (and all other countries too)…so that in the middle of the night a human being in distress… without 20/20 vision could actually READ the OVER THE COUNTER meds (ie Tylenol etc) directions for proper dosage. I don’t care how many times we’ve all already read the instructions…when it comes to a sick kid at 4 AM…We all REREAD every time.. between the disclaimers and the 4 point type it’s pretty scary…or if it went more high tech..an audio chip printed into the packaging My only market research…. my own personal frustration! And yes…you can simply put a hand held magnifier in the john…BUT
who remembers to do this while travelling etc. Ah…you get my drift. Many thanks for letting us get creative
i will now go quietly back beneath the waters
Pat
Comment by Pat Donovan -
*GLASS OF HOPE, CUP OF COURAGE, BOWL OF BELIEF…
just because you cant see it doesn’t mean its not there
*BOTTLED AIR…this could be your last breathe of fresh air, Cherish Your Planet
Its no wonder our world is in the state it is, when looking for the next best thing or the NOW thing its all related to money when our most lucrative asset is the heart and soul of people and what they do survive. The population is fed up and looking for HOPE, hence the new president of the USA. People aren’t measured by what you have on this earth but what you leave the earth with, when you’re gone. Many of us will learn this in our later years while others won’t. So I propose the next series of novelty house wares, not just to generate revenue but to rekindle the message and keep it front and centre in our daily lives. A Dollar Store item that should be manufactured from re-cycleable goods in same country where it will be purchased or consumed. Like the “pet rock” which did substantially well in sales and minimal cost of production I present the following household reminders…
*GLASS OF HOPE, CUP OF COURAGE, BOWL OF BELIEF…
just because you cant see it doesn’t mean its not there
*BOTTLED AIR…this could be your last breathe of fresh air, Cherish Your Planet
Comment by Angie -
The basic premise it that many of us don’t live near our aging parents. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had someone living in our parents’ area that would stop by to visit 1-2x per week, hang their Christmas lights, or take them grocery shopping?
The Plan is to start a network of baby boomers that sign-up to our website to exchange some of their time (perhaps as little as 1 hour a week) to help someone else’s aging parents while someone in the network living close to their parents helps them.
Cost: $5-10k for a good website with a database (track and maintain parent locations/child locations), $2-3k for legal fees (need to flush out how to keep would-be senior lurkers out).
Revenue: $10 registration fee for the adult child to sign up to give & receive help. This could offset the criminal background check. And, then perhaps, an ongoing monthly maintenance fee?
What I need is the free press that I would get from being chosen in this contest so the network would build out quickly – the only way that this would work is to have volunteers living in all of the major areas of the U.S.
I would also submit an press releases to AARP and other Senior organizations/newsletters.
Come join me
Comment by Jill -
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but to the woman who posted about the idea of a smoke alarm that has your own voice, well, it is unfortunately already in existence. We carry this product in our store, The Kidz Outlet, which I posted about up above (Feb 11th, 6:22pm). It’s called a KidSmart Vocal Smoke Detector, and you should probably still be able to “google” it online. You are correct though in the fact that the product is a decent idea.
Comment by Sam Clymer -
I have a magazine idea, but the initial revenues would come from advertising. The justification for the advertising would be I would have an instant audience of 4000 subscribers instantly that I would be sending the magazine to for free. These subscribers are passionate about the topic of this magazine and there is no other magazine like it on a national basis. After a year of a free subscription, we would then start charging readers $10 or $12 per year for a subscription.
I spoke to the founder of an identical magazine and he reached a distribution of 40,000 readers per month. Sold the business and the new owner angered all the advertisers and it shut down.
I’ve already done my copyright, trademark, and URL searches and I am free and clear. I need to file for trademark and copyright protection.
Mark if you can make an exception on the use of advertising for a magazine, I would be happy to then post a real business plan here and address the other requirements for your investment.
Comment by Marsh -
PROFIT CARING
Imagine the dollars spent on lotteries and the millions of buyers who get nothing back, using the same principals, the contributor or CARE HOLDER or SHAREHOLDER contributes $1.00 per week to a FUND that is controlled by a reputable party, this will satisfy Marks requirement for profit in 90 days…the fund will create a forward moving company and provide jobs to the contributors who wish to work there – this will empower the work force with a sense of pride and ownership, its similar to profit sharing but we’ll call it Profit Caring where the workers actually START and own the company and collectively have a vested interest in the success of the company. The $1.00 per week investment opens the company to all classes of workers and all walks of life. This is not just about money but the power of the people who will come together to build it, its about changing the attitudes in the workplace and society, and that’s worth far more than the paper its written on…a forward thinking society
Comment by Angie -
I live in Valley Ranch in Irving, Tx accross from the Cowboys Training facility and there are no Washatera’s in the area you have to travel miles to get big loads like comforts or other large jobs done. Please help us. This was my idea a long time ago and have waited for an opportunity like this to be heard. Thank you Mark Cuban.
Comment by Ramona W -
Ok Mark, glad to see you are trying to stimulate the economy but no one in their right mind would play by your rules. After dealing with VCs for over 3 years I have decided that start-ups are better off partnering with related businesses or boot-strapping the effort themselves. High tech products take time to develop and as such don’t fit most of your investment criteria. Unfortunately most seed VC types don’t have a clue about the science and engineering requirements for high tech products and have unrealistic expectations regarding development schedules. As a result a lot of VC money is pumped into losing propositions that never pan out. Just look at some of the responses you have seen to your posting so far..
What will turn the economy around is new investment at the seed level to help get new ideas off the ground and form solid teams that can execute on the product development plans. For all practical purposes “seed” funding in the US is completely missing from the picture so no new businesses are being formed and our economic spiral continues. Sometime you have to fund and develop an “idea” and see where it leads. The magic is in putting together a team that can take that idea and turn it into a viable product.
Anyway, thanks for making the attempt to do something different. That in itself is a refreshing change compared to the normal VC flow. It will be an interesting experiment…
Dan Johnson
http://vrmad.epicentertech.biz
http://java.epicentertech.biz
Comment by Dan Johnson -
Pingback: The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan - Open Source Funding
This is for Jennifer who posted at 11:19 on Feb. 11
Don’t waste alot of money on the vocal smoke alarm as it is already in stores and has been for several years. We have many of them in our children’s store right now. They are manufactured by Kids Smart. If you need one give me an email and i’ll give you a very low price. surplusking@msn.com
Thanks, Sam
Comment by Sam Clymer -
I have a great idea, how do I contact the neccessary people to share this money making need and business? This is great.
Comment by Ramona W -
Mark,
I know a guy with four kids. One in college, one in high school and adopted 4 year old twin boys. He adopted them from
the Dallas Child Protective Services System. He has coached little
league sports for nine years. He has owned a couple of start ups
that paid the bills for a few years that were always self funded
and underfunded but hard work keep them going until they were sold for a small profit out of necessity and boredom. He has a business planned that needs funding. It is a FEED AMERICA LUNCH (PIF)PROGRAM that will set up old fashion hot dog style vender
stands across America in front of retail stores,car dealers,car
washes,churches,downtown areas,& more. The program will offer a hot dog lunch free if you can’t afford lunch that day. It will include mustard,relish,onion and chili. The stands will also sell the best BBQ sandwiches,Meatball Subs,Sausage,Chips,Drinks & more. (PIF) for PAY IT FORWARD is the motto(is that still a word). You can provide a hot dog lunch for 19 cents and some will buy chips and drinks. If not maybe the next time, its ok were making friends. If you are able to buy lunch then pick you favorite meal and thanks for Paying It Forward for the guy behind you. A permit and annual inspection is required per vender cart and all health codes must apply to each cart on a city by city basis. We can all do this together and cheer up some folks. A corporate sponsor is in the future plan and there will be a kids free day set up as well. Moderate investment is needed for carts and a central storage point must be leased as a commisary. The
Monday -Friday locations are set up with FREE RENT and will draw traffic to each business. Saturdays services with the same carts will include birthday parties,carnivals,events & more that will
maximize profit. The cost of a basic dog is 19 cents, an all beef chicago style dog 48 cents,a BBQ sanwich at 75 cents,a meatball sub at 46 cents, chips 20 cents and a drink at 18 cents. The
ROI is calculated at 100% at 60 days and cash flow positive .
WE do work in the elements. Rain and cold will be a factor but many locations do have a roof over your head. HOME DEPOT sells up to 650 dogs a day per store nationally which averages $1,600 a day in sales. If this sounds ok give him a shout. I am He.
HOT DOG FACT: 1.) Last year a NY City hot dog vender paid 360,000 to the city for one street corner for his lease.
Comment by Bill V - Arlington, Tx. -
Hi Mark;
Fascinating post.
My business is up and running as I write. Not unique; it is expandable, can be duplicated, and can be global. On-Line, Dealer Only (restricted access),Wholesale, Auto Auction.
This type of auction is currently done by the major players in the auction industry; with the following limitations. Vehicles sold are primarily from one of their existing physical auctions. Paper work and monies still flow through the bricks and mortar entity. This adds cost and slows the delivery process.
We differentiate ourselves by being independent. We are not associated with any bricks and mortar facility and have rules, guidelines, and procedures in place to protect both the buyer and the sellers. Paper work and vehicle payments are direct transactions between the buyer and the seller. Our fee options are per listing or by subscription. The fee structure ranges from $37.00 to $20.00 per unit posted (Net) (depends on discount subscription plan users choose)These fees represent about 10% of the average fees collected by traditional auctions. Offering users a significant discounted alternative and incentive.
I am only looking for marketing money. I have a little over $20,000.00 remaining (cash and home equity) and am willing to invest the rest of it. The cost of marketing is $.60 per recipient ( I am using Jumbo post cards) There are over 10,000 dealers in New York state alone and I want to blast to multiple states and multiple mailings to build the customer base quickly. I have no need for direct cash infusion, just help pay the mailing bill. I am factoring the blast this way 1st mailing 2% of recipients visit the site, of those 2% visiting, 20% will register and consign units. Each subsequent mailing returns higher percentages of visits and retention. I believe the site will be self sustaining after the initial mailing and will be creating sufficient revenue to shoulder additional marketing on an ongoing basis with each subsequent mailing (the snow ball effect).
If you elect to contact me and we are able to come to terms with investment guidelines and your ROI, I will post the site and proprietary systems for all to see. I will only share this information after we have met prearranged user thresholds. I believe that being first to market, having a user friendly site, and continuing advancements on the site will entrench the service into our users daily routines.
Every country on earth has dealers that buy and sell on the wholesale trade. For every new car sold that places another used car in the wholesale trade category. This is cumulative from year to year. New York State alone has over 5000 vehicles consigned on a weekly basis. Extrapolated over the 50 states it is conceivable that on a weekly basis there are over 200,000 vehicles on the wholesale market. 1%=2,000 * $20.00 = $40,000 * 50wks = $2,000,000 a year. Now we could be slightly more aggressive with the estimation and say after 5 years we have a 20% market share that’s around $40,000,000 a year
Economic impact
Lower cost to consumers (may or may not be passed through)
IT development professionals
Executive management
Equipment and furnishings
Marketing department
Customer service
US Postal Service
T1 lines
Facilities (new construction or build out requiring many skilled trades)
Imagine the equivalent to eBay on a wholesale basis
I hope to hear from you and look forward to the future.
J.R. Smith
Comment by James Smith -
Might as well post an idea myself and my wife came up with after being around our nieces/nephews.
*****10 second pitch*****
I own: http://www.thebabyrattle.com
Basic Idea: Specialized Craigslist / No-fees eBay
Functionality:
Baby clothes/cribs/toys/etc are expensive, and kids outgrow them very quickly. People are stuck with these things, and can either give/sell them to someone they know who needs it, post an ad in the paper (expensive and local), or list on eBay, where they have to pay, even if it doesnt sell.
Idea:
Free, unlimited listing for baby/young children only.
For someone looking:
=====
*User can visit site, shows some random listings on the home page. Categories menu on one side (clothing/toys/cribs/etc). *Ability to search (by brand or type) or browse
*No account needed for either, completely open
—
For someone getting rid of baby stuff
=====
*create an account for free
****consists ONLY of email and a password (used for them to login and manage listings only. can opt for a mailing list)
*create a listing by
**choosing category (toy,clothing,etc), brand (if applicable)
*upload unlimited images
*put contact information in their listing
*can login to add/edit listing, relist (if they want to), or remove listing (if item sold, or they change their mind)
The investing part
=====
5% of INITIAL investment for initial independent development issues prior to business merger
95% of INITIAL investment divided amongst:
**web designer (I have a mock design at url below, but I’m not a graphic designer)
**domain hosting (I have the url, but none of the services associated)
**equipment (IF we decide to host our own server racks. Initially I wouldnt)
**software licensing
***mainly for the MySQL database (an example site that runs this is Yahoo Finance). There is a free version, the paid gives your support and a few other features
**advertising expenses
****for advertising, I would figure because of your status, that would be something you could work with initially more than myself (a nobody).
The income part
=====
Because the site is 100% free, income would be made solely on advertising. Google AdSense (I have an account already, we could create a ‘shared’ one), other sponsors who might be interested.
Because we would not have any stock inventory, monthly costs would be limited to:
*salaries
*hosting costs
*equipment maintennance (as needed)
The benefits of this site is that once it begins to be used, it is virtually self-running. Programming issues MIGHT arise in the form of enhancements. New advertising methods would be introduced at a later time.
====TEST SITE DESIGN====
Here is a sample of a design I created.
http://www.morta.net/tbr/
Comment by Joshua Lewis -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I’m 15 years old. Before you move on to the next comment due to my age, I would like to pitch a great idea to you. As you could probably guess, teens like myself are deep into technology these days. Whether it’s TV, Ipods, Gaming Devices, we love it all! I would like to pitch a reality show idea to you that in my opinion would not only be a big hit to teenagers, but also to adults. The show would be about a small group of teenagers that are always constantly connected with their friends through facebook or texting. This group of teenagers would have to be sent off to a homeschool for one month without telephones, computers, electricity! Please get back to me with your thoughts and if this idea doesn’t appeal to you, I have many more that will.
Thanks a ton Mark!
-Jake
Comment by jake teichman -
Mark
This is brilliant! What I love about your offer is that it forces a high level of accountability, transparency and strategy. It also demonstrates that we as individuals are capable of solving many of our problems without government intervention. Lastly, I believe that the values that are inherent in your proposal bring us together in ways that can profoundly and positively change the way we do business. It’s a new and improved form of social responsibility.
Thank you Mark!
Ann Ranson
Comment by Ann Ranson -
I love this concept so I’ll give it a try! Here goes…
I would like to create a website for all forms of legal documents, contracts and agreements in different categories. All documents are free for all as long as you don’t change them and still claim that they are originals from the site.
Users will be able to discuss different scenarios and help each other at the site. Preferably there is a way to prove that you have a proper degree in law and get a badge next to your name on the site so that people can recognize professionals participating in the diskussions.
Professional support is available for a fixed fee per contract (limited to say 3 specific changes) and thats where the revenue comes from.
I could get the site up and running, get the contracts written and do some smart marketing within 60 days. I’m calculation with a budget of about $25 k, and I’m willing to let go of 20 % to get this initial funding.
Comment by Per R -
I started an organization called Vision Onward about 2 yrs ago. A piece of that ministry is called Deeds4Needs and its web address is http://www.deeds4needs.org . It was built to be a nationwide outlet and clearing house for any non-profit or church to use to get people active in their communities as well as to give families, small groups, churches, Boy and Girl Scout groups and any other groups a place to go and see how to serve their community. It was also designed to save the resources of other non-profits by allowing these groups to fill needs rather than the agencies. There is more to share and this idea can be sold to any non profit or Church across the USA. I was going to start marketing it to create revenue for our 501c3. I still have a few ideas that need to be implemented on the site. Thanks for allowing this oppourtunity.
Comment by Jeff Holley -
Science meets Design
I propose a plan that will not only make a profit, but will prevent athletes from the new strand of staff infection. MRSA – short for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – is a staph bacterium that can’t be controlled by basic antibiotics. It has already ended a few NFL careers and has claimed 20,000 lives so far. This is commonly picked up in the locker room and on the field. My plan requires 30 days and $1,000,000 for R&D to develop a thin nylon suit that can be worn to prevent the strand from infecting an open wound. I will need a team of scientists and athletic apparel designers to help with the R&D. The remaining 30 days (in the 60 day break even time frame) would be used to sell 30 suits for $34,000 (or 60 suits for $17,000 and so on). This will appeal to many NFL players since an MRSA infection can end a career. What’s in it for Mark Cuban? Besides saving the lives and careers of athletes in both the NBA and NFL, we can negotiate terms of agreement at a later date.
Comment by Bill Cover -
start a coffee shop in my town, which gets coffee beans from a privately owned coffee farm in dominican republic. 100k to purchase the farm…$100k to pay the farmers, $100k to renovate the space. direct trade with farmers. profits reinvested into purchasing more land for coffee farm.
$300k turns a profit in 3 months.
Comment by Michael -
Mark,
This will turn a profit in 30 days. Rebuild muscle cars and sell them on the internet.
Buy car at 4500-6000
Paint, upholstery, tune motor 6500
Sell for 25-30K
http://www.monstermusclecars.com/619RA_72_Chevelle_SS_454_Eng_4Spd_Red.html
100% return and you are selling a great product America’s love. Its a green plan the recycles old dead cars. Even if GM goes under we can rebuild all the old cars.
Comment by Eric Dupre' -
Here’s an idea I had a while back. I’m hoping someone steals it and makes it happen.
Create a system that analyzes your grocery food purchases and gives you an overall health grade. If you are interested, a report would print out at the end of your bill, like coupons are printed now. The report would contain a brief synopsis of your grade, calorie content, cholesterol content, etc. etc.
This service would be sold to large grocery chain stores a service differentiator.
Comment by Robert G. -
At the Blogmaverick.com for the open source funding but don’t see the special link to submit our business plan.
Can you direct me to that link, Please.
Ed Burns Sr.
Comment by Edward Burns Sr -
Mark,
If you fund a business here, I will fund it too. How’s that for open source?
Mehmet
Comment by Mehmet Oguz -
Open source idea: Help people become better lovers
Marc,
Most men are lousy in bed. And most women will not let them know that because she doesn’t want to appear as having slept around.
That’s where we come in. We teach men how to be better lovers. No beating around the bush, just straight talk. Our seminars are packed with value; we don’t just teach techniques, but also the mindset of a great lover. Nothing sleazy, all 100% scientifically accurate education. Complete course content is available here http://www.betterloverseminar.com/details/
Currently our seminars, although packed to capacity, are only available locally in the cities of India. We have attendees who fly down from around the world (even from the US and Europe)to attend our seminars. We routinely receive requests from all over the world to have a seminar in their city. We’ve toyed with the idea of webcasting our seminars, but broadband is still not that widespread, worldwide.
This is where you come in.
We would like to create DVD’s of our seminar in high-definition with 3D-multimedia animation demos, and courier them worldwide. For non-English speaking audiences, we will have their language (Chinese, German, Arabic etc) in the audio.
We are currently working on a seminar series for women on how to please a man in bed, conducted by a female seminar leader. By the time your funding comes through we should be ready for the 90 day deadline, for both sets of DVD’s. (1)How to make love to a woman (2) How to make love to a man.
We are talking top-drawer sex coaching, for a world-wide market.
Investment needed : $ 250,000
Your equity : Let’s talk
Kunal
Seminar co-ordinator, Better Lover Seminar
Comment by Kunal -
I have 2 ideas:
1. Retail movie studio. Have a basic green screen setup, and several precanned scripts, along with all necessary props and wardrobe- all geared towards quick set up. Have the scenes pre-blocked, and cue cards for all the dialog. Parents bring their kids in, the kids get to dress up and star in the movie. Basically, the kid goes to a certain spot, reads the card, performs the action, and then after shooting, they’re plugged into the movie.
I’m thinking for pricing there could be charges by the hour for studio time, and then for custom DVD packages of the movie (1-2 weeks for processing time.) If everything is set up well, I believe you could have a 30 minute movie filmed in 2 hours, then you would just need to integrate CGI elements. I would think $50/hr. + $50 for the DVD. There are other opportunities for merchandising (replica prop sales, etc.)
2. IT staffing agency in the Raleigh market focused on high-touch white-glove service for both clients and candidates. Trust me, there’s no firm in town getting it right yet. This would be cheap and easy.
Comment by thesurfreport -
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Maaak,
As the people up northeast would call you. For whatever reason they leave out the fact that your parents put an R in your name.
Anyhow http://www.Q&A.com is the pitch. Yes questions and answers, who in the world would use that??? Maybe everyone in the world. The idea is to stream line this giant random beast into organized categories for search criteria. When user’s login they will have to sign up for different categories that they feel they know about, questions can be sent to this users login or they can join in a chat room/blog with other users. Instead of having a billion websites that currently do this you centralize it like E-Bay sells retail. You make this site super user friendly and focus on being able submit your question and have real world helpful answers you will grow the site. Once you have a large user base you have real value leverage to make money in many different ways. You can catalog all the Q&A’s and sell the information to companies in each category that pertains to their business niche to help them understand there consumer target market. You can also use all the cataloged Q&A’s to spider new searches since the topic would have already been discussed previously by others. You would also be able to ask members directly once you know that person knows more about the topic if they so choose to.
“If you do one this really well better than the rest instead of trying to a million things average you will be very successful at that one thing.”
Let me know what you think and we can do lunch I’m in Houston so it’s nothing for me to go to Dallas, maybe you can get me a deal on some courtside seats I hear you’ve got a hook-up on that. Tell Todd Wagner Big “E” says hey.
Comment by Eric Dupre' -
I saw the link to your blog on the Reason website. My idea (which I hope is stolen with all due haste) is meant to capitalize on the increase of paramilitary police raids. As a working title, we’ll call it “No Knock Doors” (as a modest homage to the “no knock” raid. The concept is to retrofit existing doors (eventually windows) with battering ram proof security doors. While this sort of business exists in a piecemeal fashion, I think there’s an opportunity to create a turn-key package using availablel technology and local contractors. Certainly, some of the target demographic would be less than savory individuals. On the other hand, the dramatic increase of SWAT team raids, accidental killings of innocent people, crackdowns on harmless poker games, etc., creates a much larger potential. Venues like Reason Online would be ideal for advertising. While I believe the business idea has some modest profit potential, it also has a particular public policy message… which I think is half the fun. Good luck, Mark, and don’t stop rattling the cages.
Comment by Anonymous -
My business idea is for the site breakupexxonmobil.com.
The site would be an activist portal and aggregation site calling for the breakup of Exxon mobil corporation.
Income would be generated from private donors and millions of private citizens who now understand that monopolistic enterprises such as Exxon Mobil are a detriment to real capitalism and the future of America.
This site would be a huge success due to the fact that for the first time since the great depression, the American public has been shaken out of their slumber that what’s good for GM and Exxonmobil is good for the average citizen. They are ready to fund such a project to re-invent capitalism from the bottom up- the first step in calling for the restoration of real FREE market capitalism, where there are winners and losers as determined by the marketplace.
breeakupexxonmobil.com
Comment by Don -
Brave and admirable. But here’s a question:
Do you want to invest in business founded by folks who sit around reading blogs and trawling for cheap money – rather than those who shut everything off to get on with building a successful idea they have utter belief in?
(I’m not yet one of those people 🙂 but at the other extreme there do seem to be some cranks amongst the hundreds of posts above…)
Comment by James -
ThruDispatch, a real business:
A dispatch system that gets rid of the central dispatcher for one truck operators in towing, glass repair, and mobile locksmiths.
http://bizcast.typepad.com/clients/the-trudispatch-chronicle.html
I worked in the business, and after the plan was pitched, every VC in Silicon Valley threw me out.
Comment by Alan Wilensky -
Mark, I’m an amateur DJ that just redeployed after 18 months in afghanistan. I will be moving to Dallas, GA in the next week also, as i have purchased a home there. I see a-lot of potential for a party planning/mobile DJ service in and around that area. I’ve written up the business plan using business plan pro, and created a website using homestead software. I’m currently working on perfecting my website and kicking off this business. I anticipate a grand opening date of NLT 1 March 09. With an investor, i could probably do this even sooner, with substantially better equipment, and resources.
Thanks
Comment by Preston R. Johnson -
Mark – what an awesome consideration! I am a 47 year old housewife/homemaker. I have no business degree. I do have a heart for those that are struggling in this economy. We are living in a small town, one that the people are very connected to one another.
The company my husband was working for closed the day after the stock market crashed – Oct. 1 he was suddenly out of work, no notice, no severance pkg, no benefits. We found ourselves in new and unchartered territory (at least for us). In spite of all the applications he has put in across the state of Texas (and beyond) there has been nothing promising. God has been faithful to meet our needs in ways that are beyond our understanding.
We are seeing a lot of people despairing in these economic times because they have no support system around them in the bad times, and they have no idea what to do or where to look for answers.
Our idea may not prove to be a *large* money maker, and it may not be something that you would even give a second thought to – but here it is …
A place that people could come to for support, encouragement, food and drink, a little fun, and some old fashioned hands on work.
There is an older building for sale in our town. It is large enough to be perfect! It has enough clean up and work that needs to be done that many hands would be needed – which would increase the local economy a little. After getting it cleaned up and in good repair/working order …
The kitchen would be available for simple meals – and those that would come to eat would pay lower prices for meals, but also help in the preparation – either to bring in some groceries, wash dishes, help with the cooking and serving, help with the clean up. And if you didn’t come to eat …
An area sectioned off for the kids to have a play room – so that parents could have time to search the internet and newspapers for jobs, or work in the kitchen area, or help others who were coming that were just as lost as they are.
One part of the building would be set up with a pool table, tables for checkers/chess, dominoes (a local favorite), scrabble, etc…just for relaxation and getting to know the others that are there.
A reading corner with quality newspapers, magazines and books.
A bank of computers that were set to the job search sites.
Someone “on staff” that would be available to help those that needed to complete a high-school program (GED), help someone learn to read, help someone learn to use the internet.
A doctor who is willing to invest some of his time for consultations.
Someone who can help lead others thru the muck and mire.
Everyone who came in and used the services available would need to pay – either in money to help the doors to stay open, or in service of themselves to maintain the property.
There are businesses in our town that would be willing to sponsor, but aren’t able to finance the start up.
There is a great need for this – in our town, and in towns across America. So many people are wandering lost in this downturn of the economy. Distressed and depressed. Sometimes it takes a getting “out of ourselves” and focusing on others to make a difference.
This would not be a large “money maker” … but it would lead to more of a community within our towns. More people helping people.
Who would you meet?
A man out of work meets a man who owns a landscaping business who needs someone that will work a couple of days a week? The business owner needs someone, but can’t afford someone 40 hours a week.
A woman who is good with kids and loves them meets a woman who has a job but can’t afford childcare – the children could be taken care of at the “HOUSE”.
So many possibilities …
Who knows if it would work?
Who knows just how much money it would make? How would it stimulate the local economy?
If you would even read this and think about it, it would honor us.
Thank you,
Margaret McCoy
Comment by kamelotrose -
This Country needs someone to help us manage our money (I’m not really talking about invsting, just managing). I throw away money every month on late fees to credit cards on disgustingly high interest fees; I probably should have refinanced my mortgage already; and, I just can’t seem to manage my money (earning .2% in the bank is not really managing). If there was someone reputable (e.g. you and not any bank or anything) who I could basically deposit my money with and give access to all my bills and credit cards, I am sure you could save me a bundle monthly, not to mention increase my “yield” at the bank. If you could advertise your services, you could probably get tons and tons of people to “deposit” their money with you and you could negotiate better rates on all their behalfs with credit card companies, cable companies and others, while also generating a much higher yield for the deposits by having so much capital at hand. You could hire people (yay, job creation) to review peoples expenses and yields (maybe even buy up some of their mortgages) and charge a small monthly service fee and receive other incentive-based profits.
Unfortunately, it really can’t be my business as like I say I am in NEED of such a service, but I could at least be your first customer 🙂
Comment by Marc Feffer -
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Open source bounty broker. Kind of like rentacoder but for companies offering bounties for adding features or fixing issues in open source projects (which isn’t uncommon but there is no centralised mechanism for it). Just an idea….
Comment by Michael Foord -
Hi Mark,
We don’t need any money at the moment, but I wanted to post my idea for feedback from the community and, I hope, from you as well. The site is http://www.lifestreambackup.com. The idea is to act as an insurance policy against hackers, disgruntled employees, server failures, etc of all these lifestreaming services. As people leave pieces of their life on flickr, photobucket, blogs, facebook, google docs etc, they have no way to recoup data in the unlikely event of a loss. What we do is back all of that data up to Amazon’s S3 service through one interface.
Currently we support flickr, photobucket, and twitter. Facebook and WordPress are coming soon, and Basecamp, Google Docs, and Youtube are all on the way. Just enter your credentials once, we store them safely and securely, back up your files and data on a regular basis, and charge a small fee.
We are in private beta. You or your readers can use the code ‘betabackup’ to give the service a try. We charge $6.95/month for 10Gb of backup.
Comment by Rob -
How about a joint share ownership / trade system. People join together in groups investing any amount of money they want to make ‘small’ trades.
This promotes low risk trading (small amounts of money involved) whilst also promoting investing in companies – so a great idea for putting money into companies.
Trades could have a ‘sell at’ clause, once the shares have gained a certain amount in value – with the money returned to investor’s accounts.
They could also have a ‘timeout’ clause, sell after 3 months / 6 months / 1 year etc – where the shares are cashed out after a set time period even if they haven’t hit the ‘sell at’ clause.
For example, we might have a group that will buy ten google shares with a ‘sell at’ of +20% and a ‘timeout’ of 1 year.
Members can commit any amount of money they want to the group – with membership only closing once the full amount has been reached.
The close amount would have to be dynamically calculated – as the cost of the shares would be changing up until the close period. It may make more sense to have a deal with a broker that allows us to say buy $1000 worth of google shares even if that is not an integer number of shares.
The cost is in setting up the trading platform – but it is pretty much a standard social network type platform (Pinax would make a great base for much of it) with connection to a payment processor and broker.
I have programmer contacts and contacts in the financial world to make this happen. 60 days to get a beta going sounds like enough.
If you think the idea has legs I can work on a full business plan.
Comment by Michael Foord -
Here is my offer.
I will split the profits of the campaigns that are funded through your contributions on a 30/70 split. I get 70, you get 30. I bring the know-how and the labor to the table. I can get funding anywhere. I get full ownership of the company. The profits are residual based. That means your return is roughly 360% return for life or until the market changes but even then we can reroute our marketing. Currently the expense/return ratio works like this. A $3000 investment brings in about 3,000 every month. Do the math. What kind of return is that per year? A 10,000 investment brings in about $10k every month. You can’t beat that. You know it, I know it.
You can expect a website that brings in $3k monthly to be profitable in 90 days, maybe less. We can speed up the process if I hire people to replace my time increasing the ranks of our platforms. This can be done at a minimal one time expense of $300-$400 week. Once the website is in place, the money comes in whether we do anything or not.
This is the depth of my public business plan that is working right now with or without you. I really don’t need your money but the idea of doing something with Mark Cuban does have a certain appeal.
My mentor is 8 months in to this business (with residual profits) with 3 years of solid niche research and makes about 15k month residual (net profit). In the next 6 months he intends to be making 100k month residual. I work closely with my mentor (not some program) Lets make something happen. This is my offer.
Of course, I am willing to speak with other funders as well. Feel free to send me an email at mshepherd_2001@hotmail.com. Use “Funding” in subject line.
God Bless
Comment by Michael Shepherd -
Here’s an idea that should be profitable and do some good.
Cory Doctorow likes giving electronic versions of his books away free; he believes in it and his publisher doesn’t *really* mind because there isn’t a lot of money in selling ebooks anyway.
The problem is, what to do about the people who *want* to donate after reading the ebook. He can’t accept donations because it screws with his tax *and* makes his publisher unhappy!
He had this brilliant idea of matching up people who want to donate with schools and public libraries that would like a copy of the book. That way giving away the electronic version *directly* drives more sales of the paper book and *more* people get access to the book.
The downside is that vetting people who request the book and administering the system costs Cory money. However, it could be ‘centralised’, with vetted individuals eligible for books from any of the committed authors / publishers (and I bet many authors who publish their works electronically under a CC license would participate).
Income could come from Amazon referal fees – and possibly a small charge either to the publisher per book or to the vetted individuals. It would certainly be cheaper than what Cory is currently doing as the vetting is the main cost and you only need to do that once.
Comment by Michael Foord -
Start up 1-10 million
I’ll invest this in a 3 month CD
best rate as of today is 2.20 apy
split the interest 50/50 after costs
re-invest principal in same 3 month CD
Comment by Scott S. -
Hi Mark!
Thanks for the opportunity 🙂
I’ve had this idea for a number of years and never got off my butt to do anything about it. I’ll air it here if I may.
People renting accommodation, tenants, often (nearly always) have to give the landlord or agency a “deposit” which is returned when the tenant leaves. This is to cover damage to the property and such like. This is the theory. In practise I have seen an untold number of times where unscrupulous landlords have ripped off tenants by overstating damage or clean-up charges or even just withholding all the deposit illegally. I have seen it time and time again and it disgusts me as generally the tenant is in a more precarious position financially than the landlord who may have a string of properties. Also, the landlord or agency get to generate interest on the deposit. So…
So my idea is to create an honest 3rd party escrow system. The tenant gives the money to the 3rd party who upon verification of the state of the property returns part (or all) of the deposit to the tenant and gives some (or none) of the deposit to the landlord. Deal-breaker. Why would landlords sign up to a system that protects the interests of tenants and cripples a source of secondary income? Either the law enforces it (hopefully in time like having to obtain car insurance) and/or the landlord receives more tenants because the tenants know they are not going to be ripped off. This builds trust and for the honest landlords out there it works to their advantage.
Profit? To be honest I wouldn’t even want to make a profit because I think it would be so great if this social service existed in every civilised society. The operating costs would be derived from interest on the money held under escrow at any time. Possibly needs partly government funded as it is a type of social service, is it not? Or may need to operate as a charity, and receive funding from the government and public as well as interest generated.
What is needed?
Staff to verify the disbursement. If there is cleaning or damage done, eyeball it, verify the contractors and their charges. Should take one visit. One person could do a property an hour?
Small staff to manage website/office (if in a big metropolitan area). Staff could easily work from home.
That’s it.
Thanks!
Comment by Anthony Durity -
Mr Cuban I have an idea to make machine shop cutting tools here and sell them to china mfg firms because thats who is using them it would take our economy to the supply side which i think will lead us out of this downturn THANK YOU CECIL ALLMON
Comment by Cecil Allmon -
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I’m one of the millions of people who spend money on dog/cat products for my pets. I’m always looking for classy and or fun collars and while they’re not hard to find – the one thing that always ruins the look are flea colors.
I’ve always wondered why someone didn’t create a 2 in 1 product for this.
Example: Mesh fabric “hollow” sleeves in all kinds of colors and designs – that allow a person to weave the flea color into it – making just one collar with a dual purpose.
Or leather colors with a groove down the middle that would allow one to snap a flea collar down into it (with perforated holes under the collar so the flea powder protection can get through).
This can’t be a costly start up, but I can see it being a huge hit with the pet crowd.
Thoughts?
Comment by Cynthia -
Sounds like a novel Idea to stimulate the economy.
Here’s my rough draft of a plan.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df4vxb4c_1wbwnvgds
Let me know what you think.
Comment by Aaron W. -
Hey Mark,
Interesting Idea.
One fact and one question.
Fact – Your idea made a biz section article in the Feb. 12th Globe and Mail newspaper – a national canadian paper!
Question – Will you accept and possibly fund ideas from Canada?
John Kipping
From MC> sure
Comment by John Kipping -
Please glance at this one. I tried to address all your requirements, keep it realistic….oh, and it’s not a ponzy scheme (though that would be profitable in 60 days =)
http://www.slideshare.net/beghbali/support-american-economy-business-plan
thanks,
*bashir*
(p.s. the website link is just to a small clothing line I run on the side for charity- not related to the business proposal).
Comment by Bashir -
I could start up a company but it would take time to turn profits. Time I don’t have. Programs I don’t need. Promises form the government I can’t use…. I need a JOB!!! Anything else is just hype or BS.
Comment by 62 and jobless -
Our startup is all about opensource project management software.
We provide simple basecamp-like collaboration tools, web based and in its hosted or user-deployable versions.
We have our first customer for 3200 euros, on-site installation. We have around 1000 users in our hosted version (free at the moment). Our potential market is Europe and USA.
Viral propagation will be achieved by the open-source model. High margins will be obtained with our licensing and hosted version.
Our burn rate is 12000 euros a month. We’re 3 people based in Barcelona: two programmers and one commercial. We’re willing to give a 5% in exchange for seed funding.
Let me know if you’re interested 🙂
Comment by Pablo -
Good Morning Mark,
Do you read every business plan? I posted one earlier and didn’t get a comment.
If you read it and decided it wasn’t for you; fair enough. But, just in case, it got lost if the shuffle with the other 600 entries, here it is again. http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcg4gqm5_4c2qtspf8
If you’re in the process of reviewing and just haven’t had a change to comment yet, please regard this follow up as a show of my enthusiasm.
All the best,
Michelle
Comment by Michelle DuQuesnay -
Hi Mark,
our plan is as follows:
Due to the curreny discrepancy betwenn the UK and Europe and some other factors video games are a lot cheaper in the uK than in Germany. Our plan is to import Games from UK to Germany and offer them here cheaper than Amazon and other retailers. Even with the commission we’ll have to pay on Amazon Marketplace and Ebay there are still good possibilities for a nice margin.
German guys will have two main reasons for buying the UK version of a game:
– At 1st it’s cheaper. E.g. it’s possible to buy FIFA 09 from an UK retailer for about 25 pounds. Including (drop)shipping to Germany it will be about 27 pounds which is about 29,50 EUR. The same price is realistic for every new release and should be easily sell for about 40-45 EUR as new releases normally costs between 50-60 EUR.
– The 2nd reason is that sometimes German games are not original versions (not uncut) and people want to play the originals games
in some genres (shooter games for example).
To avoid dead stock we’ll concentrate only on new releases and top sellers.
An investment of about 15,000 EUR is necessary to build up an own small stock of products. This way we’ll be able to deliver our customers directly and not only to dropship (higher margin if we do it ourselfs).
Marketing will be mainly mouth-to-mouth and some blogs and gaming communities.
Retailers and wholesalers in UK are indentified. As well as sales markets in Germany.
After building up a base of customers our own online store will get more popular (customers will see our url on invoices and will hopefully have a look at our shop as well) and we’ll mainly sell about our own platform (increasing margin as we don’t have to pay commission for ebay and so on). With this in mind it’s even possible to use a system like it was done at “letsbuyit.com” some years ago for new releases.
Ownership would be 20% for you and the rest for my partner and me. However it’s negotiable.
Business should be break even easily in one month and returning profit from month 2.
As this wasn’t very detailed please drop me a mail if you need further information.
Any feedback would be appreciated. 🙂
Best regards from Germany
Holger
Comment by Holger -
Hi Mark,
Jeff Hock here from Phrasebase.com.
I will give you a 33% equity stake in Phrasebase.com in exchange for $75,000 USD. I will use the money to create a comprehensive set of 500 high-quality incredibly entertaining and addictive rich-media immersive language learning lessons. That’s 10 lessons for each of 50 different languages.
The student can choose any 1 lesson in the series to own for free. Once hooked, they can purchase additional lesson for $4 each, or the remaining 9 at $29 for a complete bundle of 10. Each lesson will take approximately 7-10 minutes for the student to work though, depict a strong theme/situation,
quiz them at the end to measure performance/absorption and contain a strong element of randomness, making it enjoyable and educational to play over and over.
It will take us 30 days to produce all of the lessons and integrate them seamlessly into the launch of the new Phrasebase website. [ Here is a non-functioning prototype of the new site so you can see the look/feel: http://www.phrasebase.com/pbnew/ ]. This new site is also a tableless design and validated HTML which will dramatically improve our organic SEO: http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.phrasebase.com%2Fpbnew%2F
When the lessons are created and published, we estimate that 2% of our 4000 unique visitors will purchase a complete bundle of 10 lessons for $29. That’s $2320 USD per day… $71,920 for 31 days. Buzz generated from our community and throughout the blogsphere will easily push this up to your break even number of $75k.
For days 60-90, we will have rolled out a new set of 500 lessons. We will now get new as well as repeat customers who want to tackle the next series of 10 lessons. We will also have modified our Facebook application to allow users to play 2 lessons for free in any given language. We will also expand from 50 supported languages out to 80, and then we will start to send out email notifications to our 110,000 registered members to inform them that the lessons we’ve been promising are finally available.
Over the course of a year, we want to have 100 internally created lessons per language, that’s 8000 lessons. (we already mapped out a comprehensive series from feedback provided our members).
Furthermore, we’ve developed an ingenious way of creating these lessons, so that rather than all languages being [English -> Target language], we are able to create lessons as [Native -> Target]. So the 1 lesson created by our French administrator will actually be 80 different lessons, because the Japanese native speaker will experience it in their native language, which will be different from how the German speaker experiences that same lesson.
The customer goes straight from their native language directly to their target language without needing to go through English. Therefore, 80 different languages actually yields 6,320 disparate language combinations. So, our 100 lessons in 80 different languages actually yields 632,000 totally unique lessons.
I will pay our language admins $150 for the first series of 10 lessons, then $140 for lessons 10-20, $130 for 20-30, $120 for 30-40, $110 for 40-50 and then an even $100 for each series of 10 lessons from 50 to 100. They will do this, and of exceptionally high quality, as I will provide them a small stake in the venture also. Total localization of the website will be a pre-requisite for each lang admin, so all lessons are marketed in each of 80 languages, not just English.
As our costs to create the content continually declines over time, the more lessons we post, which increases the valuation of our business and the benefit we offer our customers. Our language admins, since they have a small stake in the venture, will routinely be online to handhold and coach our customer base while encouraging them to purchase the lessons.
In addition, we have 80 dedicated language learning domains/websites set aside which we will use as essentially a blog, each dedicated to a particular language. The language admin will maintain it and use it as a tool to engage, educate new prospects while turning them over to our lesson offerings at Phrasebase.
Once completed, the complete set of 100 lessons can be bundled and sold for $269. At this time, we can then decide if we want to open the door and allow all members to create and post lessons, so there’s plenty of room for continued growth.
Mark, sorry for accidentally posting my original write-up twice and for not including the financial figures you require. I very much appreciate getting a second shot at this and greatly value your time and consideration.
All my best,
Jeff
Comment by Jeff -
Sounds like a novel Idea to stimulate the economy.
Here’s my rough draft of a plan.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df4vxb4c_1wbwnvgds
Let me know what you think.
Comment by Aaron W. -
As a fellow successful serial entrepreneur, and born and raised in the Silicon Valley — this is a great idea — but your rules have got to be the dumbest fantasyland terms (utterly ridiculous!) I could ever even conceive if writing a screenplay for a new Will Ferrell movie!!!
Distribute the idea on the WWW in advance of funding? Then also profitable in 60 days? Then if profits drop you reserve the right to drop ALL funding? This is a joke right?
I know that you have honorable intentions, but I truly hope no “American” is dumb enough to follow your money and its allure for such ridiculous terms!
Mark, you should be ashamed, and have more respect to those submitting their genuine ideas for the same cause.
JF
Comment by JF -
Mark,
We have a product called The Platform, which is essentially a training toolkit for managers to improve the efficiency of their sales teams. It works as both a stand alone tool and also a workshop-based program with trainers.
It was originally developed alongside a major worldwide bank as an 18 Month course, but we own full rights to the product and have successfully sold it into 2 other organizations since.
Essentially it needs a big marketing push and more visibility.
A short video overview can be found here – http://salesplatform.co.uk/
Thanks.
Comment by Shaune -
Pingback: Mark Cuban offers funding for businesses
I have an idea. Where do I post my business plan?
I’ll even share the financial forecasts, market research and building plans if you want them.
Comment by Joe -
Your plan is a genius idea.
World does need stimulation to improve economics.
I don’t need your investment but I will propose my ideas until No.777 is coming.
Regards
Bentley from Taiwan
Comment by ShowUrJob -
My idea involves providing security for merchant vessels desiring to navigate through the portal on the East Coast of Africa. For 1% of any contracted ship’s cargo value, myself & 10-15 personnel per ship will provide security through the waters, prevent piracy for any boat we are contracted to protect.
Investment is minimal compared to payoff, for 1% of an oil-tanker’s cargo, the investment is paid off. The ranges of the weapons used by the Somali pirates are minimal at best compared to the weapons I would purchase for this endeavor. I would use only my fellow military veterans for security, and would use U.S. military grade arms for the detail. The ranges of the top 3 weapons exceeds the potential ranges of any of the weapons common in eastern Africa – AK47s & RPGs are limited to the hundreds of yards. The M-2, Mk-19, and Stingers all have ranges in the THOUSANDS of yards, ensuring standoff distances could be maintained. I would make every attempt to avoid actually injuring or killing ANY pirate, and would instead use the range of the weapons at my disposal to discourage attempts from proceeding. If warning shots failed, I would have gunners engage to disable the attack craft, if all else failed, only then would the order to engage personnel be given.
M-2 .50 BMG – $32,000.00
Stinger missiles – $76,000.00
Mk-19 – belt fed 40mm grenade launcher – $14,000
M-249 – 5.56mm
M-240B – 7.62mm
sjrat@msn.com
Comment by sjrat -
Hi Mark,
I run a Luxury Super Hire company in London. We rent high end luxury and sports cars. We currently lease our vehicles and are seeking investment to own our very own fleet which will give us all our profit as a large percentage goes to the leases. I have a proven financial statistic which will show the actual revenue from each vehicle we purchase, this is proven as from the leases. I am seeking an investment of 100,000GBP to purchase vehicles for our fleet, I am ideally looking for GBP500,000 to purchase high revenue stream vehicles however, I have kept the investmnet within your specification of breaking even. Please let me know whereI I can send you the spreadsheet of the financials.
Many thanks.
Toks
Comment by Toks -
Hello Mr. Cuban
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I appreciate the fact that you are doing something to stimulate creative thinking by the set of rules you imposed on your proposal. I hope my pitch can pique your interest in my idea.
This is an existing business that I started in 2008. Since there are numerous websites and companies who have since hopped on the alternative fuel bandwagon, I am not worried about someone stealing my “idea” and in fact, believe that competition is a healthy thing that helps to promote new and creative ideas.
Since I never intended to seek outside funding, I have not written a formal business plan as of yet but hope to offer you this abbreviated Executive Summary.
Business Overview
Our company was founded in early 2008 in response to the steadily rising cost of petroleum based fuels. The company’s primary saleable products are automotive on-demand supplemental hydrogen generators and their related manufacturing and installation accessories and components. On-demand hydrogen is produced in a self contained cell by simple electrolysis and injected directly into the air intake of an engine resulting in more efficient combustion of petroleum based fuels. The net result is less pollution produced and more miles driven per gallon of fuel used. On-demand production means that no combustible gasses are stored and fire or explosion risk is negligible.
The premise of this technology dates back to the 1930’s but gained popularity in the 1970’s when NASA conducted experiments where hydrogen was injected into a production car with a gasoline fueled engine. The results showed that hydrogen injection allowed a “lean burn” condition where the air fuel ratio could be leaned out to 40:1 with no damage to the engine. A normal production car runs on an air/fuel ratio of 14.7:1 meaning it takes 14.7 parts of air to every part of gasoline to achieve theoretically perfect (stoichiometric) combustion. By leaning out the air/fuel ratio with the addition of on-demand hydrogen, less fuel is used to produce the same amount of power.
While varying from vehicle to vehicle, anecdotal customer reports and our own field testing puts the estimated fuel mileage increase at 10% to 30%. This is a conservative number but other anecdotal evidence suggest that the increase can even approach 100% with engine sensor modifications. The potential fuel cost savings to the customer can range from $20 per week on a passenger vehicle getting 15 MPG to over $1800 per week on a heavy commercial truck at 6.5 MPG given the past high cost of fuel.
The Company
The company is fully operational and currently serving customers while continuing to research more efficient generator designs and expand its product base. To date the company is owner managed and financed and has accomplished the following milestones:
1.) Fully functional, e-commerce enabled website designed and launched.
2.) Brand recognition via viral marketing tools.
3.) Market recognition via eBay, Craigslist and company website.
4.) Key vendors in place.
5.) Streamlined shipping procedures.
Market Overview
With approximately 320 million vehicles registered in the United States and over 600 million vehicles worldwide, the target market is quite large. Given the current economic situation, both consumers and companies are seeking ways to cut costs. Even though fuel costs have dropped drastically, they by all forecasts will continue to escalate in the coming years. On-demand hydrogen technology will enable the conversion of any existing gasoline or diesel powered car, truck, bus or motorcycle into a hybrid powered vehicle and bridge the gap to the next generation of hybrid production vehicles. Even with a modest 1/2% total U.S. market penetration, there exists a potential market opportunity of $560 million.
Competition in this market has waned recently in light of the relatively low cost of fuel. Many smaller companies that were heavily leveraged have ceased operations leaving behind only a handful of larger companies that have existed for a few years. Most of the companies involved in automotive hydrogen injection are Canadian based and target heavy commercial trucks. One reason for this is the strict enforcement of pollution control devices in the U.S. Tampering with, or removing any pollution control device on a production vehicle is illegal and punishable by law and, in fact, the Environmental Production Agency considers hydrogen injection devices to be a type of fuel switching device and as such, illegal.
Most companies attempt to avoid these legal issues by targeting commercial vehicles which have less stringent emissions standards or by labeling their products as experimental or for off-road use. While this allows their product to be sold under the radar, the crux of the matter still has not been addressed. For these devices to be a viable consumer product, testing and certification needs to be completed both by independent laboratories and by government agencies such as the E.P.A., D.O.T. and C.A.R.B. The costs for testing and certifications start at about $5,000 for an independent lab to $30,000 for the Environmental Protection Agency to an estimated $250,000 for the California Air Resources Board.
Our company intends to expand its market share by seeking government certification for its line of on-demand hydrogen generation systems and become the first company to do so. Independent laboratory testing will need to be completed before seeking certification to validate actual fuel savings and amount of pollution reductions. Marketing efforts will be targeted at industry trade shows, trade publications, targeted direct sales and Internet promotions. Indirect channel sales are also equally important to market penetration with auto repair shops being the primary focus.
Value Proposition and Implementation
Our relatively low base material cost results in a high margin revenue model in this niche market. Product prices for a complete hydrogen system are $350 with a COGS of approximately $150. Components and accessories typically sell for less than $10 but offer a higher profit margin and opportunity for recurring revenue.
Use of Funds
Funding will be used for automated tooling, stock materials, final production development, testing, government certification and product marketing.
This is a business that I put my heart into. I eat, sleep and breathe this company and believe wholeheartedly in the product and the benefits of using it. I realise that a successful business, like a child, must walk before it can run. Now that my baby has taken a few steps, I want to take it to the next level and see her off and running. While I can grow it slowly as I have been doing, my finances do not permit the testing and eventual certification that is required for this to see fruition. As I stated at the beginning, I had no intentions of seeking outside funding until I read the news today. Mark, if you are willing to help, I am willing to cut you in. Having been to the SWVF, I know what VCs and angels typically get, we can discuss that further if you are interested.
Please review the website and feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.
Thank you for your time.
Comment by Todd -
Dear Mark,
I enjoyed reading the description of your stimulus plan, and I appreciate both the spirit of how you want to help and the philosophy that “entrepreneurs will lead us out of this mess”. I agree completely – Entrepreneurs are one of our country’s strongest assets, and given your own time involvement and willingness to commit financial resources, I’m sure many good things will come of this.
I’m the CEO of a company, Novint Technologies, which creates technology that allows people to use their sense of touch in computing. It is a very compelling technology. Our flagship product, the Novint Falcon, is the world’s first consumer 3D touch device. Though there are dozens of billion dollar markets our technology can fundamentally change, we are focused on the video games market. Our technology has a huge wow factor (people usually are astounded by the level of realism in the sense of touch that we can create), and as an example of the potential of our technology, we have often been compared to the Wii video game system, a tremendous commercial success.
• Popular Mechanics: “Novint Falcon Haptics Controller Could Be Wii 2.0”
• Lucidlan: “…today we have something more advanced and evolutionary than the Wii-mote…”
• FHM: “The FPS Falcon experience surpasses anything we’ve felt from other game peripherals (including rumble packs, and wii zappers).”
• PC Magazine: “For those who thought the Nintendo Wiimote was a big eye-opener, be warned: Your peepers are liable to pop right out of their sockets when you see the Falcon.”
• IGN: “…technologically more advanced than the Wiimote… …new style of videogaming well beyond recent innovations built upon the Nintendo Wii’s controller.”
• G4 TV: “The Falcon is a revolutionary breakthrough in gaming tech, which some are calling the Wiimote 2.0”
• Computer Gaming World: “BEST. PERIPHERAL. EVER. Forget Nintendo’s Wii-mote; Novint Technologies’ Falcon is a three-dimensional controller that adds a whole new layer to gaming.”
• Bit-Tech: “…Novint puts the Wiimote to shame in many regards.”
Whether we are ultimately successful or not (of course we believe we will be), this is one of the few technological fields we will see in our lifetime that will fundamentally change computing. Again, whether us or someone else, it is a technology that will be on every computer in the future – all computers have a monitor to see, speakers to hear, and in the near future will have a haptic, or touch, device to let people feel. I believe it is “the next big thing” as you put it, but in addition, given the timing of the markets collapsing and where we have grown the business to already, there are some short term investment opportunities that meet your criteria, which are described below. I’ll first give some background to put the proposal in context.
Novint sells both the Novint Falcon hardware and video games that work with the Falcon. We started the company by licensing 5 years of research from Sandia National Laboratories in 2000, at which time we were focused on software, and used 3rd party hardware that cost $15,000. The vision of the company has always been to fundamentally change computing, and by 2004 the cost of the hardware we were using still was over $10,000. We decided we needed to get into the hardware side of the business and take our destiny into our own hands to fulfill the vision of the company, and we exclusively licensed a hardware design in order to develop it into a consumer level device. By 2007, we had finalized the hardware design, and had gotten the retail price down to under $200 while maintaining the fidelity of the $10k+ devices we had been using. That was a very significant accomplishment. This was only half of the overall solution, though. Probably the most significant problem Novint has faced since our inception has been getting strong game support for our hardware. We had a chicken and egg problem – how do we sell millions of units without AAA games, but how do we get AAA game support from publishers without millions of units to justify the effort?
Our solution to this problem was an innovative licensing model we developed (and is probably the biggest aspect of the opportunity of our company). Rather than going to game publishers and asking them to support our hardware, we went to them and said that we wanted to acquire the 3D touch rights to their games. From a publisher’s point of view we were buying something from them rather than asking for something from them, and we were buying something that they didn’t even know they had. It was therefore incremental revenue from their point of view, and we handled the touch integration so there was no cost for them either. Publishers have loved this model, and our first two big deals were with EA (Madden Football, Tiger Woods Golf, Battlefield 2, etc) and Valve (Orange Box, Counter Strike Source, and Left 4 Dead), two behemoths in the PC game space (we plan to move onto the consoles in the near future as well, using the same model).
As an example of what we do with games, one of the first games we modified was Half-Life 2, which drew rave reviews.
• Wired: “Half-Life 2 suddenly becomes an entirely different game”
• PC Magazine: “After experiencing Half-Life 2 this way, I honestly don’t want to play the game any other way.”
• Tech-Gaming: “…Next, we tried Haptic-Life 2… Overall, it was a completely engrossing experience and made going back to playing Half-Life without the Falcon completely lifeless.”
• IGN: “The Half Life 2 experience with the Falcon is arguably worth the price of admission in and of itself”
• Associated Press: “It’s so real; it’s hard not to feel a pang of guilt when splattering foes.”
You can see the technology in action in First Person Shooters at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ1Rz2clLS0
With the big game licenses, and after 13 years of work and over $25 million invested, Novint finally had all of the pieces we needed to be successful and reach our inflection point. By mid 2008, for the first time we had full solutions for both hardware and software and a very strong intellectual property portfolio. Ironically, at the strongest point in our company’s history and what should have been our easiest funding round, the markets collapsed and we found ourselves unable to raise a final round of funding. Investors in micro-caps completely dried up, and we found ourselves in the frustrating situation of having hit our milestones yet were unable to raise the money needed to fully move forward on our business plan.
We therefore have needed to cut costs, and have had some layoffs, which is unfortunate. We’ve had to let some very good people go, which is the toughest part of my job. In making those tough decisions, though, we now are at a point where the core technology, knowledge, and people are still at Novint and we can support ourselves off of our own revenue. In 2001, when the dot com bubble burst, we experienced a similar situation where investments dried up (at the time particularly for early stage high tech start-ups), and we survived that time period in the same way. As is the case now, back then we grew to a break even point when needed, and ultimately created jobs, emerging from the tough markets stronger than when we entered.
With that background, the proposal for you is to fund a specific effort that itself will allow us to grow more quickly and create more jobs. With our current break-even mentality, we cannot fund some marketing initiatives that would lead to faster growth and quicker job creation. Novint has a large amount of inventory of a tremendous product with very strong reviews – it is a product that can grow very quickly with some visibility and marketing. One of the biggest drivers for the video game business is word of mouth, which is where our technology is strongest. The Falcon has a huge wow factor, and demonstrations are an important aspect of selling it.
Our proposal is to bring in funding to be used for a viral marketing referral program (single-tier) in which other people can market and sell the Falcon by giving potential customers a referral code that they can get from Novint. Any Falcons purchased using a referral code would be discounted for the customer, and Novint would pay the person who gave the referral a fee for the sale. In essence, we would be taking the fees that might go to a retailer or distributor, and instead give other people and entrepreneurs a chance to make the same commission on Falcon sales. Given the potential to sell millions of units (again, for reference on the potential, note the quotes and reviews above), hundred or maybe thousands of people could make strong commissions on helping to sell the Falcon. Imagine if the Wii, for example, was sold through a viral marketing program rather than through big box retailers. I personally very much like the idea of many different people sharing in the upside and growth of our product.
The funds would be used to develop the referral code infrastructure on our web site, would pay to get Falcons into places like cybercafés where gamers can naturally play and then buy therefore helping those businesses, and develop tools and materials that people could use to market the Falcon (such as development that could be easily used in MySpace or Facebook, for example). I believe this type of viral marketing program would be cost effective, money invested would quickly lead to a profitable marketing program, it would create jobs within Novint to implement the efforts, and would allow many other people and other entrepreneurs a way to earn commissions and even start their own business helping to sell our product (i.e. it would help others in addition to us, as you described). This type of program could scale to a very large level quickly, and create the type of impact you are looking for, especially given the fundamentally changing nature and wow factor our technology has. Given the program is relying on a viral nature, funding from you on this would be more valuable from funding from others, and one of the things I would hope to see is that you really give us a jump start in spreading the word on this type of program. I believe we are clearly at a point where a jump start would indeed get us going, begin our growth at our inflection point, and create a great deal of revenue and many jobs.
In terms of your criteria
1. It can be an existing business or a start up.
— it is building off of an existing business.
2. It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. Why ? Because I want this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. Thats the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time.
— What I am proposing clearly is selling something and being paid for it. I think we are a unique company for what you are looking for given we spent the money to get where we are, and we’re ready to sell, but need help where we might otherwise not, given the tough markets.
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
— We are supporting ourselves off our revenue now, and an investment would let us maintain that philosophy and scale more quickly.
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
— I believe this is achievable.
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops
— It is fine to have payments made on the initial technical milestones, and then have them continue as we can show the marketing programs truly are working.
6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered
— This is true, and we have a product roadmap where we can show how we further reduce our COGS over time.
7. Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else
— This is the type of company Novint is. Everyone works extremely hard, wears whatever hat is necessary, and is working towards a large scale vision. We are also survivors, survived through the dot com bubble bursting in the past, and have been working on this project for over 13 years. This would also be true of individuals or small companies who could benefit from selling Falcons.
8. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com , scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download
— The plan is described above
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own
— ok
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont.
— ok
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows.
— ok
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money.
— your return would come from owning equity in Novint just as we reach our inflection point.
13. No mult-level marketing programs (added 2/10/09 1pm)
— This is not multi-level – it is single tier and is just a way to directly get people money for sales efforts.
This is one idea that I thought fit your goals, but there is the opportunity to invest in the company as a whole with a more general use of proceeds, and in addition there are vertical markets that would use our technology and that would be good investments that also fit all of your criteria. I can expand upon those if you are interested in hearing about them.
Thank you for your consideration.
Tom Anderson, CEO
Comment by Tom Anderson -
I posted the wrong link at the end of the previous post. It’s http://osfunding.org … not .com
Comment by Dorian Collier -
Hi Mark,
Open Source Funding is a great idea, but posting ideas as blog comments is here is a little limiting. To be truly open source we need to allow anybody to comment on any idea. We also need to open it up to more potential investors. I propose that we move the conversation to a system that will allow these things. Have a look at http://osfunding.org
I setup the site because I’m extremely interested in seeing where this idea goes. I would also like to start a dialog with some of the posters and can’t do that now. Let me know if this is OK with you Mark.
I have no plan to monetize the site, but if a revenue stream emerges I’m more than willing to split it with you. The goal is simply to provide a better way of moving forward. At some point I might want to add a few Open Source Funding specific features to the site…idunno yet.
Do I have the “green light”? … http://www.osfunding.com
Comment by Dorian Collier -
Mark- If I understand this correctly you have described our company and product to the tee. I therefore would like to respectfully submit our company and product for consideration. Our business plan is currently under going review and re adjustment to reflect current changes in our situation. Prior to looking at our company I would like to give you a brief synopsize of our situation.
After 4 years of research and product development and thousands of hours of overtime to personally fund our company and with less than 120k taken in as partner capital I am defiantly a focused CEO/ Founder with dream and convicted plan that I believe you will find to be of much value. We are just coming to the end of a trademark infringement case where we held the majority of the merit but quickly ran out of funds and have decided that principle must go out the window when monies could be better spent so we have decided to sell our current mark which is registered and move forward with a new name but due to current IP filings cannot divulge at this time but will be able to within a week as we revamp our web site, commercial, and product packaging.. Our product is approx 10 weeks from full production. As so much has changed for us over the past four years some I have tried to briefly compile a brief but in depth look at our company and our amazing new world changing product. I hope if nothing else you at least find it educational and want to thank you for any considerations you may give us.
Cleanose
We believe we have invented the perfect product that will provide extremely high profit margins while at the same time improve the way of life for millions and help aid in the prevention of sickness and disease while improving one’s quality of life.
Product: Cleanose A inexpensive non intrusive, non visible, non penetrating Nasal Screen that shields out Allergens, Dust, Germs, Bacteria and Viruses.
Cleanose has gone thru several round of testing from the Florida Wildfires to the everyday Allergy Fight and has only received positive feed back. We have already changed the quality of life for many. (See Testimonials at Cleanose.com)
The objectives of World Cleanose Corp are:
1)To alleviate human suffering by comfortably filtering inhaled air to remove germs, allergens, and/or noxious particles.
2)To educate and expose on a open basis as the markets are so extreme and vast in size.
3)To continue to develop and manufacture and market health conscious items that better and prolong the Quality of life that is so precious.
Mission:
The World Cleanose Corp is a company derived from the important-ness of it’s self. As the World’s Air Quality depletes we shall become a necessary barrier in the human defense. (Thus creating permanent cash flow. )
Our goal is to be a centrifuge in the fight for cleaner air for a vast majority of the general public through many avenues from industry and recreation to travel, medical and everyday life.
We believe it is important to not only help everyone breathe better but also to focus on the bigger picture- the problem of pollution and air quality it’s self and it’s effect on the Quality of Life.
We will be the next step and one of the first of many in the world’s fight for clean air to breathe.. The future of the quality of life demands us to the market.
World Cleanose Corp intends to target specific market segments to generate sales.
Allergy Suffers 55 million in the US alone. 6 Billion spent yearly on Allergic Rhinitis(Hay Fever) each year just in the United States.
Construction Industry 15 million US workers create their own market.
Industry With Occupational Lung Disease being the number 1 cause of work related illness industry demands us.
Lawn & Maintenance From landscaping to lawn mowing to cleaning and maintenance crews.
Travel Every type of Public Transportation will create an immediate market
We will focus on the allergy market first and foremost as our SMP from the U of Fl does show as our lowest hanging fruit with largest potential market with easy penetration.
The primary target customer of World Cleanose Corp will be the everyday user that is exposed to allergens and particle matter that affects their quality of life and health. With an Advisory Board and Board of Directors that includes:
Parker A. Small Jr. MD Professor Emeritus
Dept of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine
Dept of Pediatrics
University of Florida College of Medicine
Dr. Small is nationally recognized as an expert on influenza and as a medical educator. He was appointed by President Reagan to be a charter member of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee and chaired the subcommittee on new vaccines. The Association of American Medical Colleges chose him as the national basic science teacher of the year in 1993. The University of Florida gave him its highest honor, the Teacher Scholar Award, in 1987, and the University President’s Humanitarian Award in 1996.
Dr. Small and his colleagues have identified how the influenza virus causes disease, and identified the key mechanisms by which the body defends itself, i.e. antibody in mucus secretions, but not that in blood, protects the upper respiratory tract, and cell mediated immunity is responsible for recovery from infection. Dr. Bender and he have recently applied for a patent to increase the efficacy of the flu vaccine. Dr. Huang and he have developed and patented a device for diagnosing sinusitis. Dr. Small is most proud of his three children, their mates, and the seven grandchildren they are raising.
Shih-Wen Huang, M.D.
Graduate of Medical College of National Taiwan University in 1962.
Residency training in Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland, 1967-70.
Fellowship training in Immunology, University of Wisconsin, 1970-73.
Faculty and Chief of Allergy and Immunology, University of Maryland, 1973-85.
Faculty and Professor of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, 1985 to date.
Current position: Chief of Pediatric and Adult Allergy Service, Pulmonary Division, Department of Pediatrics, UF/Shands Hospital, Gainesville, Florida.
Board certification: American board of Pediatrics; American board of Allergy and Immunolgy.
His research areas in recent years have been the study of the cause and management of various allergic disorders. He has a deep interest and extensive experience of using air-cleaner to manage indoor pollutants for the patients who suffer from perennial allergic rhinitis. His air-cleaner program has existed for 19 years and has produced meaningful results. He is also the author of the chapter of mold allergy in the on-line electronic textbook, e-medicine
Lead Respiratory Protection Consultant : (Not on Board due to restrictions)
Lewis Radonovich, M.D.
Lew Radonovich is the Director of Occupational Health Services and Clinical Leader of Emergency Management at the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Florida. His research centers on infection control and minimizing healthcare worker occupational hazards associated with contagious infectious diseases. He serves on a number of local, state and national advisory groups and committees that pertain to bio security. Dr. Radonovich spent two years on the faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the University of Pittsburgh where he worked on bio security policy and practice. He trained in Clinical Pharmacology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Internal Medicine at the University of Vermont. He maintains an active Internal Medicine and Occupational Medicine practice and directs a specialty clinic for U.S. Military Veterans exposed to environmental hazards, including ionizing radiation, Agent Orange and other biological agents. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine
Instant Markets and Market Creators
The ENEMY (PM)
Particulate Matter
What are the health effects and who is most at risk?
Both fine and coarse particles can accumulate in the respiratory system and are associated with numerous health effects. Coarse particles can aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma. Exposure to fine particles is associated with several serious health effects, including premature death. Adverse health effects have been associated with exposures to PM over both short periods (such as a day) and longer periods (a year or more).
When exposed to PM, people with existing heart or lung diseases — such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart disease, or ischemic heart disease — are at increased risk of premature death or admission to hospitals or emergency rooms
The elderly also are sensitive to PM exposure. They are at increased risk of admission to hospitals or emergency rooms and premature death from heart or lung diseases.
When exposed to PM, children and people with existing lung disease may not be able to breathe as deeply or vigorously as they normally would, and they may experience symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath.
PM can increase susceptibility to respiratory infections and can aggravate existing respiratory diseases, such as asthma and chronic bronchitis, causing more use of medication and more doctor visits.
From the EPA: “Indoor Air Quality”
All of us face a variety of risks to our health as we go about our day-to-day lives. Driving in cars, flying in planes, engaging in recreational activities, and being exposed to environmental pollutants all pose varying degrees of risk. Some risks are simply unavoidable. Some we choose to accept because to do otherwise would restrict our ability to lead our lives the way we want. And some are risks we might decide to avoid if we had the opportunity to make informed choices. “
Health, Environmental Groups File Court Challenge to EPA Particulate Matter Pollution Standard
EPA maintains nearly decade old annual pollution levels that has been linked to thousands of deaths annually
Washington, D.C. (December 15, 2006) – Public health and environmental groups today filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for refusing to strengthen a nearly decade old national public health standard for particulate matter (PM) pollution to a level that could prevent thousands of premature deaths every year. Earth justice filed the suit on behalf of the American Lung Association, Environmental Defense, and the National Parks Conservation Association.
The suit stems from the EPA’s October decision to reject the advice of its own scientific advisory panel and its own staff scientists. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee recommended strengthening the existing annual standard of 15 micrograms per cubic meter for fine particulate matter – originally set in 1997 – to between 13 and 14 micrograms per cubic meter. The American Lung Association, American Medical Association, American Thoracic Society and American Academy of Pediatrics, among others, all urged tightening the annual standard to protect children, the elderly, and others from the major health risks caused by PM pollution.
“EPA has failed in one of its fundamental responsibilities—to protect public health,” said Janice Nolen, assistant vice president for the American Lung Association. “Millions of Americans will suffer unnecessarily—even face an earlier death—because they breathe this pollution. EPA could have and should have done better.”
Airborne particulate matter (PM) is comprised of tiny particles of smoke, soot, metals and other chemical compounds emitted from sources like power plants, factories, and diesel trucks. Scientists say PM, which can travel deep into our lungs, is one of the most toxic forms of air pollution. They estimate that PM is responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths nationwide every year. It is linked to aggravation of respiratory illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, chronic obstructive lung disease, and pneumonia; it is also linked to premature deaths from other causes, such as lung cancer and heart disease
“Particulate matter pollution is a major health threat and the evidence is stronger than ever,” “But the EPA refuses to follow the advice of leading doctors, scientists and health advocates who say the standard won’t protect public health. We say the public deserves better under the Clean Air Act.”
“Unfortunately, the EPA ignored its own science advisory committee, it ignored the American Medical Association, and it ignored its bedrock duty under the Clean Air Act to protect public health from harmful air pollution,” said Vickie Patton, a senior attorney with Environmental Defense and a former attorney in the EPA’s General Counsel’s office.
The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to adopt primary air quality standards for particulate matter pollution to protect public health and secondary standards to protect public welfare, including visibility. The EPA must review these standards every five years and revise them based on the latest scientific information
The EPA’s refusal to consider the advice of doctors and scientists means Americans are being forced to breathe dirty air, the groups contend.
Statement of John L. Kirkwood
President and Chief Executive Officer
American Lung Association
EPA Should Listen to Its Scientists: Smog Standards Aren’t Tough Enough New York, NY, October 25, 2006
New research tells us that ozone is even more dangerous than we had previously thought—that it can even kill. Adverse health effects ranging from impaired lung function, respiratory symptoms and aggravated asthma to emergency department visits and premature death are occurring when ozone concentrations are at and below the current standards It has now been nearly 10 years since the EPA last set a national air quality standard for ozone. The EPA must recommend a standard for ozone by May 30, 2007 to comply with the agreement they reached in court.
Proposed Standards for Air Quality Criticized
By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post
The Bush administration proposed a modest tightening of federal air-quality standards yesterday for the first time in eight years, drawing protests from both public health and industry officials.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said he has decided to maintain the current annual standard for fine particulate matter, or soot, while reducing the daily soot limit from 65 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 35. The annual air standard would remain unchanged at 15 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
The proposal — The group suggested lowering the annual fine particulate level to 13 or 14 micrograms per cubic meter, and setting daily exposure level to between 30 and 35 micrograms.
The fine particles in soot — which come from automobiles, power plants and other industrial sources — can cause inflammation and arterial damage after entering the bloodstream and lungs. According to the American Lung Association, about 60,000 Americans die prematurely each year because of air pollution. Under federal law, every county must take steps to meet national standards or risk losing federal funds.
“This proposal is yet another step in ensuring Americans have cleaner air and healthier lives,”. “I made my decision based on the best available science.”
Right now, nearly 90 million Americans are breathing unhealthy air, according to federal officials.
Some communities — such as the District and Baltimore — have struggled to meet the 1997 standards, in part because they are downwind of polluting power plants.
Allergies/Hay Fever
(Data are for U.S . for year indicated)
Morbidity
Number of noninstitutionalized adults with diagnosed hay fever in the past 12 months: 18.7 million
Percent of noninstitutionalized adults with diagnosed hay fever in the past 12 months: 8.6
Source: Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2005, table 3, 4, Appendix III, table V
Number of children with reported hay fever in the past 12 months: 7.7 million
Percent of children with reported hay fever in the past 12 months: 10.5
Source: Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2005, table 2, Appendix III, table V
Number of physician office visits
for allergic rhinitis: 14 million
Asthma and Allergy Statistics
The Allergy Epidemic Affects 1 out of 4 American
In 1994, the estimated number of people with self-reported asthma in the United States was 14.6 million. The estimate for 1998 has risen to 17 million.
Asthma was diagnosed more often than any other illness of 468,000 U.S. hospital admissions in 1993
In the United States in 1994, asthma affected an estimated 4.8 million children (under age 18) out of an estimated 68 million children. Asthmatic youngsters under age 15 were hospitalized 159,000 times in 1993, and stayed 3.4 days on average
Overall, asthma treatment cost an estimated $6.2 billion in 1990; 43% of that total cost was associated with emergency room use, hospitalization, and death. Loss of school days, alone, caused decreased productivity that cost an estimated $1 billion.
Allergy testing accounted for 1.4 million office visits to physicians in 1991.
Pollen allergy (hay fever or allergic rhinitis) affects an estimated 10% or 26million Americans, not including those with asthma.[
Allergic rhinitis is the reason for 9.2 million office visits to physicians yearly Allergy testing accounted for 1.4 million office visits to physicians in 1991.
The estimated overall costs of allergic rhinitis in the United States in 1996 Totaled $6 billion.
Chronic sinusitis affects nearly 35 million people in the United States
Over 50 million Americans suffer from allergies.
Approximately 55 percent of all U.S. citizens test positive to one or more allergens.
Allergies are the 6th leading cause of chronic disease in the United States.
Allergies cost the health care system about $18 billion annually.
Chronic sinusitis is the most commonly reported chronic disease, affecting about 35 million Americans.
People who suffer from sinusitis miss about 4 days of work each year because of their illness.
Many occupational toxins, such as silica (sand) dust, asbestos fibers, coal dust, and cotton dust are associated with ILD.
Many connective tissue diseases (such as rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma and lupus) are associated with interstitial lung disease.
Persons who work in industries with heavy exposures to known causes of occupational lung disease (for example, coal miners, sand-blasters, ship workers) are usually screened routinely for lung disease.
“Occupational Lung Disease is the number #1 cause of work related illness” American Lung Association 2006
Air Safety Questioned in Nascar
In a letter to Brian France, the CEO and Chairman of NASCAR,
The Clean Air Watch, a non-profit focused on cleansing the air of toxic and harmful pollutants, said, “You are probably aware of the many health problems linked to lead exposure: According to the EPA, lead causes damage to the kidneys, liver, brain and nerves, and other organs. Even low levels of lead damage the brain and nerves in fetuses and young children, resulting in learning deficits and lowered IQ”.
This is only the race cars themselves. Thousands of unleaded fuel-burning cars pack these raceways too, bringing the decrepit stink of garbage and more pollution. However, it’s indicative of a larger problem.
Yes, NASCAR’s pillage of the environment represents a small fraction of a bigger problem .
In their letter to NASCAR, the Clean Air Watch was beyond reasonable, saying that they “sincerely hope you will act promptly to ‘get the lead out’, so that NASCAR spectators may enjoy the racing experience without facing any unnecessary health risks.
We believe we can penetrate everyone of these markets.
Marketing strategies require several medias such as Television, massive web exposure, direct mail and public education.
Profit margins are predicted at a modest 2 for 1 return on all monies spent.
Manufacturing is set and ready with expandable capacities to any limits and are not restricted with in minimal time factors.
SWOT ( Full original available but out dated as some weaknesses have been corrected or protected further after discovery )
Strengths: Vast Markets, Necessity, Low manufacturing cost, Lack of Competition, Current Intellectual Property Rights, Population. No FDA Requirements as a Class #1 Devise that remains outside the body.
Weaknesses: Without a defined market and such vast markets Cleanose may find difficulty in filling or missing some markets due to the size of others. A obvious weakness has to be to those who are opposed to wearing any protection or are hesitant to wear due to looks.
Opportunities: The product on the market today that are used for the same benefit of Cleanose have proved to be inadequate and quite cumbersome and uncomfortable. A unique way for Cleanose to enter the market is to emphasize the comfort and efficiency of itself vs. other options. Thus also creating greater IP rights and abilities to fight threats and infringement claims with differences in so many facets. The fact of no sales tax and the ability to claim as a safety expense also creates opportunity as employer acceptability will be much greater. Increasing Safety Standards are sure to create another opportunity along with setting new standards and establishing the standard itself in a new or at least highly improved market.
Threats: Being such a simple product Cleanose faces a high risk of Black Marketing and knockoffs in other countries. Cleanose also has proven to be very affective against allergies thus while helping people prevent allergy intake thus causing less needs for medicines and further taking revenue from pharmaceutical companies. Some Dr’s also may be a threat and down talk the product if they are big believers in Meds and have financial interests.
Our Preferred Paths to success in order of popularity:
1) 10 million of investment monies. Start an immediate Nation Wide Television/ Web campaign and start taking and filling orders within ten weeks. Strategically following all Natural Disasters, Allergy Seasons, Etc.. Thus using the 2 to 1 profit margin creating a return of 20 Million with 10 Million in net profit per 1 Million orders at current profit projections and with proper advertising should be a very small and fraction of less than 1% of potential markets. All medias would be used to fullest extent and we will become a household name over night.
Offer 25% of Company
2) 3 million of investment monies, start a smaller state by state Television/Web Campaign and become a household name over the next 6 to 12 months and as profits warrant follow Path 1 ASAP.
Offer 10% of Company
3) 1 million of investment monies, Buy discounted air time and market at local and regional levels until progression creates the abilities to follow path 2 then 1.
Offer 5% of Company
4)Current and active Path: While seeking investment cap,
Our current approach is to keep progressing forward through personal self funding as we have for the past 4 years. While searching for funding we will begin to create a greater revenue streams that will allows us to either find the funding necessary or get to path 3 and then following the obvious progression to paths 2 and 1. We will continue to accomplish this by buying marketing times thru profit sharing and barter as has been found to be possible while remaining semi profitable.
Summary:
Cleanose is a product that has massive upside, extremely high and constant growth potential, unlimited markets throughout the world as it improves the consumption of a commodity that every human consumes(Air) and with the quality depleting and the population growing the market will and has proven be steady and constant.
As far as stimulus goes our product wll not only create several hundred jobs but will also enhance the lives of millions while creating very high and respectable ROI.
Comment by Joseph K Moore -
Mark,
My idea is to start a strip club featuring only midget dancers. This is a real niche market, but I believe there is a potential for extraordinary demand.
The main cost will simply be renting a space and hiring dancers.
Also, having a midget strip club is more cost effective than a regular one because midgets take up less space.
In order to comply with Rule 7, I will personally dance myself.
What do you think?
Justin
Comment by Justin -
Mark–
The pitch: Social Brand Intelligence.
Build bespoke, restricted access web dashboards (think Netvibes) for companies. They aggregate content from blogs, Twitter, bulletin boards, consumer websites like Vozavi, etc. about a specific brand so that they have one place to measure their social media impact. They would also receive a weekly or monthly status report, including info on competitors, trends. We can sell social media consulting services to clients afterwards.
Plans start at $5,000/year. The target is big, staid, especially industrial companies who can afford this, don’t want to hire even pricier web marketing consultants, but don’t want to be left out of the social media conversation altogether, either. They get one place where they can monitor what’s going on with them in the social conversation and a 24/7 phone line to a social media expert who can explain things to them with no additional cost.
This is a niche strategy, low overhead, high margins, need only a few clients to be profitable, and need only start with one salesman/consultant (me) & freelance programmer/designer, then perhaps 2-4 people (programmer, designer, additional salesman/consultant).
If we want to grow big & fast we might make a much less customized solution at $500/yr for SMEs, but this is by no means the goal as it might dilute the value proposition.
You would get 20% equity for $20,000 for a prototype & working capital. We would hope to leverage your US corporate network, I would have contacts in Europe.
Ball’s in your court.
Thanks.
Comment by PEG -
Pingback: Mark Cuban’s Stimulus Plan: Fund Businesses That Hit Profitability Fast | Create a company online
Cuban,
You are something special. You have made an all time record in comments on BLOG MAVERICk. Very Impressive and some interesting Ventures.
Gusto would be proud.
So to commemorate this historic event I want to give you a box of Cohibas And a Palladium ring with it engraved …
Puff puff ~~~~> You give everyone a chance. I would like to learn from a mentor like you.
I’ve been waiting to meet true greatness, step off Kobe, Mark Maverick Cuban is in the house.
Trip Aces
Comment by TRIPLE ACES -
Mr. Cuban,
I strongly feel that I have a business that meets your criteria. This business creates badly needed jobs, is recession proof, very repeatable throughout the country, pumps in significant tax revenue into the local economy and will also create badly needed neighborhood renewal as well.
To be upfront, this is essentially a simple plan for the sake of time and space. The actual business plan not only is rather long but also happens to have some flexibility based upon the exit strategy you as the investor would prefer. Should you be interested enough to review the formal business plan, simply let me know.
Market: Mpls/St. Paul urban areas, where the foreclosure rates and depression of home values have hit the area very hard, typical sales price is around $65k, which is down from nearly $200k 4 years ago.
Product: Foreclosed/beat up urban SFR buildings. There are nearly 1000 in the greater urban area that can be purchased for under $35k, with hundreds of them that can be purchased for $5000. The target price would be $5k/home.
Methodology: Purchase homes that are structurally sound, and install new mechanicals, electrical, roof, replace other items as needed, bring up to code and generally make a very pleasant dwelling. Rehab budget/property: $30k. Bringing total exposure per property to $35k.
Estimated turn time: 30 days from purchase until completed. Typically these take 3 weeks.
Target Dwelling: 3 bedroom+ home.
Target Renter: Someone willing to eventually purchase via a contract for deed or someone who is partially, NOT completely subsidized by section 8. A section 8 tenant having a job is critical.
Target rental price/month: $1000. Section 8 standard is $1200/month for a 3 bedroom. History shows below market rents for a superior dwelling leave a negligible vacancy rate.
Target turn time for occupancy: 30 days (ie. 60th day from purchase to move in date). Section 8 case workers drive clients to the properties based upon superior dwelling standards and below market rents. Advertisements are constantly run via Craigslist and signs posted locally to drive renters as well.
Local rental market is thriving due to the staggering amount of foreclosures and the credit markets being tight.
Monthly expenses per property: 35% – includes taxes, insurance, vacancies, maintenance. Excludes debt service – see exit strategy for more info. This would bring every property to cashflow positively to the tune of $650/month (excluding debt service), no later then 60 days after purchase. This also allows more then enough cushion to lower the rents if needed, still make a good profit and meet your 60 day requirement.
Capacity per month: 3 Houses rehabilitated, based upon 3 work crews working on 1 home per month/3 weeks.
Misc: Partner with local urban schools to do an internship with qualifying students. Interns will learn construction trades, being a landlord, finance and real estate. The end result is to give tomorrow’s generation the tools necessary for homeownership and the building blocks for hopefully purchasing investment property.
The plan would be to purchase for 3 years, which is the estimated window of opportunity for the local residential real estate market. There would be roughly 12 full time jobs created in the trades, along with roughly 10 or so internships. Small local owner/operator trades (electrical, plumbing etc) would also benefit from the business as subs, local hardware/supply stores would benefit greatly since new construction is virtually non existent. The cities would finally get these buildings occupied, thus a myriad of problems would be eliminated for them along with desperately needed tax revenue would be coming in since the REO departments are not paying the property taxes. These hard hit urban areas would benefit immensely from on site ownership renting quality buildings to quality tenants which would begin the renewal process in these areas. There are much more benefits to this, all of which fit the spirit if not the letter of your goal in doing this.
Exit strategy:
There are 2 different exit strategies for you. Either your funding can be viewed as debt or there can be an equity stake. Based upon a rate of 20% for this debt service, along with projecting no rental increases and a 55% expense ratio (original 35 + 20% for debt service) and applying 80% of positive cashflow towards paying down the debt, you would be paid off in full by the 11th year.
The alternative would be an equity stake rather then having a monthly debt service. Based upon a 25% equity stake, by the 5th year, you would be at a 18% ROI based upon only cashflow. The common opinion among investors in the local market is that urban homes should return to the $100k mark in about 5 years. Should this hold to be true, a buyout of your position would net you roughly a 64% ROI.
Lastly, based upon the medium of this business, it would fit right into your criteria for the bank of your choice. Since the funds would essentially sit in escrow until used, the entire process is extremely transparent along with multiple checkpoints for security purposes.
Regards,
Michael
Comment by Michael -
Buy Mortgage backed Securities.
Mark,
I am posting this because this will help me(america)if other people copy this idea. The thing is 99.95% of america can not copy this idea. This will help the American people, and get things moving in the finacial market. This is already going on, I am sure Buffet is doing this.
I will keep this short and sweet. I would like to buy mortgage backed securities, at 15 – 60 cents on the dollar. I would then forgive the balance on the loan to the consumer while lowering their rate to 4%. I would have strict rules not to purchase in CA, FL, AZ or MI, unless it is on the lower end <30 cents tops.
Example $100,000.00 loan Purchase price $50,000.00
Current rate 6.5%
You refinance the loan and forgive 15% of the loan balance. So now the borrower only owes 80k on the loan. That loan is then sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mack. So you make 30% profit in 30 days.
This will help the home owner and the invester. It is a no brainer. I know you are a great entrepreneur.
I am very smart. I feel kind of think like you. You seem like the guy that could have been a garbage man and thought of a way to make it better/easier. I have been like this since I was 5 emptying the dishwasher. I thought of making the dishwasher in the cabinets, so you don’t have to move from one to the other.
I put this on here so other people can benifit from it. More people will start to buy MBS, and make the rate go lower. This will help people lower their mortgage payment/balance.
I think I meet every rule you have. This will have 100% return on investment within 30 days. I even have the company that you can refinace the loans with. It is not my company. I wish it was. I would love to start a mortgage company. I have been a Loan Officer for 5 years.
Side note. I graduated from Texas Tech in 2002, and met you in the old stars center. You gave me a hit Knight would be the next coach for us.
Thank you,
Mike H.
Comment by Forthepeople -
Comment to Ricky’s post on drug interaction idea. It’s a great idea, but its already done by all of the big Pharmacy vendors. Look at Medco’s RationalMed product. Most major retail chains have similar edits in their systems to catch those kinds of things. These companies reach out to the doctors and consult with patients. The vast majority of this is done real time and the alert issue when the drug is actually being filled at the pharmacy. And yes, the insurance companies do pay for this, because your right, it does reduce hospitalizations and in turn saves money. You are also on track with the gene testing and there are several drugs now that are not prescribed unless you meet a specific gene type. Insurance is paying for these tests because it does not do any good to pay a lot of money for a drug for which the patient will ultimately receive no benefit because they cannot metabolize the drug. I predict that within the next 10 years we will find it very commonplace to have our basic genetic profile in place at the doctor’s office for reference when being prescribed a drug.
Comment by Karen -
Hi.
The average American is bombarded with news stories of greed and excess. Americans have been much more conscientious of who gets their money. Pets are often viewed as the only faithful entity. I have noticed that dog parks are attracting more and more people with their dogs. I also notice the owners faces cringe when they load up dirty Fido in the nice clean interior of car or SUV. This is especially true around White Rock Lake. I propose the creation of an automatic coin dispensed dog washing facility. The pet owners can wash and dry their animals in a manner similar to a car wash. Customers will have several grooming options to choose from (ie. shampoos, conditioners, odor neutralization. The facility[ies] can either be mobile or permanent. The business will also have access to a wide variety of unique pet care products (ie. trendy collars, leases, and toys)
Comment by Drew Carlton -
Good Morning,
Helping The Mav’s Going Mobi!
Executive Summary for the Dallas Mavericks
Publication Date: February 11, 2009
Today
Dallas Mavericks – NBA Fans have three Mobile Internet Media Channels to select from NBA Mobile “The Game Happens Wherever You Go” that include: Mobile Alerts, NBA Mobile and NBA2Go. What if Dallas Mavericks Fans had access to exclusive, free Mobile Internet Media Channels packed with added-value and fun just for them?
Based on Nielsen Mobile – “the US Mobile Internet market, with 40 million active users, has reached a critical mass for Mobile Internet Marketing.” In addition, KPMG published last week a Mobile Industry survey that found “87% of those polled believe that media companies will make more content available through mobile phones within the next two years.”
At the American Airlines Center before, during and after a NBA game, Fans everywhere are Sending / Receiving Text Messages, Mobile Internet Browsing, On-their-Phones or Having Fun …
What’s Missing
Examples of what’s missing for Dallas Mavericks – NBA Fans for their 7th Mass Media Channel Mobile Devices are:
A Dallas Mavericks Mobile Internet Site with Opt-in / Opt-out conveniences to receive Text Messages for Special Events, At-the-Game Marketing Promotions, Fun Contests, Dallas Mavericks Basketball Camp information …
A Dallas Mavericks Mobile Internet Site that automatically refreshes to showcase different Players, their interests – accomplishments including how the Player helps communities, youth sports programs …
Click-to-View Mobile Site Content that On-demand Fans are waiting for today.
Click-to-Vote for favorite Dallas Mavericks Player at the end of each quarter and after the Game, which can be broadcast throughout the American Airlines Center Video Systems and Mobile Site. In addition, it can be combined with Fans sending Text Message Votes for their favorite Player from anywhere.
The Solution !
Mobile Marketing Solutions – Where you go to know
Mobile Marketing Solutions has launched its new Mobile Provider Platform, built-from-scratch in Dallas that houses our fully-loaded Mobile Site Builder called “Mobile Web Publisher”. We didn’t invent the first Mobile Site Builder or invent the first Mobile Provider Platform. We came up with a Mobile Internet Marketing, Permission-based Advertising better solution for retail, restaurant, entertainment, hospitality, sports teams … to unlock Mobile ROI.
THE WHEEL. PENICILLIN. SLICED BREAD. THE BIG INVENTIONS CONTINUE.
Following are just several avenues our new “Mobile Web Publisher” Software-as-a-Service platform can assist the Dallas Mavericks on adding-value to the Mobile Internet for its Fans:
Contact Management System with Google Maps for Marketing Analysis
Content Management System with Mobile Site Templates and automated Search Engines Optimization (SEO)
Text Messaging, Mobile Internet Marketing, Email Marketing and Marketing Analytics
A Mobile Provider Platform solution for servicing the anywhere, anytime Mobile Lifestyles here today, here even more tomorrow …
Complete Calendar System for driving Mobile Site Content including a Scheduler for Text Message and Email Marketing Campaigns
Mobile Internet Micro-sites for ramping-up revenues at the American Airlines Center concession-stands, retail and restaurants
Let me do a demo for you and your group. Nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Had a great day, 2A school wants a proposal on utilizing http://www.c-comsolutions.com for the rest of this year and 2009/2010 school year. The IT Director loved it, the CFO’s head was spinning, especially at our low cost. Big day tomorrow or actually later today, meeting with a potential distr. in Waco for the Austin Region selling our software, $25K investment with a net return of $201K first 12 months of business.
Comment by Mid Court Billy -
Mark,
My idea has to do with healthcare. Not the traditional healthcare that people think of but wellness care. I already own a chiropractic practice that takes one component of wellness. What I would like to do is add other components such as functional medicine and true allergy relief. One such allergy relief product will help eliminate allergies. It is FDA approved. Functional medicine goes to the core issues of many health problems thereby eliminating many times the need for medications and further health related conditions. My business idea which could be duplicated is to establish an office that provides these services which people are longing for. A business of this time could do many things. It would employ people of different skill levels such as nurses, secretaries, new doctors( who have a tremendous debt themselves). It could improve the health of many individuals which you also now is the number one killer in work productivity. If this sounds interesting, I would love to discuss more about it with you. I have owned my business for 5 years. I know what to do and not do now. This plan could also help in the purchasing of foreclosed properties for offices. It would be a win-win in many ways.
Comment by Jim M -
Go figure, the blog removes XML, sorry the “title” and “article” part doesn’t help much… lets try it this way, please use your imagination and try telling yourself that a “(” is actually a “<” and likewise for the reverse.
(APPLICATION name=”Luke’s News”)
(DATA)
(FIELD)title(/FIELD)
(FIELD)article(/FIELD)
(/DATA)
(/APPLICATION)
Let’s see if it likes that any better…
Comment by Luke Keith -
I am a lowly web designer/programmer in the Dallas area and here is one of the biggest problem in my industry.
THE REALITY:
The future of business applications is Web2.0 and Web3.0. Applications are moving away from desktop environments to a web based platform because it runs on everything, it is easy to deploy, and easy to maintain.
THE DILEMMA:
For a quality custom application to perform a very specific task, it can cost anywhere from thousands to millions. The reason is business logic. Within the realm of code, you can only become so abstract without sacrificing loosing specificity. So in order to perform these tasks, custom web applications must be built. Abstract applications tend to favor small business development more heavily than enterprise level development.
Over the last few decades of the internet, we have created many standards that everyone uses (even Microsoft). HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, XML, and many more. However, there is no standard for building or designing business applications for the simple reason that it MUST be abstract AND specific at the same time. This is a hard thing to accomplish.
EXAMPLES:
We spent 4 months bidding a project to write a Web2 app with custom CMS, online store, donor management, multi-media management, and more at around $150,000. Which is approximately 50% of our competing bids. We can afford the loss because we are small and have less overhead as a business. However, with regard to the economy and decreasing donation, this was still far too high. In the end, the project was scaled down to around $50,000 and all the necessities were trimmed out. Essentially, we are redesigning the look of their website for $50,000. This is a huge waste of everyone’s time and money. Our client is not getting an improved product, and we are barely covering our costs between specking/developing the project.
IDEAL REALITY:
There needs to be a way to build scalable Web2.0 applications small business and enterprise level environments in a matter of days while not sacrificing usability, functionality, and business logic.
SOLUTION:
My co-worker and I have begun development on this concept already. Using XML as the markup language and Java as the compiler, the idea is to write a full Web2 app as easily as this.
title
article
While this is remarkably simple. The idea is to create an “application markup language” that is “rendered” by a compiler which generates a very specific application. In this case, the application will allow you to manage articles with a related title. Obviously there is a lot more to consider for larger applications such as interface, user permissions, business logic, multi-media processing, and much more, but it really can be that simple.
This concept will deliver an incredible amount of power to anyone who builds web apps and force others to use our product as the foundation for all Web2/3 development. It is simply a better starting point, if we can deliver a working product in a matter of minutes, then you don’t have to write the code to make the basics work… you can focus on what really matters to your clients.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Web developers of all shapes and sizes from any walk of life at every stage in their career and whoever employs them.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:
If you were a web developer faced with developing an app that should take 12 months of programming, but only budgeted for 6 months of programming, why on earth wouldn’t you use a product that let you write the application in a matter of days so you could spend the remainder of your time working on the bells and whistles OR going after more business.
MY BELIEF:
I know this product will work, sell, and be profitable. However, I am employed by a small company of 4 and do not have the luxury of “spare time”. I would use funding to provide enough money to my boss to cover salary and expenses for myself and our other programmer for one year while we complete development on this product.
Comment by Luke Keith -
I love the smoke detector idea. Too bad it’s already patented.
Application number: 11/558,242
Comment by Eric -
Mark:
I am an idea guy. I have great ideas, but have never had the capital to make a run on one on my own. Please take a look at my latest idea, which I offer up for your consideration.
I realize that it is now on the table for anyone to pick it up and run with it. If they get it off the ground before I do, more power to ’em! It wouldn’t be the first idea I have thrown out only to have it show up a year or two later because I could not make it go anywhere.
I appreciate the opportunity to put this business on the table for your review. Please feel free to share your thoughts or ideas for improvement.
The slideshow for the business plan for Shredderpages.com can be found here: http://www.slideshare.net/rbnorm/business-plan-1019528
Thank you again!
Comment by Blake Norman -
Hi Mr. Cuban,
My name is Soren Hall. I founded IQueue Media Company LLC, an I.T. company, in 2005. Perhaps you have seen our brightly decaled service van around Dallas. We’re much like any other Audio/Video/Computer Support company in several ways- friendly support, insured contractors, free estimates, etc… but its our vision of a store that sets us apart from our competitors- Best Buy, Geek Squad, Starpower, Kellum, Modia, Radio Shack, Dallas Sight and Sound, etc. The store’s concept removes many items from the shelves and replaces the products-in-boxes with interactive digital signage catalogs and replaces media-room-demo-areas with revenue-per-square-foot-suites. It’s sort of like renting out the Inwood Theater for events, but on a smaller, more compact scale. IQueue Media Company’s electronic sales and services already total over $19,000 this quarter. Average profit is around 20%. I’m 1 guy, age 25, with a good looking service van. IQueue Media Company needs a physical presence. A setting as mysterious as Willie Wonka’s Choclate Factory, and as trendy as the Apple Store… where someone could shop the latest in electronics and imports or use the newest technology in a completely private environment for a price less than computers at Kinko’s. This project would create at least 2 new jobs immediately, and at least 4 (hopefully more) within the first year. I would expect your loan to work with interest. You would have to determine the rate. What a great opportunity!
Thank you,
Soren Hall
(214)478-8644
IQueue Media Company, LLC
Automation
Cinema Design
Computer Support
Electronics
Comment by Soren Hall -
Mr. Cuban,
In cities like mine, surrounded by suburbs and not much else, people are in dire need of a place to let loose and relieve the stress that these times are putting on so many of us. I know exactly what this place needs to be. Downtown, relaxing and warm; a place where a man can go to be a man and where his date can have fun too. A place called The Red Room.
Here, at The Red Room, UFC Fight Nights will go big. We plan to make the month’s rent with just one Fight Night. On Fridays and Saturdays, couples and groups will enjoy the laidback atmosphere, delicous drinks, and good music.
I know in times like these an investment is risky, but I believe you can take that risk in me. I have the dedication to make this work, not just for the 90-day profit, but in the long run. Thank you for your time, Mark.
Comment by Andrea Jenkins -
Hello Mr. Cuban-
I have a great idea for bringing more jobs and revitalization to Dallas. I am interested in re-opening the West End Marketplace cinema and adding a Entertainment/Sports museum to the lower level, along with a nice restaurant (sports bar). This would be a large effort to take on, but I know that with all of the growth of Downtown Dallas- the West End has been left behind. With the re-opening of the West End marketplace, Dallas would be able to produce over 100 new jobs, be a hotspot for tourists and a great place for Mavs fans to congregate.
The cost and ROI for such a venture should meet your 60/90 day requirements and here is a breakdown of such numbers:
– Estimated profits (cinema, museum and sports bar)= $532,000/day
– Return on Investment= 10% of all profits (paid monthly until paid off) *This can be changed to
As stated, this is a work in progress, but I know that this project would definately inject life back into Dallas!
Comment by Moneek Thompson -
Great idea, Cuban. I hope you find that new, great profitable idea. I wish I had something that would be profitable in 90 days.
I was thinking of starting a new Satellite radio company to replace to old, bankrupt one. (just kidding)
http://thegrenade.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/why-satellite-radio-may-be-grounded/
Go Mavs!
Comment by thegrenade -
Mark
I have a product that is selling now.Great reviews.But needs a push…it needs marketing for greater revenues.Cashflow business.Good cause.Will create jobs if sales increases and already created some freelance ones.
Please email me thanks.
Comment by a -
Business name- The green furniture company
Owner / operator- Rebecca mason
Location- Dallas, Tx
Concept- Building refurbished and up dated designer furniture at a reasonable cost with little impact to the environment. This is a unique concept due to the way the furniture is made and produced. Focusing on bedroom pieces and mirrors, I find old ugly furniture at goodwill, thrift stores, salvation army etc. Furniture that other wise, would remain out dated and probably useless. I evaluate, sand, re-stain, replace hardware, embellish with slate, marble etc until the piece is like new and completely different.
What I have- I have about half the power tools needed and the space to work out of.
What I need- a one time investment of around 5k to get the ball rolling. This would enable me to finish purchasing the rest of the equipment needed, have a web site built, buy about ten pieces of furniture to refurbish and hire one person for one month to help me with the labor.
Why my idea is unique- Its green, its trendy, its unusual, ( a girl with power tools), its not complicated, I am going to utilize existing stores to sell my merchandise out of as well as internet sources like eBay and craigs list. Some day when my cash flow is right, I will open my own store front. Depending on the offered investment, if any, I could have all ten pieces finished and ready for sale in about one month.
Comment by REBECCA MASON -
Mr. Cuban,
Long time reader, first time poster. My idea involves open source software, digital distribution of entertainment content, and a creative solution to compliment the ineptitude of big business. Hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to doing business with you in the future.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhjcfdb3_3gbsbwqfj
Joe
Comment by Joe R. -
Looks like comments were broken between 5 and 11PM, so trying again…
BountyStorms (http://www.bountystorms.com) is a newly launched brainstorming site that is also a marketplace for ideas. For people with questions, it provides an instant team of creative thinkers who will provide great answers in just 24 hours. For creative types, it’s an opportunity to flex their creative muscles and earn some money for their great ideas.
How it works: It starts when a brainstorm is created with a bounty (currently $5 to $25), which is the financial incentive for the BountyStorms community to come help suggest great ideas. Brainstorming last for 12 hours, then voting on those ideas lasts for just another 12. After just 24 hours, the votes are tallied and the top 3 ideas win a split of the bounty (40%, 20%, and 10% respectively.) The top two Word Atoms (used in Molecular Thinking, the site’s unique technology that makes brainstorming easy for anyone) each earn 5%. The remaining 20% is used for “get out the vote bounty”: while it lasts during the voting phase, BountyStormers can earn $.25 for each BountyStorm they vote on.
The site was completely bootstrapped/self-funded, has near-zero operating expenses and is already cash flow positive after launching approximately one month ago.
Comment by E. Cruz -
Mark,
i create events with maverick games….
1. i buy week day game tickets from brokers on weak games(non weekend). i get a very deep discount for buying in bulk.
2. i send out myspace blogs to fans that normally dont attend maverick basketball games.
3. we meet 2 hours before at the chilis inside the aac
4.to cut fans cost…i give the info to ride the dart train.
im basically using your resources to build your source and we both make money…Thank you !
Comment by chris martin -
Have you ever woke up in the middle of your sleep only to realize that you were thirstier than the sahara desert?
My plan would be to incorporate simple plumbing within bed frames to offer a thirst quenching tube(think freezer tube) and filtered water basin.
I gotta go sealybedframe is calling me…
Comment by Srq---Drew -
Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan – Macrotrade
Business plan for an events-driven online trading platform.
Objective 1: Achieve “payback period” (EBITDA of $325k) within 60 days through online trading commissions as well as add-on transactions, which add value through customizable user-inputted ‘stop’ and ‘limit’ instructions.
Objective 2: Achieve profitability within 90 days through expansion to ‘marginal users’, which drive revenue without driving costs.
Macrotrade concept: Events-driven online trading platform.
The rationale: To create an online brokerage system (consider Etrade) which offers retail customers the opportunity to customize event-driven trading instructions. For example, a user could ‘buy’ shares one one stock, with the caveat that they will automatically sell whenever a broader index drops by 10%. Essentially, a more-complex limit / stop order system for traders and individuals who manage their own account.
Pricing: Online brokerages profit in one of two ways:
1. Charge fees per trade (Ameritrade, $10 / trade)
2. Lend cash in accounts out overnight, do not pay interest (Zecco, free trades but 0% interest on cash)
Since the appeal of MacroTrade is the ease of trades and fluidity of the system (essentially a programmable brokerage), we would want to encourage as many trades as possible, then charge per trade and ideally per “Macro” on top. ($1 / Macro, $10 / trade) [We would most likely NEED to charge less per trade than the bigger guys as we would have less functionality – a lot of the sites give access to proprietary research, charts, portfolio management etc. We won’t be able to initially compete with them here, nor want to, so lets focus on other areas where we could gain market share].
We would also want to put a time limit on any Macro orders that we accept – 90 days ? It wouldn’t make sense to say that, for example, we would sell shares if the S&P drops below 800, if that might not happen for 10 years (too much uncertainty).
Interface: The user interface is simple: in order to buy a stock, an investor can make an immediate order (buy, sell, limit, stop) and execute it. We would of course offer these options, but add additional “toppings” on. The ‘buy’ page will be a basic line of text, with drop-down boxes allowing the user to customers.
[Order] [Shares] of [Equity] [Macro]
[Macro] -> Outright, If [Index] [Action][Amount][benchmark]
This would be very customizable, but a basic example when completed would look like:
BUY 50 shares of Google Outright
SELL 50 shares of Yahoo If Google drops by 10% from Market Open
BUY 50 shares of Microsoft If Google drops below $300.
Let me be clear here, THIS interface would be our competitive advantage. It’s something nobody has done before (on a retail scale), and is hugely valuable to an individual investor.
Organization: Let’s strive for simplicity here. We have a complicated concept, I think this could ideally be a site with under 5 distinct pages:
1. Order Page – input orders, most important page
2. Personal Account page – Everyone will need a login and breakdown of holdings
3. History – History of buy / sells, profits and losses
4. Contact – going to need to have real-time customer service. You can outsource this very efficiently and at scalable cost.
Tie-Ins: Huge synergies / revenue potential here, but does not come in until already established with a user base. We should work under the assumption that we won’t realize any tie-ins, but it’s an incredibly valuable option to have (ideally, if we could build the site and achieve a low ROE, adding tie-ins would be a nice windfall).
Advertising: So cheap in this environment. It’s going to get cheaper, but I would say online and television advertising are the way to go, and we should budget a significant amount for marketing purposes. However, even though we will achieve incredible “bang for our buck,” we still need the buck. $100k.
Development: IT department, already have a team in place. Incredibly important, and has to be done seamlessly. At the same time, a relatively easy concept, just beyond “basic” knowledge. $100k.
Legal: Lets just not get screwed here? We would want / need excellent legal coverage – comprehensive liability waivers for the company ($100k). Brokerage firms are also regulated by the government, which includes a $25k minimum capital commitment (we would need a minimum of $25k on hand at any given time). We want to budget another $25k for legal compliance.
Cost: $350k. I don’t know how we would fund this ourselves –we need some type of seed financing. (Can’t get a loan for a start-up, only other way is credit card under our personal accounts, but even if this were viable, we would secure $20k at a 15% APR and nothing more.) To put this in perspective, this amount could be re-claimed if 60,000 customers make one trade at $6 each (1 tv ad will reach 400k+ households). Let’s say absolute minimum is $300k, on a shoe-string budget.
To be clear here, I KNOW I can create this concept, and I KNOW that I can make it work, myself; however, funding is not possible in this environment, and 5+ years is far too long to wait for someone ELSE to take advantage of such an amazing opportunity.
Thank you for your consideration.
Comment by RT -
My plan is to bring the return of a lost animal by using GPS technology and internet so that if an animal leaves a predetermined area the owners internet is used to locate the animal within an 8hour battery life.
This product would be sold with animal insurance companies as a rider policy, so the link between the insurance and pet owner is already in place.
Annual/monthly fee, battery replacement fee equals pet security.
Comment by Srq---Drew -
To Mr. Mark Cuban,
I am currently a Bank employee who was involved in the Real Estate boom do to the lowering of interest rates and I am now part of the rectification of the disaster it has created.
Through out my years as a bank employee I have witnessed the unscrupulous tactics by both other employees and managment in reference to dealing with homeowners interested in acquiring loans.I am no angel however it has never been my nature to take advantage of the weak or try to benifit from someones ingnorance or lack of understanding.
In all my years I have always trained my employees to be honest and honorable individuals to people seeking there help and advice at refinancing or purchasing a home. I had always wished I owned the bank so my philosophy of management was followed by the entire bank. That time has come.
Do to the recession and banking failures the government has created an FHA lending program that will allow distressed homeowners to refinance their home through this program and avoid foreclosure and or lower exorbant interest rates. The FHA program also allows individuals to purchase homes at very low interest rates to create another influx of cash for our economy and prevent this recession from getting worst.
Due to this new FHA program brokerage firms have been set up by our government to allow banks and or individuals to submit this new business. I have already spoken to and been approved to act as one of these independant brokers to submit business to a FHA broker affiliate.
My business plan is in need of 80,000.00 to set up an office with five employees who all posess the same level of moral inteligence as myself. The funds will be used to hire and pay five employees, computer equiptment, office space, telephone lines, and predictive dialer telephone systems.
Through my proven telemarketing strategies I, along with my employees, will contact disressed homeowners in every state and qualify them for these relief funds the government is providing. Once I am set up each employee will be ables to bring in a minimum of 3 new deals a week.
Five employees times 3 news deals a week equals 15 deals a week. By my fourth week I should have a minimum of 40 deals submitted to the FHA lending program. It takes about 3-4 weeks to close which will be just in time for my 60 day deadline with you.
Each deal is an average of a 360,000 loan amount with a commision of 10,000 for the company. 40 deals times 10,000 average commission equals 400,000 cash money.
That is enough to pay my employees and repay your loan all within 60 days and continue doing business. And on top of it all I will be helping to stabilize the economy and give jobs to the unemployed.
Comment by Pedro Bosque -
well i would like to introduce shoes with changeable heels to the all the world, i myself have gone into a store to buy some shoes and if the heel ain’t right i wont buy that shoe,my idea gives us ladies more than one option in a shoe. This idea can be nationwide. i don’t have all the information that you are requesting nor do I know the first thing about how to get this idea off the ground, I will leave it all up to you as the honest successful entrepreneur.
Comment by brenda g willis -
Mr. Cuban
My passion is to help reduce the number of people worldwide who are victims of kidnappings. I also want to help put the individual responsible for the crime of kidnapping/abduction behind bars. I have a very unique start up business idea that will provide a peace of mind to families and loved ones and create a business profit at the same time.
I would like to create a website called “My Bigfoot.com”. The idea comes from the famous creature Bigfoot that man keeps trying to find but keeps coming up short. No one can seem to find Bigfoot, all Bigfoot has left us with is a bunch of clues to try and piece together. For the most part we have these large foot prints that Bigfoot left behind as a clue.
The website is a place were users can create a profile very similar to creating a email account or creating a facebook profile. One of the main purposes of “My Bigfoot.com” is to be a online diary for people who are on the go. Many people live very complex busy lifestyles . Most people do not take the time anymore to document were they have been during the day and whom they have come in contact with. Well this site is a place to keep track of simple things like names and critical information about places you have been and new and current people you have come in contact with. I am talking about a website that you can input data so that if a you were to be the victim of a kidnapping your local police department/FBI would have a ton of leads that will help lead to finding you. I would like to have a web page design were people could mostly click on drop down boxes to input information and click on a personal calendar to add information. For example anytime a person goes out on a date with a new person they will be able to click on icons to add info about this person like his/her first and last name, there license plate number and home address etc. Lets say the person who has a account is in the car with a person, I want them to be able to upload information to there “My Bigfoot.com” account via a text on there cell phone. They can plug in things that a police investigator could use as a lead to follow up on.
People of all ages and backgrounds would benefit from a service like “My Bigfoot.com”. In addition it would provide parents, family members and friends with the peace of mind knowing that they can obtain critical information about there loved ones. A key option to the “My Bigfoot.com” account would be to allow each user with the option to select 3 beneficiaries. These beneficiaries would be people who could access the on line diary with the permission of the main account holder. They main account holder has the option the grant and block viewing of the beneficiaries anytime. However in the event that the main account holder becomes a victim of a kidnapping this is when the beneficiaries have instant access to the dairy so that they can download the information to the FBI and there local police department.
I want to team up with as many police departments around the country to promote “My Bigfoot.com”. I also want to team up with as many missing person organizations as possible to promote this new website. My ground game would include traveling to as many universities as possible to promote the website. Also I would like to travel to as many high schools to promote the website. My initial target market would be college students and there parents and high school students and there parents. Once I penetrate this market I will go after the other groups and segments of people. I have not set a specific fee for the service however I do have an idea of what I would charge. Since it is a web site business I would also sale ads for any other business that want to advertise on my site. Mark you will see return of your money based off of residual income for renewal business and new green business. Also you will see a return from companies that purchase ads on the site .
To get the attention of my initial target market clients I would like to rent/ purchase a large RV with a “My Bigfoot.com” logo wrapped around the entire bus and drive it on the many college and high school campuses. During the visits to these campuses I will sign up parents and students to new accounts.
Comment by Reggie White -
Some of this is a repost because I can’t reply to comments, I have copied the conversation, the reply is at the bottom.
Mr. Cuban,
I have an established business that meets all of your criteria.
We started in 2007 with a solid business plan, less than $9,000.00 in cash, a credit card and a lot of sweat equity. Our first year (without getting to specific) we did over $200,000.00, our second year we grew more than 50% over $350,000.00.
This business can be duplicated anyplace in the United States. The business doesn’t rely on the current economic status in other words “recession resistant”. There is no need for a store front or manufacturer space. It can be run from home with a phone line, computer and a vehicle.
We are going to expand into every major city across the US. The expansion can be done by someone investing in their own business and us training them in what we know to be successful or us opening another State/City with an employee type relationship.
The business we are in is the Crime Scene Cleanup Industry. We clean up after tragic circumstances, a labor intensive business with low overhead and start up cost.
I know you asked for people to post a business plan but I haven’t seen one yet and ours would take up pages, I am confident we have what you are looking for.
Sincerely,
DM
From MC> If things are going so well, why would you want to take in additional capital and give up equity ?
The simple answer is being able to grow fast enough to capitalize on a relatively new industry. 1984 was the first founded business of this nature and this industry fly’s under the mainstream so a lot of people have never heard of this type of business before.
If we could open up 47 states with the success of our first year, that would equal roughly $10,340,000.00 in yearly revenue. We simply don’t have the resources right now to open up 47 states. Our process would be much slower losing market share as time goes by and new companies start up.
So, why I would want to give up equity? Even 40% of 10,000,000 is $4,000,000 which is far cry from the 350k plus we did last year.
DM
From MC> post your plan and I will read it. Or use google docs/slideshare/scribd if thats easier for you
Comment by Dm -
I would like to preface my message that while I have read through Mark Cuban’s rules/guidelines, I have not read the comments. Unfortunately the real reason the economy is in the state that it is in, is because there is much corruption out there. It would be great to openly publish how and what needs to be done to clean up the stock exchange, how and what needs to be done to clean up individual and corporate crime, how and what needs to be done to clean up the city, state and fed govt agencies, and how and what needs to be done to secure financials–individual and business, but say you have 100 really great ideas that can produce funds quickly, the “bad guys” have funds and can make more money, the “bad guys” can steal your money, and the “bad guys” can flag your developing idea for later financial theft. Don’t mean to be a party pooper, but we need boundaries, privacy, security. For your funding, maybe you can edit your terms more. And this concept can still work. I think with previous VC funding, funders needed to review applicant credentials for verification. Except as realized during the height of dotcom funding, everyone who did apply looked like they had stellar credentials. It just might take eight years or longer to clean up corruption that surrounds each of the major cities while “regular” people suffer. During the last ten years, I don’t think Enron has been the only scandal. I would really love to contribute if there were no corruption and the economy needed repairing quickly in public. I think submissions to your blog need to be private. Best regards.
Comment by Anonymous -
I have a few ideas I will get together for this offer, but here is one to start:
I was thinking of a tech product to produce fairly cheaply with a low price point. something that feeds into the love our culture has now with “personalizing and customizing” products. Everyone can get sucked onto the bandwagon and still feel like they are unique while using this product. I started thinking about fonts that most people (non-designer general public)have access to. Very limiting. Very impersonal. I thought of a simple piece of software that comes with a cheap light pen (made in taiwan by the lowest bidder) and you basically use your own handwriting samples of each individual letter to build a font file that will then install on your dropdown menu with your own filename. So you draw the upper and lower case however you like, you do an upper and lower case A, for example, in the input boxes and then it is pretty much done. Simple enough. But can other computers read fonts they dont have in their operating systems? I think so. Maybe then you get a celeb or to lend a bonus font in their handwriting when you roll out the product. Mainstream users such as myself have limited exposure and resources when it comes to fonts and I think most users are tired of the same old choices. I wanted to get opinions on the ideas viability and then some input on the light pen (or an alternative to it, but using a mouse will not replicate your handwriting sufficiently) and the dissemination tactics. It would seem that building a simple website, while pursuing corporate sales would be a good start. I would think that one of the major PC companies might license the product for installation into their computers before they ship them to the customer. Have no problem completing the business plan Mr. Cuban, but need some assistance first.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Comment by John Giannuzzi -
fun reading these
Comment by steven -
Hello Mark,
MUST READ 🙂
I have a background in education and really enjoy working in the industry of helping children learn. My idea is simple, yet unique and currently lacks direct competition.
Student Websites
We are in the age of myspace and facebook. Currently districts have websites, schools have websites, and now most teachers have websites. Teacher websites are growing at a rapid pace as teachers want to bring their classrooms into the 21st century. What is not thought about, but perhaps the most useful piece of creating this linkage of communication between parents, students, and their classrooms is student websites.
The websites would be secure so that only the teachers, parents and students would be able to access. Students could use this as an online locker to share homework files as well as a method of communicating and sharing with other students. The websites are owned and managed through the school and features are built into the website that allow positive interaction between students and teachers.
The market is all K-12 schools with the possibility of later moving on to universities. One of the items at the top of Obama’s agenda is to improve technology in the classroom. This does exactly that while improving the classroom experience for the teacher, parent, and student.
The investment needed would be to hire IT professionals capable of building the product and a small cost to have the server capacity needed with potential for growth.
I would enjoy the opportunity to share more details with you and present you with a more formal business plan that includes what I would consider the “Secret Sauce” that would make this possible. Please let me know if I can provide you further elaboration. Thank you for the opportunity and thank you for providing this type of forum. Great idea!
Eager Entreprenuer
Comment by Eager Entreprenuer -
Sounds like a great idea, but I have reviewed hundreds maybe thousands of business plans and not to many will meet Mark’s check list.
If you don’t make the cut you may want to check out http://www.AngelNetwork.com. They have a database of investors and help entrepreneurs fine tune their pitch for investors.
Ed Bracken
AngelNetwork.com LLC
Serving the Needs of High Net Worth Investors and Entrepreneurs Since 1997
Comment by Ed Bracken -
Mark,
Love the funding plan. Here’s our business:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12234970/Meltworks-Business-Plan
-We’re in a growing sector of our industry, despite the economy
-It’s a restaurant start-up concept – fair warning
-We’re over 50% funded and have venture fund relationships for follow-on rounds
-We have real estate lined-up
-250k gets you 18.8% equity and makes us 100% funded with equity
-No debt, cash-flow positive and net-income positive from day one (excluding construction period)
-All corporate-owned units, no franchising
If you’re not interested in funding, I’d still appreciate your thoughts.
Note: I believe this meets all of your qualifications, however, you should read section 5.1 of the b-plan (inspired somewhat by Whole Foods management methods) in regards to “Rule 7.” Also, because the amount of capital required is spent building the 1st unit, the initial capital must essentially come in a lump sum, rather than over a draw period.
Thanks,
Eric
Comment by Eric Powell -
Mr. Cuban,
I am a sophomore at Indiana University with an endorsed charitable clothing line targeted at the middle to upper class. Shoot me an email to better explain the concept.
Thanks,
Danny
Comment by Danny -
First no brainer for someone but not this thread. Why hasn’t anyone partnered with XM or Serius to offer real time purchase of songs?
Anyway,
Co-working cafe franchise.
Monthly fees tiered by services offered.
Start up costs are tenant improvements, lease/buy of site, phone/internet/electricity etc.. and office equipment / servers.
Recurring fixed costs of space lease.
Other costs are covered by monthly fees.
Market already exists but there are two flavors. 1. True hippie feel gooders who were in the drama club in high school and graduated with a liberal arts degree and now do graphic arts / photography / web development. 2. The other offers high end video conferencing in nice looking conference rooms.
These would be in the middle. Many companies are remembering the good times of business casual environments with ping pong and pinball tables. And spending 15 hours a day at work programming and going to meetings. Most of these individuals are now in sales, or working as consultants, or web programmers/SEO etc.. And most work out of the house.
Start up capital needed to secure the up front costs. 80% net revenue would go to primary investor until up front expenditures are met. Then 40/60 split forever.
Does it “create” jobs. Maybe. Would help the current retail land owner, and the construction company hired for TI. And would conceivably save national companies money in paying their employees for home offices.
But the main advantage is more business for the customers. Through interaction and social contact, ideas and opportunities are created. And if one person has an opportunity but not the required skill set, they can post offer it to another and take a cut.
Thanks..
Pat
Comment by Pat -
Pingback: Mark Cuban’s “Open Source Funding” | Creating Small Business Mogul's
I would like to add a few detail to my already long post. With the right bull dozer operator, it would take about 2 weeks to redesign and build the new tracks, about 2 weeks for irrigation, becuase we can do that after each track gets built. The consession stand/ restrooms would take about 1 month or so with inspections and plans and build time, but is ok, we have temp. source till we get that complet. I would be wiling to work sun up to dark to help with all the rebuilding. This would start turning a profit in a matter of weeks, in return making you a profit. We we could maybe hire a few people to help with all that I do. If we could acually buy a small bull dozer or bob cat, we could keep the tracks maintained making even more of a profit for years to come. Just wanted to add some of that in. We have more ideas then money to make money and the time to do it, just not the funds. If you could bring a mav out with you to a race, the kids would love that. Just an idea!
Comment by Pamela Varga -
And Mark, glad you fixed the comment box here (for Firefox at least).
Comment by Mike -
Reply info for Jennifer..txtailtwister60@aol.com
Comment by Jennifer -
Love the character call center idea, but as Mark said I’d bet it would be impossible to get the rightsholders to agree to it.
Have you ever heard of the alleged rules of being a Disney park character? It’s nuts. I can’t imagine they’d let their characters be impersonated unless they had a VERY strict control over their interactions on the phone.
Letters, on the other hand, Disney et al could pre-make. They could use the imagery they like, the words they choose, and they would not have to worry about an actor on the phone interpreting the character in a way they wouldn’t desire.
Of course, the only down side here is that once you pitch your idea to them… they already own the characters and may as well just make the letters themselves.
Just thinking aloud, but again… I really like this idea. Well done Gloria P!
Comment by Mike -
Mark, I’m sure that on #3 you accidently pushed the cap lock and didn’t mean to stess anything there or that the author was actually yelling at the computer. I believe you could take some of your money and buy up credit card debt, then lower the interest rate on the loan. Which in turn would give people better ability to get out of debt, then confidence to purchase again – that would stimulate the economy. And I’d like to believe you could/would get paid back IN ABOUT 60 MONTHS… sorry I accidently pushed the cap lock as well. It might event be possible/legal to put a prepayment penalty on the loan if paid back in some amount of time. This could help with #3’s 60 day time frame. I could be helpful -job wise – setting things up with a little help from somebody that knows something about writing computer database programs?.
Your question is genius – really. I’m looking forward to reading the comments.
Comment by Lisa -
Hi Mark..My idea would be to make a smoke alarm (any protection alarm) and instead of a beeping sound..Be able to record a message..My kids are 5 and 6 and we have tried many times to wake them with smoke alarms and they dont budge!!! My recorded voice yelling “Get up (name) FIRE!!! FIRE!!! works..Being able to endorse this with your name on it could really work and work quickly..I could sell in bulk to chain stores and even meet with lots of city Gov. officials to sell in bulk as well..Your profit would come right off the top..I know this could happen fast..Viewers voted on that invention TV show and also a safty product came out ahead!! thanks for your time, Jennifer
From MC> its actually a very good idea. Now you have to do the home work and find out how to make a business out of it. But this is definitely the type of idea i would be interested in if you can quantify it and put together an operational plan. It should be something you can do very inexpensively, build a customer base and sell to stores and over the web. Good luck !
Comment by Jennifer -
How about putting people to work , and putting people in houses? Despite the current economic mess and housing crash, there is still a place under the U.S. flag where home prices have remained stable — St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In fact, there is a substantial housing need here — a need for any kind of new affordable housing.
The locals here have jobs. They’ve qualified for mortgages. They just can’t find anything new and affordable. To fill the need, our company has joined forces with the biggest builder on St. Croix and the Virgin Islands government to provide a desperately needed affordable housing community.
Our company is seeking financing to complete this 55-home project, and we’re offering a 30 percent return to all investors. Also, if any investors can satisfy the VI residency requirements, all profits on this investment are 100 percent tax free.
Unlike in the states, the economy remains quite strong in the Virgin Islands. The banks here remain strong and solvent because they never offered subprime loans. As a result, the foreclosure rate here is negligible. Experts tell us there is a need for 1,000 of these houses right now on St. Croix. We want to start by building 55 of them.
There are other builders here constructing affordable houses. But they are doing it a few houses at a time. Only our builder has the man power and expertise to build an entire community in a timely fashion. Not only that but our arrangement with the government calls for the VI Housing Finance Authority to sell these houses to affordable home clients who they have already identified. We are certain that all 55 houses will be sold before they are even built. The demand for something affordable down here is that great. And the builder is so confident the houses will sell he has guaranteed KSB Properties a set return on investment regardless of what each house sells for. That set return is what we’re going to pass on to our investors.
All investment dollars will be used to finance construction. The money will be tied up roughly three years as the builder sells houses and then rolls those proceeds back into additional houses.
All investment dollars will be protected by tangible assets. Specifically, our investors will have first lien rights on the land used for construction (valued at more than $1 million) and the houses we build. We feel like that’s a great incentive for an investor because instead of investing in paper assets this is an investment in something real, something tangible, something necessary.
Thanks,
Comment by nick -
Great Idea. How about starting up a Basketball League with only players under 6′.
Rick
Comment by Rick Bicycle Hangar -
Hi Mark,
I have a gasoline tanker that moves 50% more freight for
about $35.00 extra, based on a round trip.
It works with most one-way liquids, ( gasoline, deisel, jet-fuel
etc. )
It can also work with some compressed gasses. We can slpit
this project 3 ways. You and I get 1/3 and the investors get
1/3 when it goes public on a DPO.
I can put this device in your hands in 7 days.
From 1966 to 1974, I manufactured a fully automatic car wash.
( with the help of a great bunch of guys ! )
If you like this one, I’ve got 10 more, some better, some
worse, including hardware and software that improves
all restaurant fast food drive-up windows by 23% during
heavy usage times.
Thanks for being so innovative, Rick
Comment by Richard Michael Seakan -
Don’t quote me but I can safely say the majority of people in the U.S. are very computer/internet-friendly. A good computer and accessories are a must these days. My idea is adding 2 keys onto the keyboard that autofill [www.] and [.com]. Modify the spacebar to be 1/3 smaller than its normal size and add the 2 keys on opposite ends of the spacebar. Just an idea.
Comment by Jon -
How about a coffee bar that serves alcohol in the coffee. I thought about taken this idea to Starbucks. Let me know what you think. I can have a plan done in no time.
Comment by Richard -
MRFS is Inventor’s abbreviation for “Memory-Resident File Systems” — a natural evolution of Microsoft’s NTFS.
Summary
The Inventor currently has filed three (3) patent applications in the area of high-speed solid-state data storage technology, with a fourth such application completed and ready to file.
Because processor and memory speeds are both accelerating much faster than the speeds of rotating disk I/O, the Inventor has developed a range of solutions for moving file systems directly into random access memory (“RAM”).
To illustrate, a fast RAID 0 subsystem should reach maybe 500 MB/second, with faster speeds imposing a large cost premium e.g. using 15,000 rpm SAS drives.
By comparison, 3-year old DDR2-800 RAM is measured to do inputs at 2,700 MB/second (2.7 GB/sec) using conventional ramdisk technology.
Moreover, Intel’s newest Core i7 architecture now supports triple-channel DDR3 RAM with a raw bandwidth of 25,000 MB/second at stock settings, and even faster for over-clocked settings.
Using MetaRAM’s DDR3 technology, 6 DIMM slots @ 16GB = 96GB in a single workstation: this permits a 10GB C: partition to be RAM-resident, using BIOS enhancements described in Inventor’s second and third patents pending.
Inventor’s other proprietary advances are closely guarded
trade secrets accessible only under strict non-disclosure terms
and conditions.
For further details, contact:
mrfsys@gmail.com (“Mr. File Systems”)
Sincerely yours,
/s/ Paul A. Mitchell, Inventor
and Systems Development Consultant
(38 years using and developing advanced computers)
All Rights Reserved without Prejudice
Comment by Paul A. Mitchell -
Let me start off by saying we are an existing business. My father and I own Boondoxxx Motocross in Farmersville, TX. Farmersville is about 1 hour east of Dallas, TX. I run and manage the place along with my husband and father. My husband also works a full time job. I quiet my full time job about a year and half ago. My father was diagnosed with prostrate cancer a couple of years ago. I worked my full time job for two years while working the track full time and being a mom of a 3 and 4 year old, full time. My father dose what he can, although there is nothing more they can do for him other than give him a shot in his stomach every 3 months, he still works all he can. He gets tired easily and cant stand for long periods of time. I do all the mowing on the 100 acre property, all the weed eating, I do all the trash- around 60 barrels of trash every week, I do all the maintains on the wiring, irrigation system, just about everything you can think of, I do. My husband helps me out, for the most part but when he is not at work, he stays at home with our children while, I work more at the track. I actually own a small graphics business to, we found it was cheaper to buy the equipment to make all of our signs, decals, t-shirts etc. I also make all the trophies for all of our races. I also maintain the website, although I am not that great with computers (www.boondoxxxracing.com). I try to do everything by myself, it is cheaper that way. Presently we have 6 different tracks. Our main focus is on kids we like to have the adults to, but our track is the best kid friendly beginner track in Texas. We have two race series a year, one in the spring and one in the fall. We also hold at least 1 charity race and several off series races a year. We are the only tracks in Texas that races training wheels, most places you have to be at least 4 years old, we let them start racing as soon as they can reach the foot pegs and breaks. There are a lot of motocross tracks in Texas, and I mean a lot. Although we have a lot of riders on a weekly basis, our rider count is down, way way down to what is what 4 years ago. We have been in business for 8 years this year. However we know why our rider count is down. It take a huge amount of money to keep up a motocross track let alone 6 of them. The track we race on, needs a lot of work, even though it is maintained the best. We have stadium lighting and a irrigation system on. The irrigation system consist of a lot of pvc (that has to be maintained) and fire hoses, we water by hand, it take about 4 hours to water the track. Our business plan consists of our making our motocross park, more up to date, to keep up with the other tracks. What this means is, we need a professional track builder to come and complete re do our tracks, we need irrigation (that waters by itself) on all of our track and lighting. We also want to add mud-bogging pits and zip lines and batting cages to our park. In addition to all of this we need permanent restrooms and concession. We have a concession stand trailer we bought, but are way to small and hot. We have 6 port o potties, that I am so tired of cleaning. They come service them but I still have to clean them, I am a clean freak. If we just had all of our tracks redone and irrigation on them, we could triple our rider count with in two weeks. The riders are always looking for the best, well maintained tracks. Our supercross track is horrible, I would shut it down, but the few that do ride, well we need the money to bad. See since I quite my job, the track income has to pay for all of my bills, my parent’s bills and the track bills. So basically our out go overrides our income. We find our selves continually struggling to buy this or pay that. So our business is suffering for it, and so are all the kids. The kids have to go where the parents go, unfortanly as much as the kids love our facility, the parents don’t because our big tracks are so bad, the parents don’t want to ride them. So they go to other tracks. We give away a lot of fee practice days to people all the time, whether they it be that they just cant afford to race, but want to we will let them, if we honestly know they cant afford it. We give away a free ride on birthdays to kids who race and we do charity drives and so on. I know people will read this and say don’t give so much away for free, but that is part of it. You have to give back sometimes when they continually come give you money they don’t have to ride. We are the only track in Texas that is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We are open sun up till sun down every day for 5 of our tracks. The 6 tracks we stay open till 10PM for the kids who cant come during the day due to their parents work. I don’t know if this is what you are looking for, but if you choose to help us, it will go toward rebuilding our 6 tracks, putting lighting and irrigation on them and the permant concession stand and restrooms to start. I know my father; my husband and myself work hard to keep this business going, to make money and please all the kids. I love my business and all the riders that come out more than I can express, or believe me I would not do everything I do on a daily basis. I just feel with all of our income going out to pay bills, buy groceries, our business will die because we don’t have the money to fix any of the facility back to a good quality motocross track. I do all I can do with what I have but sometimes its not enough. This was suppose to be a business to pass down to my kids, at this rate the business is going to be luck to survive another year. If you can invest with us and this is what you are looking for, it will help more than we could ever express and our business would be bigger and better than ever. If you can’t help I understand to. If you do choose to help, I will put up any signs, banners advertisement at the track, and on our website you would like. There is so much more I could add about why I think we deserve this or what we could do to make more money but I would take up way to much of your blog page. Thanks so much for your time and I invite you out to look at our facility or even just to come relax and watch a bunch of little kids having a blast. No need to give us notices if you come out, I am up there every day working unless it rains.
P.S. Sorry for my spelling.
Thanks so much,
Pamela
http://www.boondoxxxracing.com
Comment by Pamela Varga -
I sent this earlier, but not sure if it went through or not, if so I apologize if this is a dupe.
Mr. Cuban:
This is the Duggan family and we have designed a unique outdoor cooker. We mainly cook fajitas on it (although have been told it would make an excellent wok as well) . We have discussed traveling to a county fair in Nebraska (family there and very much involved with the fair) to see if it is profitable at all. We have come up with several designs for the cooker and so far we have only put together one. The cooker is made with farm implement discs and welded pipes (more information on the design is available on request).
We have the ability to go to the Nebraska fair, and have spoke with officials to approve our vending, but that is as far as we have gotten due to funds. We feel this would be well received (a change from the norm served at these venues). In addition, the meat we would use would be purchased from a local a Hispanic food store in the DFW metroplex (they have the BEST marinade recipe, but won’t share it ). So this would not only possibly benefit us, but could be very beneficial to this store as well.
If this proves to be successful, we would like to expand morevenues (I.E. NASCAR, state fairs, Trade Days, flea markets, NHRA drag races, etc). Our goal is to make this a family run project/ business, we will send a photo of the cooker we built to give you an idea of the product. The main goal of this project is to sell food, demonstrate the cooker and see if we can’t sell some cookers. They are relatively inexpensive to make and we have had some neighbors and friends interested in buying the cooker when they see them in action and taste the end product.
Thank you for your time and consideration, Mr. Cuban. We sincerely believe this could be worthwhile and profitable. We appreciate your offer of financial assistance to get people started and hopefully do our part to turn around the economy.
Sincerely,
The Duggan Family
Comment by Tania Duggan -
Hey Mark,
I have an energy savings product that has the potential to save hundreds of millions in electricity costs all over the world. It is quite simple to manufacture and can be purchased as a consumer item for under $30 dollars. With the emphasis on green energy with the new administration I think the time is right for this concept. Can’t divulge too much in a public forum because of IP issues. BTW I have rode an exercise bike next to you once while I worked out at the Premier Club a few years ago. If I get a chance to meet with you again I have a good story to tell about meeting another legend of industry in a health club.
Cheers
Ben
Cheers
Comment by Ben -
Mark,
Let me first say thank you on behalf of all entrepreneurs that have great ideas, but not enough capital to pull it off. (Sorry for the lengthy summary.)
I am an Audio Video Technician and I work in the residential segment of the market installing media rooms, whole house audio and home automation. That is always something in which I am looking to do my own thing, but the business venture that I have been focusing on for about a year now is providing short-haul wireless internet coverage: basically becoming a wireless internet service provider.
It would be exactly like the deregulation of telephone and energy companies in the same sense that my company will resell internet connectivity and make it wireless.
The target audience will be commercial properties: areas such as strip malls, hotels, restaurants and apartment complexes and etc. After doing some research, I have found that commercial broadband internet accounts are substantially more expensive. By being a reseller, I can shoulder the costs and offer customers the exact same service at a discounted rate.
The segment of apartment communities can be broken down into complexes in regular areas and complexes near and around college or university campuses. As we all know,
College-aged adults are online a lot working on school work or downloading music and most times money is a big issue for them. If they can cut costs on something they really need then that makes them happy. Residential customers don’t pay as high a rate as commercial customers, but the difference can be compensated by the high volume of customers.
With the target audience taken into consideration, there are at least three ways to market the service to potential customers.
1) Offer to pay “rent” to the property owners for using their space to place the communication devices. Then, offer the customers a lesser rate for their internet service. This, I believe, is the most viable option because the property owner is not likely to turn down money coming in and the renters will be looking to lower their monthly bill.
2) Offer the product/service to the property owners and charge them a monthly rate for maintenance. The owner can in turn charge a slightly higher monthly rate to his customers for free unlimited internet access.
3) Sell the equipment, installation and maintenance as a package deal and the property owner owns it all and can run it however they want. If they can’t manage or service the system, I will be their technical service representative.
That’s it in a nutshell. I hope you can get the idea. Hope to hear from you soon.
Tony G.
Comment by Tony G -
Mark,
After losing my job 2 years ago, I started a company based here in Dallas that does onsite & remote computer repair and training. I started my business on a shoestring budget with little to no savings, so I know all about sweat equity. My business was the only source of income therefore I had to instantly turn a profit. In my first year of business I grew from 10 customers to 200! I started out as a local company serving the DFW area now we’re able to provide nation wide service.
Our business model is very simple; it’s based on the way business was done back in my grand parent’s era. We believe in developing long lasting relationships with each customer and not just taking their money and running. We call each customer by their first names and make it a point to remember them. I believe in the inherent good of people and if given the chance most people with not let you down. Our customers have the option of mailing in their payments; some are setup on payment arrangements if they need it. We become obsessed trying to figure out creative ways to go above and beyond for each customer. Our customers love our “back to the basics style of business,” and down home laid back approach. Our customer base has grown 300% in the last year mostly from word of mouth!
Our company is growing in this down economy because even the unemployed need working computers to find jobs. Larger national computer repair chains have gone out of business and have left huge voids to be filled in the computer repair sector. As every company fights to minimize cost they’re outsourcing a lot of their IT needs. With our business model and passion we will grow to become a household name. A little shot of cash would aid as a catalyst in helping us make it to the next level a lot faster.
Jobs will be created from our growth. A large call center will be needed to house the additional sales people, computer technicians, customer service reps. web designers, and programmers that will be hired. Additional jobs will also be created throughout the US for the field technicians that will be needed to service the customers in every major market. Our growth will help those in the IT & customer service industry who have fallen victim to offshore outsourcing and downsizing.
Comment by Oliver -
Billionare dude, that is awesome. Good for you for figuring out a way to motivate people and spread that ridiculous wealth at the same time.
Now, will someone please invent a thingy to attach to your TV remote that will beep when it’s lost in the couch cushions. A “remotefinder” if you will. Thanks
Comment by Sue -
Business Ideas?
Soy Free Foods: Invisioned as a company that is part eatery and part grocer, Soy Free Foods would only sell products absent of soy and soy based products. The eatery would bake its own bread from scratch and produce small meals for its clients. The reason, Soy is in virtually everything these days, and allergies to soy is more common than people realize.
Traffic Observation Corps: A business started in the late 90’s, I let fall through with the failure to reach an agreement with the local government. It is now about to be reborn as an orginization, posting traffic violations on the web for the benefit of education and making the roads safer. Originally intended to work in conjunction with the local and state authorities, it allowed trained individuals to casually drive the roads while recording the traffic around them with video cameras specially designed to be able to see in all directions around the vehicle. At the end of each drive the video would be watched by a team that would verify each licence plate and vehicle description and edit the video into clips that could then be used as video evidence for court, as well as posted on the company website. The videos would then be turned over to the local authorities (or perhaps done through our company, only going to court if disputed. This at the choice of the local authorities) where the fine would be set and collected. The company would gain 25% of the fine as their fee, allowing the city/state to keep 75%, increasing their revenue. Why a compaby such as this? I grew tired of the lack of enforcement of any other traffic violations than speeding unless there was an accident. I drive perhaps 3-5 miles a day regullarily, and count, on average, more than 25 violations each day, mostly failure to yield or failure to signal. Speed doesn’t kill, inconsiderate and illegal driving does. (If funded, this would again return to the business instead of orginiztion)
Comment by Jason E -
Mark Cuban:
I know that your time is valuable so I will make this short and to the point. If you like, the idea and concept we can always talk further.
The business concept is twofold—first to make money the second is to educate people and invest in their future. Simply put the #1 employing industries in the US next to the government sector is the Hospitality industry (hotels, resorts, travel, tourism, and restaurants) there are millions of dollars that are spent on educating people in the industry but not a lot of effort made in teaching them real life skills.
My concept is simple—
1. Identify a restaurant location in an demographically desirable area
2. Myself and a partner both with 50+ years of hard restaurant industry experience work side by side with the “students”
3. develop a full menu and bar that provides profitable cash flow and manageable P&L
4. ROI will be an agreed percentage from cash flow, and also be a top line item on the P&L (2 opportunities for you to have return)
5. We will take applications for “students” who are the actual workers make their education a year long process
6. Each group of “students” will be responsible for three major parts of the operation (Front of house/dining room, bar and kitchen) all in 4 month rotations. They will also be involved in managerial aspects of the operation at each stage—learning how their individual position drives sales, the P&L and flow-through
7. Myself and partner will work side by side with the students not only as fellow team members; bussing tables, working the hot line and washing dishes but also as their mentors to success.
8. this opportunity provides several benefits
a. bringing a new concept not only to the restaurant industry but also the community it serves
b. We are giving back to society in the education of people that either are not given a chance or cannot afford the schooling to get into a rewarding and very challenging industry.
c. there are positive tax ramifications for you and the owners of the business
d. profitability in the restaurant industry is realized immediately when managed properly
e. There is much room for growth of concept and further expansion into other fields of expertise
f. It provides people with a learning experience while being paid and a solid job reference when completing the 1-year process. They have the ability to enter the industry with hard working knowledge
g. It also gives students the opportunity to progress into schools and universities like Johnson & Wales University, The Culinary Institute of America, FIU, Penn State, Cornell or another school that has classical curriculum further opening doors and promoting our concept
That’s it in a nut shell of course there are many details that have been omitted but you have my email for contact
Comment by Pete -
I know had some mispellings are in there, sorry, I was just getting it out there. Espeically mispelling Viagra, that may have damaged all of my credibility! LOL! 🙂
Comment by Ricky -
Hi Mark,
I want to sell custom status messages to people. We can do Facebook and Twitter statuses for people who are not creative, funny, or don’t have time. This is how people express themselves now— and it’s not going away. We are the equivalent of personal shoppers.
Very simple: we have 3 levels of service; Deluxe Service, full service, and lite.
You tell us a little bit about you, and we do the rest for lite (1 status msg a day). For medium, we’ll consult with you over the phone for a half hour before we do a status msg a day. And in deluxe we do regular consultations.
Deluxe: $99 a month
Medium: $30 a month
Lite: $20 a month
Let me know if you like it. Thanks!
Comment by Ben -
It is called ‘Patent Monster’. Basically the idea is to form an anti-patent organization. None of this passive crap. Purely active aggressiveness by using the patent peoples most valuable weapon against them. The patent lawyers themselves. How do you get lawyers to fight on the side for good? Easy enough. GREED.
Here’s how it works. There are 3 rules.
1. If your company has any patents. Your company is a target. PERIOD.
2. Lawsuits are random and often will end in injunction, not licensing.
3. Profits (I used that term on purpose) are split evenly between the inventor, the lawyer, and the monster.
When an inventor contacts the monster with an idea, the monster will sign a NDA saying they will not steal the idea. If the idea is good enough and has potential the monster will pay for the patent process. The inventor and the monster enter into an agreement where in 3 years from the grant date if the monster has not initiated an infringement lawsuit against a company, the patent goes to the inventor. (with immunity from the monster)
When a lawyer contacts the monster, their name and specialties are noted for the future for when a lawsuit is filed.
If a lawsuit is going down, the monster will choose the best lawyer from its collection for that particular case. The monster will pay for all court costs, but not lawyer fees. In the event of a win, the inventor gets 1/3, the lawyer gets 1/3, and the monster gets 1/3.
The monster takes winnings and invest them into future lawsuits. Once the monster’s bank account is large enough it may decide to pay the inventor and the lawyer directly, but place an injunction on the company being sued.
Placing an injunction on a companies key piece of technology is like putting a stake in their hearts. Oh well. Monsters are scary. So are patents. Tough.
Nobody can touch the monster because the monster is not actually creating anything, just lawsuits. In fact, I think that makes the monster an American hero, or at least a patriot.
When the patent system finally topples because it is so obvious to all that the system is ridiculous, all the monster’s winnings are made available to fund upcoming inventors in the form of grants.
Initial upfront costs are creating the website, getting the word out, and court fees for the first lawsuits. To initially speed up the process the monster could allow existing patent holders to submit their patents instead of soliciting for just ideas.
Comment by Billy Zelsnack -
I have kicked around this idea for a few years and would love feedback from anyone… Thanks for the opportunity. i understand someone can steal this idea, but currently I do not have the money or guts to start it, so here it is:
20% of emergency room admintance are due to Drug-Drug Interactions.
An individual taking 5 or more medications has an 80% chance of a drug-drug interaction.
The average person over the age of 55 may see 4-5 doctors in one year, none of them effectively communicate the patient’s perscriptions significantly increasing the likelihood of a drug-drug interaction.
Business Name: PharmSult (i just made that up, so I have no idea)
Business Model: Consult individuals on pharmaceutical medication intake to mitigate or eliminate drug-drug interactions so individuals may maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Phase 1 (first 4-6 months): Consult patients on drug uptake.
Individuals are invited to my office with their perscriptions. I consult them on the dangers of drug-drug interactions and ask for a payment of $650-900 based on the number of perscriptions. I investigate all of their perscriptions, OTC medications, and even particular foods (i.e. grapefruit juice is metabolized by the same enzyme many other drugs are metabolized by creating harmful effects)
I instruct them to return in two weeks after I, or a suitable staff member, researches their drugs and known interactives.
Hopefully we identify particular drugs that interact with each other. We might also identify cheaper solutions such as generic brands, therfore saving our clients money.
Phase 2 (6 months after operation): Get insurance companies to pay.
The last part of phase 1 is important to clients due to financial savings, but this may also be helpful in obtaining support and potential endorsements from insurance companies. Identifying generics would save insurance companies money.
How else do we save money for insurance companies? Potentially reducing urgent care/ER visits due to decreased interaction difficulties.
A $1000 service is quite pricey for individuals spending lots of money on medications, so after proving we save clients money and reducing doctor visits, numbers would be crunched and presentations/sales pitches created for insurance companies.
Phase 4 (6-7 years after opening): Genetic background investigations.
We all have 2 copies of every gene, including important xenobiotic metaoblizing genes. But are both expressed? Is one dominant or recessive? Does a client lack the expression of the gene overall?
Gene expression amongst a population follows a bell shaped curve. Pharmaceutial companies shoot for the middle of that curve to maximize profit and ensure it works for the majority of the population.
But it is the outliers that get the shaft. Either they metabolize it too fast (due to both genes being dominant and expressing) resulting in no effect, or they lack the enzyme (both genes are recessive) and the side effects of the drug come into play. Remember Vioxx? Individuals lacking the expression of the gene responsible for metabolism of the drug as well as other lower levels of proteins also needed for metabolism died from taking the proper perscribed dose.
This oculd have been prevented.
Gene Chips are reducing in price as I type. Particular genetic tests are covered by insurance and convincing insurance companies to cover the costs of the genetic tests necessary for our business will be simple. After identifying a client’s genes we can more effectively determine that:
1. Viagara isn’t the best drug for them, Cialis is. We just saved money and side effects from our patient.
2. They are an outlier and their side effects are more prevalent and dramatic due to their genetic background. Viagara is working, but your side effects won’t be present if you take Cialis. We just saved more money.
Start-up costs:
Office Space
Office Furniture
Medical database (such as Harrisons) and Journal Subscriptions
Potential Problems:
Upset doctors for changing perscriptions. This one is a biggie and frightens me the most.
Startup costs are high, but the rewards are huge. After saving several clients selling it to insurance companies should be easy then the business really takes off.
The information is out there and access is simple. The drug companies are required to complete all these checks, but once they pass, they sell it as much as they can. Currently President Obama wants to create a medical database where pharmacies can communicate with each other, but how often does someone speak with the pharmacist one on one about drug usage?
No advertising necessary. Simple consultations identifying individual health problems due to perscription interactions and fixing them will sell itself.
Thanks for your time and I look forward to your feedback.
Comment by Ricky -
Mr. Cuban, I was talking with a friend about an idea I had come up with to provide millions of jobs nationwide and begin paying down the national debt and he told me about the “contest” you had going. Over the past week I have been contacting several of the nations largest corporations to explain my plan and try to get them to implement it. As expected it is extremely hard to be granted an audience with any of them. Just this afternoon I had decided to shift my efforts to contacting my local government to see if there would be anyone interested there. I have been a business owner my whole adult life and like you believe that entrepeneurs are the nations way out of this economic mess. The plan I have is simple as simple can be (which usually works best) and utilizes our nations existing businesses to create new jobs and businesses.
If you owned a struggling car manufacturing company and I could tell you how to make it the largest car manufacturer in the world, which would create a need for the largest sales force, the largest repair division and so on in the world would you be interested in listening? Of course you would!
Its funny how we think we need all these so called business experts or politicians to come up with ideas that work. I believe you have done a brilliant thing here in looking to our entrepeneurial minds for a solution.
I live in the DFW metroplex and would enjoy the opportunity to speak with someone in your organization and get our economy turned around.
Comment by Tom -
The Plan provides for:
– Quality of life
– Reduced personal health costs
– Getting off the Medicaid Grid
– Team ready to put plan into action
Over to you:
http://docs.google.com/View?docID=d5nrds9_1f7tqzwhp&revision=_latest
Thanks for taking a look and taking bull by horns.
Comment by Real Home Comfort Venture -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I’m 15 years old. Before you move on to the next comment due to my age, I would like to pitch a great idea to you. As you could probably guess, teens like myself are deep into technology these days. Whether it’s TV, Ipods, Gaming Devices, we love it all! I would like to pitch a reality show idea to you that in my opinion would not only be a big hit to teenagers, but also to adults. The show would be about a small group of teenagers that are always constantly connected with their friends through facebook or texting. This group of teenagers would have to be sent off to a homeschool on a farm for one month without telephones, computers, electricity! Please get back to me with your thoughts and if this idea doesn’t appeal to you, I have many more that will.
Thanks a ton Mark!
-Jake
Comment by jake teichman -
Mr. Cuban,
Recently my nephew visited me from Louisiana and he said, the children in my class can barely read, I am one of the best readers in my class–He’s in the 11th grade. I have been heartbroken for several years now because so many of our youth are graduating from high school and cannot read. I recently wondered how I could start a new non-profit that I would name READ ALL ABOUT IT! Where I get youth nation-wide in a program that encourages them to read or help them learn or improve their reading skills. Think about it if they graduate barely or not knowing how to read–what hope will their children have?? I understand that something will have to be sold to make a profit. I taught myself how to restore and build/upgrade computers, well I would some how gather older computers and have the youth help me restore them and teach them how to restore the computers and we would sell the computers we built (maybe at flea markets on the weekend) and use the money to purchase our books and in the end they will know how to build/upgrade computers and learn/improve on their reading skills. I also want to help children in the in the foster care/adoption system.
About me:
[I am a mother of 4 children that has been unemployed for almost 2 years, I recently went back to school to learn a trade or get a certificate to help strenghten my job skills. I am burned out from working for a couple of months and then being laid off or “job assignment ending” so I have recently taken Real Estate Courses and am soon to get my License. (I know that the market isn’t looking promising right now but I am holding out on my prayers that God will bless me to sell when I receive my license.) I also have been taking Web Design classes so that I will be able to make and sell websites. I want to have a job that I will not always be away from my children and be flexible to schedule my day around them. My ideal job is to work from home.]
Comment by E. E. -
Detroit has huge empty industrial buildings near the water and rail lines.
Lets store oil in them during the next oil market contango.
Comment by Tommy -
Here is my buisness plan.
Horror is a genera that has been widley ignored, yet is very financially stable.
We run a Horror DVD show called Darkest Corners. The reason for DVD is simple. Fangoria, and Rue Morgue are the only competetors we have, and they are in paper form. Due to the economy, and lack of “Reading” interest, their sales have been falling. Which gives us the perfect opertunity to come in and take over that fan base.
Darkest Corners deals with all things horror in a veriaty show format. It has skits, spoofs, interviews, and musical guests. Not to mention all the info you could ever want dealing with horror.
We intend on selling in specialty stores,(Spencers, Hot Topic, ect…) also video stores and so on.
DVDs have low overhead and is mainly profit. It can only be a win-win situation.
Jason
Darkest Corners
Comment by Jason Teltow -
Mr. Cuban, my wife, daughter, and I import multi-task compact skid steer loaders from Australia. We, as well, sell propane conversion kits for outdoor power equipment, mowers, etc. We are at a point that we have done a lot of the ground work and have several bid opportunities with various ISD’s in the area as well as several Parks and Recreation Departments. Commercial Landscape Companies will be moving into the propane conversion because the propane is more efficient and has a much smaller service cost. The opportunities will be for both the compact skid steer and the propane conversion kits. The customer education level needed for the propane kits takes a little time, however, some of the major engine manufacturers are including propane conversions as part of their technical up-date schools. The state propane association is starting to offer rebates to commerical users that do the conversions.
The compact skid steer will become a much needed addition to landscape installers due to the reduction of the size of each job. People will tend to do more smaller additions instead of moving or doing large landscape renovations. These units will help the installers become much more efficient and cost effective. They will be able to handle the reduction in work load by reducing the cost of doing the jobs. Therefore, either bid lower and do the job more efficently or do fewer jobs but at a higher profit. We have an exclusive agreement with Kanga for Texas, OK, AR, CO, and NM with an understanding that as we grow the agreement will extend into the rest of the country.
Spring is the typical time all of the above comes into play. We are building a business that is long term and will expand into the surrounding states. The parts and labor potential is super.
Our plan is to put one of the Kanga units at several dealers for the exposure as well as an opportunity for the dealers to increase thier bottom line. This will have a multiplyer effect by enabling the landscapers to increase their profit from both the Kanga and the propane conversion. This in turn will mean we will need to add service people, parts people, and sales people.
We have put everything we have into this business to get this far and we need backing to get to the next level. Visit http://www.powerscapeequipment.com for additional information.
Thank you for your consideration,
Bill Garrett
Comment by William Garrett -
Hey Mark. MFFL fan here.
My idea will save lives for millions of fire fighters, police officers, and soldiers. Uniforms with a built-in GPS.
Think back to 9/11 and all the brave service man that put their life on the line. I believe it would have been beneficial for chiefs, captains to know where there guys/girls where located.
Another great example is keeping up with the brave forest fire fighters out west. How great would it be to have a mobile device or laptop to track and monitor the location of the fighters!!
Thanks for this great opportunity. God Bless
Greg #1 MFFL
Comment by Greg Shadowens -
Mark,
Great idea! I spend all day trying to come up with new and good ideas to improve my company. I get home and hear about your offer and now I am back at it.
I run a small-mid sized textile recycling business here in Dallas. We have been around for over 15 years and are profitable. I took over as GM in 2006 and we have been rolling like gangbusters ever since.
I have run into a few limitations…one piece of equipment and space. We are a full fledged company with all of the necessary machinery but would benefit from a machine that we don’t have.
The equipment investment is a challenge for us because the entire amount is required and we don’t have that kind of cash flow. The machine would get create 4-5 low-level jobs immediately and more as sales continued and increased.
I have put together some preliminary info. If this sounds like something that you want to know about in more detail…let me know.
Ideally, we could work something out for an equipment loan and after we proved our worth you might help me on getting out of my lease and into a bigger place. Those property managers are tough.
Let me know what you think,
Thanks,
Grant
Executive Summary
Metroplex Waste, Inc. a private Dallas Texas Corporation manufactures and distributes cloth wiping rags to wholesalers and end-users throughout the United States. Founded in 1993 by President/CEO Russell Parks, in his garage with little to no capital, the Company has grown into a $2 Million Per Year Company with 26 employees currently and ten more scheduled to be hired February 2009. Metroplex Waste, Inc. has been profitable every year since its inception.
The company purchases used clothing that has been donated to charity and cuts the items into rags. The rags are then sold to industrial suppliers or users.
General Company Description
Metroplex Waste, Inc. manufactures and distributes cloth wiping rags to customers nationwide.
Mission Statement: We strive to provide the highest level of service and product standards coupled with the most competitive pricing in the cloth wiping rag industry. Competitive pricing and superior service will ensure a stable and strong financial future for the company and the employees.
The continuing goal of Metroplex Waste, Inc. is increased market share & profitability. As our competitors age, these companies die off or fade away…their attrition is one facet of our growth. Each of the following year’s sales and company growth has been strong: 73% growth in 2007 and 26% growth in 2008. Sales growth objective for 2009 is 20%.
It is our daily goal to find the best product available at the best input prices and profitably convert these materials into sales revenues. Increasing vendors and vendor contact is an invaluable tool to maintain the lowest input pricing on materials and supplies.
The current customer base includes customers at the manufacturing, wholesale and retail customer levels as well as a strong internet presence. We supply many other wiping cloth companies with baled product. The majority of sales volume is derived from sales of boxed wiping rags to wholesale/distributor level customers. Industries of current customers include Wiping Cloth Manufacturers and Distributors, Industrial Supply Stores, Paint Wholesalers and Retailers, Manufacturing Plants, Oil Field and Supply and generally anyone with a dirty job. Operating under various domains on the internet: metroplexwaste.com, kingofrags.com, whiteknit.com, texasrags.com, floridarags.com and reclaimedtextiles.net as well as through our eBay store, sales through the internet were over $20k. The websites, eBay store and entire internet presence is developed and managed in-house.
The wiping cloth manufacturing industry has a long history in Dallas. At this time there are only two other large-scale “rag-houses” in DFW with the other two generating the majority of revenue from the export of clothing.
The reclaimed textile model is a cradle-to-grave concept. Unwanted clothing is donated to charity. Bulk clothing is then sold by charities such as Goodwill to exporters and/or graders. In the grading process, clothing is sorted, graded and baled. The product that the exporters do not send overseas then comes into the reclaimed textiles stream where wiping rag manufacturers buy baled clothing and cut the items into rag-size pieces. The rags are then packaged in boxes or bales depending on the customer orders and inventory levels.
The industry in general and our company specifically is open for tremendous growth. As the country becomes more and more focused on reducing landfill space, more municipalities will recycle reclaimed textiles to generate income and reduce landfill usage. More textiles coming into the reclaimed textile stream will input costs and increase profitability.
Metroplex Waste, Inc. has a foundation of service and quality products to its customers. The accounts have all been personally opened and managed by Company Founder/CEO Russell Parks or long-time employee Grant Wiscour, Vice-President/General Manager. Opening and maintaining the accounts gives the personal attention and the industry knowledge required to maintain a stable and consistent financial company state.
Products and Services
Cloth wiping rags are our core business. The recycled paint rags that you may have seen in the paint store were probably from our plant. Specific products include: White Knit, Colored Knit, Surgical Towels, Flannel, White Sheets, White Flannel, White Terry Towels, White Washcloth, Denim, #1 White, #1 Color, Corduroy, Sweatshirts, etc. Each product has certain strengths and works for different tasks.
The product line is not glamorous but it is necessary and useful. We also supply several supply chains with our “King of Rags” brand rags. These rags are packed a box with “King of Rags” logos and feature/benefit information. Additionally, we provide private label packaging for national paint stores.
Wiping rags are priced by the pound and are typically sold in ten, twenty-five or fifty pound boxes.
Typical orders range from 500-2,000 lbs. with consistent orders for truckloads at a time. Product costs are established by adding the cost of the raw product and adding the cost per pound to cut and box the product. Daily reports are kept on productivity to ensure proper manufacturing costs. Operational/administration and shipping costs are also added. Sales prices are targeted at a 35-40% product mark-up but are more often determined based on the competitor’s price. Average profitability is @ 35%.
Marketing Plan
The United States is a bastion of wiping cloth customers. Our company focuses on small and mid-sized customers in the Texas and Southwest region due to freight/transportation costs. As manufacturers we can often overcome the freight/shipping costs to far-away customers who have been buying from distributors. Manufacturer direct pricing is used when needed to get the business.
In late 2006, the Company began selling trailer loads of baled wiping cloth nationwide. The larger size of the tickets ($8-20k each) helped bring very strong growth to company. Sales for 2008 were $2,204,396, for 2007 Sales were $1,752,475 and for 2006 Sales were $891,053.
Wiper Bagger
Throughout the history of the company changes and improvements have helped the company grow and sustain employee growth. Automation of equipment and processes increase production and capabilities in a manufacturing environment. The equipment that we are seeking, a “Wiper Bagger”, is only made by overseas firms. These firms require 100% payment prior to shipping the machinery. The pre-payment to an overseas firm is a financial stretch to say the least and an ominous act at best. More explanations of the wiper bagger and processes are in the Marketing Plan Section.
We have begun to see limits in sales potential to mid-sized customers due to a new packaging concept; bagged wiping rags. A segment of rag buyers, 20-30%, prefer the poly-bags to boxes. The majority of our sales consist of boxed wiping rags. After the item is cut into rags, our packaging employees place the rags in the appropriate box, weigh the box to a specified weight and then staple the box closed.
Our competitors have acquired “Wiper Bagger Machines”. The wiper bagger automatically takes the rags, compresses them more than possible by hand, and then stuffs them in a plastic bag. The factory automation, the cost reduction in switching to poly-bags from cardboard boxes and the savings on shipping all make the wiper bagger an envied piece of equipment. Cost of wiper bagger @ $60k, value = unlimited. We have compiled a database of rag buyers as well as those who use only buy the rags in poly-bags. Obtaining and servicing the customers is not and will not be an issue. The machinery is the only hurdle. Immediate sales efforts to get the poly-bag customers will begin once equipment is installed. Within hours, in all likelihood, we will have orders for product made by the equipment. All poly-bags will also carry the “King of Rags” logo and branding to further our position in the marketplace.
Space Limitations
A larger facility for the manufacturing & processing would provide more space and electrical connections and provide for more sustainable employees. The current building can provide for a maximum of 50 employees.
Additional opportunities are apparent in the sale of trailer loads of baled rags. Our large buying power and Dallas location put us in a strong position to sell cut or uncut wiping rags to raghouses nationwide.
Through our 15 years of manufacturing wiping rags we have continued to improve processes and reduce costs. We are only limited by equipment and building size. The current 15k sq. foot building is nearing maximum capacity for employees and cutting machines. Our current lease will expire in two more years at which time we plan to move to a much larger facility further increasing the number of employees, company size and productivity.
Competition
Customers who use or sell cloth wiping rags may have at one time used red shop rags from their uniform rental company or paper towels. Industrial uses will typically always buy the cloth wiping rags either from us or a competitor. Our competitors are local rag manufacturers and supply stores nationwide.
Comment by Grant Wiscour -
Thank you for the opportunity to submit my business for your consideration. I have a company that is built on a very innovative idea. In a nut shell, this is the concept:
We have created an affordable mode of advertising for small businesses. We strategically place indoor, high definition digital billboards, in high traffic areas around the metroplex. Example; Gas stations/convenient store counters, and bars at resturants like TGI Fridays, Chilli’s etc…
What makes this endeavor so unique and affordable is that we simply use 15-17 inch digital picture frames that have recently become popular for home use. We call them “digital billboards”. The ads are as low as $100 per month. As many as 30 ads are played in a continuous loop during the business hours of select locations. The digital picture frames are relatively inexpensive (approximately $200 each) and come in a variety of styles and colors. Our goal is to place at least 100 units within the DFW market. This concept is inexpensive to start up, and the savings are passed on to the business owner that wants exposure for his/her business. The rate of return creates a sustainable business with the ability to hire employees to create and develop ads, sell our marketing solution, install and monitor equipment, and secure select locations. With your help, we can boost the economy, grow small businesses, and change the world, one picture frame at a time.
Comment by Aubrey Presley -
I know a top 25 Texas law firm that is interested in joining forces in your plan; concept would be free legal services to the venture at the point you invest and to the point of profitability(90 days) to be sure the business is set up properly and well advised. I don’t have all the details and cant know them due to the nature of each deal but its a value add on to your investment, to the business and to the law firm who want the long term relationship. Let me know if you would like to discuss further.
Comment by Steve -
Mark –
Here’s my pitch – It’s an existing photography business that I have. I currently do weddings, birthday parties, sports, just about anything that I can do or get people to buy.
I have a two pronged plan – Part A of the plan is expand into Sports team and individual photos. However in order to that I need to be able to market more (I have a day job, so time is limited). The parents are willing to pay a decent price for this – too many of the photographers that currently offer / do this type of work charge too much for the prints, don’t provide parents with digital images or hire people who aren’t “photographers” to shot the pictures – so you end up with a cookie cutter approach. – My differentiation would be on price (I can produce a 8×10 sheet of photos for $.29 and sell it for $10.00, which is less than the competition.), quality and service. Most of the sports companies require parents to pay up front, whereas I would allow parents to view photos on-line at no charge, and order only what they want.
Plan B – or the 2nd prong is to market my services to preschools and daycare centers – same concept – most of the photos that are taken at those are cookie cutter. Get the kids in / out with the same 2 poses for all and the same boring backgrounds. Again, most require payment in advance or they print a package for the parents and then the parents have to return what they don’t buy (wasteful at best). The other side of the competition is highly customized photography which charges parents an arm and a leg (literally) for a photo. My ideal would be to position my business between the two and offer customized photos at discount prices.
I would estimate that with full time marketing I could get 3 – 5 big accounts and turn a decent profit within 60 – 90 days.
Dave
Comment by Dave H -
Pingback: scalability.org » Blog Archive » Open Source Venture Capital by Mark Cuban
Think of the sunpads on boats where women lay out… how about a sunpad of the same durable material that would completely wrap around the outside of a home pool? you could get one with a non slip texture… would be perfect for people hanging out “pool side”, be attractive, and home owners wouldn’t need pool furniture necessarily.. just an idea i had while hanging out on boats this past summer. I’ve put some numbers to it by talking to local pool installers who think it’s a solid idea as well.
thanks
nick
Comment by dozier -
Mr. Mark Cuban
We run a Habitat for Humanity ReStore here in Collin County
We receive new and used donations and sell to the public
the proceeds help us build more houses for families.
We are currently cash flow positive and have been in operations nearly 2 years.
The potential for this ReStore to increase its donations (keeping items from the landfill) and sales (helping people maintain their homes and business for less) and staff ( Transition Services people, truck drivers, clerks, warehouse and store help and more) it hires is pretty great. Our sales are up from a year ago, we just need a bigger place..lots of empty bigger spaces available..the “seed money” would help us get over the “hump”. I am sure we can provide to you the financial reporting you require to include an expanded business plan.
The proceeds…after expenses..and of course paying you back..would go to help us build more houses.
Thanks
Comment by Gary Sharpsteen -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I posted previously but I omitted to include the link for my detailed business plan, so I apologize and here it is:
http://www.anewbraininaboxonline.com/
I really appreciate your wonderful idea, I’m sure a lot of great ideas will become reality because of you, and I’m hoping you will be interested by my project to invest in it and allow us to grow to the next levels. Many thanks.
Julie
Comment by Julie Lesage -
My business idea is to buy up section 8 housing. I will need 10 houses to start. I can expect to rent them for a minimum of $300 a month clear. On the 11th house I will hire local people to do an extreme make over. I will use the guaranteed government rent money to stimulate the local economy by putting people to work. That is my plan.
Comment by Donald -
Mark,
Thank you for this opportunity. I have an art gallery in the DC area. It’s been opened for 6 months. The company is debt free and I can cover all operating costs. With proper marketing funds, I can spread the word to art collectors. The artwork is graffiti inspired, pop art with a few, ready made objects featuring a signed Dr. J basketball. I have provided a link to samples. The artist has been recognized by Newsweek Who’s Next, and featured by PBS and NBC. The art business is a proven, timeless model that has stood the test of time.
Comment by ART GALLERY funding -
Mark I am not an entrepeneur nor do I want your money but I would like your advice and possibly influence on something that has bothered me for many years. The working poor frequently get paid by check, and because they are unable to have a checking account ($100 min.), they go to Walmart or one of the Check cashing places and have to pay a fee to cash their checks. The same occur when they want to pay utility bills as those companies no longer have open stores where bills can be paid. So another fee is extracted. I think this is unconcionable and believe it should be corrected. Any ideas? Thank you
Comment by Ed Hotchkiss -
Mark,
My college buddies and I have a new blackjack model. We came up with the concept while working on an engineering project at UT-Dallas. After graduation, we went our separate ways and laid our dream of being professional gamblers to rest. About a year ago, we took a trip to Bossier City and, with very little practice, did very well. We decided that we were going to give our model a shot and quit our jobs. We now spend most of our time in casinos around North America and have had a great deal of success in Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and several of the smaller casinos around the U.S. like Shreveport, Biloxi, Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods, etc. Our returns this far have been $1.24/$1.00. So far, we have made enough money to travel, pay bills, and support our families. We have made it a point not to dip into the original principle and continue to add to it on a monthly basis. While our model is based around “counting” cards, we do not have “dupes” (people who bet low and count) and “straights” (people who only join the table when the deck is set) which is what the casinos really have a problem with. We all sit at the table and fluctuate our bets in accordance for how the deck is set. Our model is different from the standard because we: A.) Account for the standard deviation of the 52 or so cards that never get dealt and B.) Use a scoring method beyond the normal +1, 0, -1. The one downfall to this method is that missing a card on the standard counting method will only cost you a maximum of 2, where ours can cost the count up to 4 because it is an equation. Here is the method:
Aces:value:1 (counted differently, call them Y)
2-7: value:1 (we will call the number of 2-6’s P for this example)
8-9: value:1 (this will be Z)
10-K:value:1 (called X, counting the number of x’s by fours and each set of four is plugged in to the formula to count as 3)
Now if we were to hypothetically run out a sequence of cards using six decks (312)and plug them in to the formula, we will say there have been 100 cards dealt thus far:
#’s 2 thru 7: 44
#’s 8 thru 9: 28
10 thru K: 21
ACES: 7
Now we plug them in to the formula and play this hand with six players accordingly:
Using this number, we can surmise not only what we expect to be left in the deck, but with 507 we can have a pretty good idea as to not only what the dealer’s hole card is likely to be, but also what cards we can expect if we have to draw cards. I would love to take the opportunity to demonstrate our system to you. It takes very little time and I understand you are a busy man. This is immediately profitable, and I believe it meets all your rules. Thank you for your time.
Comment by Kevin J. -
mark-
1) great idea
2) i am a laker fan
3) your dancing skills, are, shall we say “lacking?”
4) i admire your biz savvy
now that i got that out of the way, and yo know i am not here to kiss-ass.., here is my idea….i know, i know, it does not meet your criteria, but, it is an idea what would benefit society…
name: “prison apprentice” or “prison blues”
type of biz: reality show, based-upon prisoners in various prisons across the US.
idea: prisoners would be given the “opportunity” to enroll in our program. they must be on good behavior for a pre-determined amount of time prior to being considered. they would choose a “career” they wish to pursue when they are released from prison. we would help them achieve that career once released, and perhaps, give them study material while in prison. we would supply them with a place to live, living expenses, once they are released from prison. they will study and/or apprentice and work towards their career goals and will be monitored on a regular basis. if they break the rules or our agreement, they are given a warning, the 2nd time, they are out! 2 strikes and you are outta here! kind of like sheriff joe in arizona! the show would be documented for a reality-based show.
mark, think about this. what does a prisoner have to look forward to once leaving prison? i know, many will return regardless of what opportunities they are given, but,think of the ones who are given a true opportunity and who are given the means, and a mentor to help them!
it would help society.
how do we make $$?? advertising, so, i guess my idea wont work here, but, you gotta give me a thumbs-up for trying mark!
Comment by donald -
God Bless Ameria he will give us the means to save ourselves
Comment by Christa Bass -
Mark, I have a idea and it requires very little cash to start up.
So here is the pitch: Rent Frozen drink machines and chocolate fountians, Each machine cost is between 3-5 k depending on size.
You can rent the machines for $75-$100 per unit per Day.
Most events are Thursday thru Sunday
We would like to have 8 machines 4 of each to get started
cost around 30k to 40k, Weekly income right at 2400, that is renting all 8 at 75, only 4 days a week. In only 3 months we will have made $30,000. What about overhead well there is almost none, and here is why, we already have a place to keep the machines so no storage cost, no employees to pay all, involved make there money from delivery and set up of the units, till all your money is back in your pocket. After 90 days we are paid in full bringing in 10k a month, which we will use to continue to add units to build the sales of our business.
In return for your risk we would offer 25% of our business for a 10 year period.
I have been in sales for 5 years before that I was a Restaurant manager for 20. These items are in high demand every weekend and holiday.
Thank you for you time
Comment by Michael R -
Mark,
Our type of business is going through a large shift. Basically the products we sell have always been sold by weight. New technologies have changed it so we can sell the same products by the square foot. Making our yield of the raw material four times greater or four times the amount of product at the same weight of the original product.
Large General Contractors, Architects and Developers prefer the new product because gives the same look but, has the a quarter of the weight. That allows them to save big dollars on infrastructure costs not to mention labor costs.
The net, net is we sell four times less weight, the customer gets the same amount of coverage and we make four times the profit.
Our costs would be in the new technologies. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $250,000.
I know I’ve been pretty vague but, we’re in a position were saying to much in the wrong environment would cost us our forward thinking edge. Most people in our business are slow to see change, we want to make sure we capitalize on that.
Let me know if you’d like to know more and I’ll worry about how we go about disclosing it.
Thank you,
tjames
Comment by tjames -
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows.
About this rule: I had a couple of months ago a Children NonProfit Organization telling me the same and their sponsors.
They direct deposit the moneys, disbursed it and cancelled the original direct deposit leaving me with a big scam.
Thanks anyway
Comment by Mamamia -
Mark here is my business idea. The plans is in progress. I would like to create a business that sends inspirational text messages to people on a daily basis. It would work like netflix. There would be a monthly fee depending on how many text messages a person would like to receive on a daily basis. These text messages could be anything from religious texts, to inspirational cliches (like posters you might find on the ceiling of a dentists office) to philisophical ideas and be sent at random times durring the day. The idea comes from the thought that people like to feel good. Originally it was going to be an idea aimed at christian people because there always seems to be that moment when someone is feeling bad and then something happens and they feel it was someone looking after them. Imagine getting a text in the middle of a bad day that somehow lifts your spirits. The costs would be minimal. The creation of a website to manage your accounts along with the servers to process all the requests the cost of advertising (my thought on this was direct mail and maybe late night tv ads, also sunday’s papers). Also there could be a deal made with cellular phone companies to add this as a feature or even as an ipod application. The jobs would be minimal at first but if successfull their could be a need for people to manage the accounts and run advertising operations I.T.. My thought on price is $5.00/month depending on the number of texts per day.and if we could get a fraction of the 300+ million americans the profits could be outrageous. we could start small focusing on Fort Worth and then move into the surrounging cities as the profits increase. I think this idea could work to make money and create jobs. Please let me know what you think. like i said the business plan is in progress I am working on putting it together. Thank you David
Comment by David Price -
Save America
All profit put back into grant and loan program to benefit that community annual % paid back to government or private entity that fund initial construction.
Project run by permanet voluneers, all members will be able to make $ and purchase food, clothing and services in a unique way. This program will create : jobs, recycling, affordable childcare,affordable healthcare, education, arts,sports,support groups,charity funding, community improvement,affordable housing, opportunities to learn anything from finance to dancing, through members of your own and surrounding community. Members can increase cash flow, find jobs, learn, teach, start groups, help charities, learn about stocks, get off welfare,build their sense of accomplishment and self worth. Find local service and much more
Who will benefit?
Everyone from seniors to toddlers, putting people in touch with and helping them take pride in their community.
Financial backing would be for physical structure, and storage accomidations, and initial utilities.
Would be an instant releif to areas devistated by natural disaster.
Christa Bass:
Hardworking taxpayer and mother, tired of seeing kids with nothing to do, friends in financial difficuly, families dependent on welfare, people without jobs, rual areas not realizing all of the assets they have among themselves.
Comment by Christa Bass -
Mark, my plan is simple in nature but somewhat complex in practice. I would like to get an old moth-balled Aircraft carrier from the Navy and park it in International Waters off the coast of Southern California and turn it into a Casino. Return on investment would come swiftly as the high rollers head out of Vegas (including the Palms Casino, bankrupting the Maloof Brothers) for the open sea where winings would not be taxed. We would have no laws governing our gaming and could include strip clubs again with no regulations ;), which of course would bring in the proffesional athletes and their bags of money making it rain.
The initial investment will be steep, depending on the cost of securing the Carrier and all of the upgrades to turn it into a first class gaming hall, I figure $350 million to start. We should be able to recover those funds quickly probably in the clubs alone, the girls would work on tips so there is no overhead there.
Please let me know when you can wire the funds and I will supply you with my bank information, you of course will have a pent house suite comp’d any time you like
Comment by Jim -
Spit Up Proof Clothing Line for Babies:
What parent enjoys dressing their kid in the morning only to have them spit up all over their new outift seconds later. Before leaving the house you have used 2 clean outfits.
The idea is to create a baby line of clothing that will be spit up resistant. It could work two ways:
A) Using an outer layer of the shirt that pulls off (disposable) when it gets soiled (and the opportunity to buy replacements) or
B) Creating a fabric (similar to Dri-Fit material) that would not allow spit up to soil the clothing but rather bubble and pull away from the material for easy wipe up. (simialr to how Rain-X would work on your car.)
With A, the design of the clothing would all be color matched as a way to mix match outfits and give the consumer an opportunity to buy “replacements”. Almost like “post-it” but on the shirts (and it has to look slick, can’t be obvious!). Of course the design would also have to be child proof so that the baby would not be able to pull it off themselves.
Thoughts?
Comment by atb -
ok first off i have had this idea for a while. A game store/video store that also rents out its games/videos for say a dollar a day. You could come and sell your games/movies and game memorabelia or buy rent some. I dont know if any other place does this already but i havent seen any that also rent out what they sell. Also if say you rented a game and likes it the price you paid to rent could come off the price of the game. With an investment of 10k and one employee(me) i pretty sure we could make back the investment money plus some in 60 days and a definate increase in profit after 90. I mean think about it with all the people loosing jobs and having more time to do other stuff the gaming market is actually growing. Anyway tell me what you think about it. I also have a few other ideas if you would like to hear them.
Comment by morgan -
Mark,
Apologies in advance for poor grammar and spelling; I’m punching this out furiously in my phone.
Business idea: Design ‘As Seen On TV’ products and sell them… On TV.
Products like ShamWow and others manage to generate tens of millions in revenue in very short time periods by virtue of solving a ‘common man’ need and masterful marketing. We can start an enterprise that focuses almost exclusively on the development of such products with most other company functions outsourced to those that can do a better job. This can be outright profitable in 60 days.
Our aim will be to create products that cost $50 and under, are high quality, and can yield gross margins of +75%. We will use the data from small initial rollouts to determine whether to mass market any given product.
Comment by Stimulate -
I took the time and read through most, but not all of the rsponse blogs to Mr. Cuban’s open invitation.
Mr. Jim Burr, you have it but you don’t even know it. I’m giving this away for free, as Mr. Cuban wants imput and “open source ideas” to help jump start the economy.
Jim- forget anything to do with basketballs and the NBA. You have got it, a “HIT”: ala the Secret Sservice watch. your only problem is that you did not brainstorm enough and add a twist to the product line. By your sales, it is already a hot item. But so ws the first Macintosh Computer as Mr. Cuban can atest to. It was the little pathetic Mac 512K as they called it. But Apple didn’t sit on it, it polished and refined the model, working on it nearly 24-hours a day. Thats what yu have to do, refine and polish constantly, all night and then into the next day and all night again and again and agin until you have a sure fire product hit on your hands, which is hard to achieve. I live in the Santa Barbra area, and ther is one wealthy individual who lives in Montecito, the suburb of S.B., that owns most every major hotel and golf course in the area. He acquired these trophy properties through ONE hit product he invented and devloped some yers back. Most of you will remembr it. Because it still sells today. It was Beanie Babies, and Ty Warner became a multi-millionaire first then a Mark Cuban club member, a billionaire all through one rag doll. But it didn’t happen overnight. He was a salesman first for a line of toys from a manufacturer. then he polished his idea and presented it to the public in a smart way. He started out with Beanie Babies in small boutique stores across the country. It created hype instantly. you see, if he put the line in “Toys or Us” a national chain, it would of lost it’s pep early on. Instead, mothers and kids lines up at all these small stores waiting for hours and hours to get in and buy their Beanie Babies. Screaming and yelling and jumping up and down. It created a fad, hype and the best thing in the worldthat could of happened to Mr. Warner, happened. What do you tink that was?…….. it was the media. they came in and gave him natinal exposure for free because of all the hype.
Mr. Cuban is waiting to hear of just an exciting product or business to invest in. One that is going to knowck him outof his office chair in Dallas, Texas when he is reading the proposal. I don’t know if even I found one yet in all these blogs. But I do wish you all the best of luck. at leaset you are trying. But try harder, refine your proposals to Mark, make it jump right off the page. Do market studies and poresent them in fact. Not fiction or pipe dreams, but wel documented sales like Jim here.
As for Jim, here is what I would immediately do with the line of watches. Add a theme and new title to the product. Call them the Secret Service Girfriend watch and the Secret Service Boyfriend watch. It is a gift watch. tell the potential girfriendor existing girlfriend that I wnat to be your “Secret Service Boyfriend” for life. I will protect you and cherish you and love you allin one. Can I be your “Secret Service Boyfriend?” Then present her with her watch. Say, “This is so you can stay in touch with me.” And for the girls, they can buy their boyfriends a “Secret Service Boyfriend watch.” They’ll give it to them as a gift, because they cherish them as their protector, their Secret Service Boyfriend. The couple now esaroung wearing matching watches a pink for the girls and a dark blue or black watch design for the boys. It will turn into a fad possibly and you Jim will be up in your neck filling orders.
Mr. Cuban can atest to this. Never think about the money Jim. It will come in time. Just fill orders and expand with the capital that comes in. Work on this, retool the idea and see what happens. But remember, their are millions of high school students out their in love and have plenty oftheir parents money just waiting to spend it on the right thing.
Later on – patrick
For allof
Comment by Patrickin SantaBarbara -
Mark,
I hope you will take just a moment and read about my ministry. I will turn the 20th of February. I have been in the ministry since 1967. In 2000, I suffered a heart attack and had to have a quad by-pass. In 2006, I suffered a stroke; in 2007, I suffered a blood clot to the brain resulting in double aneurysm operation. Itold my wife and family good-bye twice within three months. Then, I underwent prostate cancer surgey at MD Anderon. Then I had to have my gauld bladder removed, and lastly, I suffered another heart attack.
Mark, God has placed us al here for a purpose, mine is to assis people who have suffer not because of anything in whey have done. We all face crisis, but when it happens to you, it becomes a disaster. Since 2000, I have comitted my life to servicing people in such conditions.
Mark, here is what I’m asking, if you feel you could help. I established “disasterministries.org” I am a 501c.3 non-profit organization. Until my sickness, I was able to go and send Disaster Chaplains (volunteers) to disaster needs. At the present, I am out of funding. I would like to know if you would be willing to sit down with me and allow me to tell you my story and hear my request in greater details.
Mark, I have served as Chaplain for the Colleyville Lions Club for the past nine years. I can document everything I have shard with you including the Doctors and hospitals. Pat Summerall’s father-in-law was a member of our club. Pat does not know me well, but I believe I could arrange for him to meet with us. Mark, I’m not name dropping just to receive money. I asking for monies because I need the help to continue my ministry until I can obtain federal grants.
Thank you for you gracious time. Please visit my web, it is going through a makeover to meet Washington’s requirement for “Faith Based Grants.”
Sincere,
Ken Cromeans, Th.D. (214.869.8178-cell)
Comment by Ken Cromeans -
Mark,
My Idea is to take old warehouses or other manufacturing facilities that are now standing vacant in our cities and covert them to what might be called “green-tech”. A lot of city centers and downtowns are now abandoned and just waiting to be revitalized. Instead of allowing developers to swoop in (especially before the housing market decline) and build low quality and over priced housing (in areas where jobs have been declining!) we can create facilities that produce energy and food at the same time. These facilities will not rely on pesticides, fertilizers, or chemicals. This will drastically improve the taste and quality of local produce and will not only reduce water consumption, but create jobs AND lower the price of food which will continue to rise especially with increased inflationary pressure. I can go into substantial detail about the necessity of a program like this and the financial return if need be. I have at least one location in mind where this could really work and have spent the last 6 months researching it. I am happy to post the details because it will take a real visionary to pull something like this off and I have yet to see anyone with the real capability to look toward the future with real clarity. This is a socioeconomic program that will make money. There are a few ways in which something like this could be structured and that depends on the investment vs. return. This could have an unimaginable impact if done correctly. Let me know what you think.
Comment by Austin Luckett -
I have a great idea it’s a restaurant business that I think will have a great impact . I have the vision of it being close to the cowboy’s stadium and I know it will be a great venture.
Its not any ordinary dining it will be able to cater for everybody who is willing to spend for the quality not the quantity. The idea is not to have the same old but to bring in the new era with a new view of what our health is all about. Think about there is nothing better than going to a ball game or going on a tour to see what a marvel the new stadium is and get to eat healthy and not have to worry about what meal your going to skill to make up for the junk food you ate on your trip. It sounds all good and I’ telling you its good I will make sure that you do get and give me an opportunity to get this idea that has been bugging me since I left high school but knew that I would not be able to cater for it.
THE PLAN
-Its will employ about ten people not including the various distribution companies that are going to be delivering our product.
-The idea is not only to focus on the foot traffic but to advertise to the various cooperate companies within and also to make deliveries on the nearby office buildings and cater for the major business meeting around the Arlington down town area and if we grow we will expand to other cities.
-The menu is all made out and its very simple and less costly and will be affordable to most families and to companies that are willing to do co-operate dining.
-Once the business is making money and is able to run on its own funds and the loan is paid back you will own 15% of the equity.
-The amount needed is $20,000 and is all based on just what is needed to set up the business.
Comment by bitu -
I’ll keep it simple. Sports bar, I know that there a bunch, but ALL STAR GAME is coming next year . I can promise you with my drive and ideas can turn profits before it comes and after. I know you don’t have time to mess around, and you know what neither do I.
Comment by gene martinez -
i have a sure thing .hands down no bull. it is a soft drink that we used to buy in the 60’s for a nickel a pop and we would spend every nickel we could get to buy it from a old time drugstore. no one has ever came up with it .yes 40 years+ later.so i know it will sell. but i will not give it away .but contact me .once you see this you will flip.
Comment by mark c -
Pingback: The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan–Open Source Funding | Mark Cuban | Voices | AllThingsD
Mark, my idea is to make a “thanksgiving dinner” frozen meal that is sold year round. But what makes this unique is that it is layered. So you have all your thanksgiving staples as each layer. Turkey, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes and gravy and a bread — roll layer — on top.. It’s delicious. And it’s got a great built in tag line — “Why not give THANKS year round?”. It’s gold baby.. gold.
Comment by charlie -
Mark,
I know a guy that been married twenty years and has four kids. A freshman at TCU, a freshman in high school, and four year old twins adopted from Dallas Child Protective Services. He has coached little league sports for nine years. He decided to leave
college his senior year to do a start up door to door trash service for apartment residents that could not carry trash and lift it into a dumpster. Valet trash services lasted 8 years and grew into seventeen cities untill a little friendly competition
took about 35% of the business and he sold out his dream business to a competitor. I think he got a little bored with it although he always said it was pickin up. Ten years have flown by and he says he has another start up idea. It’s a FEED AMERICA LUNCH PROGRAM on a PAY IT FORWARD basis. His plan is to set up old fashion hot dog stands across America city by city offering the best gourmet HOT DOGS,BBQ SAND.,MEATBALL SUBS,CHIPS & DRINKS. If you can’t afford lunch then take a free hot dog and if you can afford lunch then pick your favorite meal and remember you helped pay it forward to a free guy that day as well. Everyone loves hot dogs with mustard, relish,onions and chili. There is 450 hot dogs eaten every second of everyday of every year. Chicago’s O’Hare
airport sold two million hotdogs last year. Home Depot sells up
to 650 a day per store nationally. Last year a hot dog vender paid 360,000 to NY CITY for a street corner on a lease.
Dogs are profitable. On average a hot dog and a bun cost is 35 cents,a meatball sub cost is 46 cents, a BBQ sanwich is 75 cents, chips 20 cents and drinks 18 cents. This is a 500% profit
business that is fun and easy to do. He has Monday-Friday locations that are free rent locations that have high foot traffic. On Saturday you maximize profits by doing flea markets,carnivals,church functions,birthday parties,retail stores,car washes,car dealers & more with the same carts.
There is a small annual fee collected by most cities and the carts
have to meet all city health codes and be inspected annually.
There will also need to be a central office for storage and distribution. Some of these home depots are doing $2500 a day in sales. He also has a plan for corporate sponsorship and maybe some free kids day specials. Your expected ROI is 100% at 60 days and a negotiated part ownership. If this sounds plausible let him
know. I am He.
HOT DOG FACTS : OSCAR MAYER ROLLED OUT ITS FIRST WEINER MOBILE IN
1936 THAT WAS KNOWN AS “LITTLE OSCAR”
Comment by Bill V.- Arlington, Tx -
(Sorry if this comes out as a re-post – I tried posting before, didn’t see it show up)
Dear Mr. Cuban,
A technology that saves millions in hard cost for SMB every year.
Cost savings realize in 6 to 12 months.
One of the major cost burdening enterprises today is the growing and recurring technology cost, both in maintenance and infrastructure.
Many new IT technology promise to dramatically reduce the cost. However, the road to get there requires costly conversion and downtime businesses cannot afford to incur.
When the total sum of resources for technology refresh cannot offset the cost it saves, it becomes a moot point.
DOLFIN technology will achieve a technology refresh at a speed and cost that any business will recognize the immediate savings in a fraction of the ROI period (normally 6 to 12 months). This technology will make CIOs and CTOs fall off their chairs.
Why DOLFIN can do it while others cannot?
DOLFIN uses a disruptive innovation to build Web applications. This is called Application Software Virtualization. Using the 80-20 rule, 80% of the code is virtualized, therefore, the complexity is reduced to zero to 20%. By doing so, the development time is reduced, debugging time is reduced, and the timeline is shortened substantially.
Any company with IT budget 10million dollars or more can realize a savings of 50%. It becomes an attractive idea, a technology refresh welcomed by any IT executive.
Comment by kafung -
I have left you emails before asking advice. I live in a small town about an hour south of Bloomington Indiana, (go hoosiers)Places are closing down here, there are no jobs. I have a degree in Graphic Design but have never really been able to use it cause there isnt much of a use for it here. My wife and I started a screen printing business out of our house. It’s not working, we need a storefront, everyone we have done business with has loved our work and the profit could be huge. Theres only one other screen printer in town and most hate going to them but there isnt much of an option. We have been to banks but no one is loaning to start ups right now. We could use your help, it wouldnt take much and you can have back whatever you put in and Im sure it wouldnt take long. I hope to hear back from you but I know we probably wont…
Jonathan Lee
Tee Shirt Express, LLC.
Comment by Jonathan Lee -
Mark,
Did you see the story about you (and me!) on Channel 8 last night? Here’s the link:
http://www.wfaa.com/video/index.html?nvid=330970
(For others, this is an idea to launch Second Saturday Science, a chance for families to gather on one Saturday a month and work on a science project together at a hardware store.)
I agree with you about Gloria’s idea phone-a-celebrity idea. Gloria, if you see this comment contact me by clicking on my name below this comment. I don’t have Mark’s money, but he’s right that with some time spent on it and some smart management, that it is a good idea.
Maybe I think so because I also have a 5-year-old. In my view, the two strongest ideas on this page are the two related to child rearing. You can take a break from your career during a recession, but you can’t take a break from being a parent!
Mark, I’ve been getting some great feedback since that story was on the air. Everyone thinks Second Saturday Science is a great idea, but all also agree that the idea is much stronger with you and your name behind it than without. I am marching forward with the early steps, but remain hopeful that you’ll get involved.
Thanks!
-Scott
Comment by Scott Yates -
I would like to open a 99 cent store, i have all information about how i can do it and the company could be help me. If you like this idea I can send it my business plan and all information that i have.
This is a great opportinity, if you like my idea…
Julio Ceballos
Dude, they went out of style about 15 years ago. There’s no money in that if you haven’t noticed by the way they’re all shutting down. Dollar Store…loser.
Comment by Danny -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I believe that my company Zigo, Inc., manufacturer of the Zigo Leader Carrier Bike System, can satisfy your requirements. You can see the product at http://www.myzigo.com.
However, until your Standard Terms are posted, it is not possible to say whether this is truly workable. I hope that your project is a great success. However, as you know, requesting that projects be cash flow positive in 60 days reduces the field of start-ups to virtually nil. If you are looking for businesses that “sell something and get paid for it”, it is not likely that one can produce a product or service, sell it, and collect receivables all in a 60 day period.
Best,
Michael Ehrenreich, MD
CEO
SOMA Cycle, Inc. (dba Zigo)
Comment by Michael Ehrenreich -
I posted this over an hour ago. Not sure why it did not appear.
We buy properties (primarily single-family residences), renovate, sell or lease. We locate properties in some form of distress (physical, financial, situational, or emotional). The properties are typically an eye-sore to the community. We do the renovations and put the property back into production.
Our business helps the local economy in 3 ways:
1. by employing local contractors and tradesmen,
2. by renovating dilapidated and failing local houses, and
3. by providing good clean affordable housing to the community.
With the collapse of the financial sectors, financing has become almost impossible for individuals looking to buy affordable housing. Therefore, our strategy focuses on leasing the vast majority of my acquisitions. Like many small businesses, our normal capital sources have diminished. While buying opportunities are strong, lack of capital is halting growth. For the past 12 months, we have kept 2 full-time crews busy maintaining and renovating our properties, not including electricians, plumbers, roofers, foundation repairs, landscapers, carpet vendors, and HVAC service technicians. With the availability of capital, we can continue to provide work and income for local blue-collar workers.
Our basic model functions like this:
Purchase properties at a maximum of 70% of retail value, less repairs (minimum 30% equity after renovations).
Typical time from purchase to rent-ready is approximately 28 days.
Properties are normally in production with a qualified tenant in less than 60 days.
Properties produce positive cash flow after all expenses (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, maintenance and vacancies).
Our proposal to you is as follows:
You would finance the purchase and repairs of the properties. In exchange, you will receive a first position Real Estate Lien Note and Deed of Trust. You will also receive a mortgagee’s title insurance policy along with a hazard insurance policy naming you as the mortgagee.
We will give you a 10% equity position in the company. In addition, you will receive monthly interest payments on the mortgages. We would then share the profits on all rents on a quarterly basis, as well as your portion of the depreciation on all of the properties that you finance.
Here is a link to a short slide presentation that hits some additional high points:
http://www.slideshare.net/jiminvestor/real-estate-plan-dallas-2009
Comment by Bill K -
Equity would be 25%, funding would depend on the amount of jobs you would like to create (up to a point).
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dgrcfq3d_29gffr3rfw
Comment by Adam -
Hello Mr. Cuban ( and everyone else ),
Well for now, I’m just beginning to publish my plan ( on live spaces ), but it’s one that has been in the works for some years, and I am actually just now putting out there for public consumption.
Whilst my plan starts small, it is a national plan which provides growth for all sectors – so the whole 60 days thing might be tough. Still thought, perhaps it’s possible in Mtn. View, California. Anyway, just wanted to poke my head in initially and bookmark this page.
With any luck ( but i’m working a hectic schedule now ), in a few days, i’ll be be able to post the full summary in google docs – in the meantime, gotta get back to work :-s
So let me say Thank Mr. Cuban, for a potential opportunity,
Scott
Comment by Scott V -
Mark,
I first saw your stimulas plan on local news and on their website. I think you have a good idea and you may get a lot of responses. I had an idea that if you starting to get lot of responses you should should captilize on it. You could create a website to promote the idea and have videos business idea that would invite all to share.
Laura
Comment by Laura -
Hello Mark,
I have a business idea that I am willing to post. I am sure not many will “steal” it. Some may try, but we have faith in our idea and have been proving it to be a money maker already.
A few years ago, I entered and won the chance to open as a comic for legend comedy star Louie Anderson at a large auditorium in Minneapolis. I have since gone on to run small rooms in the Minneapolis area producing and performing in stand-upcomedy shows.
It has proven to be a profitable venture and has shown us the other side of “show business”. The down side is that we are putting these shows on at someone else’s club or sports bar. We are receiving as income, the money from the door. We have been charging just ten to fifteen dollars a ticket. Reason one is due to the economy, a ten buck ticket is a deal and secondly, with the economy, folks need a laugh.
Our comedy has been on the clean side and by bringing in fresh new comics, we have been establishing a name for ourselves. The rooms we currently have running have seating for roughly 70 to 80 people. We are constantly turning people away. We have a great marketing program, a website (www.minnehahacomedyclub.com) and have worked out deals with local newspapers and radio. The bad part is in order to get some bigger names, we need a portion (or all) of the liquor and food sales. There is our problem. As of right now, we do not have the funding needed to lease a room and get the liquor license.
That’s where you would come in. I would love nothing more than to show you or one of your reps our ideas. It could be done on a monthly basis like you diagrammed in your plan.
I am looking forward to hearing back from you…
Joe Tanner
Comment by Joe Tanner -
2/11/09
Mark Cuban
Thank you for the opportunity to provide this for your review.
We would appreciate your input and the consideration for our business plan.
This is a new business of 12 months. This is a family owned and operated business. Currently ran by 23-year-old twin brothers. Charles is in college and Dearl runs the daily operation.
We are a custom welding shop that specializes in the following areas:
Proprietary equipment for our customers Unique mezzanine system that sales to the end user at $18 to $28 a square foot
Work Platform used in the air cargo industry
Working on a patent for a safety tool for the oil and gas industry.
Along with all types of material handling products
We currently have 3 certified welders, one designer/ sales person and outside engineering firm. We typical carry $2,000,000 insurance. Our year to date sales is $28,0000 with $400,000.00 out in bids.
Our fixed assets are approx $55,000 equipment and raw material. Which is free and clear. We have NO bank debt and our taxes are current. We have a contract to purchase ¼ of city block in small town west of Metroplex that is in need of sale tax base and employment. There are two small Jr College that will support and provide trained welders on demand and will include in their curriculum our fabrication procedures.
We work on a cash flow bases and all associates work on contract. We find our self-growing day by day and in need of capital purchase (new technology: computers,cad,web design) and raw material. This will help stimulate the national and local economy and create jobs.
When we find our company successful as yours, we will pay this deed forward to others.
Regards,
Dearl and Charles
Pictures and reference upon request
Comment by Dearl -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I applaud you for coming up with your own stimulas package. I’m a retired 53 years old Black female. I own 3 rental properties. They’re old houses. I’m trying to get funding to fix them up to fit the government standard to open a group home for Veterans. There are so many Veterans that’s been mistreated and some of them are living in poverty. i think that’s ashame. I would like to put them in something very nice that they and their family would be proud of.Please help me.
Carolyn Johnson
214-727-9276
Comment by Carolyn Johnson -
Pingback: Give Me Money, Mark Cuban! « Blake Bryan’s Blog
Mr. Cuban, First this is not for my financial gain. I would like to ask you to put your influence towards what I believe would help bounce the economy back and fix the banks and housing situation. Including stimulating the housing and car markets.
It is simple, Banks are in financial crisis. And Many people are losing their homes. The people who want to buy a home with money down and good credit can’t because the Banks are holding up loans. And for that matter because they are holding the money you can’t get a car loan either.
If the Banks would call in all the home loans made in the last 2-3 years offer to refinance them at the lower currant interest rate 4.5 . And any loan that was made with a balloon mortgage, or any other mortgage that doesn’t keep the loan payment at the same price for the life of the loan, should be made so. In this way, most people will have payments they can afford. The banks will have money on these homes coming in , instead the house being foreclosed on. Because there are not as many foreclosures The banks can then start to loan money to others who want to have a home or car with good credit of course. Right now the banks are just holding on to the money. Something needs to happen so they feel they have money coming in and that they can loan money.
If houses are selling, people are working to build them. If cars are selling , People will be working to make them. If these people are working they are putting money into the economy.
Mr. Cuban you have the connections to push a idea like this to the president to cause it to happen. I believe this is a idea that would get the economy back on the right track.
Thank you for this opportunity to put this idea before you.
Comment by Carmalla -
Thanks for the chance, Mark.
This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while although it’s far from novel. Basically it would be a home weatherizing/energy effeciency company. Each customer would get what amounts to a personal trainer (for energy effeciency) who would come to their house, conduct tests and measure waste, and create a plan which could be tracked on our on-line database. The Personal Energy Effeciency Plan (“PEEP”) would focus on areas around the house, electronics/utilities, heating and cooling (including insulation), and water usage. In addition, customers would receive information regarding tax breaks for energy effeciency, green products, and other resources where they could find out more. For an added fee, the could sign up for the monthly newsletter which would contain more recent information (tax updates and energy goings-on in the area). While we would be focused on environment benefit, the company would also be practical and try and save people as much money as possible.
As an added bonus, the company would hire people that had been out of work for over six months and train them over the course of a week. Each employee would be given monitoring devices (allowing them to measure such things as house seals and kw usage for appliances) allowing them to identify areas of savings. Such a hiring practice would benefit from the tax credits given to businesses for hiring the unemployed. Furthermore, the company would also apply to weatherize and create plans for lower income individuals which could be paid for in part by local, state or federal programs.
The employees would be subject to testing, but ultimately would act as independent contractors, splitting profits 50/50 for each house they visit. (Appointments and payment would flow through the center, however).
The overhead of such a project is basically nothing. A few strategically placed fliers (parks, coffee shops, farmer’s markets, grocery stores, public spaces, etc.), the creation of a website, and the purchase of some tools for effeciency monitoring. Most of the research needed to come up with PEEPs is already done (by me).
I’m thinking we could charge $50 per home, with an additional $10 for the continued update service. For most people, average saving per year would be well in excess of such a number making it a smart investment. I know that most people don’t think long term like that, but that would be the focus of our sales pitch.
I realize that this isn’t a new idea, but I think it’s a different way of doing things which is beneficial to the consumer, and incentivizes the employees to generate revenue. Home audits are done for free by some utilities, but they are shoddy and do nothing in terms of crafting an actual, comprehensive savings plan.
As an open-source project, I’m perfectly happy if someone copies this. By nature this is a local business model which could be put in play all over the country. So long as they aren’t in my area, I’m more that happy if other people use the model. I’d be flattered. Anyhow, I’d like to hear you thoughts. Thanks in advance.
Charles
Comment by Charles -
This may be a dumb question, but I am not a computer person. Is this where we submit our plan, for you to look at?
Comment by Pamela Varga -
New teenage drivers are taught driver safety in classes, log many hours of driving time with their parents or instructors, and pass a driving skills proficiency test. These are drivers road-ready.
What is missing?
The ability to care for the automobile.
Do ALL new drivers know how to simply check their tire air pressure?
If the answer is NO, then these drivers are not road-ready.
With teenagers increasingly in single parent homes and distracted by computers, the internet and video games – fewer children are taught the BASICS of car care that are essentially for safely operating a vehicle. Even with involved parents – I’m not sure about you – but in my teenage years the last thing I wanted to do was listen to my parents.
The idea is to partner up with a local mechanic to have a 1-hr/week, 4-week course in BASIC car care. This will be done after-hours in the model of private driving schools. The shop is normally sitting empty during this time, losing money, so this should not be a hard sell.
The next step is to sell the class to parents. The initial incentives are safer drivers and less depreciation on their car. Long-term incentives could be established with insurance companies such that drivers graduating the course might receive discounts on their premiums (e.g., The Good Driver Discount). This is when significant financial growth could happen. In addition to being a good business, this is also good for society. Pressure could be put on states to make such classes mandatory as with private driving schools.
It wouldn’t take much to get this started, enough for grassroots marketing and the time cost of creating a curriculum. It could be even in 60d, profitable in 90d with the potential for long-term growth.
Comment by adam -
Mark:
Thanks for opening up this dialogue. It is a great forum for entrepreneurs to present their ideas. But, if I want to help out someone else, how can I contact them? Or is contact available to you only?
Comment by Michael Choate -
Mr. Cuban, I love your idea and the philosophies that frame the rules.
My wife and I started this business in August 2008, and we experienced positive cashflow in September. Our products are very popular at retail trade shows, and we have 14 small retailers we sell to wholesale in the DFW area. Our website (above) is self-explanatory. If you would like to view a short video of the trip to Africa that started this, go to http://www.5guysinuganda.com
Our vision is simple. Millions of Americans donate money to Africa to help children and others. But the next step for the supported is to support themselves through their skills and talents. We provide a market for them to do so. We are NOT a non-profit, as we believe that everyone should make a profit in this process. This is the only way to break the cycle of poverty and help people recognize their potential. The difference is what we do with profit.
We have a high-potential product, but we need significant funding to convert it to a nationwide network of wholesale customers. I understand that you may view this as contributing more to Africa than the USA. That’s half true. But it also (a) supports the U.S. retail industry with competitive products; (b) supports the vendors we use for business services; (c) supports local events and schools as we pay for sponsorships and selling space; and (d) supports my family and me.
If you deem us a viable business, we will work hard to deliver on our covenants with you, our African partners, and ourselves. After hearing of your idea, I wanted to get this to you quickly. We will post a plan once I convert our current information to a P&L format. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Brett Fuller
Comment by Brett and Shauna Fuller -
(This is a repost since our computers were showing that nothing was posted earlier today. Our apologies if this shows up multiple times on the blog, as we are not trying to flood the webpage.)
Mark,
My name is Sam Clymer, and I believe that our concept, which is already in existence, would be something of great interest to you. We might even be one of the only businesses you will find on your blog that is designed to THRIVE in today’s economy. Here goes…
With things in the condition they are in today, the everyday citizen can no longer justify the spending of their hard-earned money on optional products, services or entertainment. This is even more the case when it comes to new parents. There are just so many needs that a new child has that cannot be sacrificed, placing even greater stress on the family.
One of the most frustrating expenses that will occur with every new child is that of clothing. This is simply because of the rate at which a young child grows, especially in the first couple of years. So often, parents are forced into buying items that will only be worn for a short period of time, only to become useless and, at best, be of little value at your local garage sale. Many new families combat this expense by attempting to shop at discount retailers (Wal-Mart/Target), as well as at their local children’s consignment stores. Unfortunately, discount retailers provide clothing that most parents will tell you is of poor craftsmanship, and consignment stores are only able to offer a limited selection of heavily worn items. Either way, the joy of shopping is sacrificed for the good of the family budget.
This is where my father and I came up with our idea. It’s called The Kidz Outlet, and its first store is currently up and active in Lexington, Kentucky. Please don’t let our name fool you, as we are much more than just an “outlet-styled” store. First and foremost, we are very much like a mini “Marshall’s/TJ MAXX” for=2 0kids. Everything in our store comes in brand new, and are comprised of the same high-quality, name-brand merchandise that you would find at your local “big-name” department stores. Every single item in our store is priced at 50-80% off retail, everyday of the year. This already makes us an affordable option for parents, any day of the year. But we wanted to go further, and we found a way with “The Kidz Closet Club”. Let me explain…
“The Kidz Closet Club” is an innovative program we designed to separate us from the competition. We also designed it to give back to the community. It allows us to provide UNLIMITED, high-quality clothing to parents at pricing well below what they would spend in a consignment store! The formula we us is based on the same system “Netflix” uses, which as you may already know, is the very popular mail-order DVD company. Our “club” is a non-contract, month-to-month membership program that members can modify (upgrade/downgrade) or cancel at anytime, making it pressure free. How it works is pretty simple. Members don’t own the clothing…they simply borrow what they want/need, and exchange these items for newer/different ones whenever they want. And just like “Netflix”, they can keep items a s long as they wish with no late fees, but can also exchange them as often as they want as well. All they have to remember is to have their membership fees paid on time every month, and that’s it. Parents have their choice from four available membership plans, each having a threshold that limits the parents as to how much they can have checked out of our store at any one time. Our lowest plan, the “Basic” is for only $19.95/mo, and lets the parent/member have up to $150.00-worth of clothing checked out at any one time. What’s amazing is that if they swapped their clothing items often enough, they could easily exceed $1000.00-worth of clothing in one month, all without spending anything more than their original $19.95! When the items are returned to the store by the member, they are actually placed back on the floor, barring that they are in good condition. These previously used items now have a specially-designed sales tag (red-colored) alerting all members as well as our everyday shoppers that the item they are looking at has had previous usage. The item though, is still available for re-rental or for sale, but now at a CONSIGNMENT-level price. This helps us unload the lightly used items to replace them with newer ones.
Now, you obviously would want to know ho w this makes profit. It is all in how we purchase. We have standing contracts with major players in the retail industry that allow us access to seasonal changes from department stores that we all have shopped at in our local malls. We usually purchase our product at a price of around 10-15% of the items original retail values (we usually sell most items for 50% off original retail, just so you see the numbers here…). This allows us to price our clothing/toys in such a way that we can cut products to the bone and still make great profits. Using the club program, a member (based on what I have witnessed so far) keeps the items on average for about 2 months. This means, while these items are out, I am not only receiving membership dues on items they don’t own, I also get these items back to sell at a market-consignment price of about 20-30% of the item’s original retail value. So in perfect theory, we continue to make the same amount we would have on the items if they had sold at our usual 50%-off prices, but are now able to provide so much more to the customer than before.
Let us not forget to mention that we also have a specially customized Point-Of-Sale system that you more than likely will not find at your local “Best Buy” store! This=2 0took many months to design, since it requires a lot of customization to manage each person’s account and to track what items they have out, etc… Too much to explain on your blog without losing your attention, but would be happy to explain it in further detail to you any time.
In closing, we feel that this not only answers your request for creating jobs for people, but also helps provide some relief for the everyday family that has no other reasonable choice with their children. This gives EVERY family of EVERY income the chance to clothe their child in new, high-quality clothing for less than they would spend anywhere else!
Our request to you is this: We know that with our first store (4000 SQ/good traffic area), we can without a doubt meet your 60/90-day expectations. This is because we are not only already up and running, but have a great start in owned inventory, etc… What we need is a boost to aggressively improve our marketing (which to this day we have only spent a total of a few thousand dollars on…), maintain the proper amount of staff (w e, the owners, work 7 days a week right now…), and to maintain payments on our warehouse facility, where our merchandise is prepared.
We also feel that this would be best designed as a two step program with you, should you decide to help us. We want to first focus on finishing proving out our concept for 90 days with a smaller investment ($150,000/10% equity to you), then reconviene with you at the end of the 3 months to discuss a possible expansion to a much larger level, with an equity level and other terms to be negotiated.
This is a win/win for so many people. We hope you feel the same. Thanks for your time Mark.
Comment by Sam Clymer -
Mark:
I have recently been layed off for the 4th time in the last 8 years. I now have the time to pursue other ventures – just not the cashflow. My degree is in Personal Financial Planning from an accredited University in Texas. I am married, with children.
…My proposal:
My proposal is to trade International Currencies. It doesn’t matter what the US Dollar is doing. The trading is opportune, no matter where you live.
I need software ($3,500), access to the exchange($100/month), and seed money of approximately $7,000(incrementally) to start.
Software – $3,500
Monthly Access – $100 X 3 months = $300
Month #1 – $2,333.33
Month #2 – $2,333.33
Month #3 – $2,333.33
Total Investment $10,800
30 Days – 10% Return
45 Days – 50% Return
60 Days – Breakeven
75 Days – 10% Return
90 Days – 25% Return
The split would be 51% for my sweat equity and 49% to you for use of your funds. I should be able to break even in 60 days and begin returning a profit of 20% within 90 days. I want the option to buyout your share within 2 years or less. Let me know what you think.
Comment by S. L. Powitzky -
Mark,
#2 says the business cannot generate any revenue from advertising. This seems to be intended to deter websites that rely on ads. So it probably disqualifies the below:
I had hoped to present an advertising platform for ocap/tru2way that ports the innovations of web advertising to tv. I investigated it a while back but the dev tools are very expensive, very proprietary. Using customer billing info , unicast ads could be very targetted using age, sex, location, viewing habits,etc… I made a demo using the java stubs and made a web interface where the user could upload their ads and manage campaigns but moved on to other things after they renamed it to tru2way and doubted it would ever get deployed.
Another idea would be an app store/sand box for itv apps.
It would be very hard to hit your milestones as MSO’s act very slow but thought I would post anyways. I do enjoy your blog and hoped to participate in the discussion.
Thoughts?
Comment by Crom -
Dear Mark,
I am a Real Estate Broker in Manhattan, NYC.
Starting last year, like in most places in the USA, the Real Estate Values have been falling and Foreclosures rising.
One of the reasons the Values in Manhattan have taken the longest time to level out and in some cases decline is how well everything is financed with most people needing 20% down to purchase an apartment. Condos and Co-Operatives(Stock shares) are common place, rigerously review new owners and approve sales.
I would like to start a company that will put people back in their houses, and fill up bankrupt and/or forclosed homes with buyers or renters. The cash flow would come from being able to offer a lower then market rent, by buying down the mortgage into a manageble ratio for that home owner/renter. Ideally, the people that abondoned a house will have the first chance to reoccupy.
The company would earn money from a monthly payment, plus the appreciation on what ever % stake in the home was purchased, when the home is eventually sold. Or the company could retain a 10-20%+ stock in the house and that would essientially lower the buying price, with a new owner being able to buy back the % owned by the company. Selling the % in a stronger market at anytime or with some interest back to the owner.
It’s like turning the home into a Co-Op which are plentiful in Manhattan. Outside investors could also buy out the companies shares in the home for a profit.
Acting much like a Tax Lein on a house.
Each house/property would be reviewed case by case and could be assigned a risk value.
The amount of information needed simply to rent an apartment in Manhattan is more rigerous then purchasing in 98% of the Country. To Rent an apartment all tenants needs to earn 40 times the monthly rent as annual income, if they dont qualify they need a co-signer earning 80 times that monthly number. This number is even higher in some buildings, and still a high credit score is needed. I have many Real Estate Finance friends that agree this can be done in Markets all over the country. We actually figured we could clean up , or erase the bottom 5 Million bad or failing mortgages with that $350M govt stimulus that in theory would really go back to the banks. Obviously, new rates would have to be negociated with Banks in some case. But Banks should be willing to get income strems from these propereties that are currently distressed.
For example:
Someone with a $200K house, gets into trouble with 10% down purchasing…$180K mortgage, at roughly 5-1/2% = $1125/mo,
$300 maintenance/mo = $1325/mo.
-The owner now might not afford the afford the $1325/mo,
and the home could rent for $1300-$1400/mo
(rental values would affect the numbers needed)
This company would purchase 10-15% of the house, adjusting the owners monthly payment to $1150/mo., with 25% down. Making it easier for the owner and/or more flexiblity to put it on the market to rent.
Money can also be made on Broker Fees and Property Management.
It’s good for the renters, good for buyers, cleans up deserted commumities, and creates a management company that fixes the most troubled mortgages. We have figured out a 5%-20% return per home.
Please let me know what you think…We are ready to talk over a steak dinner.
Thank you for your time,
Justin B. Kotcher
Comment by Justin Kotcher -
Create a Currency.
I have a very simple idea that was biased on an economic model that seemed to work during the great depression. I read about towns and counties that used their own currency to maintain employment during the depression. My plan is very simple. I have been trading services with many friends since I was laid off from a software company.
I purpose to build a web site that would run off a currency called Cubans. Everyone in a county or city phone book would start off with $100 Cubans of this new currency and an account on the system.
1. The web site would have a phone book – directory listed with local businesses and individuals that accept Cubans.
2. The web site would also offer the ability to list items for sale and their price in Cubans.
3. Any municipality could license this new system and set up a community account on the server. The system would be free of charge for under 10,000 users and then would require a scaled license deal.
4. All transactions could include a review form to keep individual honest. Since your account is based on your phone book entry you would not be able to
Why this would work?
1. It is not dependent on the dollar. If the dollar loses or gains value in New York then so what.
2. It puts new purchasing power directly into the hands of consumers local without costing a dollar.
3. It creates a method for people to meet their basic needs without being dependent on the monetary policy of banks, federal reserve, or local taxes.
4. Everyone starts over. If you owe money, have bad credit, or mortgage problems then they don’t follow you into this new economy.
5. It gives the unemployed a way to gain resources on days that they can not acquire dollars.
6. It would not cover electric bills, or house payments but for other expenses such as food, clothing, babysitting, manual labor, auto repair it would be great.
7. It would favor and incubate small business and local services which could in turn move into larger – (dollar model businesses) as the economy improves. Larger companies would be unable to compete. GM is not going to sell cars and Countrywide is not going to give loans to people in this currency.
I doubt that this could be profitable within 90 days but I am a PHP/MySQL dev and I have a few friends that I could hire with the money to get this thing moving. Eventually development could be paid for in the same currency “Cubans” that are used to fuel the site. The profit model could be very robust since you will eventually trade an artificial currency – “Cubans” for a real currency “Dollars.”
Comment by Michael Long -
Mark,
May not be a stand alone business but should bring profits. I wanted to do a film project with HDNet. Check out the site, the project is “Leaving The American Dream”. Let me know what you think. Thanks.
Comment by BMiller -
A third-party service for verifying customer testimonials. We would get customer lists from companies and procure testimonials from each customer (through e-mail, telephone, and e-commerce sites directly).
The client would then have a choice of the best testimonials (cherry picking) for placing on their website or they could use overall ratings/rankings.
We would function as an independent auditor for verifying that customer testimonials were real. This would improve consumer confidence the same way e-commerce badges improve conversion.
Would price based upon the customer list and per month for the certification they could place on their website that all testimonials were independently audited and verified.
This would require little investment and is an idea I came up specifically for your requirements. It could easily hit cash flow break-even in 60 days and profitability in 90. The main thing would be your backing and help marketing/promoting it.
From MC> Interesting idea. The question is how much revenue and profit could you generate
Terms are negotiable depending upon any term sheet but you would receive a 5-15% ownership interest.
E-mail me if you have any questions.
Comment by Jared Lamb -
Mark,
Our type of business is going through a large shift. Basically the products we sell have always been sold by weight. New technologies have changed it so we can sell the same products by the square foot. Making our yield of the raw material four times greater or four times the amount of product at the same weight of the original product.
Large General Contractors, Architects and Developers prefer the new product because gives the same look but, has the a quarter of the weight. That allows them to save big dollars on infrastructure costs not to mention labor costs.
The net, net is we sell four times less weight, the customer gets the same amount of coverage and we make four times the profit.
Our costs would be in the new technologies. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $250,000.
I know I’ve been pretty vague but, we’re in a position were saying to much in the wrong environment would cost us our forward thinking edge. Most people in our business are slow to see change, we want to make sure we capitalize on that.
Let me know if you’d like to know more and I’ll worry about how we go about disclosing it.
Thank you,
tjames
Comment by tjames -
Dear Mr. Cuban: In today’s credit crisis private equity will be playing a major roll in financing the needs of business and consumers. We have developed a investment/financing platform that produces
double digit returns, protects the principal, meaning the principal is not at risk, and provides long
term permanent financing with a 30 year fixed rate tied to the 11th district cost of funds(no margin)
Our platform has been in operation since april of 2008 and is currently funding two start up companies. Currently we have $3m working in our platform and to reach an optimum ROI we need
that number to be $10m. If you feel this is something you’d be interested in participating I will
provide you with our confidentiality agreement and summary; if not best of luck with your stimulus plan- it’s creative, imaginative, and should create many opportunities for worthwhile projects.
Take Care,
Jeb Boulware
Comment by jeb boulware -
Hi, Mark. I’m still working on my genius plan for world dom…err I mean profit.
In the meantime, maybe you can help out Elon Musk, the guy from Tesla Motors (teslamotors.com) the all-electric sports car company.
This article explains his situation:
http://valleywag.gawker.com/5151769/elon-musks-electric+car-fantasy
Comment by Ed H -
I started my own retail business last year, after 25 years in the software development business. My store is a unique, adult only, Halloween products store, selling costumes and props to the huge, and growing, adult Halloween market. Halloween is a $5 billion dollar industry, with the adult market the fastest growing.
My problem is that I have financed this business with my own money, and loans using my own capital. However, I could not do the necessary marketing to promote the store last year, since I had to work full time right up to the time I opened the store. This year I need to consentrate on marketing, so I need a small amount of capital to promote the store.
Another business loan would not be a viable solution here, since I will not have any revenues for making the loan payments until October. What I need is an “angel” type of loan. Someone who would like to invest in the company, and expect a return based on profits, or some future payback, such as part-time software development, or other work, in the off season.
I know this is not the “next big thing”, but small business is the backbone of this country’s economy, and I would much rather have my own business than contiunue working for someone else. So, Mr. Cuban, if you are not interested in this, maybe someone you know might be, or someone might read this, and want to help out.
Thanks,
owner of Floating Phantoms
Comment by jsale -
Mark,
Let me ask you this question.
Do you published your ideas?
I don’t think so!!!
If you willing to help people do it for the people not for the profit, It will make you a better person.
Comment by Abdi Erazouki -
Mr Cuban, I’m retired from the USAF and a long time disable vet. I have been trying to get a small business off the ground in this messy recession. I got my idea from the Warrior and Family Support Center at the Brooke Army Medical Center where I volunteer twice a month. They have a donated state of the art computer center and training room set up for the wounded vets and heroes to use for free.
My business Idea is to bring the computer training to the veterans and retirees in the greater San Antonio Area. I could bring computer training to the elderly and disabled people.
My Start up costs would be minimal to set up a small portable network:
1. 7 Low end computers. (about $4K)
2. An 8 port router (about $400)
3. Projector and screen. ( $1000)
As I mentioned my target audience would be people that are “computerly challenged” or handicapped and have no computer skills at all. My rates would be $25 per person for a class of 6. Classes could be 2 hours at a time. I also would do a lot of pro-bono work for those that can’t pay as long as they invite a paying friend.
I could train the elderly on how to use the internet, email, ebay, myspace etc. I know elderly people are curious but mostly afraid of the internet. I would advertise my classes at most rehab centers and retiremenet communities and homes. I could even do group settings like tupperware parties, where friends can come and learn together and have fun learning.
To take it a step further I could teach advanced PC Troubleshooting skills so Vets could learn the skills to work in computer call centers. I have worked in many call centers and could share my experience. Most disabled vets can answer a phone and learn PC Skills.
Let’s Take back tech support from the people in India!
Thanks for listening..
Comment by J Meunier -
There’s no major movie theater in South Oak Cliff. There’s an existing 12 Screen Movie Theater near Southwest Center.
My concept: Movies & More
Target Group: Families w/children (No drop off)
Mission: Cheap Wholesome Family Entertainment
Leave 4 of the existing movie screens
The remaining space used for:
small indoor water park or outdoor playarea (supervised)
arcade
food court
During the summer it could be used as a Day Camp for working parents. Children would not only have access to the facilities but teachers(giving them summer work)could be available for tutoring. They would be paid directly by parents who needed that service
I think this could work because parents are looking for good family places to entertain their children
I’m not business savvy, but I will do my homework on this idea.
Comment by SALEE -
Can someone please make a quiet hair blowdryer for women – I will be your first customer.
Comment by Brad -
Hi, Mark. Here’s my idea for a web start up:
maximumboner.com, the world’s very first “Choose Your Own Boner” website.
How does it work?
Users simply email their selected SAFE FOR WORK photo to me and use PayPal to send me $1! The Maximum Boner staff will then place the picture on the homepage of Maximum Boner until someone else pays $1!
Embarrass your friends! Flatter your girlfriend! Play a joke on your boss! The possibilities are endless here at Maximum Boner.
So, where do you come in? I need to hire a good web programmer to help me automate the site. Basically, I want the site to be completely automatic, so all I have to do is approve each photo (got to keep it safe for work, so that people can use it as an office prank, which is how I envision making most of the money). Also, I’d like to get my own credit card processing thing set up, so PayPal isn’t taking 1/3 of my income anymore.
If you can give me money to hire people to get this going, I will give you 50% of my profits. How’s that sound?
Let me know if you want to help! Thanks.
The Bone Master
Comment by The Bone Master -
Help me get an In-N-Out Burger franchise in Dallas! You can pay me in double-doubles!
Comment by Tim
In-N-Out burgers don’t franchise. They are family owned. Do some research first dumbass.
Comment by Danny -
Hey Mark – how about:
Touchscreens at fast food drive throughs? So, rather than having a fuzzy voice taking (and possibly making gross errors on) your order, you select what you want from an easy-to-use menu.
The PROs:
FF restaurants can serve more customers at once – you could run 2 or 3 touchscreens simultanously (think self-checkout in grocery stores) plus you can accept payment before the customer gets to the window (you ever noticed that extra time it takes for the customer at the window to dig through his pockets for a card, then wait for the employee to swipe the card and hand it back to the cust. with a receipt? I have.)
People who do not speak English natively can still order without an interpreter.
FF restaurants save money in the form of HR for the guy that doesn’t have to be dedicated to window duty.
Restaurants save money in order prep errors due to increased accuracy in the ordering process.
The ability to add on cool features, like a real-time calorie counter so customers could see how much their meal costs in dollars *and* guilt.
The customer base:
There are 178 fast food chains, representing approximately 80,000+ restaurants.
The background:
I know an outdoor kiosk has been tried at a Subway in Ohio but I thnk the flaw, from what I could find, is in the UX design. Even with that, the owner has expressed satisfaction with his purchase. These things would have to be the iPod of fast food.
The need:
The big need would be cash for development of a seamless and easy-to-use UI that will easily integrate with the most popular POS software. After that, the hardware could be built-to-order, so there’s no need to carry excessive inventory.
Numbers:
I’d give up 20% for some decent funding. $20k should be enough to get the UI built and turn a profit in the 90 day time.
Thanks!
Comment by Lewis -
My idea doesn’t fit your criteria, but our country needs a national database of all health care records, and I think Dallas should be at the center of this operation.
It will need computer programmers, database management, administrative personnell–it could really put a lot of people to work.
Comment by Linda Coleman -
I have an idea that I came up with about 4 years ago and kind of neglected it’s promise because I started to teach and coach. I found the Prototype in the garage this past fall and started to use it again and it made my life so much easier as far as yard work is concerned.
This product makes GREEN and COMMON sense and is a backache preventer.
Every garage, every hardware and home improvement store and every lawn service will start to use this product.
It will save people money and get them into the yard to work for themselves. It would hurt Lawn Services in that sense but will help in that they will be able to increase their volume and be able to get in one or two more yards per day in the same time.
I have searched the internet for months and only been able to find one product that even comes close to what I have made as a prototype.
My actual business plan is to travel to Hardware, Lawn Service Companies, Lawn Care repair Service Centers, Home Improvement Stores, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target etc…. to meet with the purchasers to get orders for their outlets.
This product needs no packageing or wrapping of any kind with the exception of a string and a sticker to sale it.
This product will produce revenue in excess of 30x’s the cost it takes to produce, deliver and sale to the customer.
Pre-production costs are a patent.
Production costs are the actual material and hardware.
Production itself will require a cut and dye set, a warehouse to make it and co-employees to produce it.
All that work will be given the opportunity of a lifetime. There is no limit as to how much they will make in the beginning. They are paid for their production and not by the hour.
After a year, producers will be allowed to buy into the original company and branch out to start their own production.
This in turn will give them the opportunity to own their own business without putting any money in to start.
Highest producers will be given the opportunity to take over new small production plant and become self sufficient.
There is now advertising for the product, but the product can advertise the end seller. It doesn’t have to though.
My contact information is Bucky Nance 254-780-6925.
Comment by Clifford "Bucky" Nance -
Mark,
I want to contact one of the bloggers here to discuss their idea…..that is if you’re not interested to help them. Please advise.
Thank You,
K. Steven Adib
Comment by Kaveh Adib -
Mr. Cuban,
As a start-up…I don’t see how a “start-up” can meet rule #3 and #4:
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
If my company (a medical start-up) had the funds to complete our development, I still could not manufacture product and sell it and be CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days or be profitable within 90 days. It would take six months just to get initial inventory manufactured and stocked for sale.
Our technology has the ability to sequence the human genome (all 3 billion base pair) in one day for less than $1,000, an industry goal for some time now. It also has other major medical applications beyond just DNA sequencing that can help create personalized medicine. To date we haven’t been able to attract the attention or interest of anyone in order to secure the funding that is needed to complete our development.
So, it’s just not realistic in my opinion…to meet #3 or #4 in our case, which is sad as our thehnology is better than any out there trying to sequence the human genome.
We know we can win the X Prize for Genomics if we had the funding to complete our development.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Comment by Rance -
We buy properties (primarily single-family residences), renovate, sell or lease. We locate properties in some form of distress (physical, financial, situational, or emotional). The properties are typically an eye-sore to the community. We do the renovations and put the property back into production.
Our business helps the local economy in 3 ways:
1. by employing local contractors and tradesmen,
2. by renovating dilapidated and failing local houses, and
3. by providing good clean affordable housing to the community.
With the collapse of the financial sectors, financing has become almost impossible for individuals looking to buy affordable housing. Therefore, our strategy focuses on leasing the vast majority of my acquisitions. Like many small businesses, our normal capital sources have diminished. While buying opportunities are strong, lack of capital is halting growth. For the past 12 months, we have kept 2 full-time crews busy maintaining and renovating our properties, not including electricians, plumbers, roofers, foundation repairs, landscapers, carpet vendors, and HVAC service technicians. With the availability of capital, we can continue to provide work and income for local blue-collar workers.
Our basic model functions like this:
Purchase properties at a maximum of 70% of retail value, less repairs (minimum 30% equity after renovations).
Typical time from purchase to rent-ready is approximately 28 days.
Properties are normally in production with a qualified tenant in less than 60 days.
Properties produce positive cash flow after all expenses (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, maintenance and vacancies).
Our proposal to you is as follows:
You would finance the purchase and repairs of the properties. In exchange, you will receive a first position Real Estate Lien Note and Deed of Trust. You will also receive a mortgagee’s title insurance policy along with a hazard insurance policy naming you as the mortgagee.
We will give you a 10% equity position in the company. In addition, you will receive monthly interest payments on the mortgages. We would then share the profits on all rents on a quarterly basis, as well as your portion of the depreciation on all of the properties that you finance.
Here is a link to a short slide presentation that hits some additional high points:
We buy properties (primarily single-family residences), renovate, sell or lease. We locate properties in some form of distress (physical, financial, situational, or emotional). The properties are typically an eye-sore to the community. We do the renovations and put the property back into production.
Our business helps the local economy in 3 ways:
1. by employing local contractors and tradesmen,
2. by renovating dilapidated and failing local houses, and
3. by providing good clean affordable housing to the community.
With the collapse of the financial sectors, financing has become almost impossible for individuals looking to buy affordable housing. Therefore, our strategy focuses on leasing the vast majority of my acquisitions. Like many small businesses, our normal capital sources have diminished. While buying opportunities are strong, lack of capital is halting growth. For the past 12 months, we have kept 2 full-time crews busy maintaining and renovating our properties, not including electricians, plumbers, roofers, foundation repairs, landscapers, carpet vendors, and HVAC service technicians. With the availability of capital, we can continue to provide work and income for local blue-collar workers.
Our basic model functions like this:
Purchase properties at a maximum of 70% of retail value, less repairs (minimum 30% equity after renovations).
Typical time from purchase to rent-ready is approximately 28 days.
Properties are normally in production with a qualified tenant in less than 60 days.
Properties produce positive cash flow after all expenses (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, maintenance and vacancies).
Our proposal to you is as follows:
You would finance the purchase and repairs of the properties. In exchange, you will receive a first position Real Estate Lien Note and Deed of Trust. You will also receive a mortgagee’s title insurance policy along with a hazard insurance policy naming you as the mortgagee.
We will give you a 10% equity position in the company. In addition, you will receive monthly interest payments on the mortgages. We would then share the profits on all rents on a quarterly basis, as well as your portion of the depreciation on all of the properties that you finance.
Here is a link to a short slide presentation that hits some additional high points:
http://www.slideshare.net/jiminvestor/real-estate-plan-dallas-2009
Kindest Regards,
Jim
Comment by Jim L. -
Thank you for what you want to do for our economy. I do hope you will take time to read this proposal. Taking care of individuals is our objective.
Thank you for your time.
Comment by Kevin Marcantel -
Mark,
Thanks for the blog. Here is my idea for us:
I think we should start the world’s largest centralized data base for obituaries. Charge a nominal fee of $5 or $10 (or whatever you and I deem the right price) to post an obituary. This way people don’t have to check 10 different newspapers for where the obituary is posted.
The website would be high tech. You could search through the person’s last name, maiden name, first name, city, country, type of death, etc., etc. We could also charge people a nominal fee to become a “member” of our website. Once a member they would receive an email alert when somebody passes in their community.
How we make profit- 1) Again, we make our money from charging the customers to post their obituary. 2) Hopefully we can strike partnerships with various Newspapers. The partnerships would be an attempt to have Newspapers refer all their customers our way. Which would allow them to cut staff. If newspapers refer us their Obituaries, we will then allow them to post the obits in their town in their respective newspaper. There are many other sources of income that could branch off of this as well, but I won’t go into the messy details unless you are interested.
Kind of Glum, but it would work with your backing.
Thanks,
Andy
P.S. Let me know when we can get started on this project.
Comment by Andy -
Great Idea.. We are launching AlmostFunded.com… This will be a site that only posts companies that have raised capital but are getting a second round or more funding. The only sites that exist now, are for new start ups seeking capital. Our revenue comes from investors to access the site. What do you think Mark?
Comment by Cameron -
Mr. Cuban:
This iidea woark in the 80″s & 90’s. that
is to purchase the so called bad assets
from the banks.The trick to this is
purchase the assets at the write down
value are the appraisal vaule today.
The Beal Bank did this and made a very
large profit. The trick is to get a person
with real estate, values and the skills
to work with the banks as to what to buy.
This operations will only require a
few people in the beginning.
Also the assets, real estate can usually
be sold back to the origninal owner
becasuse o the writedown that the banks
have incurred.
Ross Hanna
Comment by Anonymous -
Mr. Cuban:
I own a company called Aikins Venture Capital and I am a Real Estate Investor. Because of the current real estate crisis in America, economists have determined that the real estate economy will be at the bottom for the next couple (2) of years. Which is a GREAT thing for real estate investors.
The basic idea behind real estate investing is to buy homes at a discounted price, sometimes 20-100K below market value, and then resale them for a profit. Million dollar homes create millions of dollars in profit. As a real estate investor, it is not advisable to keep a house on the company’s books for more than 3 months. This means that you have to resell the house in less than 3 months. One average home should make the investor between 2K and 80K in profit. It is possible to make over one million ($1 million) in one year, doing 10 houses a month. I have the ability to buy commercial properties, multi-family homes, and single family homes. The financial investor can make between 10% and 50% of that profit (100K-500K).
My company has very low overhead and operating costs because I work from home. Real estate investors work alone, but can consult others for information and leads. Mr. Cuban, with your investment, I can make you a damn good return through real estate. Keep in mind that the more you invest, the more deals I can close on. When I close more deals, you make more money.
This is a win-win situation because you are leveraging my abilities to make you money. At the same time, you are being leveraged for a capital investment.
Thanks for your time,
Chris Aikins
email: chris.aikins@christopheraikins.com
cell: (940) 595-8803
site: christopheraikins.com
Is your number still (2**)-6**-21**? We have some things to talk about.
Comment by Chris Aikins -
Job boards (Monster, Career Builder, etc.) charge employers to post jobs on their sites. Different rates are available to those purchasing at volume. Larger purchasers of posting (usually hiring agencies) can negotiate these rates for less. I would like to create a startup focused on becoming the largest broker of job posting board space.
Some employers prefer to post on niche job boards. For example there are job boards specifically dedicated to the law industry. A larger broker can reach these niche markets and broker large blocks of posting that can be sold to national, and in some case international markets, industry appropriate. Since demand in niche markets (law, medicine, etc.) is smaller, it becomes less valuable and more risky for employers and hiring agencies to buy in volume.
Brokering these postings can create optimum purchasing for popular industries and access niche markets as well.
This model promotes other advantages that I can further explain.
Comment by Alfonso Lerma -
Mark,
Another suggestion also supported by an Obama idea — “Boycott the BCS” t-shirts. Every year there are about 10 colleges that are REALLY angry about the way that the college football championship is decided. That’s hundreds of thousands of angry students primed to express their outrage. T-shirts would contain the “Boycott the BCS” slogan in various team colors, but no team logos would be utilized, eliminating the cost of NCAA licensing fees. Our website would operate in conjunction with a company that manufactures the shirts only after they are ordered and paid for by customers, meaning that there would be no up-front cost for the shirts — the only cost would be for the design of the website and the slogan template.
Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks!
John
Comment by John Burr -
Mark,
I own and operate a business for musicians that has been online and profitable since 2002. Our model is based on membership. We currently have about 700 paying members. We provide a profile for musicians to present themselves in a safe environment. They can sell their music through CDs and digital downloads. The name of the company is Indieheaven, LLC. It is based in Franklin, TN.
We are lean and mean. No debt, no investors, I am the sole owner.
Check it out at: http://www.indieheaven.com
My email address is: info@indieheaven.com
Our plan is to continue to get better so we can grow bigger. We have had steady, slow growth and our customers love us!
Hope to hear from you soon.
Keith Mohr
Comment by keithmohr -
BountyStorms.com is a new brainstorming site that is also a marketplace for ideas. For people with questions, it provides an instant team of expert thinkers to answer those question. For creative types, it offers a way to flex their creative muscles and to earn real money for their great ideas.
How does it work? It starts when a brainstorm is posted along with a bounty, which is the financial incentive for the BountyStorms user community to help come up with great ideas. Brainstorming is open for 12 hours, then voting last for 12 more (that’s where the community ranks the ideas that have been suggested). After just 24 hours, the votes are tallied, and the top 3 ideas earn a share of the bounty (40%/20%/10%) respectively.
The site launched just last month, and has had many successful BountyStorms that demonstrate how (and how well) the site works.
Comment by Edward Cruz -
(posted earlier on firefox browser, but never showed up on the blog. this is a repost)
Mark,
My name is Sam Clymer, and I believe that our concept, which is already in existence, would be something of great interest to you. We might even be one of the only businesses you will find on your blog that is designed to THRIVE in today’s economy. Here goes…
With things in the condition they are in today, the everyday citizen can no longer justify the spending of their hard-earned money on optional products, services or entertainment. This is even more the case when it comes to new parents. There are just so many needs that a new child has that cannot be sacrificed, placing even greater stress on the family.
One of the most frustrating expenses that will occur with every new child is that of clothing. This is simply because of the rate at which a young child grows, especially in the first couple of years. So often, parents are forced into buying items that will only be worn for a short period of time, only to become useless and, at best, be of little value at your local garage sale. Many new families combat this expense by attempting to shop at discount retailers (Wal-Mart/Target), as well as at their local children’s consignment stores. Unfortunately, discount retailers provide clothing that most parents will tell you is of poor craftsmanship, and consignment stores are only able to offer a limited selection of heavily worn items. Either way, the joy of shopping is sacrificed for the good of the family budget.
This is where my father and I came up with our idea. It’s called The Kidz Outlet, and its first store is currently up and active in Lexington, Kentucky. Please don’t let our name fool you, as we are much more than just an “outlet-styled” store. First and foremost, we are very much like a mini “Marshall’s/TJ MAXX” for kids. Everything in our store comes in brand new, and are comprised of the same high-quality, name-brand merchandise that you would find at your local “big-name” department stores. Every single item in our store is priced at 50-80% off retail, everyday of the year. This already makes us an affordable option for parents, any day of the year. But we wanted to go further, and we found a way with “The Kidz Closet Club”. Let me explain…
“The Kidz Closet Club” is an innovative program we designed to separate us from the competition. We also designed it to give back to the community. It allows us to provide UNLIMITED, high-quality clothing to parents at pricing well below what they would spend in a consignment store! The formula we us is based on the same system “Netflix” uses, which as you may already know, is the very popular mail-order DVD company. Our “club” is a non-contract, month-to-month membership program that members can modify (upgrade/downgrade) or cancel at anytime, making it pressure free. How it works is pretty simple. Members don’t own the clothing…they simply borrow what they want/need, and exchange these items for newer/different ones whenever they want. And just like “Netflix”, they can keep items as long as they wish with no late fees, but can also exchange them as often as they want as well. All they have to remember is to have their membership fees paid on time every month, and that’s it. Parents have their choice from four available membership plans, each having a threshold that limits the parents as to how much they can have checked out of our store at any one time. Our lowest plan, the “Basic” is for only $19.95/mo, and lets the parent/member have up to $150.00-worth of clothing checked out at any one time. What’s amazing is that if they swapped their clothing items often enough, they could easily exceed $1000.00-worth of clothing in one month, all without spending anything more than their original $19.95! When the items are returned to the store by the member, they are actually placed back on the floor, barring that they are in good condition. These previously used items now have a specially-designed sales tag (red-colored) alerting all members as well as our everyday shoppers that the item they are looking at has had previous usage. The item though, is still available for re-rental or for sale, but now at a CONSIGNMENT-level price. This helps us unload the lightly used items to replace them with newer ones.
Now, you obviously would want to know how this makes profit. It is all in how we purchase. We have standing contracts with major players in the retail industry that allow us access to seasonal changes from department stores that we all have shopped at in our local malls. We usually purchase our product at a price of around 10-15% of the items original retail values (we usually sell most items for 50% off original retail, just so you see the numbers here…). This allows us to price our clothing/toys in such a way that we can cut products to the bone and still make great profits. Using the club program, a member (based on what I have witnessed so far) keeps the items on average for about 2 months. This means, while these items are out, I am not only receiving membership dues on items they don’t own, I also get these items back to sell at a market-consignment price of about 20-30% of the item’s original retail value. So in perfect theory, we continue to make the same amount we would have on the items if they had sold at our usual 50%-off prices, but are now able to provide so much more to the customer than before.
Let us not forget to mention that we also have a specially customized Point-Of-Sale system that you more than likely will not find at your local “Best Buy” store! This took many months to design, since it requires a lot of customization to manage each person’s account and to track what items they have out, etc… Too much to explain on your blog without losing your attention, but would be happy to explain it in further detail to you any time.
In closing, we feel that this not only answers your request for creating jobs for people, but also helps provide some relief for the everyday family that has no other reasonable choice with their children. This gives EVERY family of EVERY income the chance to clothe their child in new, high-quality clothing for less than they would spend anywhere else!
Our request to you is this: We know that with our first store (4000 SQ/good traffic area), we can without a doubt meet your 60/90-day expectations. This is because we are not only already up and running, but have a great start in owned inventory, etc… What we need is a boost to aggressively improve our marketing (which to this day we have only spent a total of a few thousand dollars on…), maintain the proper amount of staff (we, the owners, work 7 days a week right now…), and to maintain payments on our warehouse facility, where our merchandise is prepared.
We also feel that this would be best designed as a two step program with you, should you decide to help us. We want to first focus on finishing proving out our concept for 90 days with a smaller investment ($150,000/10% equity to you), then reconviene with you at the end of the 3 months to discuss a possible expansion to a much larger level, with an equity level and other terms to be negotiated.
This is a win/win for so many people. We hope you feel the same. Thanks for your time Mark.
Comment by Sam Clymer -
Mark,
In regards to my prior comment I realized that I forgot to include my email address-please contact me at mmoretti@usc.edu if you are interested in hearing more about the idea-I have a whole slew of plans that I think we could make work.
Matt
Comment by Matt -
Pingback: A real stimulus plan « Arkansas Property News
Hello Mr. Cuban, my old friend…
Remember the good old AVSforum days?
Anyway here is my business plan, based on taking advantage of the world famous King of Prussia mall:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd4grzs6_0gz7dzmdn
Comment by Shashank Anumula -
The basic idea of the company is to design equipment that will integrate into bridges and highway overpasses which automatically operate based on relative temperate. Essentially, when the system detects that the wind chill drops below 32 degrees, it will engage a heat source (in-laid coils, wiring, etc) that is laid within the entire bridge of overpass, and it will raise the temperature of the structure itself to a non-freezing temperature. This would prevent them from developing or accumulating ice, thus reducing traffic accidents and allowing for sand/salt trucks to focus on streets that need more assistance. One of the twists of this idea is to make the system entirely solar powered with a backup solar generator to provide more than enough power to operate the system for several days without sun.
The technology is out there already for solar power and related generators. The difficulty is the temperature system that will activate and deactivate the heat source. With the proper engineering team, a prototype could be developed and functional within 30 days. It could be test-marketed in DFW, even when the temperatures are not freezing. If all goes well and this system is implemented into all overpasses and bridges over time, other cities will want to take advantage of this equipment.
It is a green-focused measure in that it uses a solar energy and does not require the fuel that sand/salt trucks use. Fewer emissions, less fuel consumption, better utilization of those resources to assist other streets…it is a potentially life-saving system.
Comment by Nathan -
Mr. Cuban,
I have an idea that could help the economy recover and create a tool that we can use to stabilize the economy in the future. The American people do not understand that government spending truly cannot save the economy. It can only help begin the recovery process. The only people that can save the economy from the downward spiral are the middle income population and the industry that started the problem. Creating a non-profit that assists middle income families or individuals through mortgage payments and teaches financial responsibility to the masses can solve a significant part of our economic problem.
This idea can help many people while at the same time helping the banks shore up their balance sheets. It also creates a situation in which the middle class cumulatively pitches in to help one another. Not every person can be helped but if we can start by helping small percentages at a time then, little by little, we can overcome this economic crisis. Also by creating a system based on mortgage payments, we are effectively stimulating that particular family or individual because their mortgage payment should be based on their individualized debt-income ratio. This should give the beneficiary a stimulus package that truly works. Also since we would pay the mortgage directly to the lender, the banks would benefit. If the beneficiary chooses not to pay his or her payment that month we would ask if they could pay some other sort of debt they may have. Of course there are two other scenarios which are also beneficial to the economy. One would be that the beneficiary would save the money and/or the beneficiary would spend the money; either method helps the economy recover.
The last benefit of this non-profit would be that since we are filing to be a 501 (c)(3) the banks who contribute to the program would receive tax breaks. Finally the best thing to come out of this is that we would start a system that could be completely independent of government aid in the future and we can use as a tool later to avoid such a crisis, but I need help getting this started. I am a high school math teacher with very few connections and a good idea. Anything you can do to help the idea would greatly be appreciated and hopefully help the recovery process.
Sincerely,
Manuel Eric Herrera
Founder/President
Wepayurmortgage.com
Comment by manuel eric herrera -
Mark,
I think what your doing is great. I started my own cleaning business in 2005 and in 2007 I was able to quit my other job. It is nice being my own boss. I like this whole concept. Some poeple need a little help.
I lived in OK for most of my life and did not here of the mavs, but when we moved here I started watching them then you bought the team. I have always thought they were great. One of the places I lived was a place with a funny name Hominy Oklahoma.
Thanks for helping
Brenda White (Knox)
Comment by Brenda white maiden (Knox) -
Here is my pitch which likely wouldn’t be a profitable business, but it would be low cost and high impact and could potentially change politics as we know it. Its impact on society would be much greater than any new small business you could fund. I think making a seperate blog to brainstorm the idea would be a good idea.
The idea is to create the most comprehensive website about important political issues and important politicians (I would start with congressmen). It would have a section on key issues (ie economic stimulus, financial bailout, etc) where qualified experts could post and it would link to expert opinions from other sites, etc. If you wanted to see every expert opinion on the stimulus, this would be the place to go. It would potentially place a particular emphasis on explaining the long-term impacts of various policy decisions, as one of the biggest problems our political system faces is that politicians are very short-term oriented. I believe we need a way to get experts to explain the long-term ramifications of issues and make this information more accessible to the average citizen.
More importantly, it would have a profile of every congressman, including how they voted, quotes, video of appearances, etc. It would also provide seperate sections for qualified experts and regular website users to discuss each politician’s positions, quotes, etc.
I am not sure how possible this is, but the best scenario would be for congress to require congressmen to post to this (or another website) why they voted a particualar way on every major bill, including comments on key parts of majors bills. I believe having this information tracked over a politicians career will result in them considering the long-term implications of their decisions a little more than they do now and merely forcing them to justify their positons will greatly enhance transparency.
Comment by Marc -
Mark,
I haven’t put together a business plan, and this definately doesnt fit within the parameters of your competition, but if this idea of open source funding really hits home with you, then I would suggest the following:
Given the number of great ideas that have popped up from this single post, it may be a good long term idea to establish a firm whose sole purpose is to identify and execute great business ideas. With the help of investors and existing and alternate streams of income, the firm would be able to fund the R&D and execution of great business ideas. By hiring the best minds in the world and soliciting the ideas of the public, a firm of this nature just might be a good idea. There are several companies who engage in activity like this now, but it isnt their core business.
Let me know what your thoughts are. Thanks for your time.
Comment by George E. -
Mark,
Here’s another great working idea that would break even from day one. It’s not an original idea but its not done by any major nation wide company. There are thousands if not millions of aged wood fences that look bad but are structurally sound. Most Americans are mainly worried about the cosmetics. So rehabbing old wood fences Nation Wide is a huge business.
-You have the volume
-You have the want and need
-You have the money
-Lost overhead high returns annually
Many home owners, sellers, HOA, apartments, community fences, want it to look new but rather spend $3.50 a LF rather than $16.50 for a new. You can get free leads from fence companies or team up with them.
Avg. yard in Houston TX 300 LF times $3.50 a LF one side and most of the time the neighbor will also want theirs done so you charge them as well. 300×3.50=$1050.00 prep fence, stain it, and seal it.
Houston alone would yield at least 5,000 houses a year times $1050.00=$5,250,000 annual revenue minus overhead
The higher the volume the lower the overhead % the larger the profits. Currently there is no leader in the market you have a bunch of random home repair guys and handyman guys doing this.
The client can have a beautiful fence on their side while the cheap neighbor who won’t split to cost of a new fence gets to look at his/her gray old fence.
Brand new cedar fences gray in about 5-6 months. But you also have the option to have a brand new fence stained and sealed which will increase the original color as well as make it last longer.
Now if you we’re real smart once you got some real capital you’d make you own stain and sealer materials and never pay retail and sell your own product line and make even more money. Decks, fences, arbors, all and any wood structures outdoors.
There is not major leader in this industry State or nation wide. There are some that are small but it you took this to a larger scale you could have a franchise in every city and have one source with super rates that no one could beat.
When you dive around today look at fences that could use this at these affordable rates and then tell me there’s no market for this. There’s a very detailed process to doing this correctly to make it last so don;t just everyone run out today and thick this is super easy. It can be easy if you know proper installation otherwise your stain will be hold very long and you’ll have pissed off clients that will spread bad news about you ten fold and you’ll never get referrals or repeat which is key for growth in this market.
This should meet all your criteria I’ve got a more detailed B-Plan that has detailed numbers figures marketing who what when where and why. This has big time exponential growth potential with little OH and has a major sustainable market for years to come and further more could employee many Americans nation wide that don’t have higher educations which is the majority of Americans. So in my opinion its a win-win business solution.
Comment by Eric Dupre' -
Mr. Cuban,
for quite sometime now I’ve had a dream of being a McDonald’s owner/operator and owning a McDonald’s franchise. I’d have job security for my family and myself, and create and few jobs for other people at the same time. Mcdonald’s has a simple cookie cutter business plan anyone can follow as long as they work at it. some of their franchising infromation can be found at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/mcdonalds/282570-0.html
or :
http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/franchise/franchisinghome.html
thank you for considering my idea.
Comment by Butch -
Mark, support a family fun educational game company!
Five page BUSINESS PLAN synopsis
(For consideration we would be happy to send you an investor package with samples of the products.)
THE COMPANY
McNeill Designs for Brighter Minds began as an idea on December 29th 2004 and was launched in May 2005. The idea was to turn language into a fun, playable game and make it a hit. Presently we sell four board/card games that appeal to young and old alike and have a significant educational attraction with teachers.
The Company’s products are in approximately 2,000 stores nation-wide, including Barnes and Noble, Borders and Books A Million. They have sold over 80,000 units to-date and 2007 sales were approximately $520,000. The products have won eight major awards and have been mentioned on the Tonight Show, the Today Show and in USA Today. In 2008, sale of the flagship product, You’ve been Sentenced! increased 18% over 2007 to over 32,000 units sold, both in the USA and abroad.
The Company was organized as an LLC in March 2005 under the laws of the State of Delaware. The offices of the Company are currently located at 1729 Marsh Road, Wilmington, DE 19810. Upon completion of the minimum threshold of $250,000 invested in our PPM the company will convert to a “C” corp. and issue both preferred and common shares of stock.
PHYSICAL PRODUCTS
1.) You’ve been Sentenced!(Patent Pending) is a unique, 7X award winning game which utilizes a word deck of pentagon-shaped cards containing conjugations of funny words, famous names, and familiar places with a mix of prepositions, articles, conjunctions and Wild Cards. Players use these cards to build sentences, challenging their ingenuity in a hilarious, competitive environment. They then have to justify their sentences to the rest of the players who assume the roles as “Members of the Jury,” voting on the grammar and sensibility of the other players’ often outrageous sentences and justification. The word deck contains over 2,500 individual words plus Wild Cards. The game is ideal for 3 to10 players, ages 8 and up, but can be used in a classroom with up to 30 students at a time. A new junior version will be coming out soon for kids 5 to 8 years old. Over 80,000 units have been sold to-date. For the first time ever language is now a patent pending, fun, playable game.
2.) Separately sold Add-On Decks to You”ve been Sentenced! They are; Reader’s Digest Word Power, Sports, Sci-fi / Fantasy, Gourmet Cuisine and Pop Culture. They are available at Barnes and Noble and hundreds of independent stores and they “make the game your own” by adding verbiage from your favorite categories.
3.) Twisted Fish™ is a challenging card game that requires strategy, memorization, deception, and bluffing skills. It is a complex twist on the old card game of Go Fish. This game is ideal for 3 to 6 players, ages 8 and up. It was launched in February 2006 and has sold over 30,000 units and is Creative Child magazines Game of the Year 2007.
The Company has a signed Space Act Agreement with NASA and needs funds to launch FASTAD (Fiftieth Anniversary Space Terminology Add-On Deck) to show at the International Toy Fair in Dallas in October 2009. The NASA product is expected to further strengthen our foothold in the educational market and build brand awareness.
The Company plans to capitalize on the overwhelming demand from its fans for a “Make your Own” Add-on Deck. The system will be a customized way to turn your words into a YOU deck, printed just for you. This would also be introduced at Toy Fair in October in Dallas.
The Company currently has over 90 more documented game and toy ideas up for review that have been contributed by members of the team and outside designers. We receive several submissions a month from outside designers for review due in part to our presence at trade shows and our success in retail. We are actively pursuing many license agreements for You’ve been Sentenced! and Twisted Fish games as they continue to grow in popularity.
Digital Strategy
Complimenting our physical products is the partnership with Arizona State University ASU, that has just been established. The virtual products developed will be the foundation of our educational and virtual value proposition (http://skysong.asu.edu/mcneill). Paul Skiera is the main liaison to the development of the virtual products based on the intellectual property that is the patent pending games system of You’ve been Sentenced! Having seen the potential for a web based flash game ASU is developing three unique facets of our value proposition.
• They will take the game mechanics and develop a teaching aid specifically designed for the rapidly emerging interactive white boards for classrooms. Often called SMART™ boards, SMART is actually the brand name of the leader in these interactive boards that essentially project a computer’s desktop image onto a board at the front of the classroom that greatly enhances the learning experience for today’s students. ASU is a leader in this type of application development. The revenues from bundling this software will be a revenue stream paid back to McNeill Designs from ASU.
• They will third party test the use of our game to prove its educational value. This is essential for the expansion of our product into core curricula of school systems across the nation.
• They will develop the fun “game only” online presence for use on: the web, in social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, as well as for; iPhone, Mobi and console play.
MARKET
The Game Manufacturers Association, a trade group, estimates that sales of non-electronic “hobby games,” which do not include mass-market stalwarts like Monopoly® and Scrabble®, have more than tripled since 1994, from $720 million to roughly $2.6 billion.
Board Game Industry Market Data – U.S. Figures
1) U.S. total population (POP) 282,909,885
2 Total number of U.S. households………………………………….…….108,419,506
3) Total number of U.S. family households……………………………..……73,057,960
4) Percentage of U.S. adult pop. that participated in a board game in the last 12 months………………………………… 16.4%
5) Percentage that participate 2 to 3 times a month………….…… 2.9%
6) Est. households that participate in board games per year
(.164 x 108,419,506)…………………………………………17,780,799
7) Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) estimated U.S. annual sales
of non-electronic games excluding mass market games
(Monopoly®, Scrabble® )………………………………………………..… $2.6 billion
COMPETITION
The toy and game industry is divided into three very distinct categories. First, there are the two industry giants Hasbro® and Mattel®. Combined, these two companies represent about 29 percent of the $21 billion toy market, according to the October 20, 2005 issue of CNN Money. And for many years, both Hasbro® and Mattel® have made a habit of purchasing small, successful toy and game firms once the firms or their toys have become “household names.” Examples of acquisitions include Wizards of the Coast, Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley, and Ideal.
Second, there are dozens of smaller, independent toy and game development companies. Typically these companies offer between 5 – 50 original games or toys. Examples include Eagle Games, Hangman Games and Rio Grand Games. Company sales vary widely from firm to firm.
Third, there are dozens of small, educational toy and game companies that specialize in toys and games for the burgeoning educational industry. These companies are generally much smaller than others, offer far fewer products, and specialize narrowly, targeting educational “supply houses” such as The Report Card or The Learning Station.
Capital Formation to Date
The Company embarked on the design and implementation of a Private Placement Memorandum under the instruction of board member Rick Finkbeiner. Rick’s resume includes: Senior Vice President, CFO Treasurer & Secretary at Poore Brothers, Senior VP & CFO at Concord Camera Corp., Senior VP & CFO at LeapFrog, and Corporate VP & CFO at Menasha Corporation. The equity offering has a pre-money valuation for the company of $7,000,000 and is seeking up to $5,000,000 for the equity raise. Thus $5,000,000 represents a 41.66% ownership in the company.
The Company has raised, and has escrowed, $158,000 as of 2-11-2009 of the financing it is seeking. The company continues to present its equity offering to the “Angel” investment market in both the private and institutional investment markets. In addition, the company, in growing its educational side, has also “shopped” the equity at educational institutional events. As recently as December, 8, 2008 won the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), which is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry, “Most likely to Succeed” Award.
On 12-28-08 the Company signed a license agreement with Arizona State University to fully develop the on-line version of You’ve been Sentenced! In addition, the contract allows ASU to develop a fully educational version of the game for Interactive Whiteboards (often called SMART© boards) in the classroom. ASU will pay the Company 15% of all revenues generated from the sale of these software packages to educational institutions.
The company needs to support the continued momentum of the educational developments in it’s digital strategy while continuing operations of the physical products.
Use of Funds
(Mark, as per your requirements we would need the investment in June and you would see substantial progress before Christmas.)
The product is validated at market place. It just needs marketing to accelerate the rate of sale. Games, unlike toys, do not have an immediate emotional response from the consumer that a toy does. They are largely sold by the grassroots effort of one person in a circle of friends or family playing or recommending playing to another. The two ways people decide to buy a game then are: “I played a game with Joe and it was so much fun I want a copy for myself” or, “I heard “so and so” rave about how much they loved playing this game, so I am going to buy it.” To this end we will, depending on amount of funds raised, engage in these marketing/production efforts:
Recommendation /Testimonial from a major national radio talk show host. In 2004, Apples to Apples employed this strategy with Glen Beck and it proved to be the tipping point for them. After they accelerate their sales to 1 million units a year through this push they were bought by Mattel in August of 2007 for $25.1 Million. (http://www.playthings.com/article/CA6511062.html) We are already approved for Sean Hannity. We do not believe TV is effective for non-electronic games we believe they are sold more like a book.
Q4 2009 Price range: $650K – $1.25M
Considering that the majority of national radio talk show hosts have a political right leaning we would supplement the radio campaign with a print media campaign target to more left leaning readership, social commentary, Educational trade and life style magazines.
Q3 & Q4 Price range: $150k – $250K
Production, as always, we will source our production to the company that offers the best value and quality. We started with American production, but after the first 10,000 the company would not add in a plastic tray we were willing to have brought in from China. We always try to source in America first.
Q3 & Q4 Price range: $1.2M – 2.2M
Hire existing unpaid partner to run digital operation, with an option to hire more for paid subscription from both our educational digital product and our entertainment site.
Q2 – Annual $90K
EXIT STRATEGY
In the board game category, two very successful products are presently selling well, Cranium and Apples to Apples, see link above. Cranium entered the market in 1998 and Apples to Apples in 1999. Cranium quickly grew by word-of-mouth, primarily because they teamed up with Starbucks and had them in virtually every Starbucks store. Cranium sold its millionth game in about 4 years and has sold at least 1 million games each year thereafter. Cranium created 13 other games and had sales in 30 countries. Hasbro bought Cranium in early 2008 for approximately $77 million. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22508558/ )
Apples to Apples was launched by Out of The Box Publishing and has now hit sales of over a million copies a year for the past three years. They were sold to Mattel in 2007 for approximately $25 million.
These two acquisitions were added just a few weeks ago by Mattel (http://www.playthings.com/article/CA6630325.html?nid=3589 ) although the price remains private.
One factor is abundantly clear; Hasbro and Mattel both have a 30+ year history of buying external success in the non-electronic game arena. Games are seen as a portfolio stabilizer to offset the highly volatile toy market. The average age of a hot toy on a shelf today is less than 3 years, the average age of a game in the same store is 17 years. Many stalwarts have been on the shelf for over 50 years.
APPEDIX: DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Donald W. McNeill, Chairman and CEO, is the creator of the initial concept of the game You’ve been Sentenced!Ô and founder of McNeill Designs. Don is a former top producer in commercial printing sales in the Northeast for over 20 years. A graduate of West Virginia University (Political Science ’86). He is the chief motivator, playmaker and visionary for the McNeill Designs for Brighter Minds Team.
Martin Uniacke, President, is a toy and game industry sales professional for over 20 years and the #1 rep for TY Inc. during the Beanie Baby craze, bringing specialized knowledge of the toy, game, and gift industries. He assesses and develops the market strategies, structure, pricing, sales and distribution plans for new product rollouts. Martin oversees all sales and financial operations. A graduate of the University of Delaware, (BS: Business Administration/Marketing ’87.)
Rick Finkbeiner, Board of Directors, has over 30 years of general and financial management experience, the last 23 years in senior executive positions with several very high growth companies. Rick spent his first 12 years at Hallmark Cards. Since then he has held senior executive positions, primarily as CFO, for such high growth companies as Fox Photo, NordicTrack, Creative Computers and LeapFrog. He helped startup and grow uBid.com from pre-sales to a company that has sold over $1 billion in merchandise. He has an MS degree in applied mathematics from Michigan State University, an MBA from the University of Missouri and is a CPA.
Alan Levin, Board of Directors, is a pharmacy industry veteran and was formerly Chairman, President and CEO of Happy Harry’s, a leading regional drugstore chain of 76 stores with 2,700 employees. He previously served in the Delaware Department of Justice as a Deputy Attorney General and as Executive Assistant and counsel to United States Senator William V. Roth, Jr. Alan is a graduate of Tulane University and the Delaware Law School of Widener University.
Brian Maggio, Board of Directors, has 16 years of experience in consumer product sales and marketing, including being Director of Sales (Americas) for Cranium. Presently, he is a Principal at Revenew Sales and Market Development. Brian received his degree from Notre Dame University.
Sanford Sorkin, Board of Directors, is an expert in the computer software industry and is presently an instructor at Temple University where he is also the Chair of Computer Information Systems School Advisory Board. Sandy received his degree from the University of Pennsylvania – The Wharton School.
Lee Uniacke, Board of Directors, and brother to Martin Uniacke, has extensive experience in interactive media sales and online advertising. He is presently CRO and General Manager at Kongregate.com. He was formerly Vice President of Ad Sales for MTV Networks, Atom Entertainment. Prior to that held positions with Ziff Davis. Lee received his B.S. degree from the University of Delaware and his MBA from Temple University.
Comment by Donald McNeill -
Mark,
I posted this earlier but for some reason, it’s not showing up here?
Several have mentioned the concern for ideas being “stolen”. One of my ideas I’ll share in hopes that you or someone else may fund it or at the very least “steal” it and make the product as I feel it could be of benefit globally.
The only way to meet your 60/90 demands would be in the form of acquired contracts (read-Purchase Orders)
What I’ve got is basically a people pod. Almost like the moving pods you’ve seen.
The design is kind of truck camper-ish in away.
I’ll put this as simple as possible.
You have a box roughly 10′ length, 6 1/2′ height, 8′ width. Made from Nida-Core for excellent insulation around an Aluminum frame.
The box has a Universal mounting system on the bottom. You can mount to any 1 ton or larger truck frame in place of the truck bed. You can also mount it to a trailer type axle assembly so if need be you can transport 2 of these units to your location. From there they have a lifting mechanism to unload and stabilize the “pod”.
What will you do with these pods? They can be outfitted for a variety of uses. Base camp for firefighters, National Guard living quarters while deployed in the event of an emergency, University’s could use them for field research programs, BLM and forest rangers can use them as living quarters, Oil Field workers can use them as office/living quarters, recreational use for hunters and campers etc.. The list goes on and on.
One unit can serve as an office, another as living quarters, libratory, mess hall, bathroom etc.
And think outside of the pod also. In my design, there is a tent structure that deploys off the sides of the pod to expand the usable more than triple. One pod could provide sleeping accommodations for 10-12 people.
I would also put a lot of emphasis on self contained and “green” if you will. Use solar/battery power, efficient diesel oven, fridge and heat. Large water capacity and built in water treatment systems.
As you can see, these can be sold as empty shells or turnkey for the customers’ needs. Lots of options.
I am a mechanical engineer by trade and have created some 3d models of the idea. I’d rather not post them here but if you’d like to see let me know.
Thanks and good luck with this project and the remainder of your season.
Jason
P.S. I’d also like to add that these pods can be used by teams around the world to bring medical and dental aide to thrid world countries. One pod is basically a dental office, one an examination room etc.
I don’t have many skills that would be of benefit to reach out and help people that are in need. I can however design equipment to those with such training be more efficient at what they do and make thier hand reach furthur.
Comment by Jason -
We are creating a new destination club (i.e. high-end fractional) in Telluride – with plans to roll out the business model to 10 different, high end resort locations over the next 10 years.
The mission of LuxWest Private Hotels will be to provide its members with memorable experiences in the most desirable destinations. The level of service and personal attention will be a blend of the great boutique hotels of the world and a beloved hometown golf club. Buyers of our Club memberships will not need financing and we will have the lowest priced high quality product in the area.
The product of 19 years of experience in the shared ownership industry, LuxWest has developed the most flexible form of resort destination ownership in the market today. The first LuxWest Private Hotel will be in Telluride, Colorado. The targeted property is an operating hotel, with positive cash flow, will be converted from 22 rooms to 13 spacious suites averaging over 750 square feet complete with flat panel HDTV’s, king beds, comfortable living rooms, and private decks. We will sell 65 exclusive memberships into the Telluride Club and those sales provide very strong returns (+15% IRR over 60 months).
Over the past year, we have built the business model, and gained approx $3.5m of equity support. All of our investors agree that while this economic downturn might be an interesting time to buy a retail stock, it is a great time to buy great, quality assets, with an active cash flow stream. Our targeted property, in Telluride, CO is a great asset, at a great price, with great terms.
We are using this tough time to seek aggressive terms from the Seller. We have reduced the purchase price to $8m, a substantial drop from the listing price. The Sellers will carry all required debt over 60 months, at 3.5% with no non-recourse to the investors. Subcontractor and commodity prices have decreased allowing for more flexibility in our construction budget.
Tom LaTour, ex Chairman of Kimpton Hotels, has agreed to join our team. He has already agreed to be involved in the operations and participate financially. http://www.latoursignaturegroup.com/press.php?pg=press050401. Our head of sales has just returned from Dubai where he was a consultant to a Fairmont shared ownership project; he has sales experience in Telluride, and is enthusiastic about our plan
The equity capital will be used to enable the creation, development, and launch of the first LuxWest Private Hotel in Telluride, Colorado. The capital will be used as equity for the acquisition of the property, secure debt financing (with no recourse to its investors), marketing programs, and to fund operations, design development and the renovation.
LuxWest Private Hotels is creating a $4,875,000 equity fund. We are currently seeking investments of $650,000 to $1,300,000 from equity partners. Your ownership percentage would be a percentage of your investment commitment over the total equity raised.
$3,575 million has already been committed by individual investors and an additional $325,000 has been committed by the principals.
The Proforma has been modeled to include a Preferred Return of 8% on invested capital and a traditional waterfall of post debt proceeds and profits.
The Club projects to return invested capital in 2 1/2 years and projects pre-tax and pre-distribution profits of over $3m. This yields an Internal Rate of Return of +15% and an Investor Return of approx. 90% on invested capital
We would love your involvement.
Comment by Kevin Jones -
The Idea….With most people living from paycheck to paycheck or on credit with the latter not being available to alot of folks these days and computers almost being a necessity, I would like to open a Laptop/Desktop computer rental. Someone can run this business as a home-based business with virtually no overhead. My recommmendation would to rent an office suite where customers can pick up the computers and also make their payments. All of your business is gonna come from ads in publications such as The Greensheet, Thrifty Nickel, referrals and free advertising on sites such as craigslist. The advertising expense would be minimal.
Buy good used refurbished computers in the price range of no more than $300 each. Rent them out on a 52 week contract with weekly payments. This allows people to manage their cash better. You would require folks to have a verifiable job and residence. 3 references would be also be required.
The Cost to Open the Business….
cost to aquire starting inventory –
50 laptop/desktops at $300 ea. = $15,000
Rental of Office Suite –
$250 a month
Advertising in print media –
$300 a month
Phone –
$50 a month
The Inner Workings of the Business….
Rent by the week at $18.95 per week
Business is open 6 days a week for approx. 25 days per month
if you sold one contract per day at the end of the month your revenue would be $473.75 per week
Month 1 – 25 contracts X $18.95 = $473.75 per week
$473.75 X 4 (weeks per month) = $1895
Month 2 – 25 contracts X $18.95 = $473.75 per week
$1895 (month 1 sales) + $1895 (month 2 sales)= $3790/Mo
$3790 divided by 4 weeks = $947.50 per week
This business would be profitable almost from week one depending on how one operated the business (home-based).You would be cash flow positive by the end of your first month. The business is very easy to duplicate.It can be small or large if you were to advertise on a nationwide basis. Overhead is minimal…from one man operation to multiple locations.
Cons –
As with any other business you will encounter some losses in this case it may be some unpaid and unreturned laptops/desktops. One way to limit losses it to have all computers loaded with LoJack for laptops. This may increase the cost but not by much. Software costs approx. $30 per year or .58 cents per week per laptop.
Pros –
Very profitable business, easy to operate, easy to duplicate, very scalable. Ability to generate additional revenue. Most people will use their laptop/desktop to get on the internet, so you may also become an isp reseller and sell them internet access. This in turn will generate more money for the operator.
Tell me your thoughts.
Comment by Ed -
Mark- I spoke with some guys I know in that industry and they feel that i won’t be able to come up with the proper capitalization without a private lender. I was optimistic I could raise the capital on my own, but it appears to be a little out of my comfort zone. It doesn’t mention it in the plan, but I would be willing to put down between 50k and 100k to help capitalize and show you we mean business if you deem it neccessary.
Here’s the plan. It’s brief, but I can expand upon the details upon your request.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df8xsrrg_5c2xc45dk
Comment by Joe -
MONETIZING WEB 2.0
Mark,
I have been cultivating this idea for a while. Would love your help to make it a reality. Thanks for the opportunity.
Problem
Social Networking Sites have a difficult time monetizing their product other than through Advertising.
Why? – The focus is on gaining members (users) and then figuring out how to make money after the fact. Basically, build it, get users then somehow figure out how to monetize it. While the numbers are impressive, when compared to the revenues they disappoint.
Solution:
A social networking site that:
-Influencers want to be a part of and are incentivized to do so.
-Allows (paying) companies & organizations to reach & interact with “influencers” directly.
– Provides incredibly valuable data and market research for companies and/or their representatives.
Product:
Grass Roots Millennials – A social networking site that is by invitation only for Millennials (High School level). Additionally, the site is focused on the “influencers” within this group.
How we will do it?
Gaining Users:
-Identify Top High Schools in a particular market (Purchasing Power being a top consideration)
– Isolate the top 50-100 individuals – through online survey advertised in school paper and subsequent focus group.
– Influencers are identified and invited to the site/program with the incentive of free products & merchandise, compensation & networking access to like individuals across the country.
-Users earn points for filling out quick questioners (IE– Are these shoes “hot or not), surveys and product trials. Accumulated points are earned and then can be traded in on goods and services or possibly college tuition.
Generating Revenue:
-Company will directly market its services to advertising agencies, marketing research companies and vendors of products & services.
-The sale of limited partnership interests based on geographic territories. Parent company receives 50% of the revenue from sales efforts of the LP. The Limited partner receives their 50% much like a commission for generating the revenue. The limited partner’s percentage interest in the Company is based on a formula with the amount of users (ie millenials) they generate for the site as a whole.
How we Scale it.
Viral – New members can be admitted when invited by 3 existing members. For example, each School will have a candidate board, where members can nominate, second and ulitmately offer membership to candidates.
– Franchise / Partnerships – Geographic Markets are sold as a Franchise or limited partnership interest. These Limited Partners perform their own direct recruiting.
Funding Basics:
1,200,000 Early Stage Funding
40% Equity Share with Preferred return.
2 Board Seats at your discretion, 2 at mine, and 1 mutually agreed.
Comment by Jon V -
Alternative Energy Stimulus
Cost $13k-20k for at least 5kwh windmill to get off the grid
Return: I will pay back the utility payments into “the approved bank acct” until break even point which includes interest and put a clause if the house is sold to keep up the agreement. After break even the equivalent bill will be split 50%/50% between us subtracting maintenance 50%/50%.
Doh! Break even not 60 days but not a bad alternative energy model if Mark wants to spur the green movement and put his money to work with interest.
PS The windmill must be insured on the homeowners insurance. Not risking mark’s money to theft, fire, and other calamities.
Comment by Brian Echard -
Dear Mark,i do believe in entrepreneurs as i am one of them.I curently operate a dental laboratory in California, that needs funding.I am in the procces of attracting business from dentists i work with through direct mail and telemarketing.I’m setting up a small offshore office to do the marketing part since the overhead is to expensive here.But the manufacturing of the finished products will be done in the USA creating jobs through production.A lot of manufacturing work is done offshore but through line production i’d like to keep the most in here.As an immigrant to this country i’d like to suport it to get back in shape financialy for the future of my childrens.I am also copying an idea i have seen at a large company i used to work.I’m in the process of setting up 2 other companies that will compete with my existing one but since they will be providing same products at different prices will atract different type of clients(dentists).They will have different names, adresses and phone nr. but will be run from same location for start.We manufacture the products(dental restorations),sell to dentists and get paid net 30.The largest competitor operates 6 such companies employing 2500 people with a gross revenue of approx.$200 mil.Last time i invested $3000-$5000 in direct marketing over 3 months it brought $100,000.00 back in new work in the next 6 months.I’m interested in a short term loan with interest 10% to 12%, also a long term investment.Also since i need money for the cash flow along with the interest ownership in the companies is available.I’m very open to discutions.Maybe 15% to 30% ownership along with a lower interest on the loan or othher type of arrangements.I personaly hope that the stimulus plan passed by congress will work but since i saw how the bulk of the last stimulus was spent i’m scheptical this will bring the economy back.Since the banks are reluctant to lend,more people like you should come forward to help small business take off.Too many people are colecting unimployment today and i think many more will follow.Maybe this is a wake up call for a lot of us in this country, to start doing something on our own and not waiting for the pink slip to come from the employer.A new era of entrepreneurs could be born these days.After all this is how America was built.Hopefuly more people like you will be coming forward to find wich idea deserves a chance for funding and sponsorship.Hope to hear from you.Good luck.
Comment by Adrian Berari -
Dear Mr. Cuban:
Forgot to leave my email address. Wind mill farm promoter.
ray5530@sbcglobal.net
Sincerely,
Ray Gonzalez
Comment by Ray Gonzalez -
Mr. Cuban,
Warm Greetings to You. My Name is Bless Simmons Owner of Baskets and Quilts By Bless. My Store is Located at 2218 A South Bowen Rd. Arlington, TX 76013. This is My Second Year in this Location. When I Heard about your Stimulus Plan I got So Excited, Hopefully My Business will be one of those Business That You Help.
We Hand Quilt Everything. We have Baby Quilts with Different Designs and Something that You don’t See in the Stores. We also Make Custom Orders. Our Most Popular Product so far is our T-SHIRT QUILT WE MAKE THEM WITH YOUR OWN T-SHIRTS. This is Great for Graduation Presents and Sports Fans Like You to Name a Few. We have made the Irving Fire Department a Twin Bed Cover with their Logo all of them was Impress on the Quality and the work that We put in their Quilt. We have Made the Logo for the State Fair of Texas and Fun Central in Arlington as Well. I’m Inviting You To Visit Me at The Store So I can Show Our Products.
Mr. Cuban I have a lot more Ideas for My Store the Only Thing that Stopping it is My lack of Capital and The Inventory that the Store Needs.My Plan with this Business is to have a Store in All The 50 States.
Thank You for Your Time and I’m Praying that My Business will Benefit with Your Stimulus Plan.
Sincerely,
Bless Simmons
Comment by Bless Simmons -
Good afternoon Mr. Cuban,
I would like to thank you for opening your checkbook up to a select few with the right ideals. I believe your plan is what the country needs to turn around. The closed polices of the government will only prolong the inevitable.
New business that can grow is what we need. Not to contribute to the life support of Chrysler, G.M., Chase Etc. I do understand these companies’s employee at lot of people.
For how long, new business/technology will create long term jobs. It is time the country gets back to basics, Infrastructure, Education and investing in Americans. Thank you again.
Comment by Anthony A. Gundersen -
Dear Mark Cuban: Mr. Pickens in Texas is looking for investors for
his wind farm. Imagine making so much electricity that prices
come down 50% of more for all business and families for the whole
state of TX.
Now imagine setting up other wind farms like in other states
the data for maximum wind performance is already compiled.
The easiest thing about this project a readily eager market awaits for the cheaper price product.
Also keep in mind from your economics text book the term
investments- it mentions first to invest receives the greatest percentage of return on investment.
Second, the cash flow should be great for many years,
and decades down the road, cash flow should still be coming in..
Comment by Ray Gonzalez -
Anyone out there that wants to help out aspiring entrepreneurs in Texas should check out http://www.pep.org. Participants in this program are currently incarcerated in Texas prisons. Former drug dealers and gang leaders may not have much, if any, formal business education, but you can bet they know about supply-chain management and organizational leadership.
While in PEP, the participants go to business school “boot-camp” for 13-weeks to create business plans for a start-up they will create once they have completed their prison sentence. Most of these small businesses won’t change the world, but it will change the lives of the founder/owner and their families forever.
Comment by Todd -
Video games are a big business and with the advent of easier to use technologies and better methods for distribution, indy development teams are flourishing. No doubt you’ve heard of all the money being made developing iPhone applications. Microsoft is also offering a service they call XNA Community Games were you can develop a video game for play on Xbox and distribution via Xbox Live. I can do all the programming and I know people that can do artwork and music for minimul costs. I’m hoping to release my first XBox game in the next month or two, which you can see here: http://nasty.krissteele.net
While there aren’t Xbox sales numbers available just yet, iPhone numbers are well. Given your name, any app that is associated with you will surely get a good look from many people amidst a sea of other applications.
If you wish to discuss serious numbers of what this would cost, let me know. They would hardly be a drop in the bucket for you.
Comment by Kris -
Hi Mark,
Here is my entry for The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcg4gqm5_4c2qtspf8
All the best,
Michelle
Comment by Michelle DuQuesnay -
Ideas are great but execution is better… We’re a Dallas based bootstrapping start-up that designs and builds mobile applications. We have one product prototyped and others well on their way. If you’re interested, check us out http://www.froogloid.com
Profitable in 90 days?! Shaaa, how about 60 instead 🙂
Comment by froogloid -
I would like to open a 99 cent store, i have all information about how i can do it and the company could be help me. If you like this idea I can send it my business plan and all information that i have.
This is a great opportinity, if you like my idea…
Julio Ceballos
julioc1728@hotmail.com
Comment by Julio Ceballos -
Mr. Cuban
I am laura ceballos the owner of two Child Day Care(Blue Sky Group Family Day Care I) each one has the capacity for 14 children. I would like to have a investor or financial helper is because I would like to renew both day care with furniture that help us to carry out a better work. At present time we offer educational curriculum, craft activity, developmente skills according to each child. I have many expenses and commitments that have limited a little the best development of both centers. For my services all the time I am in full capacity and i would like to expand the services for 24 hours and open another one. If you would like my idea I can send it my business plan for the new one and all details about how i will be used the money? and how you can received back?
I would like you know that the money we can used for:
1-offer sponsorship for child attendance to day care.
2-For new educational equipment(computer,tv,listen center reading,table,chair,etc)
3-renew(paint,remodelation the kitchen, office,expand the area bigger)
4-to keep the cash flow
5-to invest for educational trip(storybookland, crayola factory, chocolate factory,museam,etc)
6-Anything for any educational equipment that can help children of our society become successful, individual in the future.
I have a degree in marketin administration and all my employee are degree and early childhood development. We are a professional team working for our comunity to try to grow up third center and to combine all three to created a early childhood development.
For additional information you could be contac me at 347-284-5023 or 347-257-0068
Sincerely,
Laura
blueskydaycare@gmail.com
Comment by Laura -
I left out one important factor. This could create a lot of jobs if we could establish call centers in major cities once the business is making itself known.
Comment by Gloria P. -
Hello Mark,
Being among the ranks of the recently unemployed (corporate trainer/job elimination), I have done a great deal of soul-searching about my career options. I’ve come to the conclusion that I want to work for myself and become successful at doing something I love. I believe my business idea/plan represents the spirit of your business stimulus offer: get the economy moving by giving people hope and a “boost up” in creating viable businesses. I’ve made a career out of working for others, but now I want to take care of myself and my family on my terms.
My business would be a startup in the realm of custom manufacturing. I have been a musician all my life (guitarist) and I know from experience that customized products sell. There are two in particular that reside in an under-represented market niche: pedalboards (for guitar accessories) and dedicated stage monitor amplification– strictly for guitarists.
Musicians want to be unique. With this in mind, my products will be custom-built to musicians’ preferences. Currently, products are available but with limited size and finish options…a consumer typically only has the choice of a couple sizes and one finish (usually an unattractive speaker carpeting or nylon bag).
Here’s the concept: Provide five size options and 10 different tolex finishes (tolex is like a naugahyde vinyl, currently used in covering amplifiers and guitar cases). These options could be ordered “mix & match” from drop-down menus on the website. Tolex options would be cool because you could match the color of your pedalboard with you amp. Just say the words “blonde tolex” to a vintage guitar buff and watch their eyes go starry! Since I live in Texas, I would also create the “gunslinger special” complete with western style tolex, conchos (those little thingy’s on western belts) and a .45 cartridge holder on the side. The possibilities are endless and I know the demand is there.
Guitar cabinets shaped like stage monitors are VERY hard to come by. I would manufacture 2 sizes (10 and 12 inch), available in any of the custom tolex finishes. I believe there is an untapped market for guitar monitors. Usually, a guitarist plays through an amp set behind them (typically at volumes that make the singer and sound man wince). Most amps have an external speaker “out” jack that can be used to power the monitor. Now, the guitarist has all the glory of their amp directly in their face. With my products, they also will have the ability to have matching amp, monitor and pedalboard!
I would manufacture the products out of my garage until the business takes off. Right now, I have the ability to create a custom pedal board in just a few hours at a cost of around $86. Average retail would be $199 for the smallest board and up to $299 for larger models. I would also offer custom features (like 9V pedal power units)that could be added at additional charge. I will have the ability to “flex up” with labor when the products take off. I know several friends and relatives who will be “on call” when the demand is there.
I would also offer “as is” models as well — limited to two particular finishes and sizes. This would give me the ability to pre-manufacture products in advance of order. This way, I could sell from inventory as well as custom manufacture.
Start up cost would be around $5000. For: incorporation as a business, website design, supplies (wood, glue, hardware and tolex),upgraded table saw, and demo models to give to “boutique” guitar stores and musicians (I think could get pedalboards in the hands of great Texas guitarists Doyle Bramhall II and Charlie Sexton).
As far as marketing goes, I have an excellent reputation as a seller on ebay so I would open a store there and post Craigslist ads. I would do some print publication (Guitar Player and Guitar World magazines) and talk to the editors about being featured in gear review. Otherwise, mostly homegrown grassroots sort of stuff…word of mouth, network with other businesses and guitar shops. I also have a great idea for a domain name.
I’m sure I will be able to meet your criteria as far as financial metrics go. As far as your return, I am fairly certain I could deliver a 10 to 12% ROIC. Possibly more if I get some wholesale agreements lined up with supply vendors.
Thanks for your consideration,
Erik P.
Comment by Erik P. -
Mr. Cuban,
Well, as a non-profit organization we don’t qualify for your stimulus plan. If you are willing, I’d love to “pick your brain” for some ideas to expand our donor base. I have recently been charged with finding funding to accomplish our mission. Our organization trains young men to serve communities affected by disasters or other crisis situations. We also provide training to be able to continue serving communities as a public servant (firefigher, law enforcement, paramedic, etc.) Thank you for what you are doing for America. You are a true patriot!
Comment by Randy -
Mark,
I’m starting an energy company from the ground up. GEL, or “Green Energy Leasing” intalls and maintains solar panels, wind-mills, etc to corportate offices and residental homes. Customers would lease the equipment from GEL, and choose to forgoe their local energy company. GEL would also earn extra revenue from selling the excess enery back to the “grid”. Start up costs and initiial investment will be high, but tax breaks will be frequent. Lets go Green! I’d be willing to consider forfeiting all profit in place of becoming Dirks pet monkey. I play some mad ping-pong and can do various monkey tricks. -Ryan MFFL
Comment by Ryan -
Hey Mark,
My plan follows the simple model employed by a friend of mine, who established the website barackswatch.com to sell the distinctive Secret Service watch worn by President Obama. He contacted the manufacturer, requested that the watches be emblazoned with a special symbol, and purchased 100 of them for $100 each. On the first day he posted the watches on the site for $300 each, he received 40 orders totaling $12,000 – in other words, within 24 hours he had generated a $1600 profit (including the cost of the product and setting up the website), with 60 more watches available whose sales would constitute pure profit.
If we were to utilize the same strategy with a product that you have extensive access to – NBA basketballs – we could minimize overhead and maximize profits. The official Spaulding game basketball is available for just under $100 on NBA.com, and I’m confident that as a franchise owner, you receive them at a fraction of that price. We acquire twenty extra balls per game to use exclusively for player warmups; we brand each of them with a tiny Mavericks logo; perhaps we employ a photographer to capture photos of the players shooting around with them (logo and photograph ideas could be tweaked if licensing issues arise). Then we sell the basketballs online at a price that constitutes three to four times the cost of production. 20 balls for each of 41 home games means that there would be a substantial supply of product but not an oversaturation. The investment is minimal – we start out with 20 units at your already-discounted rate. The upside is high – not only the opportunity for continued production throughout the year, but the possibility of selling the idea to other teams and other sports, both professional and collegiate.
Please contact me with any questions or concerns. Thanks!
John Burr
From MC> by the time you added the nba license fee it would be tough to make any money. Plus there are companies already doing this with game used merch. Finding unique opportunities, ala the Secret Service link has promise. But its obviously harder to pick the right things
Comment by John Burr -
What about an online service that sells you a box and subcription to the service where the box automatically connects to you DVR and cuts the commercials out. You can easily have someone manually record the times to the second that commercials are put on networks shows and sports, etc and the service connects to your box and the box automatically cuts the commercials out and puts them back(edited) on your DVR.
Comment by Anthony -
Good day Mr. Cuban.
I am a single working mom that resides in the Dallas area with my 5 year old daughter. I think anyone who has children can agree that it can be very challenging to get your child to do just about anything.
As I’m sure there are so many boys and girls out there just like my child, my daughter is definately into the latest characters that the entertainment industry has introduced.
My idea is a call center that could profit millions if people knew about it. In fact I don’t see how it wouldn’t be successful.
A call center where parents could call ask to speak to their child’s favorite or influential character, whoever that would be, and put the call thru to the child. Whether you just want your child to have the opportunity to talk to his/her favorite character or whether you want the character to talk to your child because he/she had a bad day, good report card, birthdays, holidays, etc.
I struggle so much to get my child to clean her room, eat her vegetables, go to bed, etc. And how easy would it be to have their most idolized character call them over the phone and ask them to do it. I know that kids should listen to their parents but sometimes they zone us out just like we do them. Its unfortunate but true that kids would listen to a character because to them, the character could say or do no wrong.
I have thought about the plan very well and have a lot of ideas and this idea could go a million different ways. The business could be through phone, email, text messages. Parents could either call, email, or text when they would like a phone call and by which character and could even be more specific and ask that we talk to the child about certain things, like how important it is to eat your food, or clean your room, or share with others, or more specific issues like how nice it is to get along with your sister.
These make believe characters are very influential to our children.
In the past, I have made friends or family call my daughter and pretend she is Cinderella or Ariel, even Elmo, to get her to eat her veges or clean up her room. And the smile on my daughter is priceless. She surely doesn’t want to disappoint her friend.
I have mentioned to so many parents, in our t-ball league, even soccer moms, just friends and family in general about my idea and they all say the same thing. That the idea sounds wonderful and what a relief it would be to so many that the pressure is not always on them! Everyone says they would definately use that as an outsource to get their kids to do what they need them to do. So many parents have said, “I will pay whatever, because I know it would work.”
People could pay via credit card, make appointments by phone or text or email. This idea could go even further and parents could pay to have a letter be mailed by their character with specifics.
For someone to be interested in an idea or a business or to buy a product, you have to reach them on a personal level and how it would benefit them individually. I think my idea would be a huge relief on so many.
I went to disneyland last summer and they didn’t have anything available like this. And every parent I asked, all said the same thing. How wonderful it would be and exciting for the kids if they felt like they really could communicate with the characters they were into. As of today, I have still not seen anyone develop any business such as this.
I know after reading alot of the business proposals that have already been submitted, this would be something in a totally different direction. However, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss my business proposal with you.
Gloria P.
From MC> Its actually a good idea. The challenge is that you would have to go the copyright holders of the characters and work out a licensing deal. That wouldnt be easy, but if you used a licensingcompany it could be done. Then you could create a website with pre recorded messages that inserts the name of the child, and then makes the phone call. There is a business there Gloria. I wish I had time to help. Hopefully someone here can work with you and get it running or offer more ideas
Comment by Gloria P. -
Mark, I just wanted to add a little something about my last post this morning. The idea wouldnt need that much money to get started with a small investment either to start an online gaming site. I was just using high end numbers and to hit the ground running full force to deal with the competittion, it maybe the smartest. I took the time to read some of the other posts, and relized many people weren’t asking for anything close to what i was. But the numbers can very well be minimized to start small . I apologize, I think VERY big sometimes.
Comment by Paul Tarulli -
Hey Cuban,
This is not a stimulus plan. This is Mark Cuban cynically using the economic downturn as a marketing tool for a VC enterprise. If this were a stimulus, you wouldn’t be looking for equity or concerned with getting your money back. There’s nothing wrong with Mark Cuban wanting to play VC, just as there’s nothing wrong with Mark Cuban wanting to play Big Sports Franchise Owner. But let’s call a spade a spade. Be honest here.
Comment by Will -
i think a print-on-demand publishing company that’s a little nicer than what’s already out there could be huge. books, ads, anything printable that typically has to be purchased in bulk. company sends us the design, we print. it would require a printer, mailing equipment, and some smart and fairly meticulous staff.
also, if you’re looking for a cool project that is not original (i.e. mine), lulu.com is brilliant.
Comment by jen -
Hello Mark,
I have just recently laid off and now looking to start my own business. I have a great idea on opening a new sports bar and grill. I know you have heard ideas like these all day, but mine has a twist to it. I would reveal this info to you if you would like to hear my business plan. I believe that I woke up in time on 2-11-09 just to hear about your blog. Its funny this is the same day that I filed for my first unemployment check ever. Thanks for your time.
Comment by Rodrigo -
I will gladly comply with all requirements. I am an architect specializing in residential construction in the Atlanta area. Seeing the change in trends from large scale house renovations to smaller scale renovations or single room renovations I am trying to diversify my company for this market. We would go after smaller renovations or single rooms, such as adding panelling and shelves to create a library feel to an existing room. My kitchen designer, who also designs all sorts of specialty millwork and I have a lot of experience in projects of this size and scope and think it would be a great way to keep projects coming in. At this point, being a start up and cash strapped I can’t invest a ton of money in a website….which would be great to have or also a professional photographer to shoot some of the work that we have done. I generally do this myself. My architectural business has a track record of success and I feel that this second design group will as well. So, if you feel that a grant or investment is worthwhile in my company please contact me at the email above.
Comment by Linda MacArthur -
Mark,
I’ve got about 100 more business venture idea detailed out or in progress that with the right seed money and assistance would get off the ground. So if you needed someone with real world experience coupled with business strategies and knowhow feel free to contact me.
More affordable specialized educational institutions across the US with licenses or certifications to help Americans help America. I can go all day with stuff that is needed, wanted, functional and feasible. Its a shame that our paid government officials who have agencies for this type of stuff are such failures. The only thing keeping America from joining Mexico is the fact that we are free to do whatever we want individually. Sink or swim and most of us still choose to swim.
Comment by eric dupre -
Hi Mark,
I am the president of company that is getting ready to be sold. I feel I can an existing portfolio of business for fraction of the value. I will not be able to salvage all jobs of the company but I can salvage some. My window of opportunity is closing rapidly (48 or less). If you are interested, please contact me ASAP and I will show you a model that has immediate cash flow, and pays back the loan within 12 months. Thanks
Jason
Comment by Jason -
My company that I work for is Creative Arts Theatre & School. We are a children’s theatre and a theatre school. We have been in business for 30 years. Our building needs help, and we need investors like you. We have several things we would like to upgrade. The front of the building, the theatre space, classroom space, etc. This year we have 400 students. Each month were put on a production with 3200 visitors each month. How’s this sound?, “The Mark Cuban Theatre” I would love to talk with you and have you come visit with us, our kids, and watch a production. I can send you some DVDs of past productions.
Dawn Giammarco
817-861-2287 X-205
Comment by Dawn -
Vacant big boxes (Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc.) are ruining suburban America. Yet, instead of looking inward, Developers want to continue with what they are comfortable with and continue the trend of building newer, bigger, and further out.
Suburban America is now starting to realize that its neighborhood grocery store has been replaced with the Super Wal-Marts; its neighborhood café has been replaced by the string of chain restaurants; its barbershop replaced by the Pro Cuts, etc. It has been overcome by the monotony of convenience.
I live next to a vacant big box. Along with others in the community, we have developed a plan to buy and tear down the building and replace it with a small walkable “neighborhood town center.” The town hub would have a mix of residential, retail, and office. Independently owned stores and restaurants would be encouraged (Buying local increases sense of community). Neighborhood friendly tenants have been contacted (ice cream shop, small pub, etc.). The “strip mall” concept would be disregarded.
The business idea will:
a) help reverse the trend of “suburban sprawl”
b) provide other communities a blueprint of how to redevelopment these infill sites
c) provide more jobs within the immediate surrounding areas
d) provide neighbors with a “third place” – away from home and work – to mingle and socialize
The recession has been a blessing and a curse. We are getting the property for a very good price, but have lost investors along the way. We have a signed letter-of-intent, but need more investors. After working for over 2 years on the project, we are now facing an expedited timetable from the owner. The quick return on your investment would come from the sale of the residential lots to a builder and, if desired, long-term residual income from the retail side of things. Too many developers build something and move onto the next project. With a community focused development, however, I will continue managing the project (bringing in a weekly farmer’s market, art shows, etc.) to ensure long-term success both financially and for the surrounding community.
Thanks for your time. Please let me know what other information I can provide.
Comment by Think Outside the Big Box -
THE SOUP & TALENT COMMODITIES BAR
A soup kitchen that features a live streaming Talent Show.
The soup is a green soup recipe that is simple and medicinal. In fact, this soup is a healing remedy that is like mother’s milk for adults! I am a grandmother with a son that is 6’7″ (a top volleyball athlete with the University of Hawaii) and I raised my three children eating from our garden, my eldest daughter is a doctor of Chinese Medicine and my youngest was on America’s Next Top Model. I believe one big reason (aside from genetics) all three of my children excelled is because of green food – which most Americans seriously need.
This soup is a meal in a cup that costs about the same as a fu fu drink at Starbucks, and the soup is addictive, like coffee can be. People will have no need for fast food, or pick-me-up drinks (or the doctors that are necessary to heal the problems that come from that lifestyle) if they make green soup a part of their diet. This, in and of itself, will free people up financially and give them more time to part of an ongoing Talent Show.
The Talent Show will be a live streaming show for the world to see. Winners will get to share in the profits of the winning show by receiving royalties from cd’s sold of this as well as be the featured artist for one month. This gives the winner some very good perks that I won’t take time to list here. Along with this daily talent show that has a monthly competition that is sold as a dvd, there will be a Dessert competition where the winner will have his/her dessert entry featured as the dessert of the month.
The featured drinks will be local fruit juices or tea from around the world. this one aspect could be unique for each locale that features a Soup & Talent Commodities Bar. The commodities aspect of these bars will be a weekly free press that features penny stocks for new United States Green Companies.
My ultimate goal (not necessarily as part of your challenge – which I’m up to) is to buy historical homes across the US, restore and retrofit them as self-standing, self-sufficient hubs for the green soup commodities bar. In this, architectural treasures will be saved and turned into models for the green products that the weekly commodities press will be featuring. I also have a superior business plan for helping workers to be co-owners.
Been fantasizing about this for years Mr. Cuban…so, I have un-bridled enthusiasm for giving this idea away. I love my country and want to soothe their rattled nerves with Tutu’s Green Soup.
Aloha from Maui,
Lori Dante
Comment by Lori -
Mark Cuban,
Please bro you got to reply to this idea. It would have a massive positive impact for our hurting economy. two or three call centers, eventually as we grow, would employ thousands. Lets shove these credit reporting agencies to the ground, and create one that has compassion for the citizens of our country. I know this is very possible. A low price, just like a low tax rate, would attract customers. Also i know that we could get all business to report to us by offering them a very small contribution for them reporting to us. Thats better then having to pay those other companies so of course they would join us. Think about how much better of a system this would be for our company. If the Federal government won’t do it. Lets me and YOu do it, and go down in the history books!think about it. This could be big!! i know it would work because you can help get the news out there. you hitting all the media sources would get the national attention needed to profit from this idea. i REALLY hope to hear from you, even it’s just to hear your thoughts on this. Take Care!!!
Rolando
Comment by Rolando Trejo -
“Existing web app, existing customers…
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg547sdq_31cj5thght
From MC> I would need to see more details”
Mark, can I email you financials and other more private information, or does it all have to be on this forum?
Comment by MJA -
The majority of the Untied States under ground infrastructure is in horrible shape and getting worse each. Larger cities with larger tax base and EPA help are starting to be proactive in rehabbing their aging systems. If the infrastructure goes so do we and we all pay taxes to fix these problems but since they are out of sight out of mind they only get fixed when they become a major problem and end up costing tax payers 10 fold. I have developed trenchless methods of rehab that cost about 1/6 of traditional construction methods. About half the major cities in the U.S. utilize this newer technology and almost 90% of small and mid size cites know about these advanced trenchless rehab methods. Everyone needs water and sanitary service. Having a large enough sales team to cover all these cities across America is the biggest hurdle but all have tax money allocated to pay for this they just need to be shown how to be cost effective with these new methods and be proactive prior to a major emergency repair that will cost them half of a project budget. We have a full blow presentation that walks you through all your systems problems and shows you that this type of proactive maintenance has a recapture rate after 9 months meaning that money saved by stopping other associated costs from these current infrastructure problems breaks even at 9 months and you starting earning lost revenue. It pays for itself quickly and allows you grow you cities budget for more repair work or new work. You can take this format into any City in the world that has a sewer system and uses tax dollars to maintain the system. There are billions of dollars annually allocated just for these services and will only grow as the population grows.
Comment by eric dupre -
So everyone has at least a couple small plastic swipecards (with bar codes on the back) on their key chains for the gym, grocery store, library, etc. So instead of cluttering up your keys, put all that information on an HID key chain and and the key fob gets swiped to earn/redeem the points or value that has been earned.
Comment by Timothy Junglas -
Hi Mark,
My partner, Ben, and I are pleased to present our concept for an Collaborative Workspace in Dallas. The concept encourages job creation by providing entrepreneurs with a collaborative work environment. It is cheaper than an executive suite, offers the same business tools, and again, creates that environment that helps entrepreneurs collaborate and develop their ideas with the input of others.
Please view our business plan as outlined at the link below:
http://www.slideshare.net/guesta9f365c/mark-cubans-stimulus-plan
Job creation enjoys a multiplier effect with our model. We are entrepreneurs and would personally enjoy this kind of workspace as an alternative to an executive suite or our uptown apartments.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Blaine Iler
Benjamin Hurt
Comment by Blaine Iler -
Mark,
Hello from a fellow Pittsburgher, though you did attend my rival high school-Upper St. Clair Panthers for life!
Hah, all joking aside I’m currently a college student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles planning on majoring in Entrepreneurship and Business Economics. I have an idea for a business that actually is similar to what you are doing here but on a consumer level, but with the current economic state (and being a younger entrepreneur) it is extremely difficult to secure funding. I am actually not comfortable posting details here but would be extremely excited to work with you on building and putting the idea into action.
The general idea for the business is to allow smaller scale investors to invest in business startups, essentially giving anyone the opportunity to be a venture capitalist. The company would involve little to no overhead, a relatively small startup cost (only in getting the name out there, which would be a non issue with some business connections), and consequently would have the opportunity to be cashflow even in an extraordinarily short amount of time. Think of something like an online trading platform but instead of buying stocks, bonds and commodities you are buying a share in someone’s startup business.
Again, I am afraid to reveal too many details in such a public forum but please contact me and hopefully we can make this happen!
Comment by Matt -
Mark,
As an aspiring entrepreneur, I would like to start a small business that is not that original but has a proven track record when done directionally correct. I would like to open a sports bar in my town which was recently voted wet in November. Although the town has restaurants and a couple of other bars there are no strictly sports bar with flat screen TVs and good music (except the local Karaoke bar, not!!!). The town has a large influx of people during the work day with a large defense contractor as the major employer. This town is moving to less of an old fashion bible belt town and towards a respectable hot spot for local communities, it doesn’t hurt that one of the largest highways in the state goes directly through the city.
Start up costs can range from 25,000 to $500,000 depending on capital expenditures but I would like to start a small operation that has a cozy feel. Although this business wouldn’t cure our nations tumultuous economic situation, it would help the local growing community enjoy their time in a place that is different from the norm. Depending on the size of the operation it could help employ 5 to 20 people, including myself, and I believe that if I don’t make the first move someone else will.
Sincerely,
Sick of working for the man!! Russell
Comment by Russell -
I won’t publish my business plan on a blog; but, if you really want to invest in a company that has huge profit potential, check out FossaTec Business Systems.
In short we have a new enterprise software product which will help save medium – large businesses, government agencies, and similar organizations a significant portion of their operating costs. We’ve started the patent process, and are looking for investors now to help get into the market.
Give me a call,
Steve Johnson
President, FossaTec Business Systems, Inc.
Comment by Steve Johnson -
Kudos to you Mark. It is too bad most of the really good ideas will not show up here. If you had a really great idea for a new business, improving an existing business or product, or a new product…You would not post it for everyone to see and maybe implement faster and better than you could. So, why do you ask others to do what you wouldn’t do yourself? I am an aerospace engineer (plastics & composites applications) who was laid off and spent my time developing an alectric car that has almost unlimited mileage and the lowest carbon footprint of any vehicle on this earth. However, since the plans use existing technology and off-the-shelf components, when the idea is seen, it will be in a hundred manufacturing plants by the end of the month. It also takes some deep pockets to take on the world wide vehicle market and turn it upside down before it can copy or improve on the idea. The rewards would be a legacy that changed the world in a single action in affecting the global warming problems, the world’s transportation market, and the oil & gas/energy industry, just to start. I doubt you are rebel enough or have deep enough pockets for the project, but I just wanted to show you that there are projects out there that would never be seen here, that have merit and would be worth checking into without the public forum until the right time.
Comment by Jack -
I would like to add. The most current figures provided by the FTC states that over $16.8 BILLION was lost in the U.S. in ’07 due to lost or stolen cards. I have no way of knowing wht the world figures are. But you can see it is a big issue that is only going to get worse in a declining economy. BIG PIE!!!
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Mark S.
Comment by Mark - Dallas, TX -
Business Synopsis:
A startup company focused on the manufacturing and repair of grounding and jumper cables for the utility and electrical construction industries.
Emergent Need:
There is a huge need for custom built grounding cables for the utility and electrical construction industries. Currently there are only pre-made grounds and jumpers available in most regions, sold by national manufacturers that have average lead-times of 3-4 weeks (often much more).
With my knowledge of the industry and ground cable manufacturing processes, along the contacts I have, I could easily put together an initial team of 4-6 experienced people who could build and repair custom grounds and jumpers. With products priced comparably to those of the national manufacturers, but with specifications that fit individual job sites and usages, our cables would be much more attractive to the purchasers and end users in our target industry. Couple that with lead-times of 2-3 days, instead of 3-4 weeks (which is the norm), profitability within a few months is all but guaranteed.
For initial advertisement, a simple email or flyer using my contact list would net 30-40 good customers within the first month. An online advertising campaign would bring in business from outside the region, while our delivery driver could also function as an outside salesman.
I’ve had this business model planned for over a year, but have nowhere near the capital required for start-up. Obviously, I’m interested in receiving aid from Mark, but if anyone else is interested in funding this business, I would be willing to discuss terms. Please email me at evergreencables@gmail.com.
New jobs created:
Shipping / Receiving / Inventory Control (1 position)
Purchasing / Customer Service / Human Resources / Management (1-2 positions)
Material Handler / Builder / Tester (1-2 positions)
Delivery Driver (1 position)
Accounting / AP / AR (1 position)
Requirements:
1000 square feet of manufacturing space
500 square feet for shipping / receiving / inventory storage
500 square feet for offices / miscellaneous storage
Small covered parking area
Estimated Total – $1200.00 per month + utilities
$50,000 for initial inventory (itemized below)
– 500’ roll of #2 Clear-Jacketed Ground Cable (appx. $1.90 per foot, landed cost)
– 1000’ roll of 1/0 Clear-Jacketed Ground Cable (appx. $2.30 per foot, landed cost)
– 1000’ roll of 2/0 Clear-Jacketed Ground Cable (appx. $2.60 per foot, landed cost)
– 1000’ roll of 4/0 Clear-Jacketed Ground Cable (appx. $3.40 per foot, landed cost)
– 500’ roll of 1/0 Yellow-Jacketed Ground Cable (appx. 2.30 per foot, landed cost)
– 500’ roll of #2 15kV Insulated Jumper Cable (appx. 5.50 per foot, landed cost)
– 500’ roll of 1/0 15kV Insulated Jumper Cable (appx. $6.50 per foot, landed cost)
– 500’ roll of 2/0 15kV Insulated Jumper Cable (appx. $8.00 per foot, landed cost)
– 500’ roll of 4/0 15kV Insulated Jumper Cable (appx. $13.50 per foot, landed cost)
– Qty 50 #2 Threaded Ferrules (appx. $12.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 100 1/0 Threaded Ferrules (appx. $12.25 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 100 2/0 Threaded Ferrules (appx. $12.25 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 100 4/0 Threaded Ferrules (appx. $13.50 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 25 #2 Pin Ferrules (appx. $12.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 50 1/0 Pin Ferrules (appx. $12.25 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 50 2/0 Pin Ferrules (appx. $12.25 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 50 4/0 Pin Ferrules (appx. $13.50 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 25 1/0 Elbow Ferrules (appx. $12.25 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 25 2/0 Elbow Ferrules (appx. $12.25 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 50 C6001733 or equivalent Large C-Clamp (appx. $70.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 50 C6000197 or equivalent Large Duckbill Clamp (appx. $75.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 50 G36221 or equivalent Medium Duckbill Clamp (appx. $55.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 50 21067 or equivalent Medium C-Clamp (appx. $65.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 50 21277 or equivalent Ball Stud Clamp (appx. $60.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 50 C6002102 or equivalent Ball Stud (appx. $17.50 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 25 G33633SJ or equivalent Flat-Face Clamp (appx. $60.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 25 C6003097 or equivalent 15kV Elbow (appx. $85.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 10 Rolls of 1.1” Clear Heat Shrink (appx. $60.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 5 Rolls of 1.3” Clear Heat Shrink (appx. $60.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 15 67241 or equivalent Grounding Cluster (appx. $45.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 24 2190 or equivalent Ground Cable Bags (appx. $75.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 24 Bottles of Penetrox or equivalent (appx. $18.00 ea, landed cost)
– Qty 10 50lb Bags of AC Glass Bead (appx. $30.00 ea, landed cost)
$20,000 for Manufacturing Equipment (Itemized below):
– Qty 1-2 Hydraulic Crimping Tools (appx. $3500.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Sets of U and W Dies (appx. $1500.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Voltage / Continuity Tester (appx. $2000.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Hydraulic Cable Cutter (appx. $3000.00 ea)
– Qty 1-2 Heat Guns (appx. $150.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Inspection Bench, complete with magnification (appx. $1000.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Manual Cutting Tool (appx. $100.00 ea)
– Qty 1-2 Jacket Stripping Tools (appx. $350.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Electrical Cable Length measuring Tool (appx. $500.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Cable Spool w/ Length measurements (appx. $500.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Glass Beading Machine (appx. $2000.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Manufacturing Bench, 12’ long x 6’ wide (appx. $500.00 ea)
– Qty 2 Shop Benches (appx. $100.00 ea)
$15,000.00 for Office Equipment / Supplies (Itemized below):
– Qty 1 Server (appx. $1200.00)
– Qty 3 Personal Computers w/ software, monitors and peripherals (appx. $850.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Copy / Fax / Scanning Machine (appx. $750.00 ea)
– Qty 3 Office Desks (appx. $300.00 ea)
– Qty 3 Office Chairs (appx. $150.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Large Paper Shredder (appx. $200.00 ea)
– Qty 2 Business Calculators (appx. $80.00 ea)
– Qty 3 Quickbooks or equivalent AP / AR / Inventory Software User Licenses (appx. $750.00)
– Qty 2 Large Lockable Filing Cabinets (appx. $500.00 ea)
– Qty 2 Small Personal Filing Cabinets (appx. $300.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Refrigerator – Used (appx. $300.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Microwave – Used (appx. $75.00 ea)
– Qty 2 Large Bookshelves – (appx. $300.00 ea)
– Qty 1 Small Conference Table – (appx. $600.00 ea)
– Qty 4 Conference Table Chairs – (appx. $120.00 ea)
Delivery Van:
$6500.00 for Used Extra-Long Delivery Van
$200.00 per month for maintenance
$500.00 per month for gas / ferry / tolls
$200.00 per month for van insurance
Miscellaneous Other Requirements:
$14,280.00 per month in Gross Wages
$5000.00 for interactive website creation (complete with build-your-own ground utility)
$1000.00 per month for initial advertising (web advertisement and fliers)
$300.00 per month for miscellaneous office supplies (paper / staples etc.)
$1000.00 per month Insurance
Comment by Nick -
For your consideration.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhgk8rmb_0dqwnhtxv
Thanks,
Greg
Comment by Greg -
What I’m looking to do is to team up with Google to develop a refined search tool for real estate agents to find or be found based on detailed search criteria that is crucial when needing a realtor. I’m a Texas realtor and have been involve with the development of this project for about 5 years now and have input from current and former CEO & COO’s of realestate firms like Keller Williams and from hundreds of realestate agents. I know the wants and needs and I know the current market conditions and current competitive sites that do a similar function but don’t quite get it done or are not user friendly or really just don’t function the way this should. The core function of this site will be to take information and format it into a functional and user friendly system for multiple users. I’ve developed a full business plan for this entire idea from start to finish with the help of Darren Bien who has worked for Dell, Keller Williams, Jupiter Media Metrix, and a number major rolls as a top executive. I’d like to open up the entire plan and idea in person to Google and see where we could take this. I know that there is no one better when it comes to searching and taking information to create end value. When you talk about realestate, marketing, searching, your talking about a huge growing web market and this idea takes a refined portion of that markets information and outputs a valued result in a number of ways without saturating it with unusable information. I have no problem with having my team and myself fly out to you to present this to you in person. I also believe this could easily integrate into google earth and add even more value to that great tool. I’ve presented this to some major real estate firms and to the largest real estate association in the world and all where highly interested but did not have either the time, resources, or it was not in their core interest. So the industry leaders had a chance to harness and capitalize this tool but choose to pass on it. Honestly Google is the best medium to carry this out and would experience exponential annual growth with very little overhead. If this sounds like something of interest to Google’s strategic partnership then please lets share some open dialog and see what we can accomplish. Thanks for your time and efforts.
Sincerely Eric J. Dupre’
Comment by eric dupre -
Mark Cuban replies to my $100 bet that he won’t get a single sensible reply from ANYONE who really needs his money: From MC> you can send the 100 dollars to the Mavs Foundation
Mark, I’ll gladly pay the bet (and thanks for accepting it) — IFF (that’s If and Only If — my education was in the hard sciences) you in fact receive such a proposal. So, please tell us (or me, privately — you can reach me via the email address accompanying my posts)which proposal meets these criteria.
Who in h**l is there out there who has a surefire business plan that will break even in two months and be profitable in three — WHO REALLY NEEDS YOUR MONEY (with your strings attached) TO MAKE IT HAPPEN???
When you concede, I’ll send you payment instructions.
Comment by Norman Rogers -
Mark,
I have an extraordinarily simple, but potentially hugely profitable business idea, Here goes..
Food delivery (Jimmy Johns, Domino’s, Chinese, etc.) is hugely successful because of the convenience factor that is offered. However, it seems that the only product you can get delivered on demand is food.
I propose a business that would deliver ANYTHING (with some exceptions.. alcohol, tobacco, etc.) at any time. Many people either don’t have the time or access to transportation to make runs to Wal-Mart, the mall, or the drug store at a moments notice. The business would being extremely inexpensive to start and would create revenue by adding a surcharge to each order (either a percentage of the purchase, or a flat fee depending on the distance travelled and convenience of the product(s)).
Consider this, a single working mother gets off work at five, goes to pick up her child from the daycare, and immediately goes home to cook dinner and spend some quality time with her children. The ability to skip the small inconvenient shopping trips would be well worth the fee to have her order delivered to her.
Orders over “x” amount may be collateralized with a credit card as a guarantee against “prank calls”. The overhead largely be limited to employee pay, fuel expenses, daily purchasing capital, and whatever would be spent on marketing.
I graduated from Purdue University last December and still live in West Lafayette. I know that between the college students who lack the vehicle get to the mall or wal-mart and the adults in the surrounding area who don’t have the time, the demand for such a business exists.
Initially, I could run the entire business alone if need-be, but I would certainly like to hire-on at least one or two more drivers. Everyone works, everyone contributes. One person coordinates orders and deliveries, everyone drives. Drivers make an hourly wage subsidized by tips, just like other delivery personel.
Certainly there are more details to be ironed out, but this is the general idea. If properly managed, this would be a very lucrative business with very low start-up costs.
Even if you decide not to take part in such a venture, I would really appreciate a quick, “Yeah, I think that might work.” Or a “You might as well be selling Milli-Vanilli voice lessons.”
Thanks for all you do,
Daniel
Comment by Daniel H -
Mr. Mark Cuban,
(ERROR CORRECTION)
I have emarked on a new journey to start my own buisness which consists of 3 phases. My buisness is called Home Base Surveillance (L.L.C).
Buisness Model:
Scope: To create a buisness that will floursish during a struggling economy and create a safer enviroment for families.
*I’ve also made side notes for people to help them out on starting a buisness.
Buisness Plan:
Phase 1: (complete, with exception of item #4)
1)Secure a domain name. (godaddy.com – $15 for 2 years)
2)Register with IRS online. (irs.gov – it’s free people)
3)Register as a product distributor to purchase products wholesale. (depends on what product are selling but try to keep at least a 35% margin)
4)Launch HomeBaseSurveillance.com on March 1st ‘09 (sitecube.com – $25 a month)
Phase 2: (not started)($10K)
1) Hire people to install sold equipment. (like DirecTV does)
2) Offer end customer various packages. (10 options)
Phase 3: (not started)(&100-200K)
1) Create a propriraty home surveillance equipment.(HomeBase Surveillance equipment)
*This is an optional phase, however, I am Hardware and Software developer so if I had the front money I could develop just about anythng you can think of. It would be nice to monitor your kid(s),nanny,pet(s),house(s), etc. from the palm of your hand (via PC and smart phones. Hey, you could even put hidden cams (ex:necklace) on your kid why they are at at daycare to make sure they are being treated well.
Bottom Line:
10K for Phase 2
100K to 200K for Phase 3
Your time is very appreciated,
Clint
Comment by Clinton Tumey -
Open source funding
Mark my idea is starting a small business that basically contracts to various government agencies for short term and long term needs. For example I was part of a contract to one agency that called for 200 people for a call center for 4 to 6 months. The prime could not provide these people so there were three subcontractors on the contract. I was part of one of them. We staffed over 75 percent of the people. The government usually pays 30 to 90 days after the invoice but it depends on which agency. You figure the startup fees and administrative fees would not be more than 50,000 but it depends on what type of services. Technology Services such as IT Help Desk/Call Centers and System Admins pay from government contracts to companies can range from 25 a hour 125.00 a hour.
For example if paying for Call Center reps the government may pay 35 dollars a hour and the contracting company may pay the employee 20 dollars a hour. Thats a 15 dollar profit per employee. Per hour. If you have 20 employees working 80 hours that is at least 20,000 every other week. Not only does this give people out of work jobs but it also stimulates the economy. The money you invest would be payed within 6 months and there would be a profit after the first thirty days. The one reason this didn’t work out 6 months ago is because my partner and I could not receive the funding from any bank because we were just starting out and that was when all the banks and WallStreet was crumbling. Still is actually. I hope you take my idea into consideration.
P.S. If you ever need a cheap GM let me know I have a idea to get Amarie from Phoenix and you could still keep Derek. He can play Center cause really only true center in the West or league is Yao and Howard.
Comment by GCP -
Mark:
As I am sure you are aware, the state of the U.S. Health Care System is tragically laughable. We neither guarantee access nor treatment. But what I believe to be our greatest failure is our inability to stimulate competition and incorporate business into health.
We do not need to socialize our health care but rather Americanize it. What I propose is that we bring the world of health under one roof including maintenance (gyms and weight rooms) and treatment (rehabilitation facilities), as well as pharmacies, food stores, and education. Now the correlation between these aspects of health is right in front of our eyes.
Membership will include access to all fitness equipment, expert consultation, prescriptions (rehab included), a food distributor (perhaps Whole Foods), and even health classes to further educate people on lifestyle choices.
It will be more costly to join than typical gym memberships, particularly to get started. However, as individuals progress, their monthly bills will be directly proportional to their personal level of commitment. With rates reflecting action, we will cap the amount of discounts given out. This will create competition amongst members vying for the lowest rates. Utilizing an online database, we can give the consumer a tangible interaction with our business. Health will naturally become a priority in our lives.
This is the future of America’s Health Care.
Comment by Jon Passage -
Mission Real Estate Group
Discount Realty Services- Flat Fee Real Estate
Sumary
Philosophy:
I believe that superior service for Buying or Selling a real estate does not require the seller paying 6% commissions. The average real estate agent will try to convince the seller and or buyer that the amount of effort that they expend trying to find a buyer or selling a home requires 3% more or less.BUT IT DOES NOT!
Target Market: Metro areas of Texas, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston for commercial and residental full services Real Estate and Mortgage Brokerage.
Customers: Residential Home Buyers and Sellers(core business), Commercial Real Estate Buyers and Sellers, Residenal Mortgage Applicants, and Real Estate Agents.
Services: Flat Fee MLS Listings-Sellers, Cash Rebates-Buyers, and Mortgages, Flat Fee Rates, and Broker Support(leads, in-house mortgage) for Agents.
Advertising: Internet Banner Ads, Billboards, Signs, Email Blast, Radio and TV.
Projected Revenues:
Flat Fee $250 per agent on sales
250 agents hired = 1% of market share of agents.(25,000 agents in TX total)if 50% of of agents(125) produce 1 transaction per month:
125 X $250 = $31,250monthly gross. = $375,000 per year.
—————————————————————————————so out of the 125 transaction if got 40% of them to mortgage referral that would be 50 loans.
125 transactions X 40% of mortgage referrals
50 mortgage loans per month at $2,500.00 each:
12 X $2,500 = 30,000 monthly gross. = $360,000 per year
—————————————————————————————–
Flat fee MLS Listing = 30 per month each major market
90 X $299.00 = $26,910 monthly gross. = $322,920 per year
——————————————————————————————
Buyer Leads provided @ 70/30 split. if 50 of the 250 agents(20%) produce only 1 transaction monthly
50 X $1,350 = $67,500 monthly gross. = $810,000 per year
——————————————————————————————-
Total $1,867,920 gross revenues yearly
– 298,800 expenses yearly
$ 1,569,120 profit yearly and creates 250 jobs for texas, then go national then multiply this by 50X
Expenses: monthly
office: $4,000
phone $ 1,000
advertising: $15,000
copiers: $ 500.00
MLS: $500
insurance: $400
office mgr: $ 2500
misc expenses: $1,000
TOTAL $24,900 per monthly or $298,800 yearly expenses
would need $50,000 to get it started and would be profitable immediately
Comment by joe -
Rubbernecker.com There are hundreds of accidents everyday and every time you see a bad one people slow down to look and see what happened. This website would provide a place were people could find out about the accident that they saw and place comments or details that might help people who were involved in the accident. If you lost a loved one in an accident it would be a place where family and friends could leave comments and blogs. People could send on pictures and help people who are having a dispute about who caused an accident. Insurance companies and lawyers could advertise on this site and it would also have traffic information. I am not sure how to build this site but if you build it I will check it out.
Comment by Matt -
Your Grandma–My Grandma-
There are a lot of seniors ” grandma’s and grandpa’s”, that are not doing financially well at all, and lonely.. I would like to start a company that sold maybe, cooking herbs or candels or both.they are both fairly simple. Where the seniors,” who quailify for assistance” could come and contribute time. To help grow their product, put labels on, put soil in pots, or water. Maybe get a free meal. and sell it on the internet, and they got a portion put into their account. I believe if my idea was fine tuned it could be advantageous for lots and lots of grandma’s, and a few others
Comment by Lisa -
Todd Rose, I had the EXACT same idea about a throat mic. I thought it was a perfect idea for cell phones too. I think you might even be able to talk without people around you being able to understand you.. or dictate using voice recognition software.
I envisioned a great system to use with this.. imagine you have a tablet PC or Iphone. And you have a stylus type pen… you talk into th throat mic so softly no one can hear you.. the Iphone or tablet PC using voice recognition software to dictate.. but as we know voice recognition is inaccurate.. so while you are dictating there are the most common alternate words listed beneath each word that is dictated.. you use the stylus to chose which word you actually meant. I think this would be a HUGE improvement over texting or straight voice recognition dictation or handwriting recognition.
I am an amateur inventor myself and have tons of ideas I am working on. Many of them I cannot share here because they are too valuable. Cuban, please contact me so we can get these ideas off the ground. I would love to work with Todd Rose, yourself and others to get these types of projects started.
One Idea I have I think could truly save the world and end wars. I’m not kidding. I truly believe it is that big.
Comment by charlie -
Healthcare is a huge market and it is needed by every walk of life. My team of .net programmers has developed an Internet application that connects people to quality healthcare on an “as needed” basis. It is astounding how many people are without health insurance! Why pay for premiums that are unnecessary and unused? Healthcare is provided at the reduced cost rather than the inflated “insurance covered” cost. The business proposition is a call center that connects people to healthcare and improves the quality of care to the consumer at the expense of member physicians and hospitals. The service referral is paid for by the physicians and hospitals on a membership basis because this connects new patients to their facility and improves their federally regulated customer service scores… this in turn, drives more federal $$ to their facilities. The call center employs trained individuals in their home utilizing VoIP technology, the Internet application, and their own computer…thus, creates jobs for unemployed. Initial due diligence determined a $900 mil market potential. Realization of positive cash flow in the first 30 days. If interested, will post business plan.
Comment by Robert -
Used Van rental, rent used cargo vans, mini vans and 15 passenger vans. There is huge need for cargo vans for small business’s whose vehicles brake down. If you rent from the normal chanels it can cost $60 per day plus mileage for a cargo van and most of the time you have to be careful not to scratch the vehicle. Used vans can be bought at auctions for around $4,000 and rented out for $39.99 per day unlimited mileage. You can get more for a used cargo van then you can for a new car. If you take cash deposits you will attarct a lot of renters who do not have credit cards and cannot rent from most rental agencies so you will get a lot of the fringe society who will rent on a weekly or monthly basis of course keeping track of these vehicles can be a problem. In peak seasons 15 passenger vans are impossible to find so there would also be a market for these. The key is to also connect this business with a car repair shop so that you can keep all of your vehicles in top shape and sell your vehicles earlier rather than later. Buy at the right price rent for 6 months and sell for original cost. Break even or repair shop and car sells buy 50 vehicles at $5000 = $250,000 Rent an exsisting repair shop and start advertising internet and Yellow pages. You can get rental insurance that will pay for itself with people buying the insurance on the vans. if you average 35 vans a day * $40 = $1400 * 30 days = $42,000 per month with the expenses location paid for by repair shop.
Comment by Matt -
4th and final idea (probably): High tech incubator in Dallas area: There is a distinct need in the seed stage venture market (especially Dallas) for a location and services for tech startups to grow organically. Right now, real estate is leasable for pennies on the dollar and a few thousand sqaure feet of space would offer the basics. The differentiator is the people involved. Having a small, seed fund (~$1-10M) that invests more like an angel and utilizes high net worth individuals for follow on investment is key. The process after funding of hand’s on mentoring, strategy development, networking, and follow on fundraising is what will enable these fledgling companies to become successful. With startup capital of $100K, I could round up the proper space, engage angels to seed deals, and line up the first 5 or 10 startups for space. If things progress smoothly, a second tranche of funds to use for investing in the deals would be required. Otherwise, the incubator would just be a real estate play with office space and little more value add.
Comment by JVick -
On a side note: i’ve got access to hundreds of high tech startups through my day job as a seed/early stage vc in Texas. Please contact me if you any interest in engaging with companies my fund has invested in or looked it.
Comment by JVick -
Mark: Rules 3 & 4 are the questionable rules I wanted to mention in the above concept. Not 2 & 3 as stated. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused.
Comment by Mark - Dallas, TX -
Thanks, Mark. Look for it to be posted around the end of Feb. I’ll send e-mail to ping you when it goes up.
Regards,
George
Comment by AGORACOM - George -
3rd idea: boutique ethanol plants built in small communities with high quantities of dairy farmers or other confined animal operations. I have access to a franchise for a ~2M gallon per year ethanol plant that derives ethanol from animal waste. The cost to build the plant and run it for one year is $1M including the site, plant, feedstock, and salaries for 2 employees. The cost per gallon of ethanol to produce through this methodology is ~$.75 and ethanol is being sold currently for around $1.75 leaving $1 per gallon of gross profit. With $2M gallons per year, the distribution (which is paid for by the purchaser) and advertising (grocery stores and gas station chains sign long term contracts) are low risk and the potential issue with competition is low as these boutique distilleries are small enough to not effect the big players or drive the price of ethanol down. I’m offering 50% ownership in a business that is scalable to tens or hundreds of units, has “green” and “ecology” written all over it, and allows for a great ROI of ~25% a year per plant.
Comment by JVick -
Mark,
A Solution for FDA, FAA and other Regulated Businesses
We are launching a software product that eliminates errors in business processes! The system eliminates omissions and mistakes by forcing adherence to business rules and requirements. It melds Business Process Management (BPM), Activity Based Management (ABM) and a real-time asynchronous Execution System to assure compliance to existing business rules, specifications, regulations, and requirements. The key benefit is cost savings associated with making sure everything is done right, the first time every time, by locking down the work process and using real-time decision-rules to eliminate the possibility of doing something wrong.
This system is wisdom based, real-time mistake-proofing solution deployed at the point of activity. Error free products and services can be built and completed as designed and defined. It is ideal for complex work, heavily-regulated industries and high liability businesses. It can be deployed through any interface that can see the Internet. It lowers the training barrier for workers to become productive, monitors supply chain execution, and eliminates costly inspection/audits and the use of corrective action programs. Companies can achieve customer satisfaction by delivering traceable error free products and services. This system is an enterprise application deployed with the latest technology (.Net application, Windows Services and Oracle/Microsoft SQL Databases).
Investment of $350K for 15% and your participation.
Comment by Spencer -
2nd idea: Aging/disabled home retrofit: We would target retired/aging people and/or disabled families to offer them an opportunity to retrofit their current home at no cost to them. We would partner with reverse mortgage companies to pay the cost out of their existing home equity and utilize parts distributors to contract the work to be done. General areas would include: safe gaurding bathrooms, adjusting kitchen/bathtub/toiler heights, removing stairs/adding ramps or elevators, replacing unreadable phones/keyboards/clocks/remotes, etc. The margins would be in the 50% range as most of these items can facilitate a 2 or 3X markup plus labor. We would be the prime contractor and outsource all work to day laborers and small firms. The overhead for the company, plus marketing for 3 months of burn would be about $50K and you would own 50% of the company. The average retrofit would be about $10K with $5K in profit and should take one week. One contractor can run 3 to 4 retrofits per week allowing for $80K in gross profit per month(16x$5000) less $10K per contractor and $5K in marketing fees netting before taxes around $65K per contractor.
The market for this would be highly fragmented, so the marketing cost and hands on labor efforts may drive costs up, but there appears to enough margin to cover a large increase in general and admin expenses as well as COGS.
Comment by JVick -
Hi Mark
Whenever there’s a gold rush, someone has to sell the shovel.
I will like to build a website to host all the Open Source Funding applicants. It will provide some order to all the business plans and allow the public to register for free to vote on each business plan. The site can be a part of blogmaverick.com
The site will be organized into 5 basic category
New Business Plans
Popular Business Plans (Based on Public Votes)
Mark’s Favorites (Your top picks regardless of public votes)
Hot Ideas (Business plans gaining ground among popular opinion)
Accepted Plans (Business plans that are accepted and are under negotiations)
The website will charge $20-$100 for entrepreneurs to post their business plans. The site will be free to voters.
Charging $20 will mean more business plans but perhaps less quality.
Charging $100 will mean less business plans but perhaps more quality.
Keyword here is perhaps, there are no guarantees charging will provide less or more quality results.
However every entrepreneurs knows you to spend something of value to make money, either time or money. $20-$100 is less the cost of traveling to meet Mark or any other ceo to deliver a pitch. Besides the site will cost money.
The site will cost anywhere from $100 to $1,000 a month depending on traffic and the number of registered voters. (Not including setup fee)
The site will only need 100 business plans submitted a month to cover cost and even be profitable. Profits can be pocketed or use to invest in the submitted business plans.
Comment by David O. -
PatientCast: Personalized ePatient relationships and conversations with physicians, practices, providers and payers. Helping providers meeting admission, pay mix and utilization marketing objectives.
PatientCast (working name, could get the domain cheap) is a self-funded startup that has created an open source (Drupal), white label, cloud-based-pay-as used (AWS) online service designed to accelerate ePatient collaboration and conversations with physicians, practices, providers and payers in a non-regulatory context. PatientCast drives and simplifies ePatient use (vs. clinician/organization use) of complex healthcare information technology (EHR/PHR) that saves lives and reduces healthcare costs by facilitating patient behavior change (e.g. diet/obesity) through patient education and adherence to medical advice/medication instructions.
PatientCast makes money through traditional year-to-year open source support, integration and customization service contracts (not license fees) paid by practices, providers and payers. (Affiliate store or advertising options are supported in the PatientCast content mgmt. system to provide incremental revenue options for subscribing practices, providers and payers but ad/affiliate revenues are *not* part of the PatientCast business plan/cash flow model.) PatientCast is based on Drupal, the world’s second largest open source community.
PatientCast delivers value to healthcare organizations by aggregating and redirecting the fast growing ePatient healthcare search traffic to provider branded, personalized ePatient web pages without requiring new infrastructure or resources. PatientCast is a competitive answer for healthcare providers who are losing the healthcare search traffic battle to entrenched, well funded search engine optimization and search marketing campaigns of generic healthcare information/ad driven services like WebMD. PatientCast is a logical ePatient add-on for providers that are planning to implement, implementing or have implemented complex and expensive EHR systems (typically $50K per physician in one-time costs) that are designed to meet government mandated standards, interoperability, privacy, security and certification standards. PatientCast is an affordable patient-centric jump-start ePatient relationship, referral and elective care marketing option for healthcare providers. PatientCast costs less for a year than a typical healthcare provider spends on one print, radio or television advertisment.
One Subscriber Full Year Biz Model – EBITDA & CF Positive
Price: $24K/year prepaid or quarterly (hosting fees billed direct)
COGs: 4K/year – CSS services/Support/Training/3rd pty support
Margin: 20K/year
R&D: 6K – Create/Customize Subcriber PatientCasts (my partner)
S&M: 6K – Sell/Sign/Renew Subscribers (me)
G&A: 3K – Home offices,svcs,travel,legal/acctg
EBITDA: 5K
ITDA: .5K – What we cannot expense
CapEx: .5K – Multiple monitors, anything that accelerates growth
NetCF: 4K
3/6 month and 1/2/3 year Scenarios
+3 months: 3 Subscribers/$36K revenue annualized/
+6 months: 6 Subscribers/$72K revenue annualized/+12K CF/$120K valuation @ 10x
+1 year: 12 Subscribers/$288K revenue annualized/+$45K CF/$450K valuation
+2 year: 25 Subscribers/$600K revenue annualized/+100K CF/$1M valuation
+3 years:50 Subscribers $1.2M revenue annualized/+$200K CF/$2M valuation
Sources/Uses/Ownership
Sources
Capital: $105K – equity or convertible debt if priced ~20% ownership based on + Year 1 forward valuation, $15K working cap, balance disbursed over 6 months as milestones met
Uses:
COGs: $3K/month – $18K/total
R&D: $5K/month – $30K/total
S&M: $5K/month – $30K/total
G&A: $2K/month – $12K/total
Wkg Cap: $15K/total
Month 1
Start Cash: $15K – Working capital
Cash Sources:
-Investor: +$15K – Disbursed against milestones
-Revenue: 0K
Cash Uses:
-Startup: -$15K
End Cash: $15K
Month 2
Start Cash: $15K
Cash Sources:
-Investor: +$15K – Disbursed against milestones
-Revenue: $24K (first customer has to prepay 1 year)
Cash Uses:
-Startup: -$15K Make demo rock solid/expand testing/marketing
-Ops/COG: -$ 8K Pay third party for premium 24/7 Drupal support
End Cash: $31K
Month 3
Start Cash: $31K
Cash Sources:
-Investor: +$15K Disbursed against milestones
-Revenue: $24K (second customer has to prepay 1 year)
Cash Uses:
-Startup: -$15K Expand promotion/marketing
-COG/Ops: -$20K
End Cash: +$35K
Month 4 to 12:
Start Cash: $35K
Cash Sources:
-Investor: +$45K
-Revenue: +170K (10 new customers,5 prepay)
Cash Uses:
-Startup: -$0K
-COG/Ops: -$171K
End Cash: $76K
Your Term Sheet
13. No MLM.
12. Your equity? ~20% based on Year 1 annualized NCF @ 10x, return of investment via owner distributions (old fashioned cash on cash), new investor cash, sale/merger
11. Your bank. Sure – but clear written milestones for disbursements, not open-ended.
10. Help/advice at your sole discretion. We think you probably have solid ePatient perspectives from your orthopedic procedure and your support for returning warriors and families with unique healthcare needs.
9. No follow-on round. Dandy.
8. Business Plan. Above. If you want more words, slides, spreadsheets, ask. We’ve already prototyped PatientCast. We’re not waiting to hear from you.
7. We do all the work. That is the way we roll. I do product marketing, sales, biz dev. My partner does the technical stuff. We use trusted consultants sparingly for stuff that we don’t do well like design, CSS. We plan on signing a 24/7 support agreement with the for-profit company that supports Drupal, partly as a marketing/confidence builder, partly so that we can focus on what we do best and let them deal with Drupal bug fixes/workarounds.
6.,5.,4.,3. – See above. Positive margin, monthly funding, profitable (EBITDA positive), cash flow positive.
2. No ads in our biz model but given successful use of ads by leaders like Mayo to drive traffic to their commercial site, logical to have ad/affiliate features available for subscribers to use/benefit (but not part of our business model.)
1. We are a startup that has already started up. Assume if you are interested, you’ll create an account/login or contact me and we’ll setup an account for you.
Comment by Tom -
Basic Plan. People who have lost their home or apartment no longer qualify when trying to rent a new property so we form a company that rents apartments and houses and then sublets them to people with bad credit who have the money for an extra deposit but because they owe money to another apartment complex or as a kid they damaged one or were kicked out and were put on a list and can’t rent from any apartment complex without paying back the old complex sometimes several thousand dollars. We would leverage our Money to negotiate discounted rates with Apt’s. Lets say we have 100 people who need a place we could rent 80 place from an Apt. complex and rent those out on a week to week basis at a 20% profit to our clients our clients would not be on the lease (lots of corporations lease apartments for employees who come in for a month at a time so this is not unusual) but instead they would be weekly renters that would have to renew each week so if they did not pay on time they would have to move out immediately and we would move in client number 81 into our apartment. We could get 50 clients to signup and give us there deposits before we lease any apartments. Each of our clients would put up a 2 month deposit that would cover any damage that they might do to the apartment. The start up cost would be advertising to attract clients. We could start a website and use Google adware’s with a $100.00 weekly budget for the Dallas Ft Worth area, this would probably work even better in other markets. We have 100 clients who put up average $2000 deposit = $200,000 we rent out 80 places average cost $800 per month we rent for $250.00 per week * 4.2 weeks per month =$1050 per month $250 per month profit * 100 = $25,000 per month profit – advertising cost. We always keep clients on a waiting list so we have people to fill empty apt’s . This will also work with homes and in any town were people with bad credit need a place to stay.
Comment by Matt -
Pingback: Independent Street : Mark Cuban's Stimulus Plan: Fund Businesses That Hit Profitability Fast
Imagine you are holding a VISA Platinum credit card in your hand. It has the VISA logo with a
North Carolina Panthers helmet and the issuing bank’s logo. It is a normal looking credit card
used everyday by thousands of people. One catch. Your “VISA” is fake! It only looks real.
Now, place that card in your wallet and wait. You’re waiting for your wallet or card numbers to
be stolen. It’s at that time your card goes to work. The thieves have just presented your
”Sentry” card to purchase a 42” Plasma TV, but the card is declined. At the time your ”VISA”
was read by the merchants card reader it CANCELLED all the other cards in your wallet and
RE-ORDERED them for you. This is due to the fact that all your legitimate cards have been
registered to this fake ”Sentry” card. In addition, when your “Sentry” card was read by
the card reader it also in real-time noti ed the credit reporting companies that your cards have
been compromised and put a “Red Flag” on your account for identity theft prevention. Your
card also could have noti ed store security personal, turned on surveillance equipment or
requested a thumb scan or some other type of biometric info for prosecution purposes.
As the owner of this “VISA”, you have the choice to pick whatever card might work best for you.
In your case, it was a “VISA”. Someone else might choose an American Express, Discover or
Master Card. It could even be a gas card such as Shell. Some consumers may choose to have
one bank AND one gas card as a Sentry card. Thieves often use a gas card in an eff ort to
determine if the other cards are still viable and haven’t yet been discovered as being compromised.
This in a nut shell is the “Sentry Card” concept in action. It is a fairly simple idea that will have
signi cant impact on credit card fraud on several levels. Those levels include but are not
limited to:
• Significantly reduced monetary losses
• Greatly reduced number of stolen cards
• Fewer merchant chargebacks
• Enhanced public relations with card holders and merchants
• Reduced time for card cancelling and re-ordering by consumers
This concept has an issued US patent along with a continuation patent, and has been filed in 28 other countries. If this concept sounds intriguing to you I would be happy to discuss the various levels impacted in greater detail. Let’s talk.
It may be difficult meeting rules #2 & 3. But I have found money grease can do magic.
Comment by Mark - Dallas, TX -
Mark,
Over the last year I’ve joined a gym and have had a lot of time think while peddling my Life Cycle. My idea was to install generator’s to create electicty to put back into the grid. Track the user’s output with a card reader.
Thanks,
Wilson
Comment by Wilson -
You’re a successful guy, Mark, but only a fool or sycophant would post a full-blown business plan on your blog.
Comment by Tom -
My device sticks on the garage door opener button and turns green when pressed to close and stays green until the button is pressed to open. Now you don’t have to drive back to see if you closed the garage door, the colored button will let you know. My problem is that it’s so inexpensive to produce. How can I make money with such a cheap product.
Thanks, Lu
Comment by LWG -
Hello Mr. Cuban,
My name is Ryan Weist and I will be graduating university in April with a B.Sc. in kinesiology. At this point, I am very unsure of my future career plans. This is partly due to the fact that I am not attracted to the “standard” career paths that have been laid out for someone with my background.
I am very interested in business as well as high performance sports. However, jobs pertaining to high performance sports are nonexistent in Canada (i.e. that is why we perform so poorly at the Olympics). Additionally, with the current strain on the economy, what little opportunity there was before (i.e. internships in major league sports) has been cutback.
Therefore, my proposition is that you invest in me. All I am looking for is an opportunity to learn by means of an internship or other entry-level position. In accordance with the demands of your blog, I am willing to forfeit all or a portion of my salary to you.
Thank you,
Ryan
*Additionally, you may be interested in correactology.ca
I believe this may be a viable option that would help reduce the number of injuries or recovery time of your players.
Comment by Ryan Weist -
Hello,
I had recently made a post but to see that i’m serious and not just lazy i took the time to create a business plan on my lemonade cleanse diet product! This plan does adhere to the 13 things to do and not to do.
Here it is for all to view, provide feedback for improvement and/or the vision to see it unfold with the decision to take action with me on this!
Google docs: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcpn8j4d_0csnnxsg3
Thanks,
Comment by dollardiscipline -
Hey Mark,
One of the biggest technology sellers this Christmas season was digital photo frames. The reason is that the feature set and reliability went up as the price points went from novelty to no-brainer, with a wide range of vendors and styles saturating the marketplace.
A big problem recipients of these gifts are having is easily getting their photos onto these frames. For example, many frames will accept 5 and 10 megapixel photos, but take several seconds to resize them for what are typically 1/3 megapixel or less. Some use algorithms that leave the resized photos grainy and jaggy. Resizing photos to fit the screens before copying from your computer to your flash drive solves that problem, but can be tedious.
Mac users (who spend money buying software beyond their market proportion) encounter an added problem. The Finder copies garbage invisible files to flash drives, which most frames interpret as unreadable pictures. Cleaning up this mess is tedious, and typically involves a side trip to a Windows box or Parallels to identify and remove these files before plugging the flash drive into the photo frame.
A solution is software we have developed. It resizes and copies photos to your flash drive as you drop the photos onto the software’s main window. It adds borders (solid, rotated gradient, radial gradient, another image) to the photos so that they fit exactly onto the frame while preserving aspect ratio. It remembers which flash drives go with which photo frames and what pixel size the frame is. It can backup, erase, and randomize the photos on your photo frame’s flash drive.
Our plan is to sell the software using a “freemium” model. We will actually give away copies of the fully functional software from our website. The “catch” is that the free version will stick a small watermark on all photos it produces. This will prove acceptable to perhaps 80% of users, who will essentially give us free advertising by using their photo frames. The other 20% will want to pay the “pro” purchase of $19.95. The product development phase is already paid for. We have used freemium models in the past for software products ranging from a $20 photo editor to super simple screen sharing software (that your Mom could set up and use) to $500 site licenses of picture book creation software sold to schools. Freemium is our bread and butter, our mortgage payments. We’d like to turn it into our gold watches.
Mark, if you were interested, we would ask you to invest in the product, not our business… yet. We would ask for $15K/month for up to 4 months. Each month you invest gets you 10% of the product’s gross earnings in subsequent months. If we create an offshoot company just to handle this product, you get your percentage in equity. Or heck, you’ve probably got way more experience in structuring these things, and we’ll defer to you so long as you’re in proportion.
We would also ask you get on the phone and push this product into a Staples, Costco, Office Depot, etc. We would ask that you pimp it on your blog. We would ask that you take it to photo frame and flash drive manufacturers and help us get an OEM deal. If Mark Cuban is excited about this product, there is no Dilbert product acquisition manager in any of those companies that wouldn’t be.
We have the cashflow now to bring this product to market as downloadable software and as a DVD package in the next few weeks. The software is currently functional and needs obligatory artwork and beta testing. With your investment, we would focus on making the DVD package store friendly and on producing a series of videos showing real people using the product. Grandmothers, parents, kids, teachers, business people, etc. We have a contractor available to handle the video side who has been a producer for a prominent network news personality, and now works on a side project with a major television star. Many digital photo frames can play video, so these videos could also be appealing to OEM customers. If we get a prominent physical channel, though, most of the investment will be used to fill an initial order.
Mark, we’re gonna do this whether you invest or not. But if you invest, it’s gonna be easier for us to pull off.
Comment by BoscoH -
Mr. Cuban,
We have recently started an E-Publishing investment website. This site is geared towards helping people reach their financial goals while giving them the real scoop and trading ideas without the bias that the financial industry has used on investors for so many years. Our goals, similar to yours are to help people better their way of life. We have invested over 200k in our product up to this point and have been in business for six month and the product may be viewed at optionchronicle.com. Our track record is now available on the site and if we were eligible we would probably be ranked as one of the top Investment News Letter in the industry, based off performance with a 325% return since inception. This performance is verifiable and is public on our website.
We need to raise capital to get our name out there. We have a marketing plan/business plan in place that will require a $1 million infusion to reach out to the people that will benefit from our services. The company’s business plan was initially drawn up to turn cash flow positive in the first nine months, but things could be tweaked and realigned to where we could generate that very closely to your time line.
We are offering a 30% stake ownership in our company that would generate lofty profits for years to come. If you were to prefer a loan structure, we are open to ideas. Our business plan is 43 pages long so instead of pasting the entire plan on this blog I have copied the executive summary and projected returns based off of the ownership I previously mentioned.
We also have a link available with a video presentation that will talk more about the company at. http://optionchronicle.com/index.php/PrivatePlacement. Below is the start of the Executive Summary.
These 43 pages summarize a timely and relevant e-business, with significant upside profit potential on relatively low risk and low infrastructure requirements. It is a scalable business, heavily based upon a well-established, existing model for customer acquisition and upselling. All customer touch points within the business were developed from comprehensive and long-term target market analysis, as well as thorough competitive analysis. There is nothing in this plan that is entirely unique or completely different from what has already been proven to work in our space; our innovation is grounded in intelligently blending a lot of “best of” elements in a way to outperform established competitors.
We forecast the following top-line performance on an initial investment of less than US $1 million:
Financial Summary
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
(1st 14 months) (12 months) (12 months)
Est. Revenues $4.475 Million $11.562 Million $20.956 Million
Total Costs* $3.780 Million $7.809 Million $11.532 Million
Profit/Loss $688K $3.753 Million $9.225 Million
*Note: Cost numbers do not include debt repayment to VC or any owner profit sharing.
Our cash flows would almost entirely be fed with recurring revenue via subscription sales of products aimed at helping individual investors take care of their own nest egg growth, allowing them to cut the cord with the classic establishment (Wall Street, financial planners & analysts, full-service brokers and similar) at a time when individual investors feel the least trust of that establishment. Per a Prince & Associates survey in September, 2008, 70% of investors say they want to fire their brokers, up from 38% in a similar survey conducted in July.
For tens of millions of investors who must continue to invest more aggressively (because they can’t reach their retirement goals in the time they have prior to retiring if they park that nest egg in a bank account or low-interest vehicles like CDs), we offer a viable, tangible alternative that obviously mitigates the very elements that makes the establishment work against individuals:
We won’t manage money, so there won’t be any hidden fees that scalp profit off of individual investor accounts, whether those individuals make money or not
Unlike most financial planners, we won’t have commissions motivating us to push services or products on people, even if we don’t believe those products are the right fit for a customer
We earn no commissions on trading volume. So unlike brokers, we have no conflict of interest pushing us to recommend high volumes of trades whether we believe in the potential of those trades or not
We have no perpetual bias for a bull market as most of Wall Street has to be (to justify the heavily-weighted stance of “buy” vs. “sell,” a stance that always persists even in harshest bear markets)
Instead of all of these kinds of anti-investor establishment motivators, we will sell our products on subscription, with a customer-friendly, overwhelming motivation to deliver an experience that will win very profitable renewals for many years to come. Our products are designed to help subscribers profit in bull or bear markets, freeing us to offer investors our genuine views of the markets, with quality recommendations that can yield strong profits whether stocks are rising or falling.
The fundamental brilliance in this alternative to Wall Street is that it perfectly
aligns our interests with the interests of the individual investors- a win:win.
What We Already Have In Place
We’ve already made the investment to develop a customer-centered web presence- OptionChronicle.com – the principle focal point in our relations with our customers. The site is cleverly designed to entice new visitors to visit often, register and/or become a paid subscriber, while also serving existing customers as our distribution vehicle. This makes it an ideal source for both acquisition marketing and cross-sell/upsell efforts.
We’ve already got an initial, ideal mix of customer-driven products with designs that make them stand out from all competitors. Through thorough competitive analysis, we’ve incorporated all “best of” features to minimize the chances that some competitor can entice a prospect away in any head-to-head comparison with our offerings.
We’ve already lined up an outsource marketing team with deep experience selling these kinds of products to the ideal target market in the space. This will help us maximize our success while minimizing the waste that can come from trying to enter a new market or business and find the way on our own.
We already have our target market very well defined, and know the most cost-effective methods to pitch our services to that market. The marketing model we will use is risk averse, heavily relying on statistical sampling to maximize our ROIs while minimizing the potential to fail.
We pair that marketing expertise with a focused commitment and established trading expertise to deliver product performance results that will be superior to any competitor product- a key strategic advantage in an industry that has somewhat lost this same focus. We are confident that superior performance will help us take significant share from even the largest competitors. And, based upon entrenched industry mindsets, in spite of losing share, they are very likely to be slow to adapt, giving us even more time to take additional share.
In summary, we are ready to offer and fulfill our proposition now. Products are already being sold. The website is already growing a subscriber database. Product performance is already running far superior to our competitors. Our singular need is a cash infusion to fuel an industry-proven marketing model aimed at significantly growing our subscription sales in the short-term. More simply, we’re completely ready to immediately go to market in a big way.
We expect to be self-sufficient within the first 14 months, with a max drawdown ($785K) on the cash reserve occurring approx. mid-way through this period. The vast majority of that drawdown is associated with the execution of a first large direct mail campaign- one of the lowest risk, most dependable ROI tactics used by successful players in the financial publishing space. Based on testing grounded in statistical analysis, we expect to swing that drawdown back into positive territory within 2 months following that mailing.
Our plan lays out the details to back up our realistic expectations of being able to create a >$20 million high-margin, recurring revenue e-business in just 3 years, building the success off of only a $1 million investment. Our infrastructural needs are minor, so the majority of the stake will be allocated to fueling the marketing. Our objective is to quickly build up a large subscriber base to become self-sufficient in the shortest possible time frame. Our financial forecasts would make it possible to pay back your investment with a solid return during the 2nd year of operations.
Yielding hundreds of millions of dollars per year, the established “kings” of the space have the same business model we intend to execute… so our upside is well beyond the numbers shown in our financial projections. Our financials held up against their financials show no “pie in the sky” anomalies; indeed we have applied conservative adjustments to core objections reflecting the very real expectation that it will take us a few years to fully optimize our own marketing model. In spite of that conservative bent, we still show the capability to grow to $20 million in 3 years from a $1 million stake.
We hope our plan moves you to want to be a part of an e-business with the legs to run a long, lucrative race. With Wall Street establishment trust at an all-time low, and the baby boomer demographic rapidly approaching retirement, the timing for a superior solution for individual investors could not be any better. We expect the current market gyrations to create the biggest single opportunity the financial publishing industry has ever experienced, and we’ve positioned ourselves with the customer-centered, best of features to ride that wave better than even the most entrenched competitors.
Projected Return On A Per Unit Basis
Net Revenue Distribution Return IRR
Year One $688,000.00 $206,400.00 18.00% 18.75%
Year Two $3,753,000.00 $1,125,900.00 102% 121.02%
Year Three $9,225,000.00 $2,767,500.00 251.00% 372.40%
Year Four $9,225,000.00 $2,767,500.00 251.00% 623.78%
Year five $9,225,000.00 $2,767,500.00 251.00% 875.16%
Our business plan was developed with projections for three years, so not to get over zealous we are using the same numbers for years four and five.
Thank You for your consideration.
Tony
Comment by Tony Hall -
My buiness requires the construction of a small plant. Please clarify that the 60/90 day requirements for cash flow and profitability would be once the plant is constructed and operational. It will likely take 120 days to get all required permits and complete construction. If so, I will submit business plan. Thanks.
Comment by Bruce -
Here is my plan: I need $10,000 of startup capital to trade options through a vertical spread technique via optionsxpress.com. Based on the market volatility I will trade, once each month, either a call or put (one is above the current market value and the other below). I will trade the Russell 2000 index fund (RUT symbol). You will be a 50% parter in my endeaver and we will share the 45-65% yearly returns (3.5 to 5% monthly profit). Each one thousand dollars profit can be reinvested to generate another 3.5 to 5% that following month. You can take money out at the end of every month or put more money in. This is completely scalable to the millions of dollars or can be done with as little as $1,000. There will be no overhead costs as the only employee will be me and i’ll share in the profits 50/50 (and will also evenly share the losses). More details available upon request.
Comment by JVick -
Are you looking for a full business plan? How about a executive summary with some kind of financial projections? It could take up to 60 days to write a full-fledged business plan.
Comment by Suken S. -
Hello,
I had recently made a post but to see that i’m serious and not just lazy i took the time to create a business plan on my lemonade cleanse diet product!
Here it is for all to view, provide feedback for improvement and/or the vision to see it unfold with the decision to take action with me on this!
Google docs: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcpn8j4d_0csnnxsg3
Thanks,
Comment by Brian Cerroni -
You can count me in too. On the same conditions stated by Mark.
And if your start-up can be profitable in 1 week, you’re top of my list. lol
Comment by Peter -
Ok, here’s an idea, and it applies to me, which is why i’m posting it. Young couples struggle for the first few years they’re together after engagement and marriage. a lot of these couples create false hopes in the relationship and begin to break down after just a few months of being together due to money issues. ok, here’s the pitch… what if you did a Mark Cuban organization that helped young couples who are just starting out get started on the right path? what if you had a simple questionaire that sorted out the liars from the ones who truly wanted to be together, and in doing so helped them further their education(college), and bills and such? this helps them come together without worrying about what they can and can’t afford, this gives them the opportunities they wouldn’t have origionally, and it would all be dedicated to you. The Mark Cuban Young Hopefuls fund, or whatever… i mean think about it, how many people struggle after marriage? they fall for each other, the world is all rainbows and happiness, then “oh crap, i didn’t realize rent would be this much, we can’t afford insurance, etc.” Just a thought
Comment by Tyler Wagener -
Mark,
I’m the COO of Angelsoft.net, and we have the best tool on the market to help someone like you take in a bunch of business ideas over the net and quickly evaluate them. If you’re serious about this, you just won’t be able to evaluate the garbage business plans you will receive quickly enough. Our toolset is free for private investors like you. If you’d like an account, just let me know and we can have the application link live on your site and your own deal processing software up in 5 minutes.
Cordially,
Ryan
Comment by Ryan Janssen -
As a parent of 3 little ones, I have often found it difficult at times to keep up with the needs of all 3 while shopping and running errands like doctor appointments, which usually results in cutting short the time out and leaving errands undone for another day. My idea is to open almost like a part-time daycare facility in malls or plazas that would allow parents to drop off their children for a maximum of 4 hours per visit and no more than twice a week. These facilities would be staffed at all times by only certified child care personnel and would operate during the hours of the mall or plaza where the business is located.
Comment by R.C. -
Elevator pitch
Create a web based auction portal for lenders to sell individual loans to small investors.
We are going to provide a clearinghouse of these loans, charging 1% of loan amount. On $ 1billion of loans, we gross $10million. Our costs are setting up a web portal that gives investors the details of each loan, and let them bid on the loans.
The real asset may not be the loan, but the collateral behind it. Many of the larger servicers do not have the manpower necessary to give individual attention to each loan, or to maximize the sale price of the house after foreclosure. If an individual has only one or two loans, he can provide the attention to detail that is needed to make sure EACH loan can perform best. Also, the individual investor should have the local knowledge to maximize the sale price of the house
If the lender has already written off 20% of the value, they should be willing to sell for 80% of the face value, $800m.
If the loans sell for more than $800m, the excess is split between us and the lender. Servicing rights can either be retained by the lender, or transferred to the individual investor.
We can create another subscription based portal to help the individual investors with the servicing of the loans.
There are many more ways to monetize the relationship with the investor after the purchase, creating a long term residual income.
1. It can be an existing business or a start up.
START UP
2. It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. Why ? Because I want this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. Thats the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time.
NO ADVERTISING
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
IF WE SET AUCTION FOR 30 DAYS, CASH FLOW WILL BE IMMEDIATE
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
PROFIT IS ALMOST IMMEDIATE
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops
FUNDING FOR WEB PORTAL CREATION IS THE ONLY MAJOR COST
6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered
COST TO PRODUCE IS THE COST TO GET LENDERS INTERESTED
7. Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else
FOUNDERS/OWNERS FIND LENDERS WILLING TO DO THIS, EVERYONE ELSE RUNS THE WEBSITE
8. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com , scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download
HERE YOU GO
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own
AFTER FORST SET OF AUCTIONS, BUSINESES WHOULD BE SELF PERPETUATING
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont.
GOT IT
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows.
BETTER TO KEEP EVERYONE HONEST
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money.
YOU WILL RECEIVE 50% EQUITY
13. No mult-level marketing programs (added 2/10/09 1pm)
OF COURSE
Comment by Tony De Santis -
Wixi is Online Media Center.
Wixi was launched in September 2008 with 300,000 private beta testers and 1,5 Millions files uploaded.
Wixi membership is $4.99/month.
Wixi will be cash flow breakeven within 60 days.
Wixi will be profitable within 90 days.
Wixi needs $20,000/month to invest in CPA campaign.
On each subscription, Wixi earn $3/member/month.
Ten Wixians working all together 🙂
Valuation: Get 1% of equity every month with a 6 months commitment.
Full presentation here: http://www.slideshare.net/wixi/wixi-feb09
Comment by Arthur Madrid -
MC,
The concept I am considering is a reflection of the times and hopefully will help people get back to work by showcasing their skills. I would like to offer a service for people to brand themselves online – a resume that vastly differentiates the candidate.
Basically, I would work with a developer/designer to create a WordPress template that includes different sections such as work experience, accomplishments, sample work, education, etc. Potential employers could readily clickthrough to past employers, view success stories, read recommendations, or print the resume from the site.
For the web savvy, the proposed company would simply sell the template ($30-50). For the vast majority, the company would provide a service of setting up the online resume. For example, purchasing http://www.firstnamelastname.com, hosting the site, and transferring a Word resume into WordPress. The company could charge a small monthly fee (~$10/month) for hosting the site (since limited traffic could host many resumes on same server).
The company could also charge for add-ons (such as widgets or picture galleries), updates, or further personalization of the resume.
Start-up costs would be approx. $1k (sample online resume + website). Initial marketing would be word of mouth (for example, set up all my friends with online resumes for $15 and include a link to the company site on the bottom of the resumes).
I researched “online resume templates for WordPress” and only found a few. And, I am not talking about a Monster-style or HotJob-style resume, I am talking about something much more extensive (more along the lines of branding a person). I also own a business in Vegas where I receive hundreds of resumes a year and have never once seen an online resume of the caliber I am talking about.
I don’t need the money to get this business going (will do regardless), but I think your input is invaluable (and so I don’t have an issue sharing profits for that input).
Business is a startup, and should be profitable within 90 days. Will use contractors for web development and word of mouth marketing for advertising efforts.
Thoughts?
Comment by Mike -
sorry, hit button. Interview your potential open source candidates.
Comment by Kelly -
You could give me a job, I would fly or drive if local to video and interview.
Comment by Kelly -
To Mark Cuban
From Joe Rivas
What might happen if Mark Cuban helped a single man with a severe disability with a high education?
It might create more jobs for others while making the disabled man become a working taxpayer that gets off of social service programs.
“Brick of Faith”
The story Behind the Autobiography of Joe Rivas
The story behind “Brick of Faith” is about the life of Joe Rivas, a person with severe cerebral palsy. The autobiography chronicles the circumstances and events that affected me as I grew up with a severe disability. The title “Brick of Faith” is a combination of two significant words that identifies me as a person with a unique personality. The first word “Brick” comes from the album “The Wall” by Pink Floyd. I chose to use this term because the word symbolizes a solid object. It is an object that can with stand almost any form of natural force. My desires, dreams, and goals are similar to a brick because they are solid in their ability to drive me towards achievements. For example, I am often faced with adversity by society to give up in my goals. These are the natural forces that try to destroy my desires, dreams, and goals, but like all bricks, I am determined to with stand any force that threatens my goals. The second term “Faith” comes from my religious affiliation with Catholicism. I chose this word because it symbolizes strength in my beliefs. The word gives me strength in the realization that I have the ability to determine my own destiny by using God as the source of my convictions. It is my ability to believe in myself, others, and God (or my religion) that determines my fate. It is the knowing that I can determine an outcome for an event by simply believing in my abilities to overcome challenges by shear determination.
The autobiography is not a book about religion, nor a book about the super strength of a person with a severe disability, but more of a story that enables the readers to understand my mind and heart as a human male with severe cerebral palsy. I, like all persons, must endure the challenges of every day life. I must endure the physical limits of my body, the struggles of my inner thoughts and feelings, the perceptions of others towards me, and the consequences of my external world. The book is an examination of my thoughts and feelings about events and the consequences of behaviors that resulted in good or bad outcomes. I use my recollections of events to explain the behaviors that resulted in personal challenges. I present these challenges as opportunities to rise up from adversity and thrive into new achievements. I do not use excuses as factors to explain bad behaviors. I offer an explanation as to why my bad behaviors occurred within the confines of certain situations. I try to give the readers an understanding as to recognizing the consequences of my behaviors as results of failed opportunities due to my condition. It is like trying to paint a picture for the audience, while showing the readers why a paint stroke occurred, and how these strokes create an over all picture.
I also use my Catholic faith as an opportunity to explain how my spiritual beliefs contributed to self empowerment. With lit candles and Rosary beads in my hands, I use prayers as coping mechanisms to improve my perception about given situations. I believe in the power of faith, and this is what motivated throughout life. My book is not to convert the readers to the Catholic faith. It is to give the readers an understanding about my inner faith, and how this belief system contributed to my determination throughout life. The book does not endorse Catholicism, but it does explain my personal beliefs about how this religion produced self empowerment. I also do not imply a continuous practice of my faith, but a more human realistic perception about the struggles I endured with myself and my religion. As with all humans, I do admit to the loss of faith. I have from time to time loss faith in myself, religion, and others. During these times, I have been humbled by my limits as a human with a disability. I do not claim to be a testament to the Catholic Faith, but a model to self empowerment as my faith as it relates to Catholicism.
My autobiography will be filled with personal experiences that involve the need to overcome challenges in the face of adversity. Many of these challenges have limited my ability to succeed in a world of community integration. In the book, I give examples on how society’s perception about my disability has motivated me to strive towards succession. For example, many counselors have viewed me as a person with limited physical abilities. This perception about me has caused me to strive to get my college education to be a Rehabilitation Counselor. I have also experienced many personal challenges within my inner world. I have struggled to develop intimate relationships with women. These struggles have caused me to have low self-esteem and poor images about myself. Because of the low perception within myself, I have chosen to share my sexual experiences with others. My hope in sharing these private experiences with others is that it will produce a level of understanding between my readers and me. On a personal level, I would not endorse many of these behaviors among other persons with severe disabilities. My personal experiences are an illustration of the inner battles between the angels of the heart and the demons of the mind. It is the battles between good and evil as I endure several momentary lapse of reason within my own inner self, and the struggles to defeat the madness, and to triumph into greatness. The autobiography is sorrowful, courageous, inspiring but a humorous portrayal of my life. It is quite simply a “Brick of Faith”. It is a solid belief in myself, and my ability to achieve success with the assistance of God (or my Catholic faith) and the wonderful people within my world. My autobiography may be ready for publication by 2010 or 2011.
Comment by Joe Rivas -
when i first read the title of the blog post, i initially read it to mean that it would be focused on creating businesses out of open source software development projects. developing web applications is somewhat difficult, and it requires a lot of focus and time (typically looking at a niche) and then finding a way to bill customers for a service or good that is delivered. counter-intuitively, a lot of the large scale web applications and popular sites are not developed this way, but instead in a more exploratory and by ‘accident’ if you want to call it that.
i realize the need for making the stipulation #2, but in my view that is just to prune away the many potential flops that don’t have much of a chance in the first place. adsense could be a good starting point for an online web app, but it’s agreed that it is not the optimal method of monetizing traffic.
one thing that i am sure about is that you want to have ideas that are not capital intensive to start. if the idea does not work out, you don’t want to be liable for a lot of startup costs. there seems to be a proliferation of internet application incubators, companies like ycombinator that come out and give a developer a few thousand dollars and see if the web application can get up and run, with their in-house support, and guidance for example.
building web applications is quite different than building a house. with a house, you need to have a specific blueprint and know exactly how, what, why, where. with internet applications, it’s often a process rather than a destination, and requires a lot of testing and analysis. feedback is given by users and traffic, functions are built around users. viral marketing is accomplished through the construct of creating users that create users.
something like a plentyoffish.com is an example of an experiment on the internet that uses adsense as a primary business model. the investment would be made in the individual Markus Frind. The investment would be made in the ability to analyze and process information. The Process, the approach, the methodology, is the success, not the business model, per se.
i enjoy winning. i enjoy working with smart people. i like when things just ‘work’, and there are little religious debates, and arguments. i like finding the ‘path of least resistance’ and discovering things, testing things, analyzing data, analyzing statistics, being flexible, adapting, trying new things out, working with open source projects, finding brilliant minds on irc.freenode, talking with people, cloning databases, thinking about horizontal scale issues, creating brands, buying domains, testing new platforms and projects.
i see the value that you can add as being an advisor to a web incubator project with many projects running simultaneously. with encouragement from a maverick who has done it before. it brings a sense of legitimacy and open-ness to the project. the question is why? simple, it creates synergies. it’s a leadership project, not a simple 2 dimensional ROI proposition.
there is no capital you have to put up, only intellectual capital. developers will put up their own money, and work together with each other to create tests. as long as intellectual capital is being expanded, money should not really be the focus.
Comment by john -
Project: Ground Attack TM
YUCK!!! There are grounds in my coffee!
Coffee is a global industry employing more than 20 million people. This commodity ranks second only to petroleum in terms of dollars traded worldwide. With over 400 billion cups consumed every year, coffee is the world’s most popular beverage. In Brazil alone, over 5 million people are employed in the cultivation and harvesting of over 3 billion coffee plants.
The Problem: Paper filters collapse during the brewing process thereby allowing coffee grounds to flow into the carafe.
Who hasn’t had the awful experience of tasting coffee grounds in the bottom of their cup? YUCK!!! And how embarrassing to serve a less than perfect brew to your guests and have them spit out yucky grounds. Some would even say that grounds in the cup is grounds for divorce.
Never before has there been a foolproof way to brew a perfect pot of coffee. Now there is! And it’s such a simple method. People everywhere will be slapping their foreheads saying, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
The Solution: A plastic band or ring that keeps the paper filter ridged against the sides of the brew basket.
In 1908, Melitta Bentz, a housewife from Dresden, Germany cut a round piece of blotting paper and put it in a metal cup. Then she put the grounds into the paper and poured hot water through the grounds letting the coffee drip into a pot below. In 1975, Mr. Coffee began making paper coffee filters and is the world’s largest seller of filters.
Yet, the problem of proper filtration is still a major headache acknowledged by the industry giants. Even those fancy gold filters are cautioned against. Metal coffee filters pass all the fats and acids that paper filters hold back. Therefore, paper filters are the answer . . . until they leak.
This is Mr. Coffee’s solution to the problem, straight from their website:
What can I do about my Coffee Filter Collapsing and causing an overflow?
When using a paper filter, there might be times that the filter will collapse and may cause an overflow. . . . Wet the sides of the filter before adding the coffee and sticking them to the sides of the filter basket.
As it turns out, all paper filter makers and brew machine manufactures rely upon the paper filter alone to keep the grounds in the filter. The only other solution is a permanent ridged metal filter in which to place the grounds. As noted, this is not a viable solution and cleaning it after every use is very difficult.
The Solution: An insertable rigid filter guard, which prevents the paper filter from collapsing when saturated with steaming hot water.
Factors to consider when using Ground Attack TM:
Cost: Very cheep. Actual manufacturing cost would be less than 3¢ ea. when produced in massive quantities.
Materials: Dishwasher safe thin plastic.
Ease of use: It only takes 2 seconds to place Ground AttackTM in the center of the filter just before putting both into the brew basket.
Durability: Can be used 100’s of times before replacement.
Sanitary: Can easily be rinsed off along with the basket after each use. Clean in dishwasher at end of day.
Perfection: Can guarantee a perfect cup of coffee every time. Grounds will never escape from the filter into the carafe.
Where will it be used?
Homes
Offices
Restaurants
Hotels
Anywhere coffee is brewed using a disposable paper filter.
Very elegant and simple design:
The Ground Attack TM is simply a ring of plastic about 1mm thick. Its outer diameter is equal to the inner diameter of the paper filter corrugated sides. Its height is 2mm shorter than the height of the paper filter corrugated side.
There is a small ‘handle’ at the top of the ring guard for the user to hold it with. The handle is 2mm thick plastic. It protrudes about 2.5 cm from the inner wall and is about 2.5 cm tall and is rounded off in a semicircle.
I’ve been using my prototype Ground AttackTM for over a year and have never experienced a failure. When placed inside the filter, it holds the paper sides up firmly against the inner wall of the basket thereby making it impossible to collapse.
Marketing:
With the economy as it is, folks can’t afford to spend $5 on a cup of Joe. Home and office brews will be the most economical way to get caffeinated. Manufactured at pennies each and packaged for placement in Wal-Mart or Target next to the filters, they would be a bargain at a $1/ea.
Initial investment of $15K, share return 50/50.
Ground Attack TM is an original creation of and is the sole possession of Michael R. Choate and holds all rights to intellectual or material property pertaining to the Ground Attack TM. By reading this proposal, you claim no rights or privileges to the Ground Attack TM.
Comment by Michael Choate -
I’d also like to add that these pods can be used by teams around the world to bring medical and dental aide to thrid world countries. One pod is basically a detal office, one an examination room etc.
I don’t have many skills that would be of benefit to reach out and help people that are in need. I can however design equipment to those with such training be more efficient at what they do and make thier hand reach furthur.
Thaks again.
Jason
Comment by Jason -
Retrofitting homes with geothermal heat pumps would be a green business, using existing technology, and there are already federal tax credits in place as well as support from many other sources.
Start with single family homes in the DFW area of Texas. Early adopters would need sufficient resources to not require financing, be asked to provide the last/first year of gas/electirc bills, and would have the option to invest in the business.
All work would be contracted including: 30 foot deep shaft at existing location of cooling tower, 30 foot cooling tower replacement (this would initially have to be custom), and heat pump HVAC system installation using existing system selected by home owner.
Comment by David Hall -
Mark,
Several have mentioned the concern for ideas being “stolen”. One of my ideas I’ll share in hopes that you or someone else may fund it or at the very least “steal” it and make the product as I feel it could be of benefit globally.
The only way to meet your 60/90 demands would be in the form of acquired contracts (read-Purchase Orders)
What I’ve got is basically a people pod. Almost like the moving pods you’ve seen.
The design is kind of truck camper-ish in away.
I’ll put this as simple as possible.
You have a box roughly 10′ length, 6 1/2′ height, 8′ width. Made from Nida-Core for excellent insulation around an Aluminum frame.
The box has a Universal mounting system on the bottom. You can mount to any 1 ton or larger truck frame in place of the truck bed. You can also mount it to a trailer type axle assembly so if need be you can transport 2 of these units to your location. From there they have a lifting mechanism to unload and stabilize the “pod”.
What will you do with these pods? They can be outfitted for a variety of uses. Base camp for firefighters, National Guard living quarters while deployed in the event of an emergency, University’s could use them for field research programs, BLM and forest rangers can use them as living quarters, Oil Field workers can use them as office/living quarters, recreational use for hunters and campers etc.. The list goes on and on.
One unit can serve as an office, another as living quarters, libratory, mess hall, bathroom etc.
And think outside of the pod also. In my design, there is a tent structure that deploys off the sides of the pod to expand the usable more than triple. One pod could provide sleeping accommodations for 10-12 people.
I would also put a lot of emphasis on self contained and “green” if you will. Use solar/battery power, efficient diesel oven, fridge and heat. Large water capacity and built in water treatment systems.
As you can see, these can be sold as empty shells or turnkey for the customers’ needs. Lots of options.
I am a mechanical engineer by trade and have created some 3d models of the idea. I’d rather not post them here but if you’d like to see let me know.
Thanks and good luck with this project and the remainder of your season.
Jason
Comment by Jason -
One Gaming Machine To Play Them All
The company is to build gaming machines on mac, linux, PC, arcades and even console(PS3, xbox, handheld) platforms. This company will build the hardware and design the software so that consumers can play any game that they want. Instead of installing emulators and torrenting games, the company’s website should be able to provide download-able games for all platforms. If there is a game on the market, the consumer should be able to purchase it, install it, and play it on their own machine. The consumer should also be able to buy and play any game from the past.
The products the company would sell would be video cards, motherboards, sound cards, RAM, monitors, keyboards, mice, etc that would be compatible to run any operating system. The gaming machine could potentially to run a mac os, windows, and linux all in one. Right now, a mac can’t run the newest nvidia or ati video cards. The purpose is to feed that mac gamer or linux gamer.
The website could also host tournaments. It should be able to track and rank the stats of each player or team. There should be a season of play and at the end of the season, there are playoffs to determine the champion. There is a fee to enter the season. After the playoffs when a champion is decided, they will receive the grand prize check and the loser will get their money back.
This would be my kind of company. I don’t know how much it would cost. I’m just a tech support guy
Comment by phil -
Mr. Cuban,
I work in entertainment consulting for a talent agency in Beverly Hills and was recently given a lecture about the new ‘all-in’ ticket pricing for live events…and it made me hate this industry even more. With the new LN/TM merger, amidst the economy falling apart, I think there’s an opportunity here to exploit secondary ticketing businesses through aggregation of its core business – online ticket brokering.
I propose creating a website that aggregates the Stubhub and TicketsNow’s of the world to a “kayak” format that allows the consumer to decide where to buy tickets for said event based not solely on price, but also which distributor they want to work with. Revenues will not only be made through advertising/partnership deals with the secondary distributors (which will, in time, help to eliminate the absurd mark-ups these companies put on tickets), but will also be collected through a set click-through fee that these companies will pay as part of their partnership. This click-through will be charged to the partner regardless of purchase, and will be compounded based on consumers simply clicking on said companies’ link, giving them the exposure they’re ultimately looking for. We provide the canvas, they paint the picture.
The leverage this company would have to entice these secondary distributors to become partners would essentially be the additional exposure this site will give them via search engine marketing and partnerships/secondary investments from the Googles of the world. With your backing and the relationships I have in the new media world, leveraging this company against existing social and new media platforms (MySpace, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, etc), and catering to the younger, affluent-yet-economically-conscious consumer, this website would break the clutter of the online ticketing market to become the forefront in getting that hard to find ticket and the right price.
Start-up costs would cover:
– staffing (web development/maintenance, business development, ad sales and b2b partnership sales, finance, legal, marketing);
– overhead for travel/expenses
– office space and equipment
I couldn’t see the initial seeding excede $150-200k, and the return – once a specific click-through rate was agreed upon and the model was put into play – could easily be recouped within a 60 day period, with profits coming in 90.
This business has already been developed through fansnap.com, but given the cluttered secondary ticket market there is definitely room for competition within this type of aggregation. Like MySpace and Facebook, Amazon and eBay, Shopbob and Bluefly…there always needs to be competition in the e-commerce business.
Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Comment by Mike -
I’m not really sure how far you are trying to take this open-source funding idea. I assume that depends on how it works out. However, I was thinking of some ideas and decided to throw them up here. First and foremost I think that the whole concept can be a business itself. It would definately need it’s own website. Also, I know you believe that entrepenuers are going to help us get out of this current mess. So why not open-source the whole thing? Allow others to invest and be part of the conversation as well.
The investments could be in small amounts, that, looked at aggregately could lead to a meaningful chuck of money. Also, I think you should make it a requirement for anyone you invest in to start and maintain a blog. This would provide a wealth of information for students and professionals.
I can’t really find a website that does what I am laying out. However, combining these two sites would be a good start. (1) http://openbusiness.cc/about AND (2) http://www.donorschoose.org/homepage/main.html?zone=321
Obviously, the second site is a charity website. However, I think the concept could work very well in VC endeavors. If you’re looking for someone to help you get this off the ground I would proudly work for free.
Comment by Lee Musser -
Mark- I know a guy who has been married 20 years and has four kids. He has a daughter who is a freshman at TCU, a son who is a
freshman in high school and 4 year old twin boys that they adopted
four years ago from the Dallas Child Protective Services Agency. He has coached little league sports for 9 years. He left college his senior year to pursue a quirky door to door trash pickup service for people who lived in apartments that could not carry their trash to a dumpster. He picked up trash and ran the company
for 8 years as the company grew to 158 Properties. Then a little friendly competition set in and the company dwindled down to 96
properties so he sold his dream business out of necessity and boredum. Ten years have passed and he has an idea that might be what your looking for. He is in the funding stage of his business
plan and its looks like your timing is good . What he wants to do is start a FEED AMERICA LUNCH PROGRAM on a PAY IT FORWARD (PIF)
basis. His plan is to set up Old Fashion Hot Dog stands across America offering HOT DOGS, BBQ, MEATBALL SUBS, CHIPS, DRINKS
& MORE. If you can’t afford lunch then take a free dog ..if you
can afford lunch then buy your favorite meal and remember your purchase will help FEED AMERICA LUNCH. Everyone loves hotdogs with
with mustard,ketchup,relish,onion and chili. 450 hotdogs are eaten
every second of everyday of every year. Chicago’s O’hare airport
sells two million dogs a year. Last year a NY city hot dog vender
paid 360,000 to rent a street corner. Dogs are profitable. The
actual cost of a Hot Dog and Bun is 35 cents. The cost of a meatball sub is 46 cents ,a BBQ Sandwich is 75 cents , chips 20 cents , and a drink 18 cents. This is a 500% profit business that
is fun and easy to do. There are Monday-Friday locations that
have the great foot traffic and Saturday events such as carnivals,
churches,school functions,retail stores,car dealers & flea markets
that maximize profits. He has a program were Monday-Friday locations are free rent. There will be a lease cost for a central distribution and storage point. Home Depot has a national program that sells up to 650 dogs daily per store . Hopefully some free
dog customers will buy a chip and a drink but if not maybe the
next time they will. There is a small fee for a yearly permit that
is set by each individual city and there are some requirements
that each cart must meet per health code which creates moderate
start up cost. He also has a plan for possible corporate sponsorship and maybe a kids eat free day .If this sounds like
something that might be of interest please e-mail. Your expected
ROI is 100% in 60 days as well as part ownership. I am He.
HOT DOG FACT: OSCAR MAYER ROLLED OUT ITS FIRST WEINER MOBILE
IN 1936 THAT WAS KNOWN AS “LITTLE OSCAR”.
Comment by Bill V - Arlington,Tx. -
Mark,
I am a 37 year old country boy from Canton, Texas. I will start by saying that Canton has been said to be the next Branson. The only thing bad thing about Canton becoming the next Branson is that no one has steped up to the plate to get it started.
My idea will start with rodeo. Rodeo (PBR) is said to be the next NASCAR. One of the fast growing sports in the U.S. I’m sure you know that with being involved at the AAC and having the PBR in every year. With the up rising in rodeo I would like to build an arena in Canton, Texas that would house rodeo events and other type of horse events though out the year.
Canton, Texas is home to only about 5,600 people for 27 days a week but once a month we have over 300,000 people visit our city through the first Monday Trades day. So word of mouth wll get around to cities all over the state about the new entertainment that Canton has.
I beleive that there are enough events we could host to fill out almost an entire year. A lot of the events would include kid so that way we are giving to the future of Texas and the Western life style that a lot of still live. Also with the government closing down the horse packing plants there are a lot of horses out there that need a good home to someone wo would use them. With the oping of an arena where kids can come and ride, take leasons, show or just watch the thing that can be done with horses I think would be good for horses, kis and Texas.
Thanks,
Scott
Comment by Scott -
This awesome. Good spin, Cuban.
I might submit bettii.com – even though we don’t support the NBA quite yet.
Comment by Morten E. Wulff -
Mark,
My idea is simple, like millions of other Americans I use craigslist on a daily basis, for everything from tickets to electronics, for buying and selling. There many problems with purchashing through this medium. The two biggest are actually arranging a time and a place to make the exchange, and trusting the other party. I want to open a few low rent store fronts in high population area where people can drop items they have posted on craigslist, my job would be simply to hold the merchandise untill sold and charge a small fee.
Initially I would like to focus on Wireless Devices and cellphones, as consignment stores seem to get piled up with junk, I would be very selective in what I took on consignment. In addition I have also found that in these times people are getting rid of unnecessary items through craigslist, I have found an item on Craigslist sells for about 25-40 percent more on Ebay. In addition to offering a place for Craiglisters to meet I would also like to offer cash for other things to resale on Ebay.
I know this sounds like a pawn shop but I will not offer loans, and will only accept an item once the “eBay value” is determined and I can make a profit.
There is lots to be worked out but I know this can be a viable business.
Regards
Gary
Comment by Gary Frederick -
My idea is fairly simple. I would like to purchase a wave pool and open a surf spot in Myrtle Beach, SC. It is a huge destination spot for teenagers and families in the south. I feel like a surfing attraction could really bring a lot of attention and revenue. I would like to call it Point Break. It would offer surf training, hourly pool rentals, and equipment rentals. I would also like to offer t-shirts, boards, and board care products for sale. I am very dedicated to the idea and would put in the time and energy I’m sure you will expect from an investee. It would be a fairly small start-up, but eventually I would like the venture to become a familiar site on the coastline. I would like to offer you a return with 10% interest on your investment.
Comment by Andrea Jenkins -
Pingback: #012 — The Mark Cuban Stimulus Package | MyMoneyMinute.com
Mark- I know you said to post ideas publicly, but upon completing my business plan I’m just not OK with sharing it with the world. When I started thinking of ideas I had no clue I’d come up with my best idea ever. The company is simply too easy to start and too profitable not to steal if it were made public.
I’ve been an entrepreneur for about a year and a half now and currently have two companies fully operational. The problem is that both of them are more long term investments (festival production being one) so my capital is tied up in contracts with bands, amphitheatres, etc) and I won’t see the return until this summer.
I really don’t expect you to respond personally, but if you are at all intrigued by someone who has experience starting a business and has a really great idea just shoot me an email and I’ll be glad to let you in.
If it helps at all- I’m from New Orleans and I lived in Dallas during Katrina (often attending Mavs games). I’m an avid sports fan and couldn’t be happier that there are owners like you in sports. Through this idea I hope to be able to buy a minority (or majority) stake of the Hornets. Thats how profitable I think this could be.
As my girlfriend said about my idea- “It doesn’t even seem brilliant, it just seems like common sense.”
Comment by Joe -
Mark,
While I applaud you for thinking outside of the box, I believe that this is one of the silliest ideas I have heard in a long time. Why would a great mind share his business proposal with the world? So that someone who has the funds (and does not need yours) picks it up which creates immediate competition for a venture you may fund at the same time?
Comment by awm -
I like the open-source commons approach, but wonder what is in the long form contract.
Comment by heardscreek -
As an addition – we have thought of making swag (shirts, stickers, etc). What college student (especially UNT alums) wouldnt want a “KUNT” shirt?
Comment by Garrett Gross -
Hi Mark,
We met @TC50 this year. Congrats for this idea of Stimulus Plan;
Wixi (www.wixi.com) is an online media-sharing service with unlimited storage & unlimited streaming for $5/month.
Our presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/wixi/wixi-feb09
Thanks
Arthur
Comment by Arthur Madrid -
So – I started an internet radio station that focuses on local talent getting exposure and it is gaining listeners at an alarming rate but, the whole point is to provide free radio. We need to generate revenue to keep technology updated and pay licensing fees but, I dont want to put ads on the stream because ads are annoying. Would this meet your criteria?
Comment by Garrett Gross -
I have a plan for a key that will open your house door. Its like a car key. You press a button and it unlocks, locks the door. So if you have a armful of groceries or something you can just press the button and its unlocked. email if you want the full plan
Comment by sam morris -
Hi MC,
I know you’ve seen A LOT of ideas by now. We hope you’re not too burnt out to look at one more. This one’s kinda different.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgn25vbz_31gzbpqhgx
Comment by Dwight -
Well, here’s my BP. Not really, but it’s an idea I hope can help us all. Create a Financial Instrument, a Bond…(Through Bank of Cuban) with the Fortune 500 company assets. Base the bond amount to cover 3 years of Fortune 500 (20 Trillion?)company operating expenses. These years should be from 5,4,3 years ago (not the year before last or last year). Most of these companies are public and cannot dupe the auditors. They also have assets to back the bonds. Offer a coupon of 8% backed by the government for 20-30 years. This is also backed by the Fortune 500 companies after a stated period of time. In order to participate the Fortune 500 companies must hire back laid off workers over the past 2 years and hold off on foreclosures. Give the money to the Fortune 500 to ramp the companies back up creating jobs and stimulating the economy.
I believe Private Investors, Sovereign Funds, and other International and Domestic companies would invest in the “Mutual Bond” or possibly “The Cuban Bond”, 🙂 as a safe long term investment. Sorry no Golden Parachutes or other shenanigans here Executives.
Some helpful thoughts:
1. Stop requiring College for employment positions. Lots of experienced, non degreed workers are looking for work.
2. ALL shorts sales must be cleared on the Fortune 500 stocks. (Sorry Mr. Cuban) There are about 1 billion shares shorted on the companies that have received our money from the Government.
3. Sales tax at the point of sale. So money not flowing through the normal banking system can be taxed.
4. Hire Me! 🙂
Thanks for your time Mr. Cuban and others. Tear it up!
Comment by Mike Alexander -
I neglected to include compensation in my plan entered earlier. In addition to recouping fixed costs for each item sold, you would be entitled to 30% of net income generated.
Comment by Brian Levine -
Mr. Cuban,
I have many ideas for the aerospace industry. One in particular is demonstrated in a video located at Slideshare of a single prototype tool that converts to several types of tools. I have also developed this tool to be completely submergible for use in the swimming pool and yacht industry.
I appreciate the opportunity!
Sincerely.
Dan Pena
Comment by Dan Pena -
You may want to warn people not to post ideas they wish to patent – (1) will take too long and thus not something you would be interested in anyway (2) public disclosure starts a timetable which they must apply for a patent or else lose it.
Comment by Bill -
You should invest in a consumer friendly unknown musician. Pay for a couple of appereances and a concert or two and you may have found the next big star. This is all assuming of course that the person is marketable and would sell enough tickets/merchandise to cover costs and turn a profit.
Comment by Ronald -
We are about to launch a comprehensive coalition program directly into the wellness/ fitness market. Attached is a quick look at a new technology solution we are about to bring to market. It is a business model, which at its core is an incentive stack, focused on motivating individuals to get and stay fit.
It connects to the marketplace via distinct channels i.e. Corporate Wellness, (productivity and decreased health costs), (fitness operators (loyalty and retention) active lifestyle brands and services (marketing and business development, and individuals interested in health benefits, weight loss, active living, competitive sports.
The technology stack is called “Sweat Equity Network” a web based platform which captures, converts and monetizes all biometric activities, healthy behaviors, real and virtual activities and smart healthy choices. ( the single common denominator all wellness enterprises share is the art of engagement of the individual whose behavior we intend to alter, in all case adoption increase dramatically when incentive exceed $250.00 per year, our solution doubles that number, bring into play a powerful lifestyle brand marketing coalition)
As a B2B enterprise solution it is a coalition model, for wellness providers it is an engagement and retention tool, for advertisers it is a deep segmentation platform, which aligns brands directly to key audiences, and for the consumer it is free, fun, entertaining and they get paid for doing the things they love or know they should do.
We are seeking $250,000 bridge, at 15% 20% discount on series A round.
Best,
Lee
Comment by Lee E. -
Mr. Cuban,
I had a successful plumbing business several years ago. Unfortunately, my wife passed away. Afterward, I obtained my texas state plumbing inspector license and have been an inspector for 5 years. I would like assistance to do one of the following:
1. Start a repair business which helps people who are not wealthy. It could be similar to Aaron’s (people get credit when they are not credit worthy but have to make payments which in the long run are more than they would have originally because they did not have to pay upfront.The customers would have to be members to be able to use the service. There could be a $100 membership annually. If a thousand people became members this would generate $100,000 in capital.
2. Start a publishing company that would be based in DFW. This company would seek out “new” authors. It would use colleges, contests, and high schools to recruit talent. In order to be elligibe for consideration, authors would have to be members. This would be a small fee annually, ie. $50-$100 dollars. Potentially alone this could provide revenues of up to 1000 times what the fee might be.
The company would offer self publishing with a chance to have an author’s book, poem, or script published for free if the work is warrented. Otherwise, authors would have to pay a fee to get their work published. I have written a book which I tried to get published for 6 years. Currently it is in the process.
I am attending Ashford University and have a 4.0 GPA. I am telling you this to show I am a hard worker and intelligent.
I have a master plumbing license.
Please consider my ideas.
Jay
Comment by Jay -
CRAIGSLIST IN 3D,
I am offering 15% equity in the business, ***correction****
I have found an item on Craigslist sells for about 25-40 percent more on EBAY.
Comment by Gary Frederick -
We want to create a small ($2-$5 month)subscription based website to make grocery shopping more efficient. This would include collaboration on shopping list by family/roommates may eventually include recipes that will auto populate the list. The list will them be organized by the isles and shelves in a selected stores. The initial data gathering would take some time. The stores that sign on could get huge amounts of data what people are looking for and manufactures could sign on to do suggestive product placement for example when someone puts they need chicken noodle soup Campbell’s could add a coupon to the list. The idea came to us after hating grocery shopping due to not finding the products on the list. One idea to gather the locations of the food is use a device similar to the Google street view camera in a shopping cart.
We have much more
thanks
Comment by charlesb -
Pingback: The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan - Open Source Funding « blog maverick | Srcasm
As a developer I have no idea how to go about “pitching” a idea but It occurred to me recently that the Health Care industry is about to get a influx of money to update their IT infrastructure and there has got to be an opportunity or two there. For example: Creation of a database that would hold the medical history of patients and could be accessed by any hospital/clinic that is in the network. The customers would pay a fee for access to the database. While storing customer data in a central location is certainly not a new idea, I have never understood why it does not exist for the Health Care industry.
If anyone would like to run with this, I could build it.
I’m going back to coding now.
Trevor
If anyone would like to run with this, I could build it.
I’m going back to coding now.
Comment by Trevor -
NOVA Business Technologies is a IT Solution Provider serving the small/medium business market in the Chicago area. Established in 1994, we are a small firm and we provide quality services and products to our customer base. To be honest, the state of the economy has yet to impact our operations but I expect it will eventually.
We currently employee a team a sales consultants responsible for securring and maintaining new and existing business. We also employ certified technicians to provide IT support to these businesses who are either too small to maintain their own IT staff or some larger customers who do not possess an expertise in one area or another or they may have a time sensitive project that requires outsourcing.
We feel our current business plan and strategic thrust is solid but we lack the funds to grow.
Each sales consultant requires two certified technicians to support the business they procure. With access to funding, we would employ two sales consultants and increase our technical staff accordingly.
Our plan is simple, grow our business and create new jobs.
Our experience tells us, when the economy suffers, many companies, decide to cut IT staff and began to outsource on an as needed basis. This puts us in a favorable position of opportunity.
Comment by AJ Grace -
Confidence in banks will decline in this recession/depression.
Start a bank. Provide private insurance for all deposits. Create services similar to those provided by foreign banks. Be very conservative and have a low profit margin. Entice people with money to move foreign deposits back to USA. Provide depositors an option that gives them comfort. The organization can be flat if the bank caters only to the wealthy. However, this is not best for the USA in this enviornment. The bank can have a limited structure, accomplish your goals, and serve all people.
When the economy gets better the government will either be co-owners of banks or it will be looking for clean banks to help pick up the pieces. Clean banks are preferrable. Virtually all existing banks have substantial baggage.
Capitalization will depend on location.
The main roadblock will be bank regulators. Banks are expected to invest deposits by making loans in the community. This creates the availability of credit for people and businesses. The first goal of this bank is establishing a comfort level between depositors and the bank. In this enviornment, depositors do not want to place all their deposits in a bank doing business as usual. They want more sophisticated options until they can get a better long term prognosis of the economy.
In terms of the economy, the best case scenario is that faith in our banks does not deteriorate and this bank evolves into a more normal bank. Normal banks provide jobs and make money. However, in our economic situation, we must hope for the best and plan for the worst. If the economy gets worse, this could be a vital part of any recovery (and still provide jobs and make money).
Comment by BD -
Mark, I much appreciate this opportunity. I have a socially-conscientious sustainable business in the Secondary Language Acquisition industry that I offer to you for consideration.
BACKGROUND: The transition from a heterogeneous to homogeneous global society will prove to be the most dramatic change the world undergoes this century. As the internet shrinks the world and the inter-dependence of neighboring countries increases, the need for people of disparate cultures to effectively communicate will grow exponentially. Language sits at the epicenter of this global transformation, It is the fabric that connects all ideas, thought and human understanding. The demand for language learning material is exploding.
THE PROBLEM: Traditional self-study language learning material created by academically-minded teachers is outdated, out of touch, doesn’t take advantage of new technologies and fails to address the specific needs of students; from what they want to learn to when they have time to learn.
THE SOLUTION: Community-Generated Language Learning Lessons. Create a platform that allows students to purchase and consume high-quality rich-media language learning lessons while giving teachers the ability to easily create and publish the lessons, and earn a percentage of the revenue their lessons generate. The platform would include tools allowing student to track and monitor their progress, guide them along a path to success, rate teachers, suggest new lessons, connect with teachers and other students, etc..
WHY US?: Phrasebase.com is an existing language learning community with over 100,000 registered members from over 240 countries speaking 80 different languages, all eager to teach and learn language from one another. We have a team of language professionals able to quickly and easily create an initial set of language learning lessons. With an established web presence, strong brand name, a dedicated team, 100,000+ members and over 4,000 unique visitors a day, Phrasebase.com has tremendous traction and can start generating sales immediately once the lessons are published.
5-STEP PLAN FOR EXECUTION:
1) A new streamlined release of Phrasebase is already in the works and to be deployed soon. This new version will be faster, more streamlined, intuitive and focused more on being a platform that offers tools for media-rich lessons to be created and consumed.
2) The product we sell will be 7-10 minute long immersive rich-media language learning lessons including a randomly generated quiz at the end. They will sell anywhere from $2 to $7 each depending on how it’s bundled and rated by the students, with an average retail price of $4. The first set of these lessons will be developed internally by our team. We will create a comprehensive series of 50 lessons in 50 languages… that’s 2500 lessons total available for purchase.
3) We will continue development of the platform and tools, work out bugs and make refinements. Once the system is stable enough, and the e-commerce functionality solid, then we will open the door to our 100,000+ members to become language lessons developers also.
4) We are seeking funding to make an exceptional platform, and the tools to allow for the creation and consumption of lessons. Funding is also needed to develop the initial set of language learning lessons using our internal team. Once off the ground, the business will be fully self-contained and viable.
5) Phrasebase will retain 60% of the sale from each lesson, for providing the platform and tools allowing the teachers to create and host them, the structure and framework of each, and for handling all e-commerce transactions. The teacher will earn 40% for their work in creating the lesson, each time the lesson is sold.
BENCHMARKS:
60 DAY MARK: With 2500 lessons created and owned internally, and traffic of 4,000 daily uniques, we estimate a run-rate conversion of 2% with an average of 10 lessons sold per customer at an average price of $4 usd per lesson. 80 customers x $40 worth of lessons each = $3200 USD per day.
90 DAY MARK: We allow all members to create their own lessons which will double or total offerings to 5,000 lessons for sale. Furthermore, each of these lesson creators, since they earn money for the sale of their lessons, will be embedding their lessons into their personal blogs and assisting in the marketing and promotion of the website. With increased awareness in the website and repeat customers, we estimate 8,000 unique visitors per day. 160 customers x $40 = $6400 USD daily revenue. Of course, now we will need to pay out the 40% commission to the content producers.
FUTURE: We already have a facebook application, but it needs to be updated to our new focused model. We will also develop LinkedIn, Myspace and Hi5 apps, allowing the users some initial basic lessons for free. And will build the tools and services allowing the lesson creators to more easily market and promote their lessons through non-Phrasebase.com sources.
Thank you for your kind consideration in this venture.
Warmest Regards,
Jeff Hock
COUNTRIES OUR MEMBERS COME FROM:
http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/members-countries-stats.php
LANGUAGES OUR MEMBERS SPEAK:
http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/members-languages-stats.php
THE PHRASEBASE TEAM:
http://www.phrasebase.com/english/phrases/?action=aboutusall
THE COMPLETE PHRASEBASE BUSINESS PLAN:
http://www.jeffhock.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/phrasebase-business-plan-v21.pdf
From MC> I like the concept, but it doesnt meet the criteria I set forward
Comment by Jeff -
Mark, great stuff. Hopefully this will really help some people out and create jobs. Way too much money is spent on “keeping” jobs even when they are clearly not profitable. Nice to see someone trying to “create” jobs instead.
I have a great business plan that has already been implemented quite successfully in the past. Unfortunately the “owners” of the plan where more interested in trying to increase their percentage of return instead of increasing the overall return through funding. Seriously, if you are getting an 80% return on your investment, and it is clear that you can get 80% return on additional investment, why would you focus on trying to get 82% return on your initial investment and not increase funding which would allow more personal to duplicate the existing returns? Crazy stuff to me. Anyway, I had to break away and unfortunately have 12 months left on a non-compete. But plans are in place to begin getting a return month one next February. Maybe you will still be looking to invest then.
Nothing magical in the business plan. Just solid products with great value in a specific marketplace that has a huge need for technology solutions. I already have a great name in the marketplace through sweat and tears and have developed industry leading solutions with unmatched support. Return on initial investment was quick (not quite 60 days though 🙂 ) and will be much quicker the second time around since name recognition (mine) and proven track record will eliminate the early hurdles of marketing.
Love what you are doing. Would love to work hard for an investor like you that understands business and industry, especially in the tech markets.
PS – I love the open business plan idea. If your business plan requires you to be secretive and first then your business will not survive long term competition. You must be the best and willing to work harder then anyone else. If someone can do it better then you they will, and eventually your business will fail…No matter how big a head start you get. I thrive on the competition. If no one is competing with me it is more difficult to show how much better my company is.
Best of luck with your investments Mark. Your out-of-the-box thinking is very refreshing.
Comment by Shorty -
Here is the most basic business plan. Obviously it can be expanded upon.
I have been trying to come up with the funding to take this business to the next level. Credit is tight and so I have been stuck in neutral. I need money to take this existing business to a higher level of production. If I had the capacity for more production and thus the possibility for more sales, things would really fall in line. As it stands, the product sells well even though the lack of production capacity is crippling the business’ potential.
The product?
A plastic, curved, looping object stimulates a woman’s vaginal walls and brings her to g-spot orgasm.
The pitch?
Guaranteed g-spot orgasm for women. This is a timeless product, although it might be more popular these days what with the stressful economic climate and a cost-cutting public looking for low-cost entertainment at home. I am being serious.
The problem?
No money to make this product on an industrial scale to satisfy the needs of women from sea to shining sea, and the world in general.
To date, the business has sold over 2000 units. The demand is there however because of a lack of funding, the business has no scalability. As I said, the business can’t get out of neutral, even though the demand for the product is solid even in its current “cottage-industry” mode.
Beyond scalability, the ability to provide on-time delivery in the current manifestation is impossible without funding for large-scale production and warehousing. Beyond that, everything is easy because the demand exists.
The cost?
Based on parts and labour, the estimated cost of contracting an existing factory to put out a run of 1000 units is about $7500 dollars. I have already spoken to manufacturers in North America and that is the price for an initial run. It is worth noting that existing clients have commented that they are more secure having the product made in North America as opposed to places in Asia due to the current insecurities regarding health standards in Asian markets (googling anything to do with health scares in children’s toys coming from Asia is but one example).
Revamping the website and putting together a well-run online store is necessary, as is creating an effective online sales strategy. As it stands, the product sells well through word-of-mouth. Big picture, this product could become a phenomenon.
The profit?
On a small-scale, the product sells well for $49.95. The product costs approximately $7.50 dollars to manufacture. That’s good math.
Warm Regards.
Mr. G
Comment by Gzilla -
I realize I may have left out a couple of the stipulations. so here they are. On, a loan of $15,000 you could expect to see that returned in its full amount, plus 12% interest. our cost for our shirts is under $12 with our price tag being $30. we are targeting smaller boutiques for volume purchases at a cost of $20 per shirt. at $30 dollars a shirt to the consumer per 100 shirts I can look to make almost $2000 profit.
Comment by Jason Torres -
Pingback: Has Mark Cuban Caught the Commons Fever??? « Brad Lichtenstein’s blog
My idea is to create an all encompassing teacher oriented web site. With No Child Left Behind and the emphasis placed upon the TEKS and TAKS test, we are left with a group of teachers that are no longer given the freedom to teach their own ideas and are left to struggle with ways to incorporate TEKS into general knowledge and skills. My web site would include a TAKS based lesson plan site. As a teacher, you would be able to check your subject/grade area then the TEK number that is needed to be taught. The web site would then generate a list of 6E oriented lesson plans. You would be able to read a general synopsis of the lesson plan. Once you choose your lesson plan, the web site would generate a list of TEK related worksheets and accompanying resources for the chosen lesson plan. At that point, you may choose to print your lesson plan and worksheets or move on to the next step of “Special Education”. In this day and age, inclusion is the norm in the school system and most general education teachers do not have the training or knowledge to accommodate those students. This step in the process would allow teachers to click through the typical accommodations and that would then generate the lesson plan and worksheets with adaptations needed for the students.
This web site would allow teachers to ability to review the lesson plans similar to the Amazon site, with ratings etc. It would also allow teachers to upload their own 6E lessons for others to use. The higher the ratings, the higher up the lessons would be on the list to choose from.
Another part of the web site, I would like to include is similar to the craigslist site. There are several schools that do not have the money to purchase needed supplies for lessons. I would like to have a teachers link available on this web site to allow teachers to post request for supplies or post extra supplies they are willing to sell, give away, etc. I know to the average person, a paper towel tube is not a needed item, but to someone who wants to teach their kids how to make rain sticks, it is.
My goal is to make money through memberships, either individual memberships or school site based memberships. I hope I have not made this too complicated.
Comment by Emily Sauceda -
The simple answer is being able to grow fast enough to capitalize on a relatively new industry. 1984 was the first founded business of this nature and this industry fly’s under the mainstream so a lot of people have never heard of this type of business before.
If we could open up 47 states with the success of our first year, that would equal roughly $10,340,000.00 in yearly revenue. We simply don’t have the resources right now to open up 47 states. Our process would be much slower losing market share as time goes by and new companies start up.
Comment by Dm -
Mark,
http://www.slideshare.net/collegemusclemovers/college-muscle-movers
Best,
Jerad
From MC> Why would you need more capital if things are going as well as you say
Comment by Jerad Poling -
Mark,
My brother and I have a business plan for a company that is already beginning a revenue flow. We want to utilize the funds to setup a corporation which would be used as an umbrella for a few DBA’s all working in different businesses. Our first company is a clothing company. We have preorders for some of our shirts, and have people lined up to model the apparel ( an olympian, a well known actor, and a maxim model). Another one of our companies is a motorcycle and atv repair facility, which again has already been profiting. We need just a very small amount of cash for basic needs of a business, i.e. insurance, equipment, we are operating on very outdated machines, the possibilities are endless with updated technology, and possibly a dedicated workspace. Let us know what you think. With those tools, we would take an already working idea, and flourish
Jason Torres
Comment by Jason Torres -
Mark,
reading all the posts can be tiring so I’ll spare the flattery and shoot you with my craziest idea.
Picture that,
you’re downtown and the inevitable strikes, you want to take a shit, but why spare a holly pleasure in a dirty place and in haste.
Picture 2,
you ‘re still downtown you have a meeting/date afterwork/for work you wanna look fresh, how about a refreshing hot shower?
So the idea is public luxurious, comfortable toilets and showers.
The good thing: it probably need very little cash, since it can get sponsorship from companies involved(toilet tubs, sinks, hair dryers etc) to use their equipment. This doesn’t break rule 2 since you don’t get money.
Potential customers:
salesman, taxidrivers, etc who are all day on the road
Shoppers who hit downtown for shopping
employees who wanna save time and dont get back home for a shower and then go out again.
Almost anyone who has less appealing WC or shower at his home
The secret income:
The toilet is probably the place where s.one open to any external stimulus since he ll do the dirty job without thinking. Brochures and advertisement in the toilet assures you that s.one has the time and will spend the time to read about it since he has nothing else to do plus this is the place where important decisions are made!
The above breaks rule 2 but is promising
For full business plan contact
P.S you don’t need to be a for teller to say how i got the idea or where I wrote this comment!!!
Comment by Ch. Psomiadis -
Hey Mark great idea. Tell JET to get well, I love him because he has the best heart. If anything else would love to meet him. LOL… Well here is my idea I think you will love from being a computer and HDNET guy. Also this would have worked good back in the days when you were in your dorm trying to see the Hoosiers. I watch a lot of TV and a lot of shows. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this category. I would like to revolutionize the way we watch TV. Everybody has the DVR boxes where you can pause, record live TV etc. I would like to make a box or write the program to be able when you’re watching TV you can pull up a screen and go into a mail center type of thing. I can vision an e-mail center where you can type friends about upcoming or previous shows. Have an Instant Message type of thing as your watching live TV shows. Then the best thing you could do would be able to e-mail a buddy a show, “Hey Mark good buddy have you seen this show yet check it out”. Well hope this sounds good. I will work hard for it; currently I just started going back to college where it will take me about one year to finish a Business Information’s Systems Bach degree. I’m hungry to work and learn……..GO MAVS…maybe one day we could instant message while the Mavs are on, “you see that shot that JET is so bolla”.
Take Care…..Kirk
Comment by Kirk Shadowens -
Marc,
Have you ever found yourself driving in your car and been startled by an oncoming emergency repsonse vehicle ? I know this has happened to myself and drivers alike everyday. My idea is simple as sliced bread, what I propose is that we build a program that alarms you in your car when emergency vehicles are approaching. This would increase repsonse times with EMR vehicles and create less panic with drivers therefore creating safer roads.
This product would sell itself as I am sure that automakers would be throwing themselves to be first in line for this technology.
Regards.
Comment by Alex Scherer -
MY PITCH
CRAIGSLIST in 3D
Mark,
My idea is simple, like millions of other Americans I use craigslist on a daily basis, for everything from tickets to electronics, for buying and selling. There many problems with purchashing through this medium. The two biggest are actually arranging a time and a place to make the exchange, and trusting the other party. I want to open a few low rent store fronts in high population area where people can drop items they have posted on craigslist, my job would be simply to hold the merchandise untill sold and charge a small fee.
Initially I would like to focus on Wireless Devices and cellphones, as consignment stores seem to get piled up with junk, I would be very selective in what I took on consignment. In addition I have also found that in these times people are getting rid of unnecessary items through craigslist, I have found an item on Craigslist sells for about 25-40 percent more on Craigslist. In addition to offering a place for Craiglisters to meet I would also like to offer cash for other things to resale on Ebay.
I know this sounds like a pawn shop but I will not offer loans, and will only accept an item once the “eBay value” is determined and I can make a profit.
There is lots to be worked out but I know this can be a viable business.
Regards
Gary
Comment by Gary Frederick -
Hello my business plan will allow me to help folks to get back to work and it will also bring in alot of money per month. My dream business would be to remake a shopping center here in Oak Cliff, The one an only shopping center we did have went out of business when the ower died. There are alot of single parents in my neborhood that has 2 to 3 kids they do not own a car. We have to pay someone to take us to the store etc. My idea would be just what we need. My dream consist of opening up a shopping center with a grocery store, clothing store,shoe store,gameroom, book store,Laundrymat,Beauty and Barba Shop, Also we will even deliver to the customer that is Elderly, or sick ( for a small fee). This would be a wonderful thing to come to Oak Cliff it will not only help me, it will be a blessing to our commuity. It will be in walking distance, plus the bus will drop us off right in front of the shopping center. Alot of us have to walk right over the train tracks(waiting until the train pass) with our kids to get to the other stores with alot of traffic, plus it is to far to walk with our kids. This would be a dream come true to Oak Cliff. I would also hire Police Officers to Patrol the shopping center to keep it safe. Thanks Mr. Cuban for giving me a chance to share my dream with you. If you would give me a chance I promise I will not let you or myself down. Thanks Mary
Comment by Mary A Bell -
Here’s the pitch: “It’s Caller ID for the Website”
You’ve got it for your phone…why not for your website ?
The solution enables B2B companies to reveal who is on the website — before they fill out a form, and then triggers instant sales alerts to the appropriate reps based on custom criteria.
The key to getting out of this recession is in SELLING something. For B2B-focused companies, this economy no longer supports dumb advertising spends, cold calling, and long sales cycles.
98% of website visitors are anonymous.
Only 1-2% fill out a form.
Companies are blowing irrational money on search and other marketing channels to drive interested but anonymous prospects to the website. Reveal just ONE hidden opportunity each day, and with enough businesses doing this, we’ll be out of the recession in no time.
Forget bailing out failing models — give small and large businesses the ability to reveal their interested prospects early in the sales cycle so they can shape the buying criteria and shorten sales cycles.
The early bird always gets the worm !
I can comply with all your points except #8 – for now.
At just $79 per user we are selling “Pipeline Builder” subscriptions at a good clip, but with your endorsement under this program, the PR alone would generate much better ROI than taking funds from an investor.
Do you agree we have a win-win-win here ?
(the 3rd win is for the small (smart) businesses not getting bailout funds)
Comment by Jeff Kostermans -
Mr. Cuban,
Great concept. I have a couple of business ideas and intend to submit one of them to you soon. In regards to the business plan financials are you looking for 3yrs or 3 to 6 months to cover the repayment period? I look forward to your response.
Comment by Professor Allen -
Mark,
How about a business where you run a small business incubator. Basicly it revolves around aquiring office space and setting up everything small businesses need to get off the ground. Anyone running or starting a small business that wanted to utilize the office space would pay a monthly fee to have access to office space, phone systems, computer equipment, AV equipment, meeting space and internet access. The small businesses would be able to feed off of each other for problem solving and idea creation to get their businesses off the ground.
Comment by Andy -
Mr. Cuban,
I am the Operations Manager at a small IT Services firm in the Washington, DC area. We are a soon-to-be GSA Scheduled company, and have done many projects with Federal outfits.
Our Business Plan:
We take pride in the work we do for our clients. Our internal QA process assures us that we deliver on time and that we deliver with quality. In today’s IT world, we need serious people that are committed to their working environment and clients.
JTSi’s internal QA process is committed to keeping our contractual requirements on track by maximizing the working hours towards effective and productive time. We want our employees to effectively use their working hours by making it productive, so they have quality time with their families and friends outside their offices.
Not only are we looking for people to do business with, we desire to expand our network and pursue new opportunities.
Comment by Michael Arienti -
Hi Mark,
My business plan is to start a thrift store. I will resale donated quality items. I would need the funding for this but I have already found the location and I have a business name and my products are donated so that is inventory that is free that I will be able to make a profit from. I believe I can make your money back and profit within the 90 days given.
I also have my own lawn service business that is small that I would also like to grow and employ people for it as well. I just need the money to start.
I don’t have a website yet, but I have a beautiful idea that is waiting on you to help me with.
Thank you for the possible opportunity.
Comment by Sherry -
Mr. Cuban,
I want to help people around the world doing mission work. I have been on 5 mission trips. Three of those trips were to West Africa. You can invest in the Kingdom of God and receive more than what money can give you. I would like to start a mission related business. I have several ideas of how to do that. This is a gift that keeps on giving and will change lives around the world. 1 Timothy 6:17-18 (New Living Translation)-“Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone. But their trust should be in the living God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them.”
Comment by Yvette Luttrell -
Mark,
I have not 1 but 10 businesses. The first one was started in 1998 and is internet related. The business I am most pleased with and that is making me the most money, (generating revenue since 2005) and it started with a domain name and absolutely no advertising and to date, still does not advertise.
This venture qualifies for 1-12 as Mark requested:
My goal has always been to have businesses that were automated and didn’t require my time 24-7. In other words, they make money when I sleep, eat and/or vacation. Why get paid only when you work? Why not get paid all the time?
In 2006, our sales were $151,000- 2007 sales $330,000.00 -2008 sales exceeded $1.2 million.
January sales were 300% higher than 2008 and 2009 looks like another banner year.
What business are we in? Food! We all eat it and we all need it, at least for the foreseeable future.
All this with zero advertising and one person. In every city and small town in America, there are opportunities for people to be in this business through us and they can supply the food needs of their families, friends and dwellers in those towns.
It could be expanded to have more employees and create many jobs. After all, in keeping with Mark’s wishes, it must sell something and you must get paid for it. We’ve been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Associated Press (AP), The Indy Star and the Philly Enquirer.
Why? Because food is big business but the reason we were interviewed was, according to the reporters I asked, “Being number one in the search engines.” They equated that with expertise. Fortunately, they were right. I do know the business very well and listen to the people who call panicked when they cannot find a food supplier. Fortunately, we are there to fill the gap.
I might add that I spent zero dollars to be number one. No SEO was attempted or even necessary for the site to make it to number one. It did take a year for it to make number one without spending or SEO but once it made it, the phones and emails never stopped coming.
At a time when the major companies are seeking bailouts, filing Chapter 11 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy or downsizing operations; entrepreneurs all over the USA are making a difference. Mark is right on target. It really is amazing to hear the big companies panhandling and moaning about how far down they are, when our numbers are way up.
The Government bailouts may fail but the entrepreneur is destined for success if he or she remembers stay debt free, work hard and above all, find a need a fill it. So many people have good intentions but wishing won’t cut it. If you are serious, you’ll find a way to get what you need and get started. If Mark doesn’t assist us on this, we will simply kick into plan B which was plan A before he posted this opportunity on his blog.
Make sure you do more than one thing well, you never know when one aspect of the business slows and you’ll need that extra income. Be the very best you can be, whether you are a Billionaire or Busboy. My business started with one idea and spring-boarded into many new business ventures. With the power of perseverance and the internet, the sky is the limit. The internet is perhaps the best business tool available. To whom much has been given, much will be required.
As a serial entrepreneur, I don’t just run one business; I like variety and I operate several and have 7 more in development for immediate implementation. My new starts include a film festival, a barter agency, a national magazine subscription business, salsa and Dip Company. Each of these businesses are viable, national in scope and will require little or no money on the part of the people who chose to represent or start them. Perhaps the only drawback for some will be that they must go through our company to make them work. Some of you may simply be inspired to start any of these and that’s fine, get going! I would like to tie them all together Mark and bring something substantive to the table in the form of viable businesses, revenues, experience etc. I’m not just looking for a handout or vulture capital.
My newest upstart (pizza operations) in the DFW area. What makes the Pizza operation unique is that it operates with 2 locations covering the entire Metroplex versus 10-15 or more locations like some of the pizza franchises. It will have employees and contractors but not just any old pizza employee will do. This will operate like a well oiled machine that the even the military would be proud of. It will also help our nation’s veterans to get back on their feet and pay their medical bills etc. (see HealthCare Alternative below)
I currently have a golf company, grocery firm, and a movie production company with highly recognized long-time actors, and a few other minor holdings.
Some might say that is too much for one person and they might be right, however, I have delayed my expansion of most of the businesses until I was ready with funding, the right people (staff), contractors, employees etc..It’s all about planning and operations as well as capital. Timing is crucial! I wanted to start the pizza last summer but with oil at almost $150.00 a barrel, pizza delivery was a tough game and delaying allowed a few pizza competitors to head to the pizza graveyard. If there are any pizza operations which would like to convert to our system, (which has some unbelievable benefits that even the major franchises don’t offer) by all means get in touch.
My other project-The Healthcare Alternative start up will change the way America handles their healthcare. People are going without coverage and/or paying hundreds or thousands of dollars monthly for coverage. Our program is for everyone, sick or well and is unlike anything most have ever encountered. It also rewards wellness! It discourages being a Doctor’s Office live in (a perpetual patient in need). I am in such a program now and don’t pay $1,000 or more monthly for coverage.
In all the excitement, I almost forgot–Here’s what you came for: The business model for the Food.
This business is very unique: – I try to build each business I am involved in this exact same manner.
I’ve seen many business models but have not found one yet that could exceed this one:
1. Flexibility to operate anywhere in the USA.
2. This is not a franchise.
3. Laptop or desktop computer, phone, fax plus email are all you need.
4. Food is crucial to the survival of everyone, nationwide and worldwide.
5. Business is increasing exponentially each year.- AN OVER 400+% INCREASE IN 2008
6. Monday through Friday operations but you may operate 7 days a week if you choose.
7. No Nights, weekends or Holidays -unless you choose to open. The customers do call and email even then.
8. Short hours of operation: 9am EDT to 5 or 6pm EDT.
9. You may choose to answer all your own calls or hire your own receptionist or answering service.
10. Only talk to real buyers interested in your goods and services.
11. Make from $1,000-$2,000 per phone call of 5 minutes to sometimes an hour in duration.
12. No accounts receivable-OUR CUSTOMERS PAY IN ADVANCE and that equals no bad debt.
13. 99% of our customers use bank wire- 100% safe and secure payments.
14. No trade payables.
15. No Employees unless you choose to have them.
16. Business is expandable and has plenty of upside.
17. Profits are at an all time high and look brighter in the days ahead, irrespective the economy.
18. With summer of 2008 oil prices at $140.00 + dollars a barrel, the business actually increased.
19. The lower prices of oil from 3rd Qtr of 2008 lowered freight costs and increased profits.
20. Company has a niche market that cannot be duplicated unless we make it possible.
21. New customers, new calls and new inquiries daily.
22. No money has ever been spent on marketing our goods or services except $10.00 for mailing in NY and MO. recently as a test. 2 replies out of 25 mailings- an 8% response ratio on a blind but somewhat targeted mailing.
23. We are ranked # 1, 2 or 3 in most every major search engine including Google® and Yahoo®.
24. Customers call and email us with specific needs.
25. 95% of our customers purchase by the truckload.
26. Our average order is over $17,000
27. We have little overhead.
28. Our website has a proven history of selling the product before the customer calls.
29. Our customers wire us in advance for product and services.
30. 99.8% of the time, we never see our customers. We just talk to them on the phone or through email.
31. Our systems are automated and require no special training.
32. We’ve even figured out how to lower the cost of owner or employee healthcare benefits. (my next start up)
33. Our system is so efficient; our bank does a lot of the work for us at little or no cost. You may not want to switch financial institutions. Ours loves doing what they do and our propriety system actually improves their profitability and ours.
34. Accounting is a snap and inexpensive with Quick Books® and our system of doing business.
35. Our competition cannot re-engineer our business model but come to us to do business.
36. We have been widely interviewed in the Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press (AP) and a host of other newspapers across the USA.
37. The cost of obtaining as many new customers as you could ever use is barely 1 penny on the dollar. The internet brings them in at absolutely no cost to you other than hosting and maintaining the website.
38. Strategic alignments could put your business into the $5mm + a year category.
39. Diversified customer base – no one customer accounts for more than 10% of sales.
40. The Business is not reliant on the owner’s presence.
41. The Business is not dependent on the owner’s personal relationships with customers.
42. Business can be run from the golf course, your boat, your bedroom, the beach, or pool side.
43. Strong demand, limited liability and consumer acceptance.
44. It is Established
45. Low, low overhead. ALMOST NONE!
46. Automated pricing and markups. Know how much you make before you write the order.
47. Location demographics are market tested & proven.
48. Established Market presence.
49. Policies and procedures are in place and highly effective.
50. Pricing and competition are already known quantities.
51. Immediate Growth Potential.
52. An established web site presence. Building a new web site is not enough. Customers still need to find it. This long established web site is a real asset, something that a new startup will not have without guidance.
53. An established customer base means immediate cash flow! The company has excellent, steady cash flow.
54. Projections for a startup are nothing more than an educated guess. This business is solid and real!
55. The business outperforms its competition that rarely returns calls, let alone answers their phones or emails.
56. What distinguishes the business from our competitors is service and knowledge. We care and it shows!
57. We offer unique products and services that none of our competitors offer.
58. Future growth includes increased market share due to industry consolidation and lack of service by competition.
59. Distinguish yourself from the competition.
60. What make the company’s customer service superior are not just the people but the foundation we are built upon.
61. Company is debt free, doesn’t need to borrow money and can be operated on this basis continually.
If only the government felt the same way.
The number of jobs this package will collectively create is upwards of 200 or more in the DFW area and nationwide, upwards of 1000 or more jobs or opportunities will expand steadily. My goal in the past has been to make all my companies automated operations with no employees. That was then, this is now. Mark and I both realize that America needs a wake-up call and our politicians may not have the answers. I realize that it is not just about me but that I can do a greater good by creating positions for people who know their stuff and be blessed at the same time. I have several domains that involve job creation.
The Pizza business will break ground in DFW this year and is expandable to other parts of the USA in the future through franchising or taking existing mom and pop pizza operations and absorbing them into our companies. The independent operator benefits in various ways. I have too many details to post those in this forum due to the number of businesses and details involved. It is one of the most unique concepts that combines the best of several concepts but really focuses on delivery and catering while making sure the quality and taste is number one and the price is affordable.
Domain names for all these are already secured and we’ll share those in the next segment. (Assuming Mark likes the ideas.) Otherwise, I will fade into the sunset, ideas and all, and keep the secrets of the business private.
The basket of companies( below)will take less than $250,000 in funding but the food company, garden seeds company (which I didn’t mention), and film festival are already fully funded. Therefore, PIZZA, FILMS, DIP AND SALSA, NEWSWIRE AND GOLF COMPANY WILL utilize the start up funds collectively.
Each company has its own unique business plan and those plans are every bit as dynamic and functional as the food business plan.
*GOLF- $30,000.00 – For expansion- Revenues of well over $500,000 since inception. Our newest promotion will turn the industry on its end and make the big golf companies scream. There is no way they will be able to compete with this promo.
*PIZZA- $90,000.00 (2 operations) servicing the entire DFW Metroplex
*FILMS- $80,000.00 (4 films with very recognizable Hollywood actors with over 300 films to their credit)
Not your average films, not your average actors. Low budget films but high budget actors will produce a great ROI.
*Newswire- $5,000.00- The newswire will be subscription based and cover the economy, sports and other subjects of interest to the subscribers.
*Healthcare Alternative- $20,000.00 –generates 2.8 million gross monthly per 1000 subscribers to plan
There are over 55 million+ uninsured in the USA and many under-insured.
Barter Company-$5,000.00-A full service barter company with domain names and you can rest assured that barter will figure significantly in the days to come whether the economy comes back or tanks.
Total: $235,000.00
*The funding is for infrastructure, start up or expansion of the above companies. Not for cars or other items unrelated to the business. I will even plan on installing a real time accounting system Mr. Cuban can tap, night or day for all operations and see exactly what is going on and cameras will be in all pizza operations that he can view.
Do I need the money to continue on? No! My motivation is far more in depth. I can always delay my plans until I can save up the money and have no partner but it is in my best interest to take on an exceptional one in the case of Mr. Cuban.
Would I like to be able to have a strong association with someone like Mark Cuban? Absolutely, who wouldn’t! Sure, he has money but much more valuable than his money is his business knowledge and wisdom. He’s been there and done it.
In case you are interested Mark, I would approach it from an equity basis or rate of return. We could discuss that but minimum return could be up to 25% annually (negotiable) or if we did a basket of the companies, I would consider a combination equity and annual rate of return.
Mark, whether you get on board or not, it was fun writing the piece and I hope it inspires those like-minded entrepreneurial types to kick it into high gear and be part of the solution, not contributing to the unemployment stats. Many years ago, in 1982 in an economy exactly like this one (perhaps not quite as dire), I went from being someone who needed a job to someone who created them instead and have never looked back. With the economy like it is now, I urge everyone to find a need a fill it and then go for it!
This is not an offering for securities and should not be construed as such. A securities offering can only be made by prospectus. However, since Mark is an accredited investor, no worries there. I believe he solicited us.
Best Regards-Doc
Comment by DOC -
So what ideas have been considered so far? There are a lot of responses on here, wondering if any are really good and are possibly going to be funded?
Comment by Mike -
Mr. Cuban,
I have an established business that meets all of your criteria.
We started in 2007 with a solid business plan, less than $9,000.00 in cash, a credit card and a lot of sweat equity. Our first year (without getting to specific) we did over $200,000.00, our second year we grew more than 50% over $350,000.00.
This business can be duplicated anyplace in the United States. The business doesn’t rely on the current economic status in other words “recession resistant”. There is no need for a store front or manufacturer space. It can be run from home with a phone line, computer and a vehicle.
We are going to expand into every major city across the US. The expansion can be done by someone investing in their own business and us training them in what we know to be successful or us opening another State/City with an employee type relationship.
The business we are in is the Crime Scene Cleanup Industry. We clean up after tragic circumstances, a labor intensive business with low overhead and start up cost.
I know you asked for people to post a business plan but I haven’t seen one yet and ours would take up pages, I am confident we have what you are looking for.
Sincerely,
DM
From MC> If things are going so well, why would you want to take in additional capital and give up equity ?
Comment by Dm -
Mark
I have started an education organization company that will put people to work for a great cause. We need 10K to do our first printing and !0K for distribution. As this is sanctioned as a 501( c )3 you will not lose anything but will gain in heart. We would love to have you as our sponsor and mentor. Please check out our web site at Americanangelsorgandonors.org
If you are interested I will provide you with a detailed business plan for national distribution creating jobs for people in every state.
Thank you for your Patriotism and your hear for the American people.
Sincerely
CEO
Organ Donors United
Frank Edward Phillips
Comment by Frank Edward Phillips -
My business proposal is to develop and market an end-user friendly electronic health record system that allows interrelated medical information to be generated at the physician/patient interface and expanded to the hospital system business level. It would correlate CPOE (computerized physician order entry) and e-prescription writing with hospital electronic medical record keeping (including data that would be used for establishing a [portable] personal health record, ensure proper CPT coding and billing), meet CMS and JCAHO quality control metrics (with obvious administrative benefits), and establish a loyalty-generating interface between patient, physician, and hospital. There is a current need in healthcare for improved implementation of electronic health records, and a government mandate (with, potentially, secondary funding) to establish nationwide EHR by 2016, or face economic sanctions.
Comment by David M. O'Dell, MD, JD, MBA, MHSM -
Hello,
My husband has been working very hard to get our Motorsports business off the ground for the last 5 years and he travels all over the country doing Trade Shows for 6 months out of the year and the other 6 months he is going to race tracks helping other drivers with parts and set up and then it starts all over again. This is his dream to have a successful business and we have poured all our money into it and we are on the edge of it really growing. We just had catalogs completed for this past Trade Shows and we have had some sales coming in and also our internet site is now working for people to purchase from it as well. He has done all of this with very little help and we have one person helping us, due to we don’t have the money to pay any more to help, but it is needed in order to grow. We are at the point of needing some help in the money area, but my husband says he does not want to get a lot of loans and have a lot of debt behind us either, but I really want this to work for him since he spends 6 months on the road and it is without his family. We have 2 boys and they help when they can and we would like to leave this business for them, when our time comes to leave this world. Our family loves racing and the motorsports industry and this has been our dream. Thank you for your time and concern for others.
Mary Lynn Moseley
Comment by Mary Lynn Moseley -
Mark,
If it can be an established business, does it have to be a new idea business or can it be a Business that’s on the verge of growing dramatically? Also, is three employees OK? No Owner, President, Big Cheese or anything like that. Just three people working everyday…
Thanks,
tjames
From MC>Absolutely can be an existing business
Comment by tjames -
USB Throat/Neck Microphone
Ever since I started using a microphone/headset while playing games online I feel that something has been missing. To be able to communicate effectively in many video games online you have to use the microphone/headset combination. But this was a problem for me because I could no longer use my high quality component stereo system that I have hooked up to my computer. So, I decided to purchase a microphone that was stand alone with no headphones attached. This created an unseen problem. Whenever I would talk into the microphone it would become garbled and inaudible because of the fact that my stereo system was blasting in the background.
So the idea would be to use the concept of a throat/neck microphone that picks up the vibrations of your vocal cords without picking up the noise in the background created by external speakers. This technology had first been developed for military use, and I have not been able to find any version of this technology put into a simple USB device. It could really be the next big peripheral for computer gaming. The target audience could be computer gamers, but at the same time I do think this technology would have a broad appeal to people that use VoIP for everyday communication as well.
Comment by Todd Rose -
Mobile Car wash
Mission Statement: To provide the customer with a car wash at no hassle to them.
How it works: The customer will be able to order a car wash easily online by inputting their car information and location. They will then be able to choose what type of car wash they want and any extras that they would like to add to their order such as tire shine, wax, etc. Our car washing team will then drive to the location and hand wash the customer’s car at the specified time.
Process: After the customer places an order, we will dispatch our mobile car washing van to the location at the specified time. All payments will be made in advance through the website and tips may be added as well during this time. The van will be equipped with a power hose, and all necessary car washing supplies. The van will also have waterproof tarps that will separate the car that is being washed from any other cars parked on the street so that we don’t spray other cars with the hose. Once the car wash is complete an email will be sent to the customer stating that the car wash is finished.
Pros:
•If our service can average 1 car every 30 minutes at $25.00 per car, then that comes out to about $800 to $600 per day per car wash vehicle (This is a range of 32-24 cars per day just to throw some numbers out there, take this number and the yearly income per car wash vehicle is around $235,000)-of course one vehicle would never bring in the much, so think more around the possibility of $100,000-$150,000
•Would not have to hire expensive help, could be just over minimum wage workers.
•Ability to organize all of the transactions/car locations online.
•Once it is set up there would be very little upkeep cost besides soap, and water.
•Could create a partnership with Mr. Clean, or ArmorAll, etc. To cut costs and at the same time it would be a great way for these partners to rake in advertising and exposure. (We could put their logos all over our vans etc..)
•Would not have to necessarily hand dry the cars, once again tie in Mr. Clean products: Mr. Clean autoDry
•Great possibility to expand to other major cities
Cons:
•Would need to be based in a major city to cut the time to drive from customer to customer.
•Check out local laws on washing cars on public streets
•On city streets, double parking might be difficult on some streets. Would have to think about this one
Comment by Todd Rose -
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfd5z474_7ggqkxvd7
Summary for EduCasters, Inc.
Supplemental Education content creator. Delivering content to students, via “The Cloud”.
Comment by Patrick Hefner -
Dear Mr. Cuban,
I am a born Entrepreneaur. I came up with the Iphone back in early 2000 and came up with the ignition in the Jaguar.
I am also a gamer and have used stores and sites like gamefly and gamestop but back in Sept 2006 I came up with Game Trialz. Game Trialz was created because Gamestop took to much when trading, and Gamefly banned me because the post office took to much and blammed me because of their policy.
At first I was going to open a store where you try the games on a 60″ Plasma ($5 for 30min); but the Small Business Admin said that the start up cost was too much. For 1 1/2 years I tried to get funding; to no luck.
It it now Jan 08 and my grandmother got a new car (Camry because the other car died) and I make the payments to build credit. That is when I got a credit card; Game Trialz is still a company that will come alive and I decided to go online. The swapping sites like Sayswap etc are garbage; they litterly take more money from you then you think with there points/tokens and the sites are terrible.
That is when I seeked out a company to build my site; I contacted
70 local companies (most was not for websites); 10 contacted back; I met with 3 and that was when I met John from 21CDigital.
He is the best and he made the site what it is today and what it will be. He started work in May and got done in Sept.
Game Trialz “Revolutionized the Experience” by taking away points, adding rate a member, adding Gamer Tag Challeneg forums, news, reviews, and more all in a site that you can use. I would like to offer a better way of rentals like “MyTop10Q”; rent 10 games at once with tracking and insurance”. With Game Trialz you have several options to get your game (trade, rent, or buy). I charge $60/year. The funds will go to run and build my company so I can offer rentals and more. I dont have ads because most sites; ads ruins the experience.
However; I do not have any funds to advertise and the cheapest way is an ad in the Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo magazine; thats $25,000 (and it will be in the June issue). You stated that it must be profitable within 90 days; so that only leaves 2 options…
1. Online Advertising: $120,000 a month To be dominate on 1 of
the major sites it is expensive. (I got the media kits)
2. A G4TV special on AOTS/Xplay: $300,000 This is much better because it not only reaches more people; it is a demo and gets
more credit since it is on the show for gamers and will be talked about after and not some ad.
I look forward to working with you in the near future. You can call me too if you want. (727)-688-1245.
Thank You,
Respectfully Submitted,
Rhett Mikols
Comment by Rhett Mikols -
I am in process of putting together a business plan, and will post it. But I wanted to see if you had thoughts while I do this. I want to open a golf driving range. The difference is I would place several exotic targets to aim at. Brainstored examples are: pyramids of glass bottles, large lego constructions, panes of glass, manequines wearing different sports jerseys (I live in Chicago, so would have Cubs, Sox, Brett Favre….), old broken down cars, I also want to buy a foam suit and run around for people to aim at me.
I really think this would help keep kids interested in the game of golf. I know when I was growing up I hated going to the driving range. If kids have fun items to aim at it will keep their interest. This would take the mundaneness out of going to the range. Not to mention help your target practice.
There is a growing area in Belevidere, IL, that doesn’t have a driving range within 15 miles or so. And is right next to a mjor highway (I-90).
Comment by Dave Adams -
Tommy, tommyhotpockets, can you please send me a message?
jasonavery@rock.com
Thx
Comment by Matthew Lann -
Pingback: Open Source mobile edition
I think the gov or mr. Cuban should fix our health care. Pay for students to become Dr. and nurses and in return they sign a contract saying that they have to offer services at a cheaper rate for people who don’t have health care
Comment by bob everett -
Renexo Motors (GREEN/ENERGY/ELECTRIC) is engaged in the Automobile Manufacturing in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for sales and distribution to retail and commercial auto dealers. Renexo is seeking to be the fourth largest automotive manufacturer in the US, and markets its automotive branding through a network of more than 165 key auto dealers and 25 regional sales offices across the United States. The Manufacturing plant (CURRENT lAND UNDER CONTRACT IS 85AC)will have an aggregate production capacity of approximately 195,000 vehicles per month to start. We will have 400 people to start and up to 10,000 in Five years.
We recently signed agreements with two new large Chinese Manufacturing Companies, the first of which is XXXXXX Sales Group and division of XXX XXXXXX, one of the largest automotive manufacturer in China, and the second is to be announced. We will be buying parts at first to have the Cars Manufactured here in the States and soon will Manufacture parts in the US.
NDA”s keep me from posting anymore,
D.G.
Comment by David Gooding -
Hello Mr. Cuban, my mouth is still dropped to the floor at this awesome opportunity that you are offering!!! I saw your story on Beyond the Glory a few years back and I have admired you and your rise to the top ever since. I am a single mother who started a home-based business with my two year anniversary coming this June, 2009. I am the owner of ‘Tami’s Tots’. It is a day-care and I currently have six kids full-time. I have hoped to increase my clientele for quite some time now. I live in Hutto, Texas which is a rapidly expanding small town outside of Austin Texas. The demand for child care is increasing with the growth and I already have a waiting list! Per State regulations, the amount of children you can have in care is based not only according to the age of the kids but also the square footage of your home. I have found a home right up the street from me where the layout is absolutely perfect for a daycare and would also give me the space to be allowed six more children. Having additional children would enable me to hire a much needed “assistant” for when I need to be free to attend to my own child. I do not advertise and have received all of my students through word of mouth. Being a father I know you can understand the importance and value of excellent child care and my parents are crazy about me and would be more than willing to give me outstanding recommendations. I’m not 100% sure about this but I’m almost positive you would be able to maybe write off your contribution, and if need be I would be more than happy to change the name to MARK’S MUNCHKINS, CUBAN’S CUTIES or anything else you want to call them!! I hope and pray that you consider me and I want to Thank You for the chance of a lifetime! Take care and God bless!
Comment by Tamara Culberson -
FEB 10 2009
OffGrid Construction Project
I wish to build self-sustaining super eco houses/communities, and I hope everyone else will also. I can help anyone who needs it, and this is how.
I have had a contracting business for years, but just started up my OffGrid Construction business. I have the skills and the tools to complete this project just not the funds. In conversation with Government they’re waiting until April to see about the new budget and funding expectations.
I have an excellent credit rating, own two houses, lots of tools and equipment, but I can not come up with enough money to start this project.
I’m Mark Moritz; I have designed a most Energy Efficient and possibly the most Greenest House ever. This house is made entirely from concrete with no lumber.
I’ve listed below information and details of this project.
The exterior or shell of house has been Armour protected with a new unique coating which is indestructible. These houses can be built every quickly.
I’m a professional carpenter/builder, that through years of construction and research has come up with a house design which is built with a combination of new and very old construction techniques. I have technical data/specs on everything and also cost comparisons if/when required.
I’m hopeful this project will have media coverage from HGTV show “Worlds Most Greenest homes”. The David Suzuki Foundation has also expressed an interest in my project. They are very excited and intrigued with my design. It also looks like there is a possibility that I will be receiving funding from the Government for this project.
This dwelling will be hurricane resistance of up to 280 mile hour winds perhaps more, allergy, fire and sound resistant. It will last for generations, with very little maintenance thanks to the Coating. The house is designed and runs under a Passive House principles. A European design perfected over the last 20 years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/world/europe/27house.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
I’m using the same principles, I have just enhanced the procedure by utilizing new and improved materials, combinations of(ie: ICFs wall system and the SCIPS 3-D panels for the roof or walls).
Features of house are:
ICFs and or SCIPs (insulated concrete forms/3D-panels) would build the walls. Roofing system would be a similar construction with a mesh/re-bar Styrofoam ICSs (3D insulated concrete panels) with spray on concrete (shotcrete) giving this house a seal and thermal break second to none.
The Icing on the Cake is the shell of this house. The shell will be made with this new spray-on environmentally friendly product. This product is similar to the protective truck bed-liner spray. This product is being used by the military as an Armor coating on vehicles and ships. “It is understood to be the world’s premier, all purpose spray on coating, combining flexibility, flame retardation, light weight ultra-high strength properties and most affordable for value due to extremely long life expectancy. It is also oil, salt & chemical resistant, waterproof, antibacterial, antistatic, low heat conductivity and environmentally friendly. I have used this product before; it is very impressive with endless uses. This is truly an Armor coating on the house, which comes in every color.”
I will be implementing the use of Geothermal Chambers under the house, with revolutionary ventilation techniques and heat distribution through positive and negative air flow system.
Radiant floor heating would be tied into solar panels in addition to an external fire boiler system and a propane fire place with a heat exchanger as backup for the floor system.
Another unique design of this house is it will be equipped with a exclusive one of a kind 12 volt LED mirror lighting system, illuminating the entire house using very little energy.
Furthermore the strategic placement of windows for passive solar radiant walls is very important. We will be incorporating “Living Walls” for air purification and quality. There will be rain water storage cisterns underground, greatly reducing the need for water form our natural resources.
Kochel Offen (old European fireplace) utilizing all the heat energy generated from a fire.
Power will be achieved by wind and solar using electrical grid as a storage device.
I am willing to do what ever it takes….to get this technology out there, and to do my part to educate the public and preserve the environment.
My goal is to build communities with these self sustaining houses. Imagine if you will, the impact on the environment and surrounding communities, contributing little carbon foot, No trees used in the construction of these dwellings. There is no reason why all future homes shouldn’t be built like this.
This will be one of the worlds Greenest Extremist home ever built.
I drive to show people that they can live in a healthy modern environment that is self-sustaining and affordable, while leaving a very little carbon footprint.
The demand for such living is great and always growing. A house that will last for generations, has little maintenance, and little or no utilities. This is quite the opportunity for everyone who gets involved in this project. Everyone WINS!
This is not new technology. It has been around and proven now for many years.
I am improving the technique by implementing the most modern and efficient building materials available today. I am a professional carpenter/contractor/junior builder, which wishes to put all green technologies together.
Furthermore, for my LED mirrored lighting system, that I will take credit for and give myself a big pat on the back. One light lighting all of the main living space. Kitchen/living room, dinning room, hallways, lobbies etc.
Building such a house in the northern environment has always been a challenge, Now, the technology is out there, it’s just that not many people are aware of it or know how to used it. The cost of such a dwelling is approximately 20% more than the cost of a conventional stick framed house. However, the 20% is not much when realized the payback this house will give you down the road. No utilities, no maintenance, these houses can be built extremely fast due to the fact of the ICF’s and ICP’s. They are literally a lego block system. An experienced crew can build this house within one week. This house leaves very little carbon footprint, and it will even generate an income with the excess energy it produces.
I hope this explains about my company and where it stands right now.
Capital needs: At this point the cost of building this dwelling is somewhat undetermined, due to fact there are so many altering factors. If this was a capacitor or widget costs would be simple to determine. This is a project with many variables (ie; land/location, size of dwelling, scheduling of construction/contractors/trades, also final architectural/engineered drawings. The best I can provide you is an estimated cost projection of a 2000 square foot dwelling, with basic finishes, on 2 acres of land.
Projected construction costs are approximately $400,000 – $475,000 CDN. to complete
Being in construction I have made some real-estate contacts over the years and what I have been told is “the sky is the limit” with the sale of such a house. I believe this house would sell for double the cost of construction, even in these uncertain economic times. Why, because there is no home in comparison on the market at present. Future models would even become cheaper to build because of the systems (ICFs) and (ICS) being used. As of yet there are only a few (ICS) contractors out there. Once these two different type of contractors learn how to work together utilizing this technique, the construction costs will drop considerably.
With this being a prototype and having media coverage, I was hoping to upgrade this project with top of the line finishes (i.e. kitchens and baths). I believe that with the media coverage this project will make me and my company a house hold word. We will get flooded with demands to build many more of these types of buildings.
Its time for this type of construction here in North America and around the world. Please except my apologies for any grammar mistakes. Preparing documents or drafting letters are not my forte. I also don’t have anyone available at this time to proof read this letter. I’m much better with my hands at building and supervising construction projects.
Mark allot of money to be made satisfying the huge demand for Green self-sustainable
dwellings. Just no one makes them.
Why use Trees to Build.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely Mark Moritz
offgridcon@yahoo.com
905 476-0345 or
Cell 905 251-0290
Comment by Mark Moritz -
Congratulations, Mark!
You have finally made a blogpost that attracted several hundred comments!
As for you plan …
Geez Looeeze!
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops
Who in his right mind and with even a modicum of savvy (SAYKHEL, as we would say in NYC) would even bother to respond as you ask? Why would he need to ask YOU for funding?
I’ve got a hundred bucks that says you won’t get a single sensible response from anyone who really needs your money. This is my “surefire” business plan.
From MC> you can send the 100 dollars to the Mavs Foundation
Comment by Norman Rogers -
Thanks for the opportunity Mr. Cuban! This is exactly what America needs, for the haves to allow the have nots the chance to do something different. I will be back with my plan.
Comment by Darrell G -
I have an idea. I reload ammunition and I accidentally mixed things up and ended up with a large amount of pink brass. I went ahead and reloaded some and the women went crazy. They paid double the normal ammunition prices just because it was pink. With the number of women that own guns now and the amount of guns purchased since the election, the price of everything has gone up.
With enough capital to buy large quantities and pay a good chemist to help keep the brass pink for longer than a week, this would be a business idea that would work. I’ve also figured out how to make camoflague looking ammunition. We have been using the same boring brass for a hundred years. Imagine custom color ammo. It is really cheap to make. People would buy it just because it looks different. I’m not sure if it is a billion dollar idea but it would be very profitable.
From MC> Tell me more. Pink Copper could be interesting for a lot of different products
Comment by Jeff Reed -
Hi Mark – In late 07, my sister and I started MobileTek Labs a mobile dental laboratory in the NYC area centered around CAD/CAM technology (specifically, Sirona’s CEREC system). The CEREC machine can fabricate all porcelain dental crowns in about an hour – the standard process for making a crown involves an offsite lab and the turnaround time is approx two weeks including pickup&delivery via mail or courier. Thus, the patient must return to the office a second time once the crown is delivered to the dentist.
The CEREC machine is available for purchase by dentist’s offices, but is about $120K and has a steep learning curve. Our mobile lab model is sort of like an ASP for the CEREC machine – we bring our lab to a different dentist’s office every day and work with them to make ‘Same Visit’ crowns for their patients – the added bonus is that our little ‘tooth factory’ can always be running so we can offer more ‘traditional’ pickup and delivery service for dentists that aren’t yet ready to shift to ‘same visit’ service.
From our experience so far, the concept is sound, we have dozens of clients and we are doing nicely – had we launched in another economic climate, we would likely be very profitable by now, but dentistry is not quite as ‘recession proof’ as everyone thinks – dentists charge $1000-$1500 for crowns and even patients with good insurance have to pay a few hundred dollars out of pocket. Would rather not divulge too much publicly about financials, but gross margins are high and there are nice competitive advantages built into our model.
I recently completed my Master’s degree at Columbia (in Executvie Technology Management) and I am excited to take this business as far as it can go (I previously helped build http://www.ERE.net – an online community and events company in the HR industry). I have not been pursuing investors directly, but I saw your post and had to see if I could pique your interest. Any new capital would go towards speeding up our expansion plans (more vans in more territories, more salespeople, etc)
Comment by David Birnbaum -
Hi Mark,
I own a company called http://www.Menuwave.com. Essentially we are a online concierge for restaurants. I also am a fine dining restaurant owner in Miami Beach called OLA Restaurant. So I know the ins and outs of the business. The way we plan on menuwave to work is we track all the confirmed reservations that menuwave makes and invoice the restaurants quarterly a small fee. currently we are only in dade, palm beach, and broward county and we are getting about 3 reservations a day with no advertising. just the site being searched on the web. 3 counties. We have the database to go national and want to do so. beyond this feature menuwave.com has many other features you can see map, reviews, description, pictures.
In addition I would like to become the new youthfull version of the ZAGAT Guide. User generated instead of the local stuffy food critic.
I believe if this idea is funded properly it could snowball into a huge thing.
please let me know your comments.
Brian
Comment by Brian -
What happened? I submitted my plan at 2 am this morning. It is not here. I received an email from wordpress regarding the comment notification so thought it was posted.
are you still accepting proposals?
From MC> means i want to spend some time looking at it and see if i have any comments
Comment by ts -
My idea is a publishing/information company, starting with computer books since computer training is what I do, but with a more focused type of product. I find in my teaching, especially of beginners, they want to know how to do specific tasks, for example, upgrading the memory on a PC, or creating a PDF document.
This business could be expanded to other areas easily (5 easy stretches for runners, Coaching zone defence in basketball). I believe people would pay $10 to learn how to do exactly what they want, rather than $30+ for a bunch of information they don’t need.
It could be even further expanded to have an “on-call” expert, using a pay-per-call system where you could ask the expert a computer question. Add pay-per-access videos for further revenue.
Thanks
Scott.
Comment by Scott -
Mark, I’m the VP of a non-profit youth and family camp, located near Plymouth, Wisconsin. Although we are a 501 (c)(3), we have been operationally profitable for more than 20 years. In spite of our long history of economic success, the parent organization that previously owned the camp, decided to sell it, because they needed to pay down debt incurred by their other program areas (this camp annually sent about $100K/year back to the parent organization).
In 2005, we formed a new non-profit and purchased the camp for $5.5 million, with an initial bank loan for $3 million, a loan from a private foundation for $2 million and financing from the parent organization for the remaining $500K. We have been steadily paying down principal (more than $500K so far) ever since, while re-financing our loans whenever possible.
The rate for our current bank loan (2.5M) is 6.25% and the loan from our foundation has been increasing each year of the five-year term (amortized at 20 years) and is currently at 6.5% for FY2009 and scheduled to go to 7% in the final year. We also have a $500K revolving credit note with the bank that we were taking advantage of, due to it’s much lower rate of LIBOR plus 2.25%. The bank has recently decided to implement floors on this line, reducing it’s benefit for us.
I am requesting primary financing from you on the remaining balance of our bank and foundation loan (the former parent organization loan has already agreed to a subordinate position on their remaining $200K position) at a rate of 5%, with a three-year term and 20-year amortization.
The camp operates throughout the year, although the bulk of our business comes during our nine weeks of traditional youth summer camp. We sold out six of our nine summer weeks in 2007 and had a waiting list of 200 campers. We expanded our capacity for 2008 by 360 campers and in spite of the tough economic times, once again sold out six of our nine weeks last year.
There is no secret to our organization’s success. Our staff works extremely hard to offer a superior experience at a price that is often a fraction of what “elite” camps charge.
I appreciate your consideration in this matter. Please feel free to visit our web site- anokijig.com and our Camp blog- anokijig.blogspot.com for more information and don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like to see audited financial statements.
Jim
Comment by Jim McIlvaine -
Looking forward to hearing from you.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddn73zcj_113d7g4shh5
Michael
Comment by Michael Plater II -
Mr. Cuban,
My idea for a business would be a gaming console repair shop. With the popularity of the Xbox 360 gaming console and the poor original design the failures of this console are legendary.
In this day and age people suffer from a lack of patience. What kid wants to wait a month to play his/her video games? More importantly what parent wants to listen to said child whine and complain while waiting for said console to be returned? In this day and age many of us are willing to pay for convenience. Since I am an experienced computer technician I have toyed around with repair of these devices. Microsoft charges more than $60 to repair machines that are out of warranty. The overhead costs on these repairs is so low its ridiculous. The hardware required to achieve these repairs costs around $3-4 dollars. If advertised properly this service could provide a high profit margin at a low cost.
Ads could be placed where the business says, “We buy your broken consoles.” and repair them and resell to the public. Since it is a used product you can offer a 30 day money back warranty and most people should accept that.
This is a business that could easily be run from a garage or in home but a store front would make it seem more professional and could add to the volume of the business itself.
Since this would be a high profit margin business I think turning a profit in 90 days would be attainable. To check the demand for such a service all you would have to do is check the amount of forums posts that are out on there on how to fix this problem and how microsoft made so many mistakes in cutting corners on producing this console to get it out the door before the Sony Playstation 3.
There is a reliable fix that is out there now that repairs the console and can keep it repaired. All it requires is a little more elbow grease and “screwdriver time.” Many of the consoles that are repaired by microsoft are done in the same shoddy way they have always been done and fail again after a few months. I feel that providing a quality service that is at high demand and is at a higher quality than the original equipment manufacturer can only lead to profitablity. Gamers know Microsoft dropped the ball on this and are tired of jumping through thier hoops, and Parents are just as tired of hearing about as well.
In summary we would providing a service that is at a high demand for convinence of customers that can be provided for a low overhead cost.
Profitablity obviously would be based on volume and in the sense of a true business partnership would be split 50/50.
From MC> You need to do the homework to determine if its a viable business. Whether there is any competition. I dont see why it couldnt work, but I dont know if someone is already doing it, and what the repair and warranty issues are with consoles
Comment by David -
Mr. Cuban,
Dallas has a huge pet market! But being one of the hundreds of thousands of people that have dogs I find the places you can bring your dogs is actually very limited. So my idea…A dog Café! A Café for the dog owner and the dog. Not like other cafés where you’re allowed to bring your dog on the porch but a café that fully integrates the owner and their dog into the environment. A social environment where pet owners can meet other pet owners. Now we don’t have to leave him at home every time we leave! There will be an “indoor park” where dogs can play… large dogs enter left, small enter right!! Oh and a few Simple rules, you sign a waiver your first visit, no doggies in heat, please dispose of your dogs poo, and leave the aggressive ones at home! Carabineer post at every table where you can hook your dog up if hanging out tableside. Certified organic coffee and treats like any café but there will also be treats made for your pooch! Locations will be positioned in high foot-traffic, urban settings, near parks, and/or near national pet stores such as PETSMART and PETCO.
From MC> Im not a pet guy, but it seems like an idea that could work. I would encourage you to put together a business plan and post it. I would guess you might get some feedback and ideas on how to pursue this and of course I will review it to see if I would invest
Comment by Amberle -
O.K. Here I go I own a Rhino Linings shop in North Ft Worth all of my competition is out of business. That is a good thing but the problem is been that the set the prices so low on our product that it was hard to make a profit ( but we have just not much). In the 3 years I have learned to do more than just Rhino Linings, we have branched out to do truck accessory. Some of the problems we are having is to grow with the market wide open in my area it takes money and all the banks have dried up. I even did something really stupid and took out one of thosecredit card loans ( they loan you money against your future credit card sells ) don’t ever do it they will bleed you dry. I payed them off, so now I need help. Here is my plan. I need to start advertising in the local paper’s radio or something like that, we have started to sell custom and replacement wheels and tire’s. We need to buy a tire mounting machine and balancer and carry a good inventory also. This shop is in a area that is still growing with no one else selling the products I am. We were on a 30% growth rate the last 3 years until July of 08 when gas hit $4.00, the phone stop ringing for three months. It is just time for my shop to step up and me. I have morethat I could say about my plans and dreams but I think run to long already.
Comment by Joe -
Pingback: — That Jeremy Guy
I`m the owner of an existing business. We suffered from Hurricane Ike but the business is back on track and ready to develop. http://www.anewbraininabox.com.
This is an immersion center where you can learn a new language in recreating a foreign country environment. We offer “gym” like membership. Our members can come anytime during business hours. It works really well.
We need to rearrange the inside with classrooms and a different entrance for a dual immersion private school.
Thank you
Comment by Julie Lesage -
Video Billboards places large screen monitors in local hotspots and offers surrounding local businesses, charities and cities a new way of reaching these local markets through television at a fraction of the cost.
For around $1000, we shoot, edit, produce and provide 1 year airtime to almost any local business, which makes it an incredible value and powerful tool.
Startup costs are minimal and basically provide equipment for a larger scale and quickly establish distribution points through the larger chains . Salaries are entirely commissioned based. My background includes successfully training and maintaining a sales and production staff.
Test markets have done very well and the community has been incredibly supportive as we offer local charities, city and other worthy causes free production and airtime. Local businesses have been lining up as it offers inexpensive targeting marketing they desperately need.
Maybe the good outweighs the bad for #2?
I had planned on expanding in late summer but obviously this was tempting.
Either way, I’ve always admired Mark’s spirit and business savvy.
Comment by AjS -
My business idea is simple (not original but simple)
Step 1: Sell 200 raffle tickets at $1 each, promising a mystery prize that is cute & cuddly. Raffle will be held in 60 days to maximise ticket sale. Take advantage of the curiosity tendency in humans & the scarcity principle to maximise sales. Also cost will be very low. If necessary, i can target to a specific audience eg. farmers, kids, etc Revenue = $200
Step 2: Buy/hunt recently deceased squirrel or donkey. Cost = $0-$50
Step 3: Have raffle and provide dead squirrel/donkey to winner. If winner doesn’t want it, then i will pay back their raffle amount.
Assuming cost of $50, my P&L per raffle will be $99-100 (depending on whether i have to reimburse the winner for the winning ticket)
There will only be me working and i have another job
I can replicate this raffle in all towns and can increase the # of tickets sold if you were to invest so i can undertake advertising to maximise raffle volume.
Comment by Fletch -
This is typical of what America has come to expect from ‘leadership’ today.
Make a lot of rules and expect others to figure out a solution, get nothing in return but give up your idea, give the rule makers equity, and absorb all the risk.
Here’s my idea:
1. Rebuild all the nations high security prisons along the Mexican border: If anyone escapes they either end up in Mexico or in the scorching hot desert; the prisons/watch towers will double as immigration enforcement – this is in line with 0bama’s infrastructure spending plans – no extra outlay needed; the expenses saved by not having to care for, feed, chase, prosecute illegal immigrants spent in America on American’s
2. Tear down the vacant high security prisons and build parks, hospitals, or higher education institutions – again already in 0bama’s spending boondoggle.
3. By the time the politicians, ACLU, La Raza and others are done haggling over why this is racist and won’t help, 0bama will have completed 1, possibly 2 terms, and the economy will have righted itself by letting failed leadership fail and disappear or get locked up along the border. 😉
Comment by creeping -
I currently have a patent pending for a gym towel that will allow you to keep all personal belongings with you. I have produced several and have given them to friends (men and women) who work out daily and the feedback has been great. I even had people stop me when I workout and ask where I got mine. You are able to keep your phone, keys, membership card, ipod, magazine, water bottles and several other items on you at all times. It also satisfied the sanatation issue with not having to set anything down on the floor or the gym equipment. It is not ugly and provides you with a usable towel during your workout. So far I have invested about $7,000 into the product. I have a towel manufacturer providing me with the finished flat pieces which are of highend cotton terry cloth, however, I need to be able to negotiate a contract to assemble the towel. This would need approximately $250,000.00 to produce enough for companies like Sports Authority or CVN to be able to place an order. I would also like to approach workout clubs to offer this as a promotional item. I have images and further information available on this product. This towel would sell for approximately $19.99 and I already have people asking me for more than one. However, I cannot keep sewing them in my home. It works and it makes your workout easier, safer and sanitary.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Many thanks
YMA
Houston, Tx
From MC> 250k ? Why wouldnt you do a small run, see how people respond to them and grow according to the demand ? Im sure there are quite a few independent gyms that would work with you to offer your product. What does it cost to make 100 or 500 or 1k towels ? And you might want topost a picture to get feedback
Comment by YMA -
PLAN: Trade leveraged CME Mini Stock Index Futures trading, utilizing both inter and intraday data, utilizing proprietary genetic algorithm.** 100% quantitative.
3-5 yr plan, build into next Renaissance Technologies.
PERSONNEL: 26 yr old male, BBA Finance, UMIAMI & MS Finance, Washington University in St. Louis; others to be hired [optional].
CURRENT LOCATION: St. Louis, MO [loft apt], anticipate move to Chicago.
EXISTING EQUIPMENT: PC; and two workstations w/data feeds.
PLANNED EQUIPMENT: Additional redundant workstations & data feeds.
SOFTWARE: Proprietary; MATLAB, others.
MIN. INVESTMENT: $5 million, notional, to be leveraged; can be exclusive.
BROKER DEALER/CUSTODIAN: Interactive Brokers [tentative]; all trades information available real-time including end of day equity statements.
FEE STRUCTURE: 25/75 net profit split, payable monthly/quarterly.
RECENT R&D: Through 1/5/09, stock index futures [S&P 500, S&P 400 Mid Cap, NASDAQ 100] combined portfolio genetic algorithm R&D breakthrough, 5 yr. out-of-sample acid test walk forward data window through 01/5/2009: 86% winning trades; 14,618% cumulative ROI [not a misprint]; 25.07% worst one time equity drawdown. This is just the continuing R&D, but it breaks new ground. Still interday, entries assumed on the opening print, exit on trailing stops, database OHLC, normal mkt trading hrs, not today’s available 24 hrs; using the continuous Mini futures contracts for all stock index futures R&D, typically has a near 1.0 beta coefficient execution to the real nearest contracts so it’s not apples vs. oranges. For confirmation, R&D data reports available.
Yes, we know the results strain all credibility, but this is not algorithmic research as usual. Right now it remains under 24/7 encryption, pending continuous development/refinement. Can dumb down the drawdown if willing to accept a reduced ROI.
Additional quant R&D, on a more orthodox basis, includes NYSE & NASDAQ equities, non-leveraged, w/trade signals issued since 4/10/2006.
**Genetic algorithms use a competitive technique to resolve a problem (trading profits) using a population of potential solutions (here patterns). This technique is ideal when it is not easy, not to say impossible to model a function in mathematical terms.
One first needs an optimization target or a benchmark, which is translated into a mathematical function, that will be usually called the “Fitness” function. The best individuals in that population adapt well to or “fit” the environment i.e. the fitness function. Optimizing that function is in most cases identical to maximizing that target, for instance trade profits. The “effect” side of the equation is now set.
Now begins the tricky part. One needs to translate the “causes,” i.e. the patterns that could lead to such results, into a mathematical form. Our own software makes this task fairly easy. One only has to describe all potential patterns by way of genetic traits or chromosomes of the data. For instance, as the pattern will include occurrences of quotations, a chromosome will carry the characteristic “quote,” with the possible values, e.g., Open, High, Low, Close, Volume. Another chromosome will carry the information “bars back” (trading periods back, e.g., minutes, hours, days), depending on how far back you want the software to search for optimal patterns. The total search space is here designed.
Once one has created a whole potential pattern that way, one has one potential solution for the fitness function, i.e. a pattern, and how profitable that using that pattern can be. That solution, or pattern may be far from ideally suited to solve our optimization problem. Our software allows us now to create potentially suitable solutions, called “individuals” into a population. The optimization process called “Evolution” now consists in testing whether these many, many individuals can contribute in solving the problem. The general principle used now is the “survival of the fittest”. Generations [tens of millions] of individuals are created, then mate, mutate, evolve until such time where one individual becomes the obvious optimal answer to the problem. It will have survived all genetic alterations to become the “fittest” individual.
The fittest individual is then converted back into an understandable form, i.e. a pattern. When recognized within a data set, e.g., equity or futures prices of a walk forward out of sample set including all trading of one’s account into the future, then buy, sell, and applicable exit from trade is executed. Hence, the results are the expected profits. With periodicity, e.g., weekly, monthly & quarterly, the R&D process starts over again with the additional added calendar data in order to find if an even “fitter” individual can be placed within our trading ammunition bunker.
DISCLAIMER:
This report is for information purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation for funding.
Hypothetical performance results presented herein do not necessarily indicate future performance; Investment in equity strategies involves substantial risk and has the potential for partial or complete loss of funds invested.
None of the stock information, data and company information presented herein constitute a recommendation or a solicitation of any new offer to buy or sell any securities.
Information presented is general information that does not take into account an investor’s individual circumstances, financial situation, or needs, nor does it present a personalized recommendation to any investor.
Although information has been obtained from and is based upon sources believed to be reliable, the author does not guarantee its accuracy and the information may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions and estimates constitute the author’s judgment as of the date of this report and are subject to change without notice.
The information herein has been carefully compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but the accuracy of the information is not guaranteed. Use it at your own risk. No representation can be made that future performance of any trading method or system will bear any relation to past performance. All reviews express only the opinions of the author.
HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE MANY INHERENT LIMITATIONS, SOME OF WHICH ARE DESCRIBED BELOW. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCQUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN. IN FACT, THERE ARE FREQUENTLY SHARP DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS AND THE ACTUAL RESULTS SUBSEQUENTLY ACHIEVED BY ANY PARTICULAR TRADING PROGRAM. ONE OF THE LIMITATIONS OF HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS IS THAT THEY ARE GENERALLY PREPARED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. IN ADDITION, HYPOTHETICAL TRADING DOES NOT INVOLVE FINANCIAL RISK, AND NO HYPOTHETICAL TRADING RECORD CAN COMPLETELY ACCOUNT FOR THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL RISK IN ACTUAL TRADING. FOR EXAMPLE, THE ABILITY TO WITHSTAND LOSSES OR TO ADHERE TO A PARTICULAR TRADING PROGRAM IN SPITE OF TRADING LOSSES ARE MATERIAL POINTS WHICH CAN ALSO ADVERSELY AFFECT ACTUAL TRADING RESULTS. THERE ARE NUMEROUS OTHER FACTORS RELATED TO THE MARKETS IN GENERAL OR TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ANY SPECIFIC TRADING PROGRAM WHICH CANNOT BE FULLY ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE PREPARATION OF HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS AND ALL OF WHICH CAN ADVERSELY AFFECT ACTUAL TRADING RESULTS. THE RISK OF LOSS IN TRADING COMMODITY CONTRACTS CAN BE SUBSTANTIAL.
Comment by SJ -
@ Denton
That is one pretty brilliant idea.
Being the friend of those in their 30’s, but being the only one without children… ALL of my friends would patronize your business.
Why?
The children AND parents need entertainment, but most often, my friends (the parents)… do not wish to go out. They are usually too tired (while their kids have an abundance of energy because… well… they are kids… LOL)!
My only concern on Mark’s thought would be that restaurant’s usually take a while to break even let alone turn a profit.
I am not in the restaurant business… but the thing that my great-grandparents (who were very successful business people) taught me is that as long as you provide a service that people want or need…
You will be a success.
Well my online amigo…
You just may have a multi-million dollar idea on your hands.
Good luck to you!
“I pulled over and went in, the answer was obvious as I entered.”
This truly blew me away – that you actually did this.
Most would have wondered… and simply kept on driving.
Good work. And again, good luck.
Comment by SW -
Mr. Mark Cuban,
If you even chose to read my business plan, i am honored, and i hope you like it. I hope splashing around in a multibillion dollar industry sounds good.
First, a little info about me, Paul Tarulli. I’m a 23 year old living in New Jersey, looking for an oppurtunity much like this one. College was not my thing, gambling was however.
My business venture is no secret to anyone. Online Gambling (new ideas however). It is projected to be a $25 BILLION industry in 2010. Now if that is not a market you want to get involved with, maybe I should have started with my porn ideas (also another multibillion dollar industry). But that was a small joke, as i know nothing about the porn business. I am though, very familiar with online gambling and gambling in general.
Currently, the internet is filled with online casinos, online sportsbooks and racebooks and online poker rooms. Here is a small breakdown of what each of these is about and how they profit. Pay attention most to the Online poker, as my buisness would use its format for profit.
ONLINE CASINOS- offer user accounts and downloadable games such as Black Jack, roulette, 3 card poker, various slots,baccarat and any other game found in a casino.The player makes a credit card deposit or various other methods to fund their account and plays with real money. The online site acts as the house or casino that you wager money against in the fore mentioned games. There is no selling, just the profit from the houses edge built into the games, which as we all know, always ends up winning in the long run.The profit is guaranteed due to these house advantages.However there runs the risk of a player winning and having to pay them. The games are worked out with mathematical formulas and in large samples of data will be profitable.
ONLINE SPORTSBOOKS AND RACEBOOKS- act as online bookies.They offer user accounts and offer open wagering on most sporting events (with odds and spreads) and horse races. Much like the online casinos, you make a credit card deposit into your account, then begin wagering as you wish. The spreads and odds of a game or race are used to even the edge one team or horse may have over another. This allows for the book to break even on the wagers and profit from the commission or “juice” of the wagers. This is no risk all profit in the long run as well. However, for an individual game or race the site may win or lose, depending on how many people wagered for that specific game and how much. As said earlier , with the spreads and odds adjusted to make take any edge away, the bets are looked at as 50/50 advantage, with the income being the juice.
*example-(TEAM A vs TEAM B)SPREAD TEAM A by 6 points
PLAYER 1 wagers $110 to win $100 on TEAM A with site. PLAYER 2 wagers $110 to win $100 with site =$20 profit for site, no matter what team wins.
ONLINE POKER ROOMS- offer user accounts and offer free downloadable poker software to users. Just like the other 2, a credit card or bank account is used to fund your account. The site is a network that allows players from all over the world play against each other in most poker games, cash games or tournaments (cash games are where your money acts as the chips you use in the game at face value, whereas a tournament is a set buying and a set starting amount of chips) You search the home lobby, find the game you are interested in and either sit down at a cash cash game or “ring game”, or even register for a tournament. There are hundreds of different game varying from very low limits to very high limits. Profiting in Online poker is also a guarantee with no risk.
In a ring game, each hand is charged a rake(usually between $1-$4) from the pot, as long as the hand qualifies to be raked(2 players continue hand after initial bets, if not, no rake is charged). The site does not care who wins or loses the pot, as it is not a player wagering vs the site. It is person to person wagering. This is done every hand dealt.
example-
6 players sitting at a ring game table of $1/$2 No Limit Hold’em. Min. buyin is $60 max is $300.
At this table it varies with an average of $100 a person. One player raises to $10, two people call the pot is now $30. The house now takes the rake directly from the pot. This now makes the pot $26 and the hand proceeds without any other further rake. The winner of the hand is thought of as paying the rake for that hand, because he is in fact just being “taxed” by the site on his winning hand.
This is an easy break down of profit capabilities for ring games.
Profit= amount hands raked X rake X amount of tables
Now for the tournament aspect of poker. This is where players all register into a predetermined tournament with a predetermined buy-in and rules of the game. This can vary from low buy-ins to very high buy-ins and can vary from 1 on 1 tournaments to a tournament with no ceiling of amount of players(as long as they register on time). Each player starts with the same amount of chips and the game progresses to 1 overall winner with many places paid (usually top 10% or 20% of entrants are paid with each place paid a corresponding percent for that finishing result). The profit from a tournament is also 100% no risk all profit. The site charges a tournament entry fee to each member registered(usually 10% of buy-in).This is on top of the money he is risking in the tournament. The money collected is used as the prizes and the site keeps the entry fee.Here is the example.
example-
$100 buy-in + $10(entry fee)=($110 total) TOURNAMENT AT 7pm.
This particular tournament draws 50 people.It will pay the top 5 finishers. So, $100X50(players)= a prize pool of $5,000.
prizes-
total=$5000
1st place(40%)-$2000
2nd place(25%)-$1250
3rd place(15%)-$750
4th and 5th place(10%)-$500 each
POKER SITE PROFITS for this tournament= 50(players)X $10(entry fee)=$500 in just 1 tournament
Profit capabilities-(will vary depending on buy-in amount/entry fee and how often you have different tournaments running)
PROFIT= Amount of entrants in each tournament X entry fee
I THINK IT IS CLEAR WHY THIS IS A MULTI BILLION DOLLAR AND GROWING INDUSTRY.
***The owner of Bodog.com, started the site with $10k. He NOW makes over 1Million a DAY!!
However, Mr. Cuban, this has all been done before. There are hundreds of competing Online casinos, dozens of Sportsbooks and racebooks and maybe between 10-20 quality poker rooms.
One thing I know they do not have on the internet is a site that uses the Online Poker formula for profit with ANY game. Poker is sort of unique with cash/ring games, but the tournament format using entry fees and prize pools has not been used at it’s full potential. So here is my plan.
Open a website that brings together all people looking to gamble on almost ANYTHING. Sure we could and should have our normal casino section, and our very own sportsbook and racebook, and even have our own poker software allowing for play. But lets think beyond that.Lets’s be UNIQUE.
ANY game that has a winner or loser can be gambled on using 1 on 1 format,multiplayer, series or a tournament bracket. Of course charging buy-ins + entry fees to each entrant and using their buy-ins to fund the prize pool. Some games will be fun and need luck to win(war) , some games will need actual skill(chess).
Say you always played the card game war with your friend, such as I have. We used to take a $20 bill each and make a $40 pot and whoevever won, got the $40.It gave the game a reason to finish and play your hardest. There is no where online that allows players to play head to head war for money. HENCE THIS BEAUTIFUL IDEA
heres just a small example of other games we can use :
Chess,checkers, backgammon, uno, 500 rummy, Pot black jack, 31…ect..basically any game you can think of, like previously stated that has a clear cut winner and loser, with no advantage to any player at the beginning of the game. Im sure there is a market to gamble on ANYTHING involving competition.
Over the years i have come across dozens of head to head card games and other games that can be played with 1-8 people. They can all be wagered on in a series format, 1 on 1, multiplayer or even tournaments. I will not go through each game on this post(steal my plan.. go ahead-you wont get my games).But i will show you the formats in which they should be played and paid.
series games 1 on 1-Best of 3, 5 or 7 series
multiplayer wins game-first to 3 wins, 4 wins etc.(predetermined)wins the whole pot
of course all games would have a buy in and a entry fee and a prize pool…
I will use Pot Black Jack for this example. I will show you how this would work all ways (1 on 1 and multi-player series and tournament)
Pot blackjack has no dealer to play against. You are playing your opponent. all players are dealt 2 starting cards 1 up one down, with an oppurtunity to hit or stand rotating who goes 1st.
**1 on 1 series-
Best of 5 -Pot Blackjack series:$10 (buy-in)+$1 (entry fee)=$11 (total buy-in)EACH
2 players X $10=$20 prize pool
2 players X $1=$2 for the site
**Multiplayer wins match-
3 wins – 4 Player Pot Blackjack-$10(buy in) +$1(entry fee)=$11 (total buyin) EACH
4 players X $10=$40 prize pool
4 players X $1 =$4 for the site
** Tournaments-
tournaments are done using 1 on 1 series game play with brackets.
Best of 5 -Pot Blackjack tournament:$10 (buy-in)+$1 (entry fee)=$11 (total buy-in)EACH
say 128 people signed up
128 people X $10 (Buy-in) =$1280 prize pool
128 people X $1 (entry fee)= $128 for the site
TOP 8 places pay=
1st place=$512
2nd place=$256
3rd+4thpace=$128 each
5th, 6th,7th, 8th=$64 each
THE GAME MAY CHANGE BUT THE STRUCTURE DOESN’T HAVE TO.
*Certain games may have different series totals or win totals for the same game.There will be different options for players to fine tune exactly what they want to play, for how much and how many wins or the type or series it is.
Now to talk the start up numbers and maintenence and some leagality issues that may be involved with costs. Like i said Mark, im only 23 and haven’s exactly had the money or time to do all the complete research ( i know you said in the rules you MAY help or MAY not, but i would plan on figuring everything out if this gets your approval)
Software & Game development-Depending on what company we use and how many different games we need developed and how many sections we decide to use(head 2 head games,casino,poker,sportsbook,) this could be any price.We would need a mathemetician to figure out all the numbers involved with the gameplay (shuffle,house edges,formulas) In the research I have done, if you want to own the software and not pay any royalties it may be in the millions. There are also 2 other ways i have found. Maybe this link can explain it better of the basics of starting up.
http://startonlinecasino.com/
Marketing- Also can be found on that link. The traffic is key. Advertising would help. Maybe offer a $5 no risk bonus to the 1st 200,000 people who sign up. That would be another million dollars plus the other costs of advertising, depending on what we decide to do.If only 1/4 of that 200,00 people ever end up depositing themselves, we would only need to make $20 in rake each to make that 1Mil back. Also, many people will advertise on our behalf by becoming affiliates. We would give them percentages for link clicks and sign ups. This would allow us to track the traffic and where to go further with advertising.
Licenses-Depending on what we need. We may need none, it isn’t exactly clear to me yet how much this would cost, but im sure we need something.
Legal- We would need to pay a lawyer to figure out the terms and conditions and all the legal information. Someone to deal with the licenses and online casino commission. Many online gambling sites do not allow for USA players, as it is illegal to use a bank to deposit for online gambling in USA. There are loopholes however, and a good lawyer always helps the cause.
Out of USA location- as stated previously it isn’t exactly legal in USA. We most likely would have to use offshore banks and locations where the main headquarters would be. EVERY site does this. Renting out an office building in South America couldn’t cost too much.
So in estimation, I would say this plan would need between $3-6 Million, depending what the real numbers come to for software and licenses. Lets use the average of my estimations and say $5Million for everything. Now keep in mind Mark (if you are still reading and thanks if you are) that initial investment would take care of basically everything. It is like building a machine that will generate money with minimal costs to operate or maintain. Keeping the lawyer around would be helpful, rent for office, any marketing , updates and upgrades with the website and/or software which lets say is ….well start high with 20k a month…
So $5 Million and $20k a month. you would like you initial $5,040,000 back in 60 days. That is 84k a day in rake, which may sound like alot but KEEP IN MIND.. AT THAT PRICE WE HAVE A FULLY OPERATING SITE WITH 200,000 signups…with advertising still going strong. That would really only break down to $840,000 being wagered a day…we rake the 10%…there is our 84k a day to break even in 60 days…with profit starting in 61 days…not even 90…
lets see that a little more clean cut..
$5,000,000 investment
$40,000 2 month maintainence
$5,040,000 in 60 days
$840,000 a day in wagers needed
$84,000 a day in rake needed
=60 day break even
say we retain only 10% of the initial 200,000 people we spent $1million on as everyday users. So thats 20,000 people.
$840,000 a day in wagers by 20,000 people is $42 wagered EACH TO REACH OUR BREAK EVEN IN 2 months.
Now lets get back to the bodog.com story. He invested $10k about 10 years ago and is now making over 1MILLION a day , owning a site with heavy competition(it has casino,bookie and poker all in one)..OUR SITE WOULD BE UNIQUE WITH ALL THE OLD STUFF TOO..WITH THE WHOLE NEW IDEA OF person to person gambling.
Now for my idea for ownership. You initially invest 5 Million and we hit our break even in 2 months…YOU GET BACK THE FULL 5 Million before i ever see a dime. In return I want to own 70% of everything leaving you the other 30%.We will pay maintenence and any other fees or on that same scale (70/30)..
I look forward to answering any questions you may have and explaining this any further if you need me too.
PS
MARK MY HEART AND SOUL WILL GO INTO THIS BUISNESS…THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING AND CONSIDERING. IVE ALWAYS NEEDED A BREAK LIKE THIS, THIS IS SUCH A GREAT OPPURTUNITY. AND GOOD LUCK TO ANYONE YOU DO PICK TO DO THIS WITH..AND EVEN IF YOU DON’T PICK ME..CAN YOU FIND ME A DECENT JOB LOL…
i saw this offer on espn.com, at 1:30 am east time..started typing at 1:45am…im now done at 7:05 am…had to jump on this asap…GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MAVVVVVS…josh howard is the man on my fantasy basketball team
Comment by Paul Tarulli -
Mark, I manufacture two electronic music devices. One is a synthesizer, the other is a MIDI controller (a device that controls other electronic instruments. Both are designed into a compact wedge shape base and are played with your feet. They are typically used by guitarists or bassists to augment their playing (think Geddy Lee in Rush). They are smaller and much less expensive that the typical “organ pedalboard” design, which sells for over twice the price. Currently, my costs are about 60% of what I sell them for including my labor time. I do most of my business on eBay, where they sell fairly well, though in much smaller quantities than would sustain a full time business.
If I had the capital, I would love to expand this so that I could wholesale these to music stores. By purchasing components in larger quantities, I could significantly reduce my costs. I would hire one or two interns from the local technical college to take over the circuit board assembly, paying them piecemeal for each board successfully built. This would allow me to focus on marketing issues (I’m currently a full time computer programmer). I have already contacted companies to manufacture the packaging, as well as accessories, such as a padded carrying case. If you’re interested, Mark, I’d be happy to send you one of the pedalboards to evaluate.
Comment by Brian Levine -
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Hello Mark
I currently own and run a sign business and i have traveled around the world and experienced a lot and learn t a lot. Through this i have also made a lot of connections , in business you need supplier and a buyer and the middlemen (us the businessmen). i like your idea to build our economy up , and from what i see USA supporting the world meaning money going out of USA to other countries, money not coming in,hence cash deficit.We import a lot but hardly export.
My idea is we export Cars our pride and im not talking about brand new cars , i m talking about auctioned cars , those insurance auctioned cars which have minimum damage and export them to middle eastern countries , i have buyers ready to buy cars for example if a Lexus we buy in USA for $5000.00 we can sell this same car for $20000.00 which shipping cost duty and everything you make $5000.00 easy a 100% profit , this is just a basic idea, the reason for selling auctioned used car is that if we sell used cars the countries in middle east dont put high duty on them just few percentage so we can make money there and we don’t fix the cars here we get the cars fixed in middle east as cheap labor and parts are cheap too.
saying this i got buyers and suppliers ready we can be the middlemen , and i follow all your 12 points , you get a 50% profit share until your investment if paid for and after that we can negotiate a sleeping partner share, remember i believe in no interest receiving or giving policy all cash sales to make a business profitable, today the economy is down is because of taking and giving interest . if you are a true businessmen you would understand that interest kills businesses anyways i have more ideas through my traveling experience i speak 7 languages so i can do business with anyone in the world and can relate to there understanding. One more idea i can give is im working on right now to import tanzanite a rare diamond like stone only found in Tanzania which has a high price profit selling in the USA , if you meet me i can explain my couple of ideas and we can move forward
ill wont make a business plan for the car export as cars differ in value also but the cost would be minimum and profit would be higher and you don’t have to fund upfront with time and amount of good cars available we can make good money
thank you for your time.
Comment by Huzefa Amiji -
My idea: DrunkBunk.com
This works best for affluent younger clientele (and stupid athletes that don’t know they can afford a full time driver rather than driving drunk…)
You and your party are out on the town enjoying yourselves – to the point that you are not really able to drive home sober even though you drove to the event that night. You know you can’t drive without driving drunk, so you decide that it’s best to call 800-Dunk-bunk (made up number) and the helpful operator sets you up with a walk in the door, pick up your key and go to your room hotel offer so you don’t drive home drunk.
The new company’s focus is on advertising the opportunity and booking unused hotel space at a price higher than hotels average revenue per available room – keeping hotels happy and drunkards off the street.
How do the cabs fit into it? Perhaps you pay off the cabbies so they are enticed to drop of clients at a local hotel.
Comment by Darin -
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Mr. Cuban,
I have worked in the Hospitality Industry for the past 9 years managing different Marriott Hotels and for a short period of time in Property Management for Apartment Communities.
One of the biggest struggles that a hotel can have in operations is maintaining and managing the cleanliness of the property. We have all stayed at a Hotel and have found things wrong and dirty. The reason why is in ALL of the hotels that I have worked for, that the process of inspecting these rooms are done by hand and items marked down as things are seen.
My idea would be to construct and market a device that a Housekeeping Inspector could easily identify items that needed to be corrected with a push of a button and could be printed out in some fashion to ensure the room was 100% inspected and problems noted/fixed. The hand held device would have a checklist of every item to be checked and marked off as checked.
I know this device exist in some fashion because we are audited twice a year from an outside company that does that exact thing on a smaller scale.
The one thing that drives our business and repeat business is the ability to provide a good/clean room consistently. Often the case this does not happen.
Unfortunately, I would not know where to begin putting this into action but I can tell you first hand that there would be a HUGE demand if done right.
Managers could track the trends from particular Housekeepers down to what problems they are consistently having and be able to fix with accurate knowledge.
I just try to think how valuable a tool like that would be for my property I manage.
Please let me know your thougts.
Thanks,
Bryan
Comment by Bryan Holloman -
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The locking hinge guy has a great idea now rendered into the public domain and NOT patentable. Any investment, if it has not been done before will now have many competitors. Too bad for him.
The tumbleweed guy should get a movie deal from Magnolia Pictures. His idea and story sounded like a hilarious movie script where I was falling out of my chair laughing as I read it.
“Death to Tumbleweeds!”
Chris
Comment by Chris Caffee -
Hi
Reading your blog and the discussion I would like to quickly provide a comment.
I am first by education an economist graduated from Brussels’ ULB university in 1974 and then in 1988 I did start computer sciences at UCLA in Los Angeles and was graduated in 1992.
From then I did 3D animation and industrial photography in a studio I had in Marina del Rey.
I am following closely the crisis since 2006. I have stopped operations in Los Angeles and moved to France where I am now in December 2008. The main reason was that business had gone from $385.000 in 2005 to $78.000 in 2007 and the reservations for 2008 where just $38.000 for some advertising and packaging. But my clients had already put the breaks on investments since 2006/2007.
I know quite a lot of people who are, or where, in the billion of assets and not from gambling on the Wall Street, but working hard, 12 hrs a day, to keep their business afloat.
We know what caused the financial crisis. This is not an economic crisis, it is caused by, as has been said in the media and dinners, because greed, incompetance and egos.
So how to fix it?
In short but I can develop the technical parts if needed:
Have the International Monetary Fund buying the assets at negotiated values with each banks, in the world, who owns them.
Have Europe and US and all countries planing to throw away bailout money, to fund the IMF as investors to provide the IMF aith the cash needed to do the purchase.
Then the IMF will be the holding body for these assets until they mature or default.
The probleme of the valorization of the assets is the layers of fees, commissions and absurde over valuation that has been added to the original transactions. That will have to be resorbed in part by the buy back and the other part by the loss on the value at end of period, which will be anyway around 20 to 30 years if no refinancing occures in the mean time.
The point is the the IMF can be a global fund pooling and as such it can solve much cheaper the bailout anywhere and out of political pressures.
Regards
Yves Bodson
Comment by Yves Bodson -
Mark, I much appreciate this opportunity. I have a socially-conscientious sustainable business in the Secondary Language Acquisition industry that I offer to you for consideration.
BACKGROUND: The transition from a heterogeneous to homogeneous global society will prove to be the most dramatic change the world undergoes this century. As the internet shrinks the world and the inter-dependence of neighboring countries increases, the need for people of disparate cultures to effectively communicate will grow exponentially. Language sits at the epicenter of this global transformation, It is the fabric that connects all ideas, thought and human understanding. The demand for language learning material is exploding.
THE PROBLEM: Traditional self-study language learning material created by academically-minded teachers is outdated, out of touch, doesn’t take advantage of new technologies and fails to address the specific needs of students; from what they want to learn to when they have time to learn.
THE SOLUTION: Community-Generated Language Learning Lessons. Create a platform that allows students to purchase and consume high-quality rich-media language learning lessons while giving teachers the ability to easily create and publish the lessons, and earn a percentage of the revenue their lessons generate. The platform would include tools allowing student to track and monitor their progress, guide them along a path to success, rate teachers, suggest new lessons, connect with teachers and other students, etc..
WHY US?: Phrasebase.com is an existing language learning community with over 100,000 registered members from over 240 countries speaking 80 different languages, all eager to teach and learn language from one another. We have a team of language professionals able to quickly and easily create an initial set of language learning lessons. With an established web presence, strong brand name, a dedicated team, 100,000+ members and over 4,000 unique visitors a day, Phrasebase.com has tremendous traction and can start generating sales immediately once the lessons are published.
5-STEP PLAN FOR EXECUTION:
1) A new streamlined release of Phrasebase is already in the works and to be deployed soon. This new version will be faster, more streamlined, intuitive and focused more on being a platform that offers tools for media-rich lessons to be created and consumed.
2) The product we sell will be 7-10 minute long immersive rich-media language learning lessons including a randomly generated quiz at the end. They will sell anywhere from $2 to $7 each depending on how it’s bundled and rated by the students, with an average retail price of $4. The first set of these lessons will be developed internally by our team. We will create a comprehensive series of 50 lessons in 50 languages… that’s 2500 lessons total available for purchase.
3) We will continue development of the platform and tools, work out bugs and make refinements. Once the system is stable enough, and the e-commerce functionality solid, then we will open the door to our 100,000+ members to become language lessons developers also.
4) We are seeking funding to make an exceptional platform, and the tools to allow for the creation and consumption of lessons. Funding is also needed to develop the initial set of language learning lessons using our internal team. Once off the ground, the business will be fully self-contained and viable.
5) Phrasebase will retain 60% of the sale from each lesson, for providing the platform and tools allowing the teachers to create and host them, the structure and framework of each, and for handling all e-commerce transactions. The teacher will earn 40% for their work in creating the lesson, each time the lesson is sold.
BENCHMARKS:
60 DAY MARK: With 2500 lessons created and owned internally, and traffic of 4,000 daily uniques, we estimate a run-rate conversion of 2% with an average of 10 lessons sold per customer at an average price of $4 usd per lesson. 80 customers x $40 worth of lessons each = $3200 USD per day.
90 DAY MARK: We allow all members to create their own lessons which will double or total offerings to 5,000 lessons for sale. Furthermore, each of these lesson creators, since they earn money for the sale of their lessons, will be embedding their lessons into their personal blogs and assisting in the marketing and promotion of the website. With increased awareness in the website and repeat customers, we estimate 8,000 unique visitors per day. 160 customers x $40 = $6400 USD daily revenue. Of course, now we will need to pay out the 40% commission to the content producers.
FUTURE: We already have a facebook application, but it needs to be updated to our new focused model. We will also develop LinkedIn, Myspace and Hi5 apps, allowing the users some initial basic lessons for free. And will build the tools and services allowing the lesson creators to more easily market and promote their lessons through non-Phrasebase.com sources.
Thank you for your kind consideration in this venture.
Warmest Regards,
Jeff Hock
COUNTRIES OUR MEMBERS COME FROM:
http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/members-countries-stats.php
LANGUAGES OUR MEMBERS SPEAK:
http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/members-languages-stats.php
THE PHRASEBASE TEAM:
http://www.phrasebase.com/english/phrases/?action=aboutusall
THE COMPLETE PHRASEBASE BUSINESS PLAN:
http://www.jeffhock.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/phrasebase-business-plan-v21.pdf
Comment by Jeff -
Mark,
Let me give you some prospective from a small business right now that’s facing this economy. It’s a bit to read but I think I can offer you real insight on how many people feel and that are in the same position.
The most difficult obstacle my fiancé and I face right now is the fear of going into a bank to ask for money. We run a two person chiropractic business in the DFW area and although it’s cash flow positive (about 2x the cost of our overhead and growing) it’s not enough yet to cover her soon to come out of forbearance student loans. Banks REALLY don’t care right now about people (especially when she has to call them and beg for forbearance). We try not to look too far into the future and just pray things pick up enough before that time but it’s difficult not to worry. The sad part is if she defaults on these loans she could lose her license to practice which affects her ability to pay! The cost of her student loans to go to Parker Chiropractic College were astronomical and makes me wonder if the end game of these schools is more about money than it is education….anyways that’s another conversation…
Our two person company started in May08 at the beginning of what seems to be one of the worst recessions so far in both of both of our lives. Banks won’t lend to businesses until you’re two years old (after incorporation), at least that’s what we were told a year ago…now who knows what the criteria is?
Why do we need money?
1) For emergencies and expanding the business. We can’t even begin to afford any advertising beyond Yahoo! and Google search advertising (which is on a strict budget although they perform well!). We haven’t been able to utilize traditional marketing as it’s extremely expensive (especially in our area) but haven’t really needed to so far. My fiancé is a wonderful doctor and God and good word of mouth have blessed us. We could move cities/areas but then we start back at 0 and at this point we believe the business will be successful and that we just need more time. It’s also difficult to deal with the well established practices in the area that have a lot more cash flow for things like marketing (luckily they’re not too smart on the Yahoo!/Google adword side of things).
2) For cushion room – We need to be able to show our property management company we can afford to stay where we are even if the business went south. They’re an enormous property management company that deals with the Starbucks/Gaps/Apples/Victoria Secrets etc of the world (the other tenants in our space). You know…well established companies that sign extremely long leases and that mostly will still be here after the recession. Currently we have ~six months of rent in our savings and we’re applying for a short term (2year) lease on our current space. Our use of the savings money has dramatically slowed since the holidays ended and we shouldn’t even need to use it next month. Unfortunately for us we have to fill out personal financial statements when applying for the space. My fiancé’s student loans and very low level of income from the business that just basically pays her car/insurance doesn’t help so she wont even be on it. So that means we’re relying *ALL* on my credit for our financial statement which is my personal credit. We’ve subleased in this building for about a year, paid all our bills and never have problems or been late. You’d think this would be enough but we still feel that won’t be enough to make them think we’re a good candidate for the space.
My credit is great (beyond holding a few high balances but I’m working on that). I feel they’ll see us as extremely risky because they see us from far away (they’re not even based here in DFW).
It’s sad really, It’s stressful…it keeps both of us up at night. One person in an office in Chicago controls whether or not we get to continue our business…(moving at this point wouldn’t be cost effective and would force us to close our doors for a number of years, possibly forever).
So I could take out a personal loan (possibly?) with what savings we have left but who knows if I’ll qualify (even though I’ve got good credit)…but then I’ve got more loans out which just makes my credit/loan balances look bad when they run a credit check on me for the space. Sure the banks will give us a ‘line of credit’ so they can gouge you for 20% interest after you have the card/account for two months like Citibank and Bank of America has done to both my credit cards(even when I’m paying on time and amounts well above minimum). If you opt-out of the change of APR you no longer get access to the credit line and at the end of paying it off your account is closed. I’m not going to lie and say I have been the best credit user in the past but I’ve learned a lot lately about what’s important in life.
So Mark, I ask you…where is the ‘stimulus package’ for the small business owners like ours? They talk about the Auto industry, US Steel, etc. who had chance after chance after chance, what do the little guys get? All politicians talk about how small business is the bread and butter of the US economy but when it comes down to it both parties are full of it. She’s a doctor and I’m working two jobs (as her everything assistant (office worker, webmaster, search engine/adword/display ad marketing master etc.) and working another 60+ hour a week job)to support her and myself.
I have no faith whatsoever that this ‘stimulus’ package will do anything for us or do anything but tie up more taxpayer money. We’ve already done too much drunken spending to pull ourselves out of it; it’s time to go in detox.
So, I don’t need your money, Mark, I need you to guarantee some office space so we can just keep the space we already have! If I’m able to take out the loan from a bank I could give you two years of rent up front (and you could make the interest!) for your company to be the guarantor/cosigner for the space. It’s not a lot of money but in this economy getting your money back with interest and helping someone probably doesn’t look so bad. If you’re serious about wanting to help people drop me an email at the email address I provided.
Comment by freaked_out_small_business -
Pingback: Get your idea funded today! « The Learning Journey
“Im sure I will come up with more rules as I see what comes along, if anything.”
So you wanna change the rules during the game??
From MC> Yep. They call it smart business. Proactively anticipate all you can, but pay close attention to see if you can do a better job for all those involved. Kind of like listening to your customers and doing what you can to make them happy.
Comment by Jeff -
Financial institutions are having a hard time because of all the non-performing assets (i.e. foreclosures). Unfortunately, these mortgage companies are not at all efficient in unloading these properties. I have seen several in my town that have been foreclosed on for months, are listed on the MLS, but don’t even have for sale signs in the yard. Also, most of the houses that don’t sell right away, even when priced decently, don’t sell because the banks refuse to put any money into even very minor repairs.
My proposal: negotiate with the mortgage companies to purchase their foreclosed properties at no more than 50% of the current appraised value. Optionally, I would need another 10% of the current value to put into the property for at least minor repairs, cleaning, painting, etc. This work would take no more than 30 days. Then I would aggressively market the property to have it sold off within the next 30 to 45 days (either to end buyers or real estate investors). I would start out with 1 house at a time as proof of concept, building up to more as I prove this is a viable process. The house would be sold using the 5-day sale method developed by Bill Effros (author of “how to sell your house in 5 days”) giving the purchaser up to 30 days to complete financing (with only 7 days to provide a pre-approval letter from their mortgage company). Depending on how long it takes to get a bank approval on an offer, I should initially be able to process 2 house every other month, increasing in volume as the profits accumulate.
Initial investment: no more than $150,000, or $300,000 if you would be willing to allow me to take on 2 houses as a time.
Return to you: You would get 90% of the net profit of each deal. Net profit consists of Selling price – (purchase price (including all fees) + appraisal cost + fix-up costs). Estimated profit per house: $30,000 to $50,000. This would all be done through an LLC that you would have 90% ownership in. I would use 10% as operating costs as well as salary.
Risk to you: None. With having put only 60% of the value into the property, the market can’t possibly fluctuate enough within 2 months to not be able to sell for at least that much. The biggest fluctuation of the market, even at the worst of times, was maybe 1-2% per month. With at least 40% equity, the worst possible case scenario is that you get your money back within 6 months (it would take no longer than that to sell at such a low price).
What’s in it for me: I get the option of buying 1 house per year at cost with a 90 day same-as-cash option.
Comment by Keith -
Greetings there.
am a uganda fisheries graduate looking for ways of starting my own fish farm. can someone help me catch the right truck to the resources am looking for to start my own fish project. i managed to buy the piece of the wetland which is about 113 hectares in the east of the capital kampala. am looking for support for that kind of project to be put in to consideration.am looking forward to hearing from you/
God bless you.
Comment by ken -
This is my business plan for the WISP, Velocity TechNet. Thanks for your consideration Mark and I’m amazed that you are taking a proactive approach to helping with the financial crisis.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgbst47n_11c7bnxrv7
From MC> Dont see how you could do this profitably in 90 days. There is a need for rural ISPs, but its an area that is already attracting a lot of attention and competition. Plus 200 bucks startup is going to be expensive for too many people.Keep the ideas coming
Comment by James Stevens -
Thank you for the opportunity!
http://www.slideshare.net/dchena/buy-my-tee-for-mark
Doug
From MC> There are already a lot of companies that do this well
Comment by Doug -
Pingback: I Take Issue with Mark Cuban’s Open Source Funding Plan - One Man’s Blog
Mark,
I’ve been reading your blog for quite a while. Never left a comment before. Decided now was the time.
First of all, let’s be clear about one thing. I don’t want your money. Won’t take it if you offer it just on principle of being entirely candid. Now that that’s out of the way.
I’m not sure I understand your impetus for putting this “offer” out there? Trying to figure out if it is a publicity stunt, a VC pitch in disguise, an “off the top of your head” idea, or what? But I fail to see how asking all of these people to pitch an idea in the open and asking them to “open source” the project adds value?
You are asking people, in essence, to forego first mover advantage on any sort of good idea. You are asking them to forego the ability to get patent protection, copyright, or any other sort of valuable intellectual property. This will only serve to weaken fledgling businesses – not help them get launched.
In addition to that, you’ve placed restrictions on cash flow and profitability that will have the exact opposite effect on employment as you purport to be seeking. Anyone looking to hire employees can barely get them up to speed in 60 days much less have the business break even. This means you are pretty much limiting the opportunities to one man shows in fields that have extremely low barriers to entry.
I would suggest that if you wish you really help fund businesses and put people to work you should change your parameters.
– Allow 6 months to reach break even, 9 to turn a profit.
– Ensure that the plan requires the business to actually hire a minimum number of employees (like 3-4).
– Remove the restriction on generating “any” ad revenue in lieu of ad revenue being only a secondary source (if a business can be profitable without ads, why not allow ads as a bonus?)
– Ease up on the cash flow and banking restrictions. You can’t tell people that you won’t be available, but that you have to approve of monetary decisions. You’ll stifle the business.
– And for God’s sake, don’t require them to publish the entire plan in the open and encourage stealing of the idea!
I know that you said that you are “trying not to be a VC”, but frankly these “terms” are worse than any VC terms I’ve ever seen. They are unrealistic when it comes to creating real employment, they are more restrictive than necessary, and they just aren’t going to work.
How about doing something completely different? Why don’t you buy a small building which can be partitioned into “open source office space” and give small businesses a free place to actually get together, work and share ideas. Augment this by inviting successful business people to come in and help with brainstorming sessions, etc. And perhaps organize a group of Angel investors to listen to real business plans. (I’d help, and even consider Angel investing if you did this.)
In short, I’m a fan of the Open Source model. But I think the way you’ve gone about open sourcing this particular concept is a bit off.
Cheers, and good luck!
John P.
From MC> if you have a better approach, dont let me stop you from doing this yourself
Comment by John Pozadzides -
http://sassyfitbusinessplan.blogspot.com/
Comment by Kelly Singer -
Mark:
RASA Foods Inc. is a wholesale frozen food service company that I founded in December of 2008 with the purpose of leveraging a unique tropical fusion concept by branding and marketing it to the retail frozen food market.
In the first three months of inception, I was able to build a foundation of over 75 retail outlets carrying RASA’s products across California and Nevada. This includes the flagship accounts, Whole Foods and Costco Wholesale. Total orders in the first 90 days exceeded $112k on production costs of $90k. Gross margin exceeded 22% on the opening orders for Costco and Whole Foods.
In order to fund manufacturing AGAINST firm, written PO’s, I need $500k to one million to support the growth of this wholesale food business. Thanks to a family co-signer, I was able to get a $100k line of credit with IDB of NY., but that won’t cut it to produce product in volume and ramp the business AND create jobs and new opportunities to stimulate the economy in the short term.
I am in product development with over 20 new products that will come online in the next 90 days. I can go out and sell them and get firm PO’s but I can’t produce product and fund the business on $100k. Can you help me?
RL
Comment by RL -
Mark, I’m really high on your idea. Now for mine. Millions of Americans were beaten up by high gasoline and stock market declines so I have designed a plan to profit together between you and I but also to help thousands of average familes invest with us in a new oil company!
I know people here in Oklahoma that work in the oil industry and own oil companies of varied sizes. But the problem with their companies are most all suffer from a giant bloated load of debt which ruin profits and they have to resort to risk hedging to gamble their way to profits. However these chickens are coming home to roost and many oil companies like Semgroup will be forced to sell some lucrative assets such as pipelines and storage facilities. I think oil transport and storage is an infallible venture when financed correctly with low debt structure. I propose we microfund an entire network of pipelines and storage facilities with kitchen table investors. I like small investors because they need the help more than the fat cats who caused all the problems on Wall Street……no offense…this stuff has been going on long before we were born and small investors were always left out.
I predict by mid summer several major oil companies will sell major assets at discount to offset debt. I would like you to consider buying pipelines and oil/gasoline storage facilities here with me in the near future “on the cheap” and resell by leasing in 5′ increments to regular “joe and jane investor” for a period of 3 years. But here’s the best part…we would get your money back in 60 days and be profitable on the first barrel of oil or cubic foot of gas!
The average cost to build a pipeline is known to be $1million per mile which equates to $190 per foot. We could buy them cheaper second hand but let’s keep the $1mil figure for this example. I propose we appeal to the average investor who has lost thousands of bucks in their 401K by offering a piece of the action of our transporting oil and natural gas for them on their behalf! Here’s how it works; we divide the pipeline into 5′ units and lease away the cost of the entire acquisition! A 5′ section of pipeline will be leased to investors for a refundable $1000 contract entry price then you and I get a fee to transport petroleum or gas products from producers which we share with our lease owners on an override basis after costs are paid to operate the pipeline, tanks etc.
Benefits:
1. Average investors can afford to be a percentage owner of a pipeline and finally play with the big dogs.
2. Investors can keep or sell their interest along with the $1000 refundable contract fee as a security much like a maturing bond.
3. You and I own the facilities and pipelines on day one.
4. We lease the pipeline and recoup our investment immediately.
5. We operate the pipeline for profit…keeping most and giving overrides to the lease holders.
6. By having low to zero debt we can offer unmatched affordable pricing structure to producers thereby securing deep market penetration and extending breadth.
7. With zero debt we operate the pipeline and storage facilities and accumulate retained earnings to offset buying off expired leases.
8. After 3 years we give the lease owners their $1000 back when their leases expire and you and I own everything either to keep or sell so either of us can exit.
Proformas and financials can be mutually developed between us but for now this is a nutshell idea I came up with after paying almost $4.00 gasoline last summer. I thought somehow average people should be able to recoup more than the cost of their gasoline by having a tangible investment in the energy sector. I didn’t know how to start until I heard about your stimulus plan so it’s a hell of a bargain that I would like to partner with you.
K. Steven Adib
Comment by Kaveh Adib -
INDOOOR INFLATABLE FUN CENTER
The plan is to start an inflatable indoor party center. This will provide fun and enjoyment to groups of all ages. The high demand for party venues in my area has consumers paying $300.00 for two hours at regular exercise gym with small playrooms.
We would provide the food at an extra cost. Other services would include set up and clean up so that party goers can enjoy themselves. The business will cater to toddlers, teens and young adults. Active fun is good and helps everyone take their mind off the hardship of this economy.
TARGET MARKET
Toddlers, teens and young adults who needs to have birthday parties, pre-schools that need to give their students a special day out.
Various other group events.
Women with children who are planning a party or other fun packed events.
MAIN COMPETITORS
Chuck E Cheese
Athletic gyms with playrooms
PRICES
$250.00 for a two hour party for 20 guest, each additional guest $10.00.
Food at an extra cost. 50% deposit for reservation which is non-refundable.
Pre-school Events – $5.00 per child
START UP COST
Inflatable items – $3000.00
Lease 1st month plus deposit – $4000.00
Business Licenses and Permits – $1000.00
Insurance for the first three months $1500
Decorative Wall Paint – $1500
Utility Installations and Setup – 450.00
ESTIMATED REVENUE
Main operating days are Friday, Saturday and Sundays – Estimated 30 events for those three days.
Other events such as pre-school outings, during the week by appointment. At least an extra 10 events. Catering charges and other extras not included in the estimate below.
Sales estimated on the low end with only 30 events = $7500
MONTHLY COSTS
a. Marketing – $250.00
b. Lease – $2000.00
c. Mr. Cuban’s Interest = 5% of the Monthly Sales (negotiable) = $375.00
d. Party Attendant – $1120
e. Utilities – $500.00
f. Insurance – $500.00
Total = $4745.00
ABOUT THE OWNER
I have been in retail business for over 3 years now and I have discovered that providing a service with low overhead, minimum staff and low startup and operating cost is the way to go. I am very competitive and do not like to fail at anything, if given this opportunity I will eat, breathe, sleep and dream this business. I have a Bachelor of Science with two minor Business and IT. I use this education to create my own flyers, marketing brochure and also my website. I have experience in using QuickBooks so I do my own accounting.
Comment by S.B. -
Hi Mark
Existing web app, existing customers…
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg547sdq_31cj5thght
From MC> I would need to see more details
Comment by MJA -
My biz would combine my love of bicycles and fitness, my overwhelming desire to free people from oil, and manufacturing with the goal of employing unemployed. Electric bikes, electric generators fueled by propane and other clean fuels would be the products we assemble, educate the locals on their green alternatives.
Basically the start up would be a small retail space that would be a peoples bike shop. Teaching cycling safety and ebike use would be how the biz would start. With the profits the biz would morph into making green cities that support themselves with there hard work.
Comment by Roger Coles -
CO OP SHOP . COM
Cooperative shopping website that buys in bulk and passes on the low cost.
Helps group people in the same local together to purchase like items at wholesale discount. Mostly electronics like flatscreen tvs, laptops, ipods that have an extreme mark up.
Cuts out the middleman , saves money, and gives people a community feeling.
50-50
1-2 programmers needed.
Comment by Brian -
Mark,
Basicly my idea is to cut the costs of small businesses by integrating cloud hosted applications and services together for Website,Database,email, office and productivity applications. Included in this integration package for the small business would be oncall knowledgable experts available 24 hrs a day. To cut the cost of each business we would pool all the expert resources to utilize them across many small businesses which need support on a part time basis. Employing people to manage these functions would be cost prohibitive. We would go into each small business and do an IT audit and determine how much money could be saved by moving their IT infrastructure to low cost hardware and cloud hosted services. The company would make money taking a percentage of the costs that we save the customer. We would also provide annual support through a monthly fee that the small business would pay to have access to 24 hr emergency support for email, database applications and hardware and even voip phone systems. This would save small businesses a large percentage of money and allow them to focus on their core strengths knowing that their software and hardware will just work and is monitored and supported for pennies on the dollar and allow these companies to compete with corporations many times their size. The key is to integrate everything in their office together seemlessly and free them from high cost hardware and software and utilize low cost cloud hosted services.
This could refined quickly with only a few people and pitching this to small business as a cost savings would allow a quick route to customers.
Comment by Andy -
Cube
Many days have passed (2002) since you and I talked about HD TV and HDNET in the locker room at Premier HC. For the last two years I have been working 365 non stop, with out pay on getting the bugs out of our software / OS platform,,,,(I love what I do, no complaints here)…..Introduced our OS platform last week to Texas Public School Superintendents with a tremendous response…….www.c-comsolutions.com…….did a demo today with a 4A school district locally, tomorrow with a 2A district in NE Texas, have a request for a demo for a big 5A in West Texas in two weeks, doing a demo next week for a college and a university with four satellite campuses………..business plan is simple yet direct in Licensing and Sub-licensing for sales distributors and sales dealers, putting out of work folks into a opportunity of owning their own business for as little as $5K, selling something that their school and community needs. Flat org., Five owners, will be Four, (One is grandmother who wants to be a Grandmother), all of us live, breath and eat what we do….operate out of my house currently…….current plan is in a 12 month time frame of being fully funded of $5MM, to return net $1.5 to 2MM……….in the next 12 months with out any additional funding to have net $7MM, and year three net over $21MM, at this time we will have blown the market away with http://www.mobile-marketingsolutions.com and a non-profit “The HUB”, a bricks to mortar elearning surpassing Mobile Web 2.0 and being a mainstream 3.0, for helping kids capture real people skills and working skills while getting HS credits and not being a potential drop out…The Hub Internship Program will provide Students,
Participants with an exciting opportunity to build a Bricks-and-Clicks real business from scratch (A to Z) and published on YouTube, Facebook, MySpace … to enable over 1,000,000 Students, Participants to be part of The Hub. Its’ Retail – Expo
Center includes Webcams, Cisco Systems – WebEx Technologies for collaborating on products, marketing research … In addition to hands-on Text Message / Mobile Web Marketing Campaigns income-earning opportunities combined with learning real-world business skills to help jump-start our American Economy. The Hub Internship Program Students, Participants, Guests, Customers can also stop-by to enjoy its entertainment venues, food pavilion, retail and service businesses small-footprints geared for social networking and fun-learning.
The WIKINOMICS Think Tank of successful Entrepreneurs, Educators … fueling The Hub key-deliverables are: 1) Provide business-skills training, eLearning opportunities for over 5,000 Students, Participants per month within 180 days after Go-live. 2) Develop best practices to reduce the High School Dropout Rate in
North Texas by over 15% within 24 months. 3) Publish a Free “The Hub: Best Practices” and “The Hub: A-Z Video Library” for others to build upon for enriching education across America……..yu’ll see more in depth in our BP if you like……….we would take this into every NBA city, giving every NBA owner a chance to be part of this “The HUB” and then taking it to the CBA cities, and world wide with FIFA….we would have the perfect trifecta Sports/Technology/Food world wide………on board is http://www.vsag.com….contact is Dan Simon….Dan loves the idea and is taking our idea’s and Mobile Marketing Solutions to his clientele………..Martin Woodall would love this project……….more to talk about if you would like…………by the way a great project for your kids to be involved with…………we are a woman owned company…….Talk to you soon.
Comment by Mid Court Billy -
info@resumemycareer.com, justinmelia@gmail.com
http://www.resumemycareer.com (double word-play on resuming one’s career, and “resumes” which list peoples professional work experience)
WHY: Millions of Americans are unemployed, “underemployed”, or looking for new opportunities. These numbers will inevitably increase until the economic scope of our country changes. This is a tangible service that nearly everyone in America (and MILLIONS globally) could use – either they are seeking employment or want to position themselves for the future or new opportunities. Many individuals are unemployed for the FIRST time in years and are seeking advice and help in their job development. Here we can establish a profitable company with LITTLE overhead which helps those in need and also can provide NUMEROUS jobs as well. As demand increases, so can the workforce for the company. Demand is at an ALL-TIME high for resumes and related job services. These millions of people will need to be reintegrated into the work force and there resumes and other similar services will be crucial in obtaining employment. In the short term, those subscribing to the site and its products and services will be at an advantage to their peers, which is extremely important in a time when available jobs are scarce.
WHAT:
http://WWW.RESUMEMYCAREER.COM
– Providing resume, cover letters, interview & job searching techniques/tips. Customized creation or templates for self-creation/guidance.
-Center for employers and prospective employees to network via job databases etc for those looking for talent
-Entrepeneurial coaching etc.
PRACTICALITY:
I have embarked on this privately through grassroots advertising (craiglist etc) and have been successful. The demand now can be levied into substantial, yet reasonable, profits for the company. Aside from the creation of the site (I just bought the domain recently), there is little overhead expenses. My experience in writing resumes/cover letters etc has yielded me handsome profits for little time committments, and the demand now is higher than ever. Hiring likeminded individuals with proven HR experience and literary backgrounds shoudl not be difficult given the fact that there is a job pool, consisting of millions of people to choose from.
I am confident that with adequate funds, this site can be very successful.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my idea with you. Any feedback would be much appreciated!
-Justin
info@resumemycareer.com
justinmelia@gmail.com
Comment by Justin -
Oh forgot to add for legal reasons…the drink machine would do a breathilizer test before dispensing alchohol.
Comment by PR -
I dont think this idea would really break even in 90 days because it would take significant r & d to make a mixed drink machine. It seems like a lot of lost revenue for packed bars when the owner can only hire two bartenders and there is a line of angry clientele waiting for a drink. I know this is crazy but why not do a self service drink machine kind of like the ones at the local Tom Thumb. The customers could mix any drink of their choice and waaa laa the drink is made. Of course there would not be that special touch of a bartender that hooks you up with extra alcholic content but just thought it would help drive up revenue in a bar during the recession. However the drink machine itself make cost millions and that is why i prefaced it by saying it probably wont break even in 90 days. What do you think?
Comment by PR -
Business Model: Co-Op Consultancy
Short Pitch: The financial/economic crisis has everyone re-assessing globalization. Particularly, people are reconsidering where their food comes from. The mainstream media has picked up on this shift. Entrepreneurs skilled in business development can capitalize on this trend by applying models developed in the “local food” movement (think farmers’ markets, etc.). I’m a lawyer in California. Float me one month’s overhead for me and a half-dozen greenies to establish community dinner events, produce co-ops, and the like. Then we go viral, hitting farmers markets across the country: “do one, teach one.” There are 100 different little models, but the people who know how to produce them HATE paperwork and don’t know how to set up a business. Lawyers know paperwork, but can’t cook and don’t know the eco scene. Bridge the gap, make it legit, and take your cut. Underwrite a farmers market. Fund a community dinner event. Finance a farmer redirecting his crops to local buyers. All of this is legitimate business, all of it generates local tax revenue. We will recruit an army of lawyers and CPAs across the country to “unwind” or “deleverage” the globalization of our domestic agricultural sector.
Investors will make money just like any other event promoter: a cut of revenue per event. You’re paying a one-time fee to establish a revenue stream based on a new model of food distribution. Empower local business people to take the produce section out of conglomerated supermarkets.
Why it will work: Someone needs to bridge the gap between food activists and the legitimate business community. Go to any farmers market and you’ll find the most loyal clientele this side of the drug trade. They don’t compete on price, and they’re not brand loyal: these customers can be had. But, people who work in the dirt don’t work in the office. You’ve got surplus supply in the white collar labor market. Bridge the gap, get people to commit to 6 or 12 month local programs that are easily scalable to the task, and you’re cash-flow positive after your first farmers market, produce distribution, community/organic/granola dinner event.
Interesting possibilities with social networking, etc. also.
What do we need: One month’s burn for your average business affairs associate to handle all the llc registrations, operating agreement drafting, etc. ($7-10k), a numbers person for all the banking and auditing ($4-5K), 2-3 farmer/food activist types ($2k or 150% of their current unemployment check), IT budget (iphones and macbooks, of course).
What do we do: Develop a cookie-cutter plan to blitz any farmers market in the country, find the ringleader, and set up 10-20 new businesses, all initially underwritten by Cuban, Inc.
You’re basically funding a business affairs outsourcing scheme for the local food movement.
This is the bar napkin pitch. I’m sure you want to see numbers and projections. Ask and you shall receive.
Comment by Andrew P -
Hello,
So here are a few biz plan ideas:
Business idea #1 (currently up and running)
There is a very famous cleansing diet which you can buy the book at any book store and/or whole foods market that tells you to buy the ingredients, make it yourself, follow the protocol and reap the benefits from it. E.G.(purified blood, kidneys, liver etc) Problem with this is people are very lazy to make it and end up not experiencing the benefits, not to mention the savings from going out to eat or getting your coffee in the morning as this is considerate a juice fast.
My business actually creates this product and sells by direct marketing as of now. This business creates repeat customers as the product is to be used 1 or 2 times a year. The goal is to have distribution centers across the nation to keep shipping costs to a minimum and to reach the majority of the American market as i only make this from CA. This type of product would benefit the health and pockets of the American people.
The profit margin on this product is very high considering what goes in it and especially the suppliers of where i buy at a great price from.
Business plan #2 (have a professional business plan created)
This is a mobile go-kart racing/concession enterprise. The idea is to secure a nice sized parking lot/warehouse/commercial building and throw an event. With businesses closing down there are plenty of the types of facilities available on a nationwide level.
The idea here is to have multiple events going on at the same time in different parts of the city/county/state. A website would be built with a calender announcing the next up and coming event with a theme in mind to keep it interesting. E.G.(concert, charity event with BIG sponsorship, etc)
This company once it reaches profitibility and has a tight business system in play, can find and sponsor potential racing talent and possibly create a Race team with major sponsors.
I consider myself a visionary and can create a business opportunity in almost any field of course with the help of generous loose cash! 🙂
Let me know!
Regards
Comment by Brian Cerroni -
Buying single- and multi-family real estate that is distressed or in the foreclosure process, and turning them into rental/income property. Profitability in 60/90 days? Check. Try a month to cash-flow positive. Meets all your other requirements too.
Macro trends are favorable. Stricter lending standards, etc. mean more people will rent rather than buy. My market is one of the few in the country that hasn’t seen real estate prices crater over the last couple years, but there are still huge bargains.
I’ve read every book on the subject and scrupiously scoped out properties in my market (both listed and at auctions) for the last 9 months. I know this inside and out, and I’m a serious, credentialed person that you would hire and give substantial responsibility. Bought my house with cash at a foeclosure auction at 60 cents on the dollar, so I’ve put my money where my mouth is. Plenty of other opportunities are just waiting to be purchased, but I’m cash poor (I could buy a couple quads, or a small apartment complex, but not enough to generate enough income to do it full time yet). I’ll continue on that path, but I believe that the time is ripe this year. Banks have their nuts sucked up in their stomach when it comes to income properties, and lots of RE investors have need to cash out at favorable prices. A measly million from an angel investor could go a long, long ways.
Comment by Dan -
I AM VERY INTERESTED IN BUYING HOUSES AT A DISCOUNTED RATE AND FIX THEM UP FOR BIG PROFITS. AS YOU MAY KNOW REALESTATE IS THE NUMBER ONE BUSINESS IN THE WORLD. THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD ARE IN REALESTATE. I KNOW HOW MR MARK CUBAN MADE HIS FORTUNE AND I ADMIRE HIM FOR THAT. I WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE A HOUSE WELL BELOW MARKET VALUE TO RESALE FOR GREAT PROFITS. THIS WILL PROVIDE JOBS AND HOUSING THATS AFFORDABLE. BANKS CANT HANDLE THE UPKEEP ON THESES HOUSES. THATS WERE WE COME IN.
Comment by BILLY TURNER -
Mr. Cuban,
This little business venture may not be exactly 100% what you are looking for, but here it goes.
Myself and my roommate, Brad live in College Station, attend Texas A&M University, and are devout Aggie fans, we are originally from Dallas. Coming from Dallas and moving to a town like College Station, that is much smaller and certainly much more isolated, Brad and I miss many of the luxuries of bigger cities, including several of the restaraunts and businesses in Dallas(such as Braums).
Brad and I have a simple, but large business venture that we know would make money and turn a quick and substantial profit in College Station. Rather than starting our own business, Brad and I would like to franchise a Dave and Busters in College Station or Bryan. An establishment like Dave and Busters would have the market cornered down here. There is one arcade in town, and it leaves much to be desired. There are two or three sports bars down here, but for the most part they are populated by people in their late 50s and older. Also, there are not too many establishments down here in which families as a whole can spend time together. For the most part restaraunts, the arcade, and frankly the bars are geared towards the 65,000 college students in town, largely ignoring the vast amount of kids in elementary school through high school and their respective families.
In essence, what Brad and I propose is for you to help us franchise a Dave and Busters in either Bryan or College Station. Because we are both college students, neither one of us could possibly do this on our own or together, so we would need outside help. Building a Dave and Busters down here would certainly create a quick profit. Because, like I mentioned the market would be in essence cornered in terms of family establishments, arcades, and sports bars, people from miles around would flock to eat, play, and meet at Dave and Busters(the next closest is at least an hour and fifteen minutes away in Houston). If you then factor in the start of baseball season, or possibly football season if this is actually built later this year, Dave and Busters would see even more business down here with people coming to see sports games of all types. Also, a place like this would create at least 60-70 jobs in town, something that like every town across the country needs. Like your requirements stated, every person would need to work to keep the business running.
In terms of your potential profit, if you were to support this idea, you could take a large percentage of the profits, and the greatest thing is that because this establishment would certainly be around for a long while, you would continue generating income for years to come.
I hope this interests you in some way, if you have any questions or would like more details, please email me.
Thank you,
John Ringhauser
Comment by John Ringhauser -
Mark, I’m not one to usually respond to offers such as yours…but this one got my attention for some reason. Money is what is needed to get the startup company that I represent out of the ‘valley of technology’ death. I’ve made my pitch to government bureacrats (Interior-Reclamation in Denver) and Colorado Senator Wayne Allard’s staff in DC. They agree that it has merit but they aren’t technically adept….so I persist. The company is Ocean Motion International llc. (OMI), the technology is Wave Energy Conversion System which OMI has a patented seawater wave pump that drives its Combined Energy System (CES). The products are RO filtered drinking water, electricity and hydrogen. The OMI CES is utility system that is designed for coastal communities that uses no external power or fuel and operates from an offshore platform, barge or pier.
The technology “valley of death” is where this startup is with a couple million of the proprietor’s personal funds invested to build a working model wavepump that has been tested at Oregon State’s Hindsdale Wave Lab and some promotional material like the website <>. They’ve done this without any sponsorship that would have the resources to take it to the prototype / demonstration scale project. They need 6-8 million for this next step and several potential opportunities have run aground because of the substantial costs. Right now, they are discussing a project for a south pacific island that is in desparate need of water and power (great op to initiate a hydrogen fueled community) and again, its money that the VC group is deliberating on. If you can imagine, the ROI is phenominal (investment payback w/i 5 years w/ water alone) and I consider the technical risks low. More info is on the website which I cobbled together as a pro-bono endeavor (no money for a real webmaster). This doesn’t fit a couple of the criterion (namely the timelines set for tracking performance) but the OMI CES is innovative, revolutionary and fills a desperate need. My strongest interest is with southern CA where they are being driven to conventional desalination (enormously expensive) because of no other options. If this makes any sense or strikes your interest, pls let me know. Thankyou for your time to read this. gary
Comment by Gary Schuetz -
Hi Mark,
Great idea. My idea is this… To make a documentary of this process! I am a documentary filmmaker and I think this idea with your involvement would make a truly fascinating doc. Getting into the lives of the people you’re touching and finding the American Dream in the midst of these tough times is truly innovative and inspiring. You’re helping people keep faith in themselves and their dreams and that should be shouted from the highest mountain or at least HDNet!! I’m inspired at this idea of you investing in the lives of these people and I think people would find that compelling.
I say we pick a number of these people and follow their ideas and show the American Dream at work. The good, the bad and the ugly. Some will succeed and some will fail and we’ll find encouragement in the process. I think this idea kicks ass. Heck I’m fired up just thinking about all the different ideas and the different people that this process will touch.
I hope you find merit in this idea. I realize that it is a little outside of the included rules but that should not preclude this idea. This documentary will inspire more than just the readers of this blog. This project and the people who’s stories are told could be a great symbol of hope in a time of angst.
Peace,
Bryan
Comment by Bryan Edwards -
MC,
I started my company just over a year ago. We specialize in assembling properties. We have found a neighborhood that is dated and due for new development. Most of the homes we assemble are built from early 1940’s to late 1950’s. We assemble as many homes in a single block as possible. We go door to door and meet with each home owner personally, once they agree to let us represent them we move on to the next home. The goal is to get as many consecutive home owners in a city block to sell at the same time. By having numerous lots assembled in close proximity we feel that a developer or home builder would be more likely to envision a more profitable development.
In 2008, we successfully assembled over 100 homes divided by only four blocks. With home prices going for less than 150K, we were on our way to success with great attention from many home builders looking for lots. However, with the current real estate crisis the homebuilders are unable to go through with the project because they are unable to unload their overpriced inventory. Our main purpose is to create value by offering bulk properties to a developer; an added value is the location. The neighborhood we have assembled is tucked away near Highland Park.
Since we have already built strong relationships with the people in the community, our goal is to move forward with the development. We feel the ultimate stimulus begins with the low income homeowner. By purchasing their property at a fair price they are able purchase some of the homes in the market. Your capital will mainly be used to get motivated young homebuilders building again. Instead of these homebuilders going to the bank for a loan, they will use your capital to purchase the assembled blocks, but only by leveraging their unsold properties at a substantial discount. This will allow for a relatively quick return on investment. My company gets a small percentage of the sale price as our fee for assembling the properties.
In summary:
We assemble properties (in one city block.)
Home builders use your capital for purchase.
To qualify they must leverage unsold properties for a discount.
Homebuilders create a new development.
Stimulus:
Low income families get an opportunity to purchase a better home.
Homebuilders can remove unsold properties from their books.
New construction can begin, creating new jobs and opportunity.
My company creates a new and valuable service.
Your Profit:
The acquisition of the leveraged property at a discount, will be sold for a return of investment and potential profit.
Thank you. For more on Me and my company please visit my website.
Comment by Jr -
Dear Mark Cuban.
A Real Time stock pick website would be very profitable. Every day I would make bull and bear picks of stocks on the Nasdaq, Dow and TSE. The website would consist of a chat blog and charts of the major indices.
For a monthly fee members will get access to these stock picks. A free 3 week trial would be given to entice clients on the fence.
This would take some networking and proof I am a successful trader, which I have been. I can show my trades in Real time.
I have been stock trading for 10 years. When I am trading daily I am a consistent winner. I have twice doubled my account.
I have made 35% profit in my account in the last 4 months of daytrading by following the charts and following the rules.
Preserving my capital is very important and having a stop loss strategy in place.
Some of the best stock guru’s out there do not make 10% for their clients in a year. Some of these people won’t even show their client’s account and transactions. I will show all trades to you.
What would I need?
Three monitors I would be using when I am watchin 60 min/ 30 min/ and 10 min charts of the indices and the different stocks. I do not want anything extravagant no thrills. I am here to make money in the markets and reinvest the gains. Not waste profits on frivolous expenditures.
I need nothing but a chance and opportunity to make you money. No huge start up fees or advertising.
I look at over 200 charts a day to find certain successful patterns in these charts. The stock markets are my Passion so it’s not work to me.
One of the best trades I made was buying PDL- North American Palladium at 1.20 on the TSE. It has already doubled. PDL is a small cap trade but I prefer trading the DOW where there is more liquidity and volume.
I need nothing, but a chance to make you money. No Overhead costs. No huge start up fees. “I am dedicated to making significant gains.”
Mark Farwell
Comment by Mark Farwell -
Pingback: Hello Again… Introducing Mark Cuban Business Funding Opportunity « Ballin in Japan
Mark Cuban
First off, love what you do!! keep helping our mavericks rise to the top!!!
i have a great idea for a business. This is would require a call center to open up, so this is exactly what your looking for. Many jobs will be created with this.
my idea is to create a credit reporting agency that works for the people and not the companies. Because they work for these companies we the people are not in there best interest.
Identity theft is the new big crime in this new day of age, and there is not much being done to help the people.I believe that there can be a better system. Not only would this help create jobs, it will help the economy in another way, Preventing identity theft. As of 2006 a value of 56.6 billion is in result to identity theft. I believe that a credit reporting agency that works for the people could help cut this number way down.
I myself have been a victim of identity theft, and it is horrible!! these companies do not care one bit, everything is automated and speaking to a person is impossible. i believe that by charging a very low price Americans would not hesitate to use my service. I could offer them a website for instant updates on any purchases they have made, credit cards applied for etc… So that the customer has some control over what is being said about there credit. More so i would have Specialist on the phones waiting to answer any questions or give any updates to there credit score. there is much more to this idea, but it is all just to much to write. I’m guessing if you really are interested you’ll email me. Help me help the country. Lets cut down crime, lower the millions lost in identity theft, and give the people some control over what is being said about there spending habits!!!! Thank you!!!
Roland
i know that if i were to charge a very low rate the number of customers would be massive. Even better would be push
Comment by Rolando Trejo -
and another thing……….I am certian that your investors did not hold you to the same standards. What a shame that you forgot where you came from. You are a sorry excuse for a human being…. I feel sorry for you.
Comment by Bill -
Hi Mark –
Awesome idea.
Our entry: Online Golf Lessons
Read more about it here: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ackqb8gcs68r_5xpjqj8cj
– Mike
Comment by Mike -
Mark,
I am a 22 year old college student, a HUGE Mavs fan and I live here in Texas. I’m not going to lie, I don’t have a wonderful idea yet to start a company. Of course, other than starting a sports bar/restaurant in town which I think would be very profitable. How about you give this poor college kid, whose in debt, a skinny 6 foot 6 white male a chance to work for you! Literally doing anything, whether it be interning for a genius billionaire like yourself or simply working for the Mavs in Dallas or even the towel boy! Please give me a shot, I always dream of my big break!
Comment by Michael Kelleher -
What an arrogant PRICK. Keep your stinking money. You must think you are God’s gift to the world. You are spoiled brat that got extremely lucky with an idea. You are not a cool as you think you are. money is not everything!
Comment by Bill -
Group of disabled veterans (veterans advocates) compromised of professionals from the field of marketing, graphic illustration, public relations, and promotion have come together to create Charlie Foxtrot Coffee. Our mission objective is to bring America together one cup at a time. While paying tribute to America’s warriors and continuing our mission to assist our cohorts who will returning home past, present and future. A percentage of sales from Charlie Foxtrot Coffee will benefit organizations who support the military, military family readiness groups, and veterans service organizations.
Trademark for the logo has been approved by the USPTO. Also, Charlie Foxtrot Group has an agreement with a preferred, and reputable roaster who provides and roast our special blend of coffee. The roaster has notable national accounts.
Business plan can be found at
http://www.slideshare.net/Charlie_Foxtrot/charliefoxtrotcoffee-oporder
ROI: 25%
Wounded Warrior Project: 5%
$20,000
a. revised website (armed forces veteran)
b. Advertising (on-line) Veterans Service and Armed Forces pubs
c. Product (on-line and direct sales)
http://www.charliefoxtrotcoffee.com
http://www.coffee4vets.com
http://www.charliefoxtrotgroup.com
http://www.welcomehomewarrior.org
BTW, Mark thank you for your leadership, patriotism, and support of those who answered America’s call to duty.
Hooah!
Al Burzynski
10th Mountain Division
Climb to Glory, Never Fail!
Comment by Al Burzynski -
MC: Amazing the timing on this concept! I’ll throw out this concept, embryonic as it is…no business plan yet, but just a concept. “Burger Mania” could be the new Howard Schultz-style concept, everything having to do with burgers, including branded gift items, all variations on burgers to go or cook at home, eat-in, take out, even developing a line of branded clothing! Burgers are fun, timeless, convenient comfort food, regardless of demographics. The concept pivots off that perception with fun, value-added, branded, extended product lines. The footprint would be national. It’s all about the quality, variety and convenience in an environment that caters to a community type destination and home-like setting, much like Starbks does. Thanks for the opportunity…I’m a “Mavs Nation” guy and appreciate your many contributions to a creative, passionate business culture in our area. Best regards. Bill Hoke
Comment by Hoke -
An open-source, socially-beneficial, for-profit medical device company
Here’s the problem:
The measurement of lung function is essential to the diagnosis and management of respiratory disease. However, current spirometers are not affordable for the majority of health care providers in many low and lower-middle income countries, and are not widely used despite a massive and increasing burden of chronic lung disease. A low cost alternative to current commercial products could radically improve the quality of care for the 300 million people worldwide who have chronic respiratory disease.
Here’s our solution:
Last month I started a project here in Madison, WI to develop an open-source, very low cost, and clinically-functional spirometer (http://openspirometry.org). A team of four undergraduate and two graduate engineering students have joined me and we are making great progress. Currently, with no outside help and no funding, we expect to have a basic field-testable prototype ready in 2-3 months. Our initial research suggests we can develop a spirometer that can be manufactured for approximately $60. Current commercial models cost between $600-$1500.
The business model:
There are tens of thousands of physicians in places like India who run small, private, fee-for-service clinics who want and need basic medical technology that is presently unaffordable. Having spent two years doing respiratory research in clinics in India, I can tell you that one physician after another complained about the very high cost of spirometers, if he or she could even get one at all.
These physicians realize that they could better treat their patients if they had spirometers (and that better outcomes would help them compete in the marketplace). But since there’s no way the physicians can ever recoup their investment, they don’t purchase one. Instead they fly blind, making important decisions about the diagnosis and treatment of asthma or smoking-related lung diseases without very basic, essential information.
We plan to manufacture our spirometer and sell it to physicians and non-profits in developing countries for a small but adequate profit, all for a fraction of the cost of current commercial models. We also expect to generate revenue through several paid services to accompany the technology, including: remote interpretations of measurements, and physician training in spirometry. With your investment, we would hire a full-time engineer to speed things along, and could deliver an initial market-ready model within 4-6 weeks of your initial funding. As a result, we can meet your timetables for profitability and cash flow.
Why it’s a smart stimulus:
The business will put to work a handful of promising young engineering students committed to sharpening their skills by building something that, while profitable, has direct social benefit. Moreover, it will demonstrate the value of open innovation in the medical device and healthcare sector; in particular, that there are valuable opportunities in addressing present inequities – where the market has failed to deliver necessary technology at a widely affordable price.
In addition, since this is an open-source project all of our development notes, drawings, background research, code, schematics, and everything else we generate is being shared online and can be picked up by others, improved, and carried on. Already we’ve received support and encouragement from around the world, but we intend to grow an online community for the project, and to interact with other interested designers, engineers, respiratory physicians, and scientists around the world to make this as strong a product and business as it can be.
It’s a challenging and exciting undertaking, and we’d seriously enjoy making you money by creating something that would improve the health of a lot of people around the world. Thanks for the opportunity to interest you.
Comment by David -
I read one good idea. Unfortunately, my strengths lie in selling other people’s ideas, not in developing my own. But I think that there’s an interesting take on this at http://youcanneverbehappy.wordpress.com/
Comment by Dibs -
The importing and add sub titles of visual novels/h-game.
1. Get the rights to sell the game in the usa
2. edit all Japaneses text to English, also add sub titles to cut scene.
3. sell online also at anime/game cons
Comment by Jeff -
Two words Chew College. Think about it. I’ll get back to you.
Comment by Steve Darnell -
Pingback: This man wants your Ideas! And your love! « You Can Never Be Happy…
I think this is a GREAT idea!!! I’m ready to send my dedication.
Comment by Crystal -
I have something you would want BUT, I cannot Publish it here. For Your Eyes Only. Then you can share after if you want. This is not a “Pitch Mark” idea but as others have said i dont want people stealing interlectual property. We have been working on this For 8 years. we’re former IBM scientist recently free of all non-compete obligation with IBM
send me your Private or A private email address,
Thanks,
Kerwin
Comment by Kerwin Rigaud -
I have a business plan to start a vineyard in Western Michigan, growing European Pinot Noir grapes. The growing conditions in that area are identical to the Burgandy region of France, where they grow the best Pinot Noir. Of course return on your money wouldn’t happen in 60 days, but the only thing holding me back is funding. Email me for the business plan.
Eric
Comment by Eric -
Jordan,
I think you are on to something with your simplified electronic shopping idea, and I have to disagree with Mark. 99% of us guys will research to no end for a new product but my mother in law wouldn’t know where to start. Even if she did, she would not gain anything by searching Google, or even Amazon, for “television.”
Imagine a store that didn’t carry an entire aisle of digital cameras that were essentially the same. Instead, they do the research and offered one or two options that will fit most people who just want a good, easy-to-use camera. Same applies to television, computer, etc. Saves headaches, confusion, possibly even buyer’s remorse for customer.
I think stores offer too many options and get too expansive to manage. Look what happened to Circuit City. Maybe staying small is the solution.
Good luck,
Robert
Comment by Robert -
Just thought interesting analogy for my Project Workshop idea – think of a gym with power tools instead of workout equipment, home experts instead of trainers.
Comment by Chris -
Idea Synopsis
* Chain of Euro-game retail carts throughout the nation
* Euro-games are also known as German-style board games or Designer board games
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German-style_board_game
Problems Being Solved
* Current retail channels are comic/game stores and the web
* Most comic/game stores represent a barrier-to-entry for families and casual gamers as they are often a bit counter-culture in terms of their patrons and typical locations
* These games are more easily taught than learned by purchasing and reading instructions
* These games are not yet part of Americana and passed down from generation to generation (I want to change that)
Conditions Favorable for Success
* In a down economy, board game sales increase as it is more economical for a family to spend $50 on a game they will enjoy multiple times versus a movie
* My personal experience of having everyone I introduce these games to subsequently go out and buy them
* The idea “makes meaning” (Guy Kawasaki – The Art of the Start) in that it encourages family activities (family fun, no batteries)
Where’s the stimulus?
* Retail cart manufactures will get large orders for their goods (our point-of-sale device)
* Game manufactures will also get large orders for their goods (our inventory)
* Radio stations and outdoor advertising vendors will get business (our advertising)
* Retail space landlords will get business (our rent)
* We will create jobs in communities to staff carts as well as likely some regional management jobs
Mark Cuban Specifics
* Recruit others to participate and own-their-zip-code (Open Source)
* Equity negotiated as reasonable percentage of all sales
* Increased margins by doing it “big” (nationwide versus 1 zip code)
Other
* Retail carts are a $10 billion dollar industry (http://www.cart-king.com/cart-articles)
* Retail carts are cheaper than other retail space
* Carts can easily be put into family friendly places like malls, local food court plazas, and hotel lobbies
* Leverage “European-appeal” of Americans
Comment by Tom -
At this time I have a published web site in operation, but still in final construction phase. The site is somewhat of a social networking place, but mainly provides a means to broadcast live via the Internet using the media software that I have developed. The software includes a stand alone media player, a Broadcaster Control Panel (encoder), and a streaming audio server. They work together similar to Microsoft, Winamp, RealPlayer, etc. Except: The design drastically reduces the amount of bandwidth usage. Therefore, making it more available to the average person to broadcast live via the Internet.
1. This is start up business
2. It does not need to generate revenue from advertisors, but could be a great platform for advertising. It generates revenue from the services provides. The cost of providing the service is substantially less than the cost of purchasing the service, which was basically the inital intent.
3. Getting the service is web based and has been completely automated. A customer can obtain the service within 5 minutes sitting in front of their computer. The service charge can range between $20 -$100 per month on a recurring basis.
4. The business can be profitable within 30 days.
5. The cost to provide the service to 1000 individual customers is $1000/month and the gross revenue would be $ 20,000/month.
6. This company could involve the following positions if it grew: Webmasters, MYSQL Database manager – PHP programmer, VB.NET programmer, Systems Admin, Code editor/ documentation manager, Customer and Technical services and Sales reps. At this time I am the one performing these jobs.
Basically, anyone can Host their own live talk show on the Internet for $ 20.00 per month to hundreds of concurrent listeners. It can also be used by schools to broadcast their sports. It includes listerner interaction tools like chatrooms, fast blast instant messages, discussion forums, live phone calls, etc.
Comment by Phil -
This would be part of an existng business. Funding would simply be used to expand and help this business grow faster.
We currently have a business importing RC Toys from China and selling them here in the U.S. With the economy the way it is, sales have slowed down we started to venture into other markets.
One we found that can be profitable right away, and have positive cash flow, is the cellphone accessories market. We already imported a trial run of products and have sold the products on eBay at break even or positive cash flow (depending on the product). We now have a pretty good grasp of what sells and what doesn’t.
We also currently have a couple companies locally who we have become a supplier for. We see potential in this part of the business and have started contacting more local businesses to see if we can beat their suppliers prices. So far we’ve been able to offer competitive prices, and we’re little fish in a big pond.
The advantage we have is that we have an experienced guy in the accessories market in China working for us. He gets us prices that not even the huge companies are getting, and we’re ordering very little quantities. Imagine the deals we can get if we can afford to purchase a few 40′ container worth of products. I think with funding we can quickly grow and be a big player in his industry.
I wasn’t going to post up my idea, but as I was reading your rules I found that this business actually follows your requirements pretty closely. Especially #7 with everyone in the company working and having a flat organization. We basically have a 3 man team and all contribute to the company evenly.
Oh and last but not least the equity/repayment. It’s negotiable but we prefer to retain equity and prefer a loan type of agreement. We’ll need anywhere from $50,000-$5,000,000. Whatever you’re comfortable with…We’ll make the most out of whatever amount you decide to loan.
Thanks Mark.
Comment by Andy -
Business: Project Workshop located near Lowes/Home Depot/etc.
There’s a fairly large building located in front of one of our local Lowes stores that’s been for sale for awhile. I always thought it would be a great idea to open what would essentially be a workshop-for-rent.
Unless you’re a hardcore woodworker/project guy, you probably don’t own more that the handtools that most homeowners have on hand for basic repairs. Or maybe you’re an apartment dweller with no room for more than a hammer and screwdriver.
So you want to take on a woodworking project. Buy your materials at Lowes and come across the street to your friendly Project Workshop. There will be a woodworking expert on hand and a fully furnished workshop with every tool you could possibly need – table saws, planers, drill presses, the works. You’ll have everything you need to complete your project.
Or if you need advice on what to buy to complete a home repair and how to proceed with the repair, the Project Workshop would also have experts to help you.
The experts would most likely be retirees with knowledge of woodworking and home repair. Or with plants shutting down left and right, there’s plenty of knowledgable maintenance people available, looking for extra income.
The employees of Lowes and Home Depot, while occasionly helpful, aren’t tasked with seeing the customers’ projects to completion. Their job is to sell products. The Project Workshop would fill a need – imagine all of your favorite magazines like This Old House coming to life in a place you could go to get hands-on advice and access to the tools you can’t afford.
In a down economy, people turn toward their homes. Instead of traveling and vacations, they take on home projects and improvements. And they try to save money by taking on the projects themselves, instead of hiring contractors.
The Project Workshop can charge by the project via a rental fee for use of the workshop, or by a subscription fee for those that take on a lot of projects.
One con would be liability insurance – that could be a potential problem, though I’m sure waivers would be involved.
Anyway, I thought this would be neat idea – just throwing it out there.
Comment by Chris -
Mr. Cuban,
As a fellow Hoosier I come to you with this proposal.
The company is an upscale clothing line targeted at males and females between the ages of 18 and 35. The clothing line will parallel with a campaign that will help fight global poverty amongst children (15% of profits will be donated to this charity). The company plans to strengthen its partnership with retailers by developing brand awareness through celebrities supporting the same cause. The company intends to market its line as an alternative to existing clothing lines, and differentiate itself by marketing strategies, exclusiveness, and high brand awareness.
The key message associated with the company line is exclusive, upscale clothing while also maintaining a charitable identity. The company’s promotional plan is diverse and includes a range of marketing strategies.
Comment by Danny -
Hey Mark,
I heard about what you were proposing and to be honest, I wasn’t sure what i thought about it. I mean, in one hand i have an opportunity to be funded by Mark Cuban. One of my ideas; one of my children, have the possibility to be birthed from my cranial uterus, seeded by the stable financial backing of Mark Cuban himself. In the other hand, I will be relinquishing one of the most powerful ideas ever to be conjured, manifested with such loving care and intelligent precision and that it makes Einstein’s theory of relativity look like Forest Gump’s outlook on life. A dangerous proposition when released onto the open market. But in the name of capitalism, here it goes. So, here is how this is going to go: Introduction (above), Idea, Profitability, Overall Impact, Close.
IDEA
Before we dive off this billion dollar precipice, I need to propose a question to you. What are the 5 things you need most in life? Like the old adage says, “great minds think alike,” so I am sure that our lists are quite similar. My list goes: Water, Food, Chicks, Fake Vintage T-Shirts and MC Hammer Pants. Now i know what you are thinking, “Oh my God, mass producing MC Hammer pants again! We will make millions!” Well, frankly, that’s true. Mass producing MC Hammer pants again would be worth millions. But why make millions; when you can make zillions? Three words, mark. One of them is hyphenated: Vintage T-shirts. But not just vintage T-shirts, but FAKE vintage T-shirts. And here is the kicker Mark, not just fake vintage t-shirts, but fake vintage t-shirts that depict fake band names and fake corporations. All the sudden these old bands that nobody gave a crap about became popular again through just wearing the T-shirts. Why? Because no one has ever heard of them. Do you know how much I can get for an old Enron shirt on a college campus? Around 30 cases of beer, or in normal people terms around one hundred billion dollars. Why not mass produce these with the look and feel of a real vintage t shirt, and simply sell them to simple minded simpletons from simpletown and make a killing?
PROFITABILITY:
The rules overhead stated “profitable in 90 days?” How is this for some math, Cube. Take 6 billion people on the planet. If everyone in the world bought 1 shirt (under estimate) for 10 dollars… I’m not a rocket surgeon but I think that equates to around 100 Gazillion dollars. Profit. You know what I would do with that kind of money? I would buy a diamond encrusted gremlin. And a satellite that turns people into chickens. And anytime someone tried to steal one of the diamonds off my gremlin? They would be turned into a chicken. Hell, the profitability from the resulting chicken farm alone would make it profitable within 30 days. In fact, Diamond Encrusted Gremlin at the Chicken Farm is our first fake band name T-shirt, Mark. Kids would go nuts.
OVERALL IMPACT:
Now, there are a few reasons to put together this entrepreneurial wet dream. One of them, of course, is profitability. But job creation and customer satisfaction are important variables as well. How many screen printers will we be putting to work to make the massive amount of garments we will be selling? How many teen-aged retail workers will be hailed as sales Gods because of how they fly off the shelves at the Dollar Store and Neiman Marcus.
The sheer amount of self esteem raised because off these shirts will cut down on drug use and underage alcoholism. What’s the point in partaking substance abuse to be cool when your shirt makes you as hip as a teen-aged Morgan Freeman. Let’s do the world a service Mark. Better yet, let’s just do the world. An interplanetary threesome Mark, just you, me and Mother Earth. The biggest MILF of them all.
CLOSE:
I know I just threw more stuff at you than a stuff throwing machine would throw if it was working overtime at a stuff throwing convention. But the idea remains relatively simple. There is a need for this. Vintage clothing stores are selling more dirty clothing for higher prices than ever. Vintage T-shirts are “cool”, “hip”, “vintage”, and “T-shirty.” Old corporations are so utterly trendy it would take six Iphones to make someone as equally trendy. Old bands are insanely popular right now, but not for their music. But only because nobody has ever heard of these people so they must be, “like so utterly awesome, and I like, totally want to show off that i know this band and other people don’t.” So here we stand, at the edge of an abyss of opportunity. A lot like Ed Harris in “The Abyss.” But at the bottom of this abyss there aren’t aliens that have an affinity for manipulating water, but are customers to have an affinity for vintage t shirts. So let’s get down there and diffuse this nuclear bomb that is their lives and show them what fake band name and corporation t-shirts are all about.
P.S. you will receive 15 percent of all profits. I also have partners in this business that create the hive mind of genius that originally thought of this idea. Zack B., DK., and Myself. Oh yeah, and me. I don’t know why Myself’s parents named him that, it gets confusing; but hes a really nice guy.
Comment by Blaine Smith -
Mark, you’re on. Thank-you very much for the opportunity. AGORACOM is generating 7 digit revenues and very healthy profits – all from providing small-cap public companies with online shareholder communities and search engine marketing. No stock promotions, just legitimate online marketing and communications.
Not 1 penny of revenue is derived from advertising. Over 250 public companies have used our service and we currently have approximately 65 companies under annual contract.
All we’re looking to do now is multiply our business model via more marketing (search, conferences, Biz TV ads). I am hell bent on building a business that provides clients with an unbelievable experience and ROI. I don’t think about exits. Just build a great business and the rest will take care of itself.
We’re launching a chinese small-cap community on Monday and will be in California for the week, so I hope it’s OK if we get the updated biz plan to you in 2 weeks?
Regards,
George
From MC> Post it here and I will read it
Comment by AGORACOM - George -
Mark –
I am an avid golfer who unfortunatly lives in the upper midwest where due to crappy weather I might get to golf half the year. My business would be to open a virual gold club using high quality golf simualtors. This company would be highly profitable during the cold winter months when all outdoor courses are closed and would hopefully cover expenses during the summer months through “rain day specials”. The initial start up would be around 150K for multiple simulators & securing a location inside of our projected market. For the initial start up cost you would recieve 25% equity in the company.
Comment by Charlie -
I’m not thinking brainiac, just thinking of useful, smart, downright good idea. Right now people are searching for ways to economize, save money and not really lose anything that they have. Can’t always have everything that you want, right? I believe that beginning with a small shop that only builds clothesline poles and sells them to retailers such as Tractor Supply, hardware stores or even WalMart (blech) would be a viable small business. It would not only support however many welders as it took to keep up with the request for supply, it would benefit the end user. We wouldn’t be using so much electricity by drying loads of clothes. In this time of trying to be “green” and being forced to watch ou money this is one way to save. Isn’t that the way it begins? One step at a time? I believe it would take a shop; or my garage, equipped with 2 welding machines, a cutting torch, drill press, 2 people adept at welding, one person out selling them to businesses and doubling as a backup in the shop. Starting small here, but isn’t that how most things begin? Minimal start up, enough front money to pay wages to unemployed welders, wage for salesman, overhead; i.e. materials to build poles, electricity, rods, misc. Wouldn’t take much to start and depending on whether or not we were able to get a retailer to pick up orders I believe we would still be able to sell to people by word of mouth. I have been thinking about this and I think it could be expanded to also selling the clothespins, the bags to hang on the line that hold the pins and not to mention the line and turnbuckles that are used to complete the clothesline. This could be a whole line. Right now I’m just thinking that it is a good idea to get the poles built and out there where people have the option of buying them. The average person does not have the ability to manufacture these but I am sure they would use them if they were available. I would want to be able to pay you back as quickly as possible, any income after wages are paid to the original three co-employees and overhead has been met would go directly back to you with a specific target date paying you back in full. Depending on demand and the opportunity to get into places like Tractor Supply, Feed Stores and other retailers and, hopefully, online, hopefully we would be able to add more welders and eventually build a shop to meet demand. After the purchase of at least one welding machine and the other shop items necessary the other start up cost would include the poles used. Poles, welding rods, labor, that is about it. Crazy huh? No internet genius here, just a hard worker who is out of work and trying to find a way to stay out of the poor house and support myself and others. Thank you for your time. Hope you have much success with this endeavor of yours. What a good idea. Good luck.
Comment by Cindy Usery -
Hey Mark, will there be a way to see what ideas you choose to invest in? I also believe it would be beneficial for other entrepreneurs to see the more specific questions you ask the businesses you choose to invest in. Thanks
Comment by Wayne -
i was thinking more along the lines of a fishery of sorts. With all types of fish being “grown” and sold to the open market producing food cutting back on the amount of fish we take out of the oceans lakes rivers and etc.
Comment by Pierre Dangerfield -
This bussiness proposal i got will defintely make you millions and its something thats orginal and no one has ever thought of. It also helps the needy. Not that much money is needed to start it off and it will make you and me Millions. Please contact me back for i can tell you all the details in Private. This is a bussiness oppurtunity of a lifetime
Thank You
ROBBIE PHILLIPS
Comment by Robbie Phillips -
Hello Mr. Cuban,
I admire and applaud you for your attempt to stimulate the economy. Maybe closing down Wall Street is the answer (smile). Anyways, after reading all the submitted ideas posted here on your site, I noticed that so many of them are either (1) nothing more than an attempt to make more profits for their own company, or (2) a copy / modification of an existing business, or (3) just a ridiculus, un-educated stab at a REAL problem, or (4) just using your site as a place to advertise. I also want to say that too many of the ideas do absolutely nothing towards stimulating the local economies…..and nothing about giving common people a real opportunity to perform work and get a paycheck. I really do not believe that Mark Cuban can help stimulate the millions of suffering Americans by “funding some kind of lame INTERNET business”!!! People need immediate finacial help…..and they are willing to work hard for that help. Giving funding to yet another “get rich quick” e-business provider is not the answer. How about funding a real business….that performs real work, and provides real jobs…..building real products!!!! Mark, I have a couple of ideas that are based on the good old-fashion mertits from the times of our parents. My ideas will help people in need, who are healthy and willing to work, find their own way out of this MESS using hard work and their own abilities. My ideas are simple…..and easy to start. I, myself, am currently nearing the start of opening one of these businesses, and I know it works. Yes, I am in need of start-up funding; however, I cannot risk giving out my plans and ideas for fear of cutting my own throat getting into this business. Please understand, the fear comes from giving out “a good idea and plan” to other people who DO HAVE THE FUNDING to beat me to the punch. So, Mark, if you are at all interested…..please let me know, and then I will be happy to open up with all the details. I have been researching this idea for two years, performing in-depth hands-on investigations of every aspect …… and it does prove out to be both profitable, and easy for others to duplicate the success. Hope you will consider me. Thank You
Comment by John -
Great concept. Motivated me to get our biz plan done.
Here’s a fairly simple plan to develop personal finance curriculum for high schools, delivered over the web. A lot has been said about the average American’s lack of knowledge in basic financial conepts, especially as of late. This plan takes advantage of that (fair) criticism and addresses it in a way schools can act on quickly.
Start-up capital for equity.
http://www.slideshare.net/chris_88/classroom-cash-management
Comment by Chris -
Hey Mark,
Think about this:
A site that helps and motivates people to stay in shape. With the help of trainers, simple regimens will be put together for those who are training to lose weight, gain weight/build muscle, gain endurance, etc.. People can join the site, put in their stats, their goals, receive a training regimen from the site, and update their profile on their site after every workout session. The site will compile this data and chart their progress onto graphs, and show them somewhat anonymous profiles of others who are roughly the same size with the same goals, and perhaps throw a competitive flair in there.
It would educate those who want to get in shape but don’t really have any idea how and it will provide motivation by showing others’ progress and also charting the individual’s progress.
Let me know what you think,
Eye.
Comment by Eye Enn -
TAKE MY IDEA PLEASE….anyone & everyone…but remember let the business “EVOLVE” or you will fail…just remember 8 out of 10 restaurants never see their first year anniversary!!
THEY FORGOT PASSION FOR THEIR BUSINESS, KNOWING THEIR BUSINESS & KEEPING REALISTIC GOALS.
I stumbled on a very curious site. There I was in this relatively small town, maybe 35000 people, and I look over and see a Blockbuster video its parking lot was barren. Across the street was a mom & pop video store, packed to the hilt. How?? I thought is this possible. I pulled over and went in, the answer was obvious as I entered. The aroma of pizza hung heavy in the air, not a great pizza, but very good. Pizza & movies…brilliant!! Could this be a stable business??? Had this little hybrid gone far enough….after my research no was the answer.
Here is my hybrid,
DINNER & MOVIE “DELIVERED” aka Culture Shock
Our goal is to offer movies, video games (used & new), and food…all delivered*!
Our movie offerings…all the current movies at $2.00 and $1.00 late fees
we specialize in kids movies, anime, and the largest horror film library.
and yes they are delivered*!
We offer all our video games for rent for $1.00 day….you pick your package 5, 10, 15 days.
and remember we deliver*. Want to trade in your games no problem, you can even trade for credit on your rental account!!
Food, we have an incredible selection of pizza, pasta, salads, soups, egg rolls, and cheese steaks.
But there’s more we have three separate video lounges hosting all Xbox live games as well as tournaments….(All of this with surround sound and comfortable seating) This adds up to hosting up to 12 players on-line at the same time. We have weekly tournaments and all headed to the yearly final.
the cost per month for tournaments is $5.00 entry fee as well as 1600 Microsoft points….remember there is a weekly iron man tournament….the grand prize is all the Microsoft points currently in our war chest!!!
Eat, drink, watch, heck get involved and pick up some tips, or just play!!
We also have an in house video game workshop…ever wanted to make your own video games??? Or asked yourself how do I get involved…well with Microsoft’s XNA studio we have monthly projects where we all work together to make our own games…these can be ported straight to Xbox 360.
Ever had to wait in line for your new game on release date??? Why??? When we deliver all newly released games to our pre-order customers at midnight!!!
All deliveries require an $8.00 minimum purchase*
“The movies will be eventually eliminated but the real jewel in the business is video game project, the customers make the games, we own and sell them. They get a real working knowledge and a portfolio as well. The games are straight to 360 ports”
Last year they had a contest 4 teams had to make games in 4 days…and yes they all succeeded!!
These games sell…a good example is Maw or Portal…Portal was made by duh duh duh…you guessed it “kids!”
Gamestop earns 1.38 million each year average per store (customer appreciation zero)
Blockbuster earns $683,000 a year average per store (customer appreciation zero)
now add food sales of $49,000 per month you do the math
Need $112,000 to get started
many thanks
Denton
Comment by Denton -
Mr. Cuban,
The business plan I propose to obtain open source funding from you is as follows:
Product:
A team hat that has an interchangeable Velcro logo.
Target Consumer:
Primarily females with ability to expand to all gender and age demographics.
Objective of Product:
Many people who attend sporting events are really just mediocre fans, perhaps they attend 1-2 sporting events a year in their home market, they aren’t necessarily die-hard fans to the point where they want to buy separate hats/gear for each team, but they do like to support the team. An interchangeable logo would allow them to purchase one hat and change the front logo via a replaceable Velcro logo when they are attending a different teams sporting event.
Why the concept will work?
Affordability meets Flexibility – The economy is a tough place right now, for the average family it is not prudent to buy a new piece of apparel for every game or to support every hometown team. This would give people the option of buying one hat at a regular price and swapping out the team logo at a much more affordable price to fit the event they are attending.
Women & Accessories – Many women love to attend sporting events and look their best doing so. In addition these type of women love accessories, this type of product will allow women flexibility and provide them with away to accessorize prior to the game. (Think about it they can buy one pink hat and then purchase a Mavericks and Cowboys logo, perhaps somebody creates a diamond studded interchangeable logo for the women, essentially there is opitionallity with what you can do with the interchangeable logo).
Kids and Collections – When I was a kid I think I had 200 hundred hats, I loved collecting them, now a kid can buy a hat and turn it into three hats (xyz’s city’s football, baseball, and basketball teams).
Why the concept is right for your proposal?
This concept is right for your proposal because it can get off the ground and go to market fast if not immediately. In fact this would be an idea that I think would be prudent to launch prior to MLB opening day and in time for both the NBA Playoffs and NHL Stanley Cup. A partnership with you would give the idea immediate access to suppliers, licensing agreements, and most importantly the end consumer.
Primary Questions/Concerns regarding the idea?
1) Why would people want to buy just one hat? Not everybody wants to buy just one hat, however, there consumers that I believe will look at this as a novelty item and purchase this item. In addition for the casual fan that does not want to own three or four hats this gives them the option to purchase one hat that will be a staple in their sports wardrobe to support all of their favorite teams.
2) What about color schemes, how can one hat meet the concept of all color schemes? The first part of this answer is addressed by the concept that the hat is geared towards the female fan; as such, the hat can be pink. All sports teams have pink apparel for their female fans, this would address the first problem with color. In terms of the male audience, a neutral color scheme would most likely have to be used, such as black/white and silver/gray.
Other Key idea component (Charity)**:
In addition to the information above you could also address this idea from a charity prospective as well. For example you could design a pink hat, red hat, and alterative color scheme (black/grey/white, etc.) a portion of all proceeds from the purchase of pink hats could be donated towards breast cancer, a portion of all proceeds for the red hat could be donated towards aids or an alternative cancer research, and a portion of all proceeds from the alternate color scheme could be donated to the charity of the team’s/owners choice, such as catastrophe funding.
** Obviously I am not thinking of running a charity here, but a small portion of proceeds guaranteed to go to charity could be a huge incentive for fans to buy these hats. You could mark the hats up a bit at games and run a promotion for all fans to by them around a specific charity.
Partnership:
I would view this as a partnership as I would need to lean on your resources to get this project off the ground. For example if we initially launched this product at Maverick games I would be willing to do a 60/40 split of net income (60 to me/40 to you), in addition I would be willing to initially give you a 49% stake in the management company. Both of these terms would be subject to renegotiation as agreed upon targets are hit an new markets are introduced.
Obviously these terms are open to negotiation. Keep in mind that this product could be easily tested and brought to market at Maverick games to determine potential and profitability. If this product tests well and proves to be profitable there would definitely be a creation of jobs through the following; manufactures (foreign or US, I don’t particularly care, if we want to be profitable than I say China, if we truly want to support the U.S. then lets take this to a U.S. manufacture and stick an American Flag on the back of the hat as well), shippers (fed ex, ups, etc.) stadium vendors, retail stores, mall kiosks, e-commerce based businesses, charity foundations, team marketing personnel creating promotions around hat, etc.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts if this idea even warrants a comment.
Comment by Shiphouse -
Here is a quick synopsis of a business that is a sure fire winner. My goal is to make you and I a reasonable amount money while employing many people in a mid-size manufacturing business with a “Proudly Made in America” mantra.
Consider this: How many baseball and golf style caps do you think are sold in the US on a per annum basis? Second: multiply that by the number of caps made and sold on behalf of Professional Sports, Colleges, High Schools, Corporate Logos, etc – you get the picture.
Problem: Most of these caps never fit or look right on your head – the dome of the hat is either flat on top, flat in the back, flat on the sides or just flat out doesn’t conform to your head the way you’d like it to.
Solution: Introducing the “Topper-Popper”. This lightweight, meshed (ventilation purposes) plastic dome fits inside the cap – giving your cap a perfect round dome shape that’s stylish and suitable to the likes of all cap wielding wearers.
Immediate Needs: 1. Engineer to design the product. 2. CNC Machine Company to make the plastic injection mold. 3. Purchase of the first Plastic Injection Molding Processing Machine. 4. Lease 8,000 ft commercial space (Mercantile Row – Dallas). OPTION – outsource all manufacturing and only have final assembly and packaging done by our workers in less commercial space.
Product Pricing: Packaged in 2’s – the Topper Popper package would wholesale for $1.50 with an MSRP of $4.95. Minimum floor plan per store would include 35 packages.
Sales and Distribution: Stage 1 (first 90 days) – Introduction of the Topper Popper will be in the Southwestern states. A combination of a direct employ sales rep (me to start) as well as a group of commission only independent sporting goods manufacturer’s reps will spearhead the selling effort among retail sporting goods stores, golf stores, etc. Stage 2 (second 90 days) – Hire a national network of independent sporting goods manufacturer’s reps as well as develop online e-commerce relationships.
Equity: You will receive a 35% ownership position or 15% return on your invested money with a payback in 12 months.
Let’s roll Mark – heck we can even sell them at the Mav’s games. Remember the “Topsy Tail” by Tamera Monosoff – if you don’t your wife will.
Comment by Brad White -
Hello Mark,
I am a former USPTA tennis teaching pro with a degree in Business Sports Management
I have always been told to pursue something you are passionate about. My dream has always been to open my own Tennis and Swim Club with indoor tennis courts here in Collin County. My vision would be to open this between- Plano, Frisco, Allen and McKinney on Highway 121.
Currently there are ZERO indoor tennis courts in Collin County and only 3 facilities in all of Dallas (in which are private).
Plano, Tx is home to one of the largest public tennis centers in the Unites States and is considered a large tennis community.
My vision would be to make this a semi-private club that opens its doors to all and does not exclude only those whom can afford a country club membership!
My business plan includes a facility that includes a club house, outdoor pool, weight room, locker rooms, 12 indoor tennis courts, 6 clay courts 18 out door lighted hard courts. An example of my vision would be T Bar M in Dallas, how ever with a more upscale club house!
The ideal location would be next to a hotel so we could host tennis tournaments, tennis camps and mental toughness seminars.
My first estimates/ research tells me that I would need $5 million to start up. However, I don’t think I would be able to break even in 60 days or turn a profit in 90 days.
This is more of a long term investment..
I would love to hear your thoughts!
Go Mavs!
Brian
Comment by Brian -
Covers for outside plants. When it freezes in the south. All shapes and sizes. Disposable and/or re-useable. Could possibly go for orchards to instead of heating just use the covers to cover groves (so many trees at a time). Use for bushes, plants and flowers with either draw strings or pop-out covers. Sell at WalMart, etc. nurseries and orchard growers in the South. Use material that keeps frost off plants and they can breath and remove after frost has gone. Beats lugging our plants in and out of the garage, etc.
Need to fund proto-type and sell to manufacturers and out to retail.
Assisted Living: 2 bedrooms on each side with full bath and patio. Central living area with LCD TV. Pool. Upstairs full house; 3 bedroom, living, kitchen,den, laudry room for couple assisting with meals, activities, Van for trips and doctor appts. Less per unit charge like 2000 or less per unit … Competition, but allows elderly who are not ready for real assisted living or nursing homes to experience a “home” environment. Own property, collect rent, tax deductions?, etc. Land and homes good investments for down the road.
Comment by Marilyn Bower -
my idea and fix is to the underlying problem to the economy that is the poor customer service that everyone gets at almost every buisness large and small.the idea is to evaluate solve and make all employees from a cashier to a manager,understand what they need to do to have people want to not only spend money but to keep coming back to thier establishments.
Comment by seth -
Mr. Cuban
I have a few ideas but one that I think will work is sending song dedications via the WEB and Phone – charging the sender a .99 cent fee for every dedication. There wouldn’t be much overhead except for the WEB design, functionality, support & possibly teaming up with one of the big music giants to pay the royalties on the songs. I’ve already purchased a domain name for this idea but don’t have the money to move forward with the idea nor do I know even where to begin or who to contact. This to me could be the next biggest thing as you could send song dedications to your loved ones, distant family, troops overseas, etc. just to let them know that you are thinking about and love them. The dedication sent via email or phone could be personalized with a message and then the song played for their enjoyment. All the music could be hosted in one place and the dedication website would just be the pass-through. Once the word got out this could be huge and possibly a large revenue generator that’s similar to that of how Netflix works. We could all make money doing this but would just need to work out all the details.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to post my idea, hope to hear back from you soon.
Comment by Jason -
Hi Mark – Good to see the Mark Cuban of old has resurfaced. Doings such as this is why I tried to pitch the B-System Identity Management System to you in April 06. B-System does not qualify the opportunity that you are offering. However, if you sincerely decide to find the “next big thing” please google “Ray Beasley Inventor.” Be sure and read the report:
Cyber Security: Latest Trend in Economic Development
Actually, with UT-Dallas proposing to perform the needed engineering and having the endorsement of Mr. Tom Hill (Senior Fellow EDS), if I had a working model today B-Systems provided to global societies is the stimulus plan that President Obama and Congress are in need of (if they really desire to create jobs).
Take care. Keep being a blessing to others. That’s why you are so cool.
Ray
Comment by Ray Beasley -
Sorry for the double post, but I left something out.
It may seem like my idea would not create jobs, but instead eliminate them. However, that isn’t the case in my industry. That is because the DTO (Direct Turn Over) aspect of the businesses that currently serve the utility industry only employee one or two employees.
The businesses that serve as the retail storefronts for all of the utilities that I know of are not primarily retail businesses. They are tool repair business, certification and calibration businesses, and consulting businesses. They dabble in retail sales because there’s no other businesses in the region that sells the product that they repair or certify.
In actuality, if the retail aspect of the utility industry was streamlined, it would eliminate very few jobs. In fact, the three or four jobs that it would impact in my region would be made up in my business, as I would require help as the business grows. This would lead to a much higher level of customer service, as any questions would be answered by someone who is focused on retail, instead of a mechanic answering pricing and lead-time questions (which is often the case now).
Comment by Nick -
i am a college senior, and thought that dormbeds.com was a great idea. i think..why stop at just beds? why not put together a website that supplies all the necessities a college freshman will need when going off to school? simple items, such as dry erase boards, sandals for the bathroom, an emergency sick kit etc. could be packaged together and mailed to save the future college student endless shopping trips! its a one stop shop. what do you think?
Laura
Comment by Laura -
I like the idea have a businees plan will to send to you now. hoe company will make money from day one for investor i am posting the plan on slideshre.com my Companies name in Chosen 1 Inc.please read the plan the investment return is guaranteed by a swiss bank.
Comment by Todd -
Mr. Cuban,
Here is an idea I have been working that is an internet business that involves and interactive design community. The name is Art of the Masses. Here is the short synopsis from a longer business plan that I have written. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
Art of the Masses is many things, but in its entirety it is a community. It is a community where designers can come together to create something bigger than themselves. These designers can express themselves in a way like never before, and at the same time show their creativity by using one person’s idea and turning it completely on it’s head.
This business will succeed because it is providing its users their need to be seen. Unlike any other site where the majority rules, Art of the Masses allows anyone who is interested to participate in the creative process. We are allowing designers to be individuals and at the same time co-exist and work together. We have determined the need our market has to be in an interactive community where they work together in small communities. We believe that the service we provide will go above and beyond at meeting this need. We also believe that all designers will be inclined to participate in this community because of its interactive nature.
Our success will depend on several factors. First will be our ability to meet our users’ primary desire to express themselves. Once that is accomplished we will allow them to have tangible evidence of their work in the form of products. Any user who works on a design will feel ownership on it and thus be more inclined to purchase something with their work on it. We believe we will be highly successful because of this provision.
Art of the Masses is providing two things, a service and a product. We are providing a service in that we are giving our target market, graphic designers, an outlet to express themselves while at the same time collaborating together. This is unique in the fact that many do not get a chance to build off of one another’s ideas and thus create something that is bigger than themselves. For this reason Art of the Masses will meet our market’s needs to have an interactive community where small groups can work together to create a larger project.
We are also providing a product. Once this service is in place and the projects are completed, Art of the Masses is allowing all of its users to purchase this piece of art on several different items. The users can buy t-shirts, desktop wallpaper, posters, or canvases with their multi-designer work of art on it. This will be very effective because all who participated in the project will feel ownership over it and want to have a tangible product of their design. Likewise, with the over commercialization that is being experienced every day, we believe that many will flock to Art of the Masses because it lets the user choose what they want to say. Everyone is looking for something that is unique and one of a kind, and the projects done at Art of the Masses will all be one of a kind.
Comment by Thomas Kennedy -
Mark,
I hope to offer you a ten percent equity… dedicating my future to creating your next big idea.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcj2z8rm_21ckrxvtpz
Thanks!
Adam
Comment by Adam F -
I’m not sure if this business qualifies for the blog or not, but my wife sent me an email link to this blog, so I figured I would post this…
1. It is an existing business that I have been working on for years, but recently incorporated as a Texas corp this year
2. The business is selling a skin care product
3,4,5: Since I have already made all the initial investments, it is already cash flow positive. Small profitability is already there and large profitability will probably be there in several years but can potentially be faster with a larger investment
6. Currently the product costs X, sells for Y and is resold for Z. Y=500% of X. Z = 200% of Y.
7. There is one owner myself, one consultant and I have been talking to other people as potential help.
8. I can post a general business plan without details, but I’m not sure if that would be helpful. The devil is ALWAYS in the details.
9. More important than funding is finding the right people. I think most creditworthy people can get an SBA loan for about 1.5 million which is probably good enough for most small businesses.
I think you could add value to any business wishing to grow by having you as a board member and advisor.
10 and 11: works for me.
12. This seems like a negotiable point.
13. The business is not a multi-level marketing plan.
Comment by Anonymous Doc -
I have written a few theatrical stage plays which were very successful, in attendance and financially. I am currently in the mode of shooting a short film that I wrote, directed, and produced. I am looking for a production company that can help support the production. If interested, I would most gladly present to you a professional business plan. The proposed movie does have a targeted audience and plan for success. Please visit my website at http://www.marvinmatthew.com and if interested I can be reached via e-mail at marvinwalkerjr@yahoo.com (PLEASE DISREGARD ABOVE WRONG TELEPHONE NUMBER)
Comment by Marvin Walker Jr. -
I second the In-N-Out idea. We need one in Dallas. I hate going all the way to California for those burgers.
Comment by Emilio -
Pingback: Boston Startups :: Evening Reading for Boston Startups
I have written a few theatrical stage plays which were very successful, in attendance and financially. I am currently in the mode of shooting a short film that I wrote, directed, and produced. I am looking for a production company that can help support the production. If interested, I would most gladly present to you a professional business plan. The proposed movie does have a targeted audience and plan for success. Please visit my website at http://www.marvinmatthew.com and if interested I can be reached via e-mail at (214) 395.0293
Comment by Marvin Walker Jr. -
Hello, my name is Justin Crum. I am a 3 year experienced ISSA certified personal trainer and business manager. I have been starting gyms for other business owners and now I think by starting my own I can not only help people to be healthier, but help the country as a whole. I believe it all starts with fitness- by giving more people confidence and motivation to better themselves and others around them. Not only that, but I would be putting a lot of people to work. For instance: contactors to build the gyms, people to run the gyms, and personal trainers. There are very small start up cost, and I have been trying to find more people to invest in me because this is something I have done already and know it can work.
So far, within the first 60 days at any location that I’ve worked at, I can sell 200 or more 1 year paid in full memberships. This would cover most of the initial costs, and possibly show a return investment. The initial costs include: renting the building for the gym (which I all ready have quite a few in mind near where I live), and cover building costs. The other few cost are the building permit from the city, building insurance, and the initial advertisements, which I can put in detail if needed. I do the initial pre-sales, training of employees, and advertising. Advertising is as simple as direct mailers and cross promotions with other local businesses, this way I can help out the entire community by promoting other businesses while they promote mine. I would train employees on how to run the gym, how to sell memberships, and manage equipment so that I can move on and open other gyms in other locations to build more revenue.
My initial investment cost would be a flat $100,000 witch I can give to you in complete detail if you are interested. Please respond and email me with any questions.
Thank you,
Justin Crum
Comment by Justin Crum -
Hi Mark, great idea you have going here. As a web publisher, I completely agree with your “no advertising” rule – we should stick to tangible consumer goods. Here’s my stimulus for circulating cash within the US economy, as inspired by my special lady’s small business.
***Fashion Items, handmade by Americans for Americans***
– No sweatshops here, just fair wages for documented citizens to earn from a skill trade (sewing, etc). Community-style, wellness-driven work environment.
– Handmade items, USA-only suppliers
– Handbags and clothing using popular designer print fabrics (think Amy Butler)
– Price points to satisfy middle-class consumption, yet high enough to create a fair margin.
– I’m not too keen on managing to public stock prices, small # of investors, employee and customer ownership culture (REI-style co-op, perhaps?
– Made-to-order, mass customization (mix and match your own fabric choices within various styles)
– Special product lines (think RED) where proceeds are donated to US causes that ease some taxpayer burdens (Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans, for example)
– Distribution can be online immediately (Etsy.com, FreeCraftFair.com)
Your post ignited these thoughts, so formal biz plan is still ‘in-progress’, and will be posted here within a day or two. Feel free to drop a line if interested.
Cheers,
John
Comment by John -
Here is my business plan. Never done one but I think i have all the parameters you ask for.
Business Plan
Mikes Eco-Rain Barrel Co.
Mission Statement: To provide a dynamic and eco-friendly way of collecting and storing rainwater for lawn and garden watering which is good for home/business owners who want to save money and help the environment. The Eco-Plex Rain Barrel is the Metroplex’s lawn and garden Green watering alternative in times of long dry spells which the Metroplex experiences all too often. More than one Eco-Plex Rain Barrel can be joined together for larger lawns or the needs of a homeowner.
Business conception date: February 10, 2009
Founder: Michael +*+*+*+; owner and installer
Employees: 2, but will need more as business explodes.
Location: Dallas Texas
Products: 55 Gallon Barrel or 30 Gallon Barrel. Downspout diverter. Shut-off valve. Overflow port. Downspout adapter. Downspout debris filter. Owners manual.
Hard cost is $167 for the 55 gallon kit, and $110 for the 30 gallon kit.
The retail/consumer cost is $200 for 30 gallon barrel kit plus installation. $240 for 55 gallon barrel kit plus installation. Cost of owners manual.
A net profit of $73 dollars for the 55 gallon, and $90 net profit for the 30 gallon kit.
Total seed money investment is $35,000.
Twenty 55 gallon kits at $167: $3340
Twenty 30 gallon kits at $110: $2200
Logo design and owners manual: $1500
Employee salary at $17 an hour with a 40 hour work week: $680.00 weekly. x2=$1360.00 weekly. $5440 monthly. 90 day salary of $16,320.
The rest of the investment money of $11,640 is to be used for ancillary products like business cards, gasoline, purchase of work truck (used) bought through Craigslist, and vehicle maintenance and upkeep, as well as employee uniforms (silk screened polo shirts with vendor bids for least expensive) and Dickies work pants.
Any profitability per Mark Cuban will be his initial investment of $35K plus 10% of net business profit.
Since there is no available advertising budget, word of mouth and cold calling to companies and homeowners will be the marketing budget.
Mark Cuban reserves the right to stop funding or continue funding at his discretion.
There you go. Had this idea in my head for some time and never had the resources to make it happen. Hope you think it is a viable company.
Mike
Comment by Michael -
Dear Mark,
I’d like to join you as a potential funder of new businesses under the same terms and conditions that you have spelled out.
Peter
Comment by peter a bobley -
OK, then how about a HD store. I specialize in home media servers, and that along with network media tank and ripping stations and extenders. Not offered anywhere else in a brick and mortar ( people do like to see HD streamers ). Put one here, then everywhere.
People do like HD, and great audio.
Ben
Comment by Ben Ogilvie -
Interested at all Mr Cuban in SAVING a family business that has been operating since 2000, and is about to succumb to the economy in the next week or so, mainly because several of our clients filed chapter 11 last year, and we incurred more bad debt than we could handle in the past 12 months? My sales team went on a tear in 2008 and if it were not for the bad debt and the recession on the horizon, we feel we have the momentum to make serious headway over the next quarter. Our overhead which was $90,000/month can be slashed to about $60,000 and our monthly profit is currently floating in the mid $70,000 range, with many new customers coming on board! Unfortunately, it appears based on a meeting this past weekend, and another this afternoon, that we will not make it to see the fruit of our labors!
As the Director of Sales and Marketing, I know that I will be fine, as my skills are being sought at this time, so I know myself and my family will land on our feet. It’s the dozen staff members that I truly wish you could help!
What do you say Mr Cuban…Oh and for the record, Andrea Bargnani IS the next Dirk Nowitzki!! 😉
From MC>You need to provide more info if you want me to consider it
Signed a Canadian Entrepreneur (Jeff W)
Comment by Jeff -
Business Plan: Sell personal injury, medical malpractice, mesothelioma/asbestos, and mass tort (pharmeceutical & products) based leads derived from affiliate web based marketing to attorneys throughout the USA. The way we will make our money will be two-fold:
1. We will mark the lead cost up on each sale. For example, say a Mesothelioma lead which matches up with our qualifications costs us $175 per lead for us to get on the front end. We will then mark the leads up to $350 or higher (Asbestos attorneys will pay this all day long for Mesothelioma leads). We can snap these deals in increments of $25k-$100k.
2. We will also be working with a National law firm on a Co-Counsel basis, therefore we will make the lions share of our money by sharing in the back end fees on a Co-Counsel basis with the firm we sell the deal to. We will get 20% of the attorney fees upon successful conclusion of each case we generate. Majority of Mesothelioma cases are $1m+,so 20% on the back end gets us $200k, etc. The Mass Tort cases are even higher, in much more volume, and easy to get from Affiliate web based marketing.
Needs: Standard office equipment, IP phones, telephone service, and Internet. I have everything else needed computer equipment wise.
The rest is sales skills and covering the expenses of 1-2 guys to pound the phones & set up appointments with attorneys that specialize in the areas of litigation we generate the leads for.
Although this plan does involve marketing which I know you said in #2 it cannot, however this is a different twist to it in the sense that we are getting the client (attorneys) we sell to cover ALL of the hard marketing costs, making a profit on each sale to cover overhead, and then we’re making the real money on the back end fees which can get exciting. We are not relying on marketing our company/brand to make ANY money whatsoever or to survive for that matter. If we don’t sell anything then nobody makes any money. It’s all sweat equity and sales skills.
Let me know if you are interested & I will go into much more detail.
BPM
Comment by Murph -
Mark, I am a mortgage and real estate professional located in Dallas, TX. I was a Regional Manager/Vice President for the recently closed wholesale mortgage division of GMAC. I am searching for capital to start up a portfolio investment company that will be in a position to take advantage of the current liquidity crunch in the US real estate market. Texas has its share of foreclosures but has a strong economy, a low unemployment rate, and even in the current real estate environment continues to see a steady increase in property values.
A great opportunity exists to purchase properties at a substantially discounted rate and be in a position to resale and/or finance the acquired properties. There are numerous properties available and an even larger number of qualified borrowers needing financing. A company that owns the property and is in a position to sell outright, or finance the property short term can maximize the profitability of each transaction with minimal financial exposure. Because the opportunity exists to resale properties immediately we could turn a profit of approximately 30% on each transaction. If we choose to finance a portion of the properties the time of return is greater but profit is also greater. Terms are negotiable and all monies will be secured by the real estate purchased.
This proposal services the needs of both troubled lenders and Texas residents needing to purchase a home. We may not solve the mortgage crisis of the entire country but we could sure make some real progress in the state of Texas.
I have a detailed business plan that I would like to share with you if this sounds like an opportunity that you may be interested in.
Comment by Kevin -
Mr. Cuban,
I believe there is a huge market for people to have easy access to healthy drinks/snacks regardless of where they are. I propose to have vending machines placed strategically throughout our metropolitan area; Mainly targeting schools and health clubs. These vending machines will offer an extremely wide variety of protein drinks and meal replacement bars. Clearly, we are the most obese country – by a large margin – on the face of the earth. Our goal is to help provide the public with access to these healthy choices no matter where they are. By putting these vending machines in schools, airports, movie theaters, and health clubs (among other places) we are going to be providing people with a choice. Anyone who is health conscious already uses these products on a daily basis. I’m an avid gym goer and I workout 4-5 days a week at my local gym (Lifetime Fitness) and school (UTD). A major problem that I, and thousands alike are experiencing, is the simple fact we don’t have a convenient access to these health drinks after a certain time or at all. Anyone who has ever been to the gym after 9PM knows you can’t get a protein drink from the health club’s café because they have already closed. What a shame, because after you workout, your body has a thirty minute window in which its cells are extremely receptive to protein synthesis. If these vending machines were in place, gym goers will have the opportunity to seize that 30 minute window of opportunity to feed their muscles. I also believe these machines would be a great alternative in schools in addition to soft drinks and junk food. My mission statement is as follows: Replenish. Refuel. Recover.
Comment by Justin Potash -
My dream business is a utility supply company that is internet-based, and spans more than one regional market.
Working in the utility supply industry as both the Sales Manager and the Purchasing Manager of a small business (27 employees), it constantly amazes me how low-tech it is. In my region, the company I currently work for is the sole supplier to many of the largest utilities (public and private) in the country, and yet the ordering process, warehousing process, and purchasing process is still in the stone age. All of our customers have access to computers and the internet, and yet neither us, nor our competitors allow them to place orders without speaking to a CSR. I believe that a streamlined, online ordering process, coupled with a footprint larger than the small regional ones that are the norm in my industry (which is immediately provided by a strong internet presence), would result in a business that would thrive.
If I had the funding, I would use my extensive knowledge of the business side of the utility supply industry to set up an online marketplace. With a functioning website online, I would then use my relationships with regional sales reps to bring the best pricing in the industry to my customers. With almost no overhead to speak of (every manufacturer that I know of that serves the utility industry dropships with no extra charges, and they all have stock on hand), I would easily be able to out-price any competition, which would result is higher sales volume. This is because the utility industry is massively over-prices, and must remain so as all of the retailers that I know of deal with large overhead costs.
Advertising the business enough to make it profitable is almost a non-issue. Not only am I on a first-name basis with most of the head purchasers and tool room managers of the biggest utilities in the Northwest, but there is such a small internet presence for the industry online that even the most rudimentary of Google Adwords campaigns (or something similar) would land a well-built page in the top five within a few months.
Once again, this idea is new because the business does not have a retail location (IE: it is entirely internet based). In my industry, there is no reason to have a storefront, and yet every utility supply retailer I know of is purely storefront or delivery based. There are a few exceptions (IE: Altec Direct and Tallman Equipment), but neither has a nationwide presence, and both prefer to deal through their regional representatives.
The RFQ (request for quote) culture that is imbedded in the utility industry is a huge roadblock. If customers could log in to a website, see their price right away (complete with quantity discounts and shipping charges), and buy their product all at the same time, a lot more business would be done. I have the knowledge of the industry and the contacts to make such a business work, I just don’t have the money to invest in the infrastructure.
Comment by Nick -
Mark –
The Treasury and the Federal Reserve have the right idea but their startegy needs to be revisited.
Here is my idea: Fund a “start-up” bank. Don’t laugh as you need to hear the concept. You provide the seed capital in the amount of say $10-25 million minimum to capitalize a start-up bank which gets it’s inital start by acquiring a failed bank from the FDIC at low or no premium for the underlying deposits – minimum of say $250 million in low cost deposits (the bank could repudiate deposits that are higher cost). The bank would then cherry pick the loans that come with the transaction – perhaps only taking on 10% of the loans. To fully deploy the capital, the bank then acquires high quality loans on the secondary market to fund out the rest of the balance sheet – yes they exist and yes they have a fat spread. With such an “instant balance sheet” the new bank could be profitable within 90 days of initial acqisition from FDIC … and because the assets would be rock solid by cherry picking from the ashes of a failed bank, the bank would be able to continue to bring in new deposits and lend out money. Asking existing banks to lend money when they are encumbered by the mistakes of their past is optimistic at best … a new bank could become the poster child for what the Fed wants banks to do – lend to consumers and small businesses, employee folks, etc. Having been in banking for nearly 20 years, I believe this is perhaps the best time in the last two decades to form a new bank – one that is well capitalized and managed by a strong management team. You get paid vis-a-via an equity stake in the entity. I believe the rest of your requirements could be easily addressed.
Look forward to your response!
Comment by John -
Pingback: Mark Cuban wants to Invest in your Business « CaseyTrowbridge.com
I have an idea that can revolutionize the golf industry. We have all seen the sky caddy and other golf yardage measuring devices. I have created a virtual yardage book. I have the blueprints and business plan I can send on further request, but here is the most basic premise.
The device looks like a touch-screen blackberry. It provides all information for the course based on GPS that is already in place by the sky caddy. When you hit a shot on the course, you press the club you used, which can be illustrated further on the blueprint, and the GPS records that position. You do this at the next shot as well. The device measures every single shot you have ever hit and can be recalled at a touch of a button. Need to remember what club you hit on that par 3 last tournament? How far is it over that water? You can zoom in at any point of the course through the touch screen. It will replace all pen and paper yardage books because you can use it for every single course you ever play. All it takes to download the course blueprint is through a USB device at each proshop. The best part is it is completely USGA legal for tournament play because it gives no other information than yardage. There may be options to hook it up to the internet later and have Golf Digest or someone give tips based on your performance during the round. However, this feature can be disabled during play to remain legal. There is much more, but this is the general idea.
So imagine every pro golfer, every junior player, having one device that can record every shot they have ever hit in their entire lives at every single course in one device that is legal for tournament play. That is my virtual yardage book.
My plan and your investment are as follows. You help me patent the device. We use the infrastructure already in place at sky caddy and sell them the idea. We split the royalties 50/50. You get your money back and get paid for a new standard in golf tournament play for as long as golf is played. It will replace pen and paper yardage books with the ability to expand worldwide. Email me if you are interested in more. PLEASE DON’T STEAL IT.
Comment by Travis Gatza -
I have been thinking about this idea for a long time; How much energy do we waste when we lift things? When you go to the gym you spend tons of energy just to get your body in shape and at the same time spending money. On top of that we, as a country, spend money to provide power. I have a buisness that will address all these points.
If a gym just used equipment that, instead of lifting lead weights, turned turbines these turbines would then collect energy into energy cells that we could then sell to the local power companies for money. This would be where we get our profit. The gym itself we be free to the public. The more people who use the gym, the more money we earn.
The energy would be clean and efficient. We could save the public money, spend less on fossil fuels, and make money hand over fist due to the fact that, other than the start up cost, there is relativly no upkeep costs.
Comment by camaeron smith -
MC
With summer right around the corner how about pool rafts & noodles with team logos on them. All the pool rafts ive seen for sale are plain with 1 color. Also Oakleys that have team logos.
Thanks Mr. Cuban
P.S. I dare you to touch Mr. Carters hat lol
Comment by jason -
I think this is a fantastic idea! Thanks for offering it!
My proposal is for a company which would produce high quality, reasonably priced, digital fabric for use in clothing lines (both in house and external). I have a background in digital design and have worked with producing designs for and printing digitally on silks. I also have designers, fabricators, and sales people in mind for a team that would be very capable of working on this project and making it successful.
The first month would be used to produce the initial line of fabric designs, print lengths of silks, linens and cottons for sale raw, and produce simple products such as silk scarves and ties for sale. Creating a website to sell the product line online. Going to local and regional shops to sell the product line.
The second month would include taking in and producing custom orders. Digitally printing fabric allows for manipulation and creation of complex patterns over large areas. Custom orders would be more expensive, but the customer would receive something unique only to them. The company would also add products to the line such as skirts, shirts, etc. during the second month to expand the offerings and increase income.
The third month would continue to expand the product line, add more retail outlets, expand the in-house digital designs, etc.
People still want to look and feel good during a down economy. These fabrics and products could be produced at a reasonable price for something that is not completely mass produced. It would not be competing with the WalMart and Target lines of clothes, but would be sold at moderately priced boutiques where working class people and college students shop.
This would create jobs for up-and-coming designers looking for their first job out of school, or those hit by the failing economy. Return on investment would be paid back through %of profits and %ownership in the company. Austin is a very style friendly area with many fashionable boutique shops around town that would support a local operation such as this. The company should be able to at least break even during the first month and turn a profit thereafter.
Thank you.
Comment by Brandon -
Hi Mark,
Online education: selling online recorded lessons/tutorials in segments where students (and parents) have demonstrated a high willingness to pay (e.g., SAT prep courses). This idea is based on the business model of Megastudy, the online education leader in Korea (see businessweek article: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_50/b4013056.htm). Megastudy does 200m of revenue at +35% operating margins…
The key to the model is that you share the revenues with the teachers. In Korea, the teacher’s receive 20-25% of the revenue from their courses. The top teachers make 7 digits! How awesome is that?!?!
This business model has a network effect and is highly scalable. If you can attract the best teachers, you can attract more students, which makes the site more attractive for the best teachers (because they’re getting paid a commission on their courses).
Easy to start: 1) build a online distribution platform; 2)recruit some teachers and record their courses; 3) Mark Cuban gives a shout-out…
This is not the ideal business to post on a forum like this. Because it has a strong network effect, the first mover has a big advantage. (Although, ultimately, I like to think that the best content wins out.) However, I just love the business model and if I can’t be the one to get this idea off the ground, maybe someone else can.
Comment by Michael Lin -
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12120568/Russell-Mims-Energy?secret_password=19hkz6vgbzohe9sk5alb
Comment by Russell Mims -
this is stupid, with your requirements about 60 day break even and a 90 day profitable you will not attract ideas that will take lead time to develop.
you just want simple ideas
Comment by sean -
Mark-
The story of Southwest Airlines hedging fuel costs and turning a profit while its competitors struggled to survive is well known. So why don’t businesses with a fleet of trucks or cab drivers or even normal people that have a long commute every morning have the ability to hedge the cost of gas?
Well actually they can really easily. There are a few ETFs out there that track the price movement of oil and gasoline in the US. The only problem is that people don’t know they this exists or don’t know how to do it. We can work with businesses and individuals to help them come up with a hedge that is right for them based on how much they drive and how much exposure to gas prices they want. We can then buy them the securities that suit their needs and take a normal mutual fund fee off the top.
Comment by Ian -
Mark-
The story of Southwest Airlines hedging fuel costs and turning a profit while its competitors struggled to survive is well known. So why don’t businesses with a fleet of trucks or cab drivers or even normal people that have a long commute every morning have the ability to hedge the cost of gas?
Well actually they can really easily. There are a few ETFs out there that track the price movement of oil and gasoline in the US. The only problem is that people don’t know they this exists or don’t know how to do it. We can work with businesses and individuals to help them come up with a hedge that is right for them based on how much they drive and how much exposure to gas prices they want. We can then buy them the securities that suit their needs and take a normal mutual fund fee off the top.
From MC> I think its a great idea, but i need to see a business plan and capital requirements
Comment by Ian -
Someone forwarded the link to me – nice concept!
Our offshore outsourcing company has been financing early stage development for quite a while in exchange for equity in those companies and it has been successful for either parties involved.
If someone has a perfect idea for a web service/company and Mark is not interested – try dropping us a line!
Comment by Peter -
I have an idea and if someone else picks it up….that would be great. I would love to start a business helping older people and people that have lost loved ones. The idea comes from me living in another state and my Mother not being able to get flowers to my brother and sister’s gravesites. It was difficult for her to pick up the flowers at the florist…take them to the cemetery…take the others off and store them. She never had time to visit with my brother and sister. She was always tired after delivery the flowers. So they didn’t get changed as much as we would have liked.
My idea is “Remember Our Loved Ones” this idea comes from visiting tanning beds where they charge $ 19.99 a month for a year’s time which is $ 239.88 per year. If you charge $ 19.99 a month or $ 24.99 a month and change the flowers 6 times a year (the family decides which ones and what kind of flowers….always artifical). Loved ones then have time to visit and spend time with there loved ones instead of trying to get someone to change the flowers and storing the old ones.
You can then create jobs for people that will create the arrangemens, people to deliver the arrangements and someone to keep the records.
I believe that this could be done in every state. I realize that some florists make do this for certain customers, but this is a great idea and it would be helping people and creating jobs for a little amount of money.
I have done research and the cost to start this is miminal, but the rewards and profits are wonderful.
This has been my dream for a very long time and I believe in it…just need help to get it started all over the United States.
Comment by Frances -
I agree with everybody else: awesome!
It really made my day.
Thank you.
Comment by kellyamareta -
HotHead Technologies Working with Schutt Sports to Develop ‘Smart’ Helmet
Founder Jay Buckalew holding the HotHead sensor and a helmet equipped with the H.O.T. System. (PRNewsFoto/HotHead Technologies, Inc.)
NASHVILLE, TN USA
Schutt Sports, the world’s leading provider of football helmets and faceguards, is taking safety to the next level through their association with one of the most innovative sports technology companies in America.
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ — HotHead Technologies, Inc., an Atlanta-based enterprise committed to improving athletic safety through research-based technology, today announced it is working closely with Schutt Sports to develop a commercially viable heat-sensing helmet insert, which can detect potential heat stroke in a player in real-time. News of their joint development activities was officially announced at the American Football Coaches Association Annual Convention hosted by the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090111/CLSU014 )
“From the moment we began researching a way to prevent non-fatal and fatal injuries due to heatstroke, it has been our hope that the technology would find mass distribution through a relationship like this,” said HotHead CEO Jay Buckalew. “Placement of the Heat Observation Technology (H.O.T.)(TM) System in Schutt helmets will have a significant impact on the lives of these athletes.”
Developers at HotHead have spent years perfecting a dime-sized sensor that is expected to be implanted in the forehead pad of new and refurbished Schutt football helmets beginning this fall. The sensor will track the temperature trends of players on the field and send that data to a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) on the sidelines where it can be monitored in real-time. In the event a player’s temperature rises above normal, an audible alert is set off to warn a coach or certified athletic trainer that the player should be evaluated and cooled down.
While concussions and head injuries remain the most highly publicized injuries for football players, heat stroke and other heat-related problems are a very real threat to athletes and can be even more serious than other injuries.
“Yesterday’s helmets were designed to simply protect players from head injuries,” said Schutt CEO Robert Erb. “Our association with HotHead Sports is part of our long-range effort to build “smart” helmets which protect the player as a whole. Thanks to the ground-breaking H.O.T.(TM) System, we hope to help coaches and athletic trainers take the guesswork out of whether or not a player is overheating.”
According to USA Football, more than 21 million Americans — from pee wee to the NFL — will play football this year. Overheating, especially among programs in the South, is an area of long-time concern for coaches, parents, certified athletic trainers and administration. Until now, they have never been able to accurately monitor the true temperature of an athlete on the field.
About HotHead Sports
HotHead Sports, a division of HotHead Technologies, Inc., is an Atlanta-based company offering a patent-pending and proprietary monitoring solution termed the Heat Observation Technology (H.O.T.)(TM) system. The system is designed as an aid in the prevention of heat-related illness in athletes. Within the coming years, HotHead Technologies will target additional segments that have a need for biosensor technologies such as public safety, military, industrial, and other markets. “HotHead “, “HotHead Sports”, Heat Observation Technology (H.O.T) and the HotHead Sports logo are trademarks of HotHead Technologies, Inc..
HotHead is a registered trademark of HotHead Technologies, Inc.
About Schutt Sports
Schutt Sports is the world’s #1 maker of football helmets and faceguards and is the first helmet maker to move its technology beyond traditional foam padding. SKYDEX2(R) TPU Cushioning is available in the ION4D, AiR XP and DNA Pro+ lines, absorbing as much as 55% more force from impact in game-like conditions. Nearly 60% of the helmets and 80% of the faceguards around the world, from the pros to the pee wees, are made by Schutt Sports. Schutt Sports is also the Official Base Supplier to Major League Baseball(R). The USA Olympic Softball Team has won three gold medals and one silver medal wearing batter’s helmets from Schutt Sports.
SOURCE HotHead Technologies, Inc.
Comment by Jay Buckalew -
Hey Mark,
My idea attached is to develop a database to improve monitoring and oversight of state chartered banking institutions. I am currently a bank regulator for a state banking department and it lacks a sufficient and user friendly database to properly oversee bank and non-bank entities (i.e. mortgage companies, title lenders, etc). It needs to be functional and flexible to adapt over time and regulations change. State banking departments can license the software and pay for annual tech support. I have the knowledge and understanding of state bank regulation to incorporate the right things to have in the program but I have no idea on how to create or fund such a product. Let me know if you are interested.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d8d34wv_0fwwgjdgm
From MC> Makes sense. How would the economics work ? how would you make money
Comment by Justin -
Alice Stephenson
Recycle Momma of Dallas
Inventor of Pixiku Poetry
Business idea is: state-of-the art with coffee shop (and online sales)
TEAM You, Me, WE Thrift Stores
because life is a team effort
Join the team with you, me, WE recycling
Being good stewards of the earth and one another
In Dallas, and across USA everyone begin
improving earth and children’s fate:
conserve, recycle and donate.
I challenge Mark Cuban to himself begin TEAM You, Me WE thrift stores to benefit a charitable foundation of his choice “or” for profit as some thrift stores are for profit or both for profit with a portion to charity. *Just please credit me with the idea whoever uses even if my idea built on.
Example: In Dallas you will see on City Curb Side pickup EVERY WEEK usable and recyclable items set curbside from new Ralph Lauren jeans, to vintage jewelry to valuable historic items, i.e., Civil War photos and coins. Most times left overs from persons moving or garage, yard et al sales.
State-of-the-art thrift stores that double as recycle centers to reuse packaging for mailings of ONLINE sales on Ebay. Recycle metal selling as scrap metal. Training persons how to recognize valuable historical items otherwise ending up in landfills.
These state-of-the-art TEAM You, Me WE thrift stores could have coffee shops inside with recycled books for sale nearby where persons getting coffee could simultaneously see “and” donate items of their own. Since often surplus donations are trashed YES TRASHED there could be a website to alert persons when there are openings to bring items in to donate and could be a shared website of all charities. Also, charities could alert online of surplus no room to store to share among charity thrift stores.
* SEARS sent me a thank you letter for my idea they sponsor a home renovation series, 2/7/02 that I shared on question #46 of my Extreme Makeover application that my dream beyond a makeover was to see series idea come to fruition. I got zero credit and no extreme makeover makeover. The next thing I know there’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition using SEARS as sponsor that thanked me for idea SEARS sponsor a home renovation series. Still hurts a bit since I chose SEARS since use to ship by rail Honor Bilt Home kits by rail from 1908 – 1940. I thought of idea since, as I told SEARS, the best way to invest in America is to invest in Americans and you can quote me.
Mark Cuban The Recycling Man
Could have the Mark Cuban Moped Recycling Brigade to pass out cards to persons holding garage et al sales to not trash and instead donate to Mark Cuban’s TEAM You, me WE Thrift Stores or the charity of their choice. Some thrift stores will sell items not sold for 2 to 3 cents a pound each week. Thrift stores could alert of surplus on TEAM You, Me, WE Thrift Store website.
A nice commercial to advertise these new state-of-the-art TEAM You, me WE Thrift Stores would be. People of all ages tossing in bin or labeled box (like making basketball shots) recyclable items into City of Dallas blue recycle bins. And tossing into clearly labeled donation boxes items that could be donated to hip hop music:
RECYCLE MOMMA OF DALLAS HIP HOP SONG
COME ON EVERYBODY
SHAPE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT UP
PUT YOUR TRASH CAN ON A DIET
COME ON NOW JUST TRY IT
Comment by Alice Stephenson -
Many of you are looking a gift horse in the mouth. Mark Cuban is offering you funding, and capabilities, to start a business. He’s not a charity. He’s not your family. He’s just looking to see if he can create some profitable businesses.
If you’re business idea is strong, unique, and has significant first mover advantages, then look for a different source of funding.
If you’re willing to do some hard work, based on a SIMPLE idea, then this is something that you could benefit you.
You want to sell lemonade, ice cream, goods, services that are easily duplicated, but can prove to Mark that you can do it more profitably (stealing the supplies, using store brand), if not better than anybody else.
If you’re recreating an idea (MSFT, google) look elsewhere. Nobody, including Mark, would expect you to put your Broadcast.com business ideas here anyways. So please, stop the indignation.
Thanks Mark!
Comment by ernest -
I want to build an electrified rail line starting in central america and traveling through mexico, arizona, utah, nevada, oregon, washington, british columbia, alaska, over the bering strait and into asia. It will connect russia, china, and japan with the united states, canada, mexico, and eventually south america.
The infrastructure will bring many benefits, not the least of which is cultivating industry along its path. It will connect with regional light rail lines to allow transcontinental travel and shipment of goods. To implement my plan I will have to hire a minumum of 50,000 construction workers (not at one time and not in one place), thousands of engineers to oversee each leg of the project, and an unspecified amount of support workers (GIS specialists, IT specialists, security personnel, etc.)
The project will require several million tons of steel, providing a big boost to the ailing steel belt of the US. It will also be a boon to GM and other failing auto companies whose machine-tool capacity will be tapped before, during, and after the project is completed.
I’m sure at this point you are screaming “show me the money” at your undoubtedly enormous monitor. That will come soon after construction begins, from contracts with the usual distribution-shipping-travel companies. As a major financier to this project you will get a percentage of all profits for an agreed upon period of time, a major sector of the rail line named after you, and free use of the commuter line for life or up to 30 years.
To keep in the spirit of your initiative, all engineering plans will be made open source and there will be a commenting period before construction begins to hear any concerns, make any adjustments et c. Progress on the project will be tweeted, documented daily with photos and video, and overlays for google maps and periodic satellite images will be made available.
Comment by bvac -
Build efficiency housing (green) small, small backyards, kind of like public storage places, but very small for 1-4 people only. Rental units and/or for sale, good products with-in the house, insulation; applicances, one and two bedroom only, small lots, with activity centers outside like community pool … etc. Collect rents and/or for sale (profit margin based on cost to build small, eco friendly small residential communities.
Thanks for listening. Let me hear from you!
Marilyn
Comment by Marilyn Bower Pegues -
Seems to me that people with plans that are genuinely good enough to get to cash flow break even in 60 days are unlikely to seek funding by posting details about them for all the world to see (and steal, as you point out) in a public forum…
Comment by Alex Bugeja -
MC,
A very rough idea, but here it is.
Create a automobile battery that has a spare or an extra cell. This cell will be charged by the current alternator and will be a reserve cell only used when the battery has been run dead by leaving the lights on.
This will allow you to jump start your car without cables, jumper packs, calling a friend to help, or calling a tow company.
You accidentally leave your lights on, you come out and your battery is dead. You flip a switch or push a button and your vehicle reverts to using the reserve cell, and your car starts.
1)You have it designed and marketed and patented.
2)At that point, the idea can be sold or licensed by current battery companies or can be mass produced and marketed to retail stores for consumer purchase.
As I said, it is a rough idea, but I think the idea could really fly as it definitely has a need.
Let me know what you think.
Comment by Steve -
Business Plan for a Wright’s Season Tickets Holdings “The Right Tickets, For The Right Fans”
OWNERS
Wrights Season Ticket Holdings “The Right Tickets, For The Right Fans”
9337 Bayard St
Keller, TX 76248
682-432-4759
wrightseasonticket@gmail.com
I. Table of Contents
I. Table of Contents 4
II. Executive Summary 5
III. General Company Description 6
IV. Products and Services 7
V. Marketing Plan 8
VI. Operational Plan 19
VII. Management and Organization 24
VIII. Personal Financial Statement 24
IX. Startup Expenses and Capitalization 26
X. Financial Plan 27
XI. Appendices 30
XII. Refining the Plan 31
II. Executive Summary
Write this section last.
We suggest that you make it two pages or fewer.
Include everything that you would cover in a five-minute interview.
Explain the fundamentals of the proposed business: What will your product be? Who will your customers be? Who are the owners? What do you think the future holds for your business and your industry?
Make it enthusiastic, professional, complete, and concise.
If applying for a loan, state clearly how much you want, precisely how you are going to use it, and how the money will make your business more profitable, thereby ensuring repayment.
III. General Company Description
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings buys and sells season ticket seats from Professional Sport Teams such as the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, for resell to the public for profits.
Mission Statement: Wright’s Season Ticket Holding mission is to buy, sell, and hold rights to the largest collection of Season Tickets and Personal Seat Licenses in every Professional Sport Teams in the US.
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings Goals and Objectives: Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings goals are to be the number one collection of Season Tickets/Seats in the United States. With that collection of Season Tickets/Seats we hope to provide a diverse array of seats opt for the general public to purchase. Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings objectives are to purchase Season Tickets/Seats and Licenses from Professional Sport Teams such as the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB at a discounted price with the intention to solely reseller those seats and licenses back to the public at a higher price for a profit.
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings Business Philosophy: To provide the best selection and collection of season seats location in every Professional Sport market in US, at a competitive pricing.
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings will market our tickets/seats to the growing number of Professional Sports fans and Business customers.
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings is looking to be a major player in a new and growing Secondary Ticket Market. Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings fore see in the Secondary Ticket Market for the long term are more Professional Sports Teams becoming big investors in the industry. In the short term, Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings see Professional Sports Teams and Primary Ticket Company like Ticketmaster buying up Secondary Ticket Markets companies like Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings to increasing their presents in the secondary market and control the market. Wright’s Season Ticket Holding will be in the prime position to take advantage of the upward trend in the Secondary Ticket Market by increasing its current holdings and being prepare for future holdings opportunity with the use of PSL licenses and discounted season tickets. {PLS Licenses gives a Season Ticket Holder the rights of ownership to the same seat for a set number of years, for a set time and at a set price. PSL Licenses is one of the tools use to finance most new Professional Sports Teams Arenas and Stadiums}
One of Wrights Season Ticket Holdings most important company strengths is our ability to discount our holdings/seats in a growing market. Wrights Season Ticket Holdings drive to acquirer and obtain discounted Season Tickets/Seats in and out season. Wrights Season Ticket Holdings major competitive strengths will be in finding the deals that make sense and money. Mr. Wright’s desire to be the best in whatever he puts his hand on and background as Personal Bank and Broker trainee for Fortune 500 companies for the last 8 years, has given him the drive, will, and the passion to create this entrepreneurs opportunity for himself and his family. Mr. Wright’s is a people person and sale man. Who will only believes and stands behind whatever he believes in. Mr. Wrights believes in opportunity. Mr. Wright’s believes in dreaming. Mr. Wright believes in creating ideas that feel good and make good sense. Mr. Wright felt limited in his passed jobs, so he created Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings. Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings is about taking advantage of opportunities in today current Secondary Ticket Market and becoming a part of the Secondary Ticket market share.
Wright Season Ticket Holdings is a Sole proprietor. Wrights Season Ticket Holdings selected this form of ownership base on type of product/seats in which we are selling and buying. Plus, it gives Wrights Season Ticket Holding greater control over the vision in which we see for the business.
Products and Services
Wrights Season Ticket Holdings products are seats in Pro Sports arenas and stadium thru out the US.
The factors that will give Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings a competitive advantages is being Season Ticket Holder with as many Pro Sport Teams we can purchase in the NBA, NHL, NFL, and MLB.
The prices structures would be base on the price the season ticket was purchases at, the Pro Sports Teams, the demand for the seat location, and Teams opponent that season.
IV. Marketing Plan
Market research – Why?
No matter how good your product and your service, the venture cannot succeed without effective marketing. And this begins with careful, systematic research. It is very dangerous to assume that you already know about your intended market. You need to do market research to make sure you’re on track. Use the business planning process as your opportunity to uncover data and to question your marketing efforts. Your time will be well spent.
Market research – How?
There are two kinds of market research: primary and secondary.
Secondary research means using published information such as industry profiles, trade journals, newspapers, magazines, census data, and demographic profiles. This type of information is available in public libraries, industry associations, chambers of commerce, from vendors who sell to your industry, and from government agencies.
Start with your local library. Most librarians are pleased to guide you through their business data collection. You will be amazed at what is there. There are more online sources than you could possibly use. Your chamber of commerce has good information on the local area. Trade associations and trade publications often have excellent industry-specific data.
Primary research means gathering your own data. For example, you could do your own traffic count at a proposed location, use the yellow pages to identify competitors, and do surveys or focus-group interviews to learn about consumer preferences. Professional market research can be very costly, but there are many books that show small business owners how to do effective research themselves.
In your marketing plan, be as specific as possible; give statistics, numbers, and sources. The marketing plan will be the basis, later on, of the all-important sales projection.
Economics
Facts about your industry:
• The Secondary Ticket Market is worth an estimated $30 billion in 2005 and the movie ticket market hit nearly $9 billion, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The market in 2005 for all tickets purchased online hit $4.1 billion: it is expected to grow 24.4%-mirroring e-retailing’s 25% growth rate-to $5.1 billion in 2006, according to The State of Retailing Online 2006, a Shop.org study conducted by Forrester Research Inc. In 2005 event ticket sales reached $3.4 billion, and they’re expected to jump 27% in 2006 to $4.3 billion, the study reports. Event ticket sales accounted for 82.9% of all online ticket sales.
• With the right kind of financing Wright’s Season Ticket Holding is looking to get 15% of the local market.
• When it comes to who is spending these millions on the web, 22% of men and 16% of women purchased tickets to events and/or movies in the six months prior to September, according to the September 2006 Online Ticket Market Study by J.C. Williams Group. 19.2% of all individuals were 18 to 24 years of age, 21.9% were 25 to 34, 24.3% were 35 to 44, 7% were 45 to 54, and 10.3% were 55 or older. Many industry observers see a wholesale move to online ticket selling as virtually inevitable. One contributing factor is the newfound ease, thanks to advances in e-commerce technology and services, with which venues themselves can launch e-commerce sites for the events they host.
• The Secondary Ticket Sales are expected to figured to rise from $2.5 billion 2007 to $4.5 billion in 2012 at a rate of 12% annual in 5 years, accordingly to Forester Research Company. Forester also states that 1 in ever 10 online shopper say that they have bought a ticket from a reseller while some have bought tickets from the Box Office of an event.
• The growth potential and opportunity for Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings is great for a business my size. As a sole proprietor.
• There are no barriers for Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings in the market. Pro Sport Teams are always looking for new Season Ticket holder each year.
• How could the following affect your company?
o Change in technology has no impact on the business.
o Change in government regulations has no impact on the business.
o Change in the economy has no real impact on the Secondary Ticket Market business base off 2008 declining economy.
o Change in the Ticket industry has no impact on the business.
Product
In the Products and Services section, you described your products and services as you see them. Now describe them from your customers’ point of view.
Features and Benefits
List all of your major products or services.
For each product or service:
• What’s special about Wright’s Season seats are our location and venue.
• The benefits are variety of pricing opt base on the game and teams. Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings are looking to give ours customer the best possible price for the most popular events.
The after-sale services we will provide for our clients are the opportunity to purchase the same location for future events.
Customers
Identify your targeted customers, their characteristics, and their geographic locations, otherwise known as their demographics.
The DFW Metroplex has one of the most impressive track records in the U.S. when measuring affluence, growth and economic output.
• DFW is the 4th largest MSA in the U.S.- 6,100,000 population
• May 2006- May 2007 job growth in DFW of 90,100, #1 in the U.S.
• Fort Worth is the 18th largest city in the U.S.
• 18-70 Years Olds
• Any Gender
• USA
• Median HH income $74,889
• HH > $75,000 23,558
• HH >$100,000 13,808
• Population 220,430 (2007 est)
• Population growth of 112% from 2000 to 2007
• 18.9% Annual Growth Rate
• All Social class and occupation
• All Education
• Pro Sport Fans
• Family
For business customers, the demographic factors might be:
• Any Industry (or portion of an industry)
• USA
• Any Size of firm
Competition
Wright’s Season Ticket Holding does not have any competitors in his current local area.
Wrights Season Ticket Holdings competitive advantages is that we are the only private own company who is in the business of buying and selling Season Tickets in the local area.
Nich
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings niche is our collection of Season Ticket Seats and our access to Secondary Ticket Market inventory any where in the US. With that niche Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings hope to becoming one of the largest holder of Season Ticket in every Professional Sports Team in the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL.
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings believes that with those holdings and the access to the Secondary Ticket Market, it will allows for us to buy tickets at below box office value prices and sell at premium on every current and up coming events. In addition, Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings has an opportunity to become a very important source of additional revenue and ticket sales to Professional Sport Teams in the industry.
Strategy
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings strategy is to buy Season Ticket at a discounted price (by being Season Ticket Holder) in the Primary Ticket Market and resells those seats back to the public in the Secondary Ticket Market for a profit. Which would allow our company the buying power to reinvest those profits but into the Primary Ticket Market to take advantage of the opportunity to add more asset/seats to our inventory for future selling opportunities.
Promotion
Wright’s Season Ticket Holding is looking to teams up with the American Airlines Centers in an effort to help promote what we have to offer the Professional Sport buying fans in the DFW area for the following reasons:
Since opening in July 2001, the American Airlines Center has set new standard for sports and entertainment facilities. From its traditional architecture to hi-tech innovation, the American Airlines Center has become a premier sports and entertainment venue in the United States. Located in the heart of Dallas’ new and underway urban development, Victory Park, American Airlines Center serves as its crown jewel.
Inside, the facility offers the finest in amenities with fives concourses, 142 luxury suites, 2 large party boxes and room for 20,200 basketball or 18,500 hockey fans. The retractable seating brings the bowl in closer to the action, allowing fans a more intimate experience and exceptional sight lines.
In the their first 7 years over 100 musical artists have performed, including performances: The Eagles, Cher, Prince, Billy Joel and Elton John, Shakira, Simon and Garfunkel, Fleetwood Mac, George Strait, Bruce Springsteen, Usher, Green Day, Destiny’s Child, U2, Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, and Cold Play to name a few. American Airlines Center has also hosted family shows such as Disney on Ice, Stars on Ice, Champions on Ice, Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, The Harlem Globetrotters, World Wresting Entertainment and more.
The American Airlines Center has also been no stranger to major sporting events in addition to being home of the NHL Dallas Stars, NBA Dallas Mavericks and Arena Football League’s Dallas Desperados. The 2002 and 2006 NCAA Men’s Basketball 1st and 2nd Round Tournament, Phillips 66 2003, 2004, and 2006 Men’s Big 12 Basketball Tournament have also been held in Dallas at American Airlines Center. In 2007, American Airlines Center and the Dallas Stars hosted the 2007 NHL All-Star Game and accompanying events.
Annual Attendance
• 2001-2002 – 180 Events = 2.7 million attendees
• 2002-2003 – 190 Events = 2.9 million attendees
• 2003-2004 – 178 Events = 2.6 million attendees
• 2004-2005 – 135 Events = 1.9 million attendees
• 2005-2006 – 198 Events = 2.9 million attendees
• 2007-2008 – 192 Events = 2.73 million attendees
• 2008-2009 – 200 Events = 3 million attendees
• 2007 Year End Worldwide Ticket Sales Top 100 Worldwide Arena venues American Airlines Rank #9 at 539,030 sold.
Breakdown of Attendance for 2007-2008 Total Attendance was 2,734,662
• Mavs games draw 35% of total attendance
• Stars games draw 35% of total attendance
• 3rd party events draw 30% of the total attendance
Dallas Mavericks Fan Demographics
• Income – 43% have HH income of $100,00 +
• Gender – 59% are male and 41% are female
• Age – 70% are in the 25-54 age group
Varied
• Mavericks ranked #1 in terms of home team loyalty
• Mavericks ranked #2 in overall game experience which includes: obtaining tickets, Buying merchandise, Food/Drink, Parking, and Security/Ushers
• 64% of fans would definitely return to another Mavs game.
• 70% of fans would recommend a Mavs game to someone else.
• 58% of fans attending Mavs game attended with family/friends.
Dallas Stars Fan Demographics
• Income – 48% have HH Income of $100,000+
• Gender – 52% are male and 48% are female
• Age – 70% are in the 25-54 age group
Varied
• 26% of attendees use tickets acquired by a company
• 50% of Dallas Stars Season Ticket holders share the purchase of their seats w/ someone else
• More than 250,000 different people attend at least one game during the season.
Dallas Desperados Fan Demographics
• Income – 40% have HH Income of $50,000+
• Gender – 65% are male and 35% are female
• Age – 67% of AFL fans are in the 18-54 age group
Varied
• AFL fans are likely to try a sponsor’s products approximately 30% of the time.
• AFL fans are likely to switch to a sponsor’s product over 20% of the time.
• AFL fans are loyal to a sponsor’s product over 30% of the time.
American Airlines Center Exclusive Sponsors
• American Airlines, AT&T, Bachendorf’s/ Breitling USA, Anheuser-Bush, Miller Brewing Company, Heineken USA, Coca-Cola & Dr. Pepper, Deja Blue, Ford, Guaranty Bank, Pizza Hut, Red Bull, MetroPCS, and TXU Energy.
Branding
Concourse Signage
• Offers framed signage panels throughout the Plaza and Terrace Levels of American Airlines Center. This static and front lit signage measures 3’ x 4’. $10,000 in the plaza level; $5,000 on the Terrance level.
Men’s & Women’s Restroom Signage
• Throughout American Airlines Center offer recognition in the form of interior wall signage. Located in all single-sex restrooms throughout the plaza and terrace levels of the building, 16 in total. Signage measures approximately 22’ x 28’ and strategically placed. 4 Plaza Level Men’s Restrooms, 4 Plaza level Women’s Restroom, 4 Terrace level Men’s Restroom, and 4 Women’s level Restroom. Men’s $2,500 per sign.
Vent Stack Signage
• Vent Stacks are located on the building’s perimeter walkways and present a four-sided backlit signage opportunity with exposure to both pedestrians and vehicles for daily traffic flow and all events. Vent stacks are located at the NE, NW, SW, and SE corners of the facility near high traffic American Airlines Center destination like the north box office and platinum parking garage (NE), north fan shop (NW), south box office (SW), and Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Club (SE). Vent Stacks- $20,000; this is one stack, which includes four (4) signs seen by commuters and patrons.
Upper Vomitory Signage
• Terrace level vomitory portals are located in the upper seating bowl and offer an opportunity for overhead signage at each. Eight total locations available, 4 on each side of terrace level. This new and size TBD signage will be backlit. Vomitory Signage- $30,000 per pair; $50,000 for four that can be seen by TV cameras.
Interior Media
• American Airlinescenter.com offers the opportunity for internet exposure on the official website of American Airlines Center. Branded recognition offered at sponsor-relevant locations throughout the site, which is the primary source of ticketing and event information for all guest. AAC website- $15,000 for one year with links to Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings website.
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings to promote our objective and company goals to Professional Sports Teams Account Rep who we buy tickets from.
In addition to promotion, Wright’s Season Ticket Holding has plans for graphic image supports for RM Communications Group, Incorporated. Also, RM Communications Group has created items like a logo design, cards and letterhead, brochures, signage, and interior design and web design for Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings.
Promotional Budget
How much will you spend on the items listed above?
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings estimate that our promotional budget before startup will be $20,000 before startup.
Wright’s Season Tickets estimate that our ongoing operating budget will be $15,000.
Pricing
The methods used for setting seat prices are base on the games and teams. When we have a high in demand for Pro Sport Teams like the L.A. Laker, our prices will increase. When we have a low demand Pro team like the Miami Heat, then we lower our prices to get the sold but depending on how the Season is progressing thru out the year will give Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings the indicator which strategy to use. So, it is very important for Wright’s Season Ticket Holding to stay abreast on “the going on” in the Pro Sport industry during the Season.
Proposed Location
Alliance Town Center is part of the AllianceTexas 17,000-acre master-planned community consisting of industrial aviation (Fort Worth Alliance Airport), industrial (over 7,000 acres), office (800 acres of corporate campuses) and residential (2,700 acres of single family homes, and 5,000 multi-family units).
• AllianceTexas – Over 24,000 employees and over 140 major corporations
• Fort Worth Alliance Airport, which offers direct taxiway access to nearby corporate residents in Alliance Center.
• Special Events – Texas Motor Speedway, which draws 1.25 million visitors for NASCAR and IRL events, Fort Worth Alliance Annual Air Show, and more.
• Residential Communities – 5 residential communities ranging in price from $110,000 to $500,000 +, offering parks, playgrounds, trails, etc. with over 6,000 homes already built.
• Cabela’s, the 230,000 s.f. outdoor mega-retailer, picked Alliance for it first DFW store. This store, their second largest, draws 4 million visitors per year.
Alliance Town Center is perfectly positioned to service the existing market of Fort Worth-Plus-the fast-growing communities of Keller, North Richland Hills, Watauga, Southlake, and points north and west.
• Easy access with a full diamond interchange at I-35W & Heritage Trace Pkwy
• Linked to four major thoroughfares (I-35W, Golden Triangle Blvd., Heritage Trace Parkway and North Tarrant Parkway) with ½ mile of !-35W frontage
• I-35W visibility – Highest point on I-35W for over 10 miles
• Highly visibility to the 71,000 cars per day on I-35W
• Number of Businesses: 3,133
• Daytime Population: 49,633
• 60+ Companies on Fortune 500, Global 500 0r Forbes’ Top List of Private Companies
The current location for Wright’s Season Ticket Holding is at 9337 Bayard St, Keller, TX 76248, my home offices. We are currently looking at a space in Meridian Business Center at 9500 Ray White; Suite 200 Fort Worth, Texas 76248 to help the business expand.
Distribution Channels
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings is currently selling our seats on Ticketmaster secondary ticket seller’s website and StubHub secondary ticket seller’s websites.
Soon, Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings will go into a partnership TicketNetwork, the leading-edge technology provider in the secondary ticketing industry. They provide the best and most efficient solutions for ticket buyers and ticket sellers. Ticket buyers can purchase event tickets to a wide range of concert, sporting, and theatre events through their vast network of Web sites, with 5,578,951 tickets to 90,507 events worth $1.01 billion.
Wright’s Season Tickets believe that TicketNetwork will provide a comprehensive, highly intelligent, cost-effective set of Web tools and software solutions for secondary-market ticket customers.
Sales Forecast
Now that you have described your products, services, customers, markets, and marketing plans in detail, it’s time to attach some numbers to your plan. Use a sales forecast spreadsheet to prepare a month-by-month projection. The forecast should be based on your historical sales, the marketing strategies that you have just described, your market research, and industry data, if available.
You may want to do two forecasts: 1) a “best guess”, which is what you really expect, and 2) a “worst case” low estimate that you are confident you can reach no matter what happens.
Remember to keep notes on your research and your assumptions as you build this sales forecast and all subsequent spreadsheets in the plan. This is critical if you are going to present it to funding sources.
V. Operational Plan
Explain the daily operation of the business, its location, equipment, people, processes, and surrounding environment.
Location
What qualities do you need in a location? Describe the type of location you’ll have.
Physical requirements:
• 500sf to 1500sf of Private Executive Office space
• Stand along
• Residential zoning or Commercial zoning
• Digital Telephone Set, Ultra High-Speed Internet Access, Dedicated FAX Line, and other utilities
• Parking
• Janitorial Services
• Parking
• Mailing address
• High-Speed Digital Photocopiers
• Color Laser Printers
• Wireless Internet
• Satellite Television Access
• Multi-Sheet Feed Scanners
• Email
• Mobile and Remote Access
• Web Hosting
• Toll-free Phone numbers
• Voice Mail with 24 hour remote access
Access:
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings is currently proximity to freeway, airports, railroads, and shipping centers.
All-Inclusive Executive Offices and including Furnished Offices = $1250.00/Per. Mo.
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings Offices hours will be 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m (Depending On games schedule in local area. Also, 24/7 on the Web)
Legal Environment
Describe the following:
• No State or Local Cities Licensing or bonding requirements
• Permits:
• No Health, workplace, or environmental regulations
• No Special regulations covering your industry or profession
• No Zoning or building code requirements
• No Insurance coverage required but will carry Homeowner Insurance
• Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings is in the process of copyrighting all related items to the business.
Personnel
• No employees at this time.
• Professional labor type.
Inventory
• The kind of inventory Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings would be actual holding are actual Season Tickets to various Professional Sports Teams and database access to other brokers in the U.S. inventory; including concert, theater, and soccer tickets throughout TicketNetwork vast network of Web sites.
• Average value in seat in currently at $25,000.00.
Suppliers
Identify key suppliers:
• Ticket Network at 135 Bolton Road Vernon, CT 06066. Phone:860-870-3400 Fax: 860-870-5183
• Sport, Concerts, and Theater Tickets. With no Ticket inventory furnished.
• TicketNetwork Point-of-Sale™ Version 8.0 software provides a complete office interface to the online exchange and the Web. Buy and sell tickets, manage your inventory and customers, process credit-card transactions, create shipping labels and track FedEx shipments, generate customized management reports, and integrate your sales accounting – all in one, easy-to-use application. Several features of the Point-of-Sale are:
• Generate customized Invoices and Purchase Orders
• Website and TicketNetwork Direct orders flow into the system with no data entry
• Integrated Credit Card processing threw PC Charge
• Marketing Manager to categorize and remarket to your customers
• Full accounting package to track payments and accounts receivable with a full reporting package and QuickBooks Integration
• Create, print, email, and track FedEx shipments
• 35% FedEx shipping discount
• TicketNetwork Direct rebate discount program
• TicketNetwork Web Services™ provides customized e-commerce websites in both plug-in and hosted formats, created quickly so that you can build market share in a matter of days – and without the high cost of Web development.
Web control panel allows optimum on-the-fly customization of events, top ten lists, headlines, graphics, META tags and more.
• Flexible ticket filtering that lets you exclude other brokers, customize pricing, highlight any brokers inventory, and show “fresh” tickets
• Integration with pay-per-click advertising, coupon management, shopping cart customization, and multiple website control
• Full integration with TicketNetwork Point-of-Sale Software. Web sales flow into the POS for point and click processing.
• View an example of a TicketNetwork plug-in at http://www.completetickets.com and a hosted site at http://www.ticketfirm.com.
Pricing for TicketNetwork Point-of-Sale™ Software Suite
• Includes installation, training, ongoing updates and Help Desk support
• Annual software licensing fee of $2,900/Year or $2,400/Year without Dell Server(paid annually)
• TicketNetwork hosted broker website or website plug-in:
• Dell server computer (Dell Precision T3400 Convertible Mini Tower Processor E6850, 3.0 GHz, 2GB RAM, 80GB hard drive, CD drive, keyboard, mouse, Dell service)
• No monitor
Should you have more than one supplier for critical items (as a backup)? No.
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings does not expect any shortages or short-term delivery problems.
Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings supply costs fluctuate. Base on the fluctuation of cost on some events Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings will bases it cost on an event by event basis.
Credit Policies
• Do you plan to sell on credit? No.
• Do you really need to sell on credit? Is it customary in your industry and expected by your clientele? No.
• How will you check the creditworthiness of new applicants? N/A
Total Current 30 Days 60 Days 90 Days Over 90 Days
Accounts Receivable Aging
.
Total Current 30 Days 60 Days 90 Days Over 90 Days
Accounts Payable Aging
VI. Management and Organization
Who will manage the business on a day-to-day basis? Mr. Leonard L. Wright will run the day-to-day operation.
What experience does that person bring to the business? Mr. Wright brings with himself the vision, the experiences and knowledge of Secondary Ticket market and the entrepreneurial sprit that will see Wright’s Season Ticker Holdings thru.
What special or distinctive competencies? The distinctive competencies that Mr. Wright brings to table are his vision/creation of Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings, planning and execution of his working Business plan for the company.
Is there a plan for continuation of the business if this person is lost or incapacitated? There is a working plan that if for whatever reason Mr. Wright is lost or incapacitated that his long term business partner Michael L. Houston would oversee the day to day operation of Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings.
Professional and Advisory Support
List the following:
• No Board of directors
• No Management advisory board
• Attorney “working on it”
• Accountant “working on it”
• Insurance agent “working on it”
• No particular Banker but Wright’s Season Ticket Holdings currently has Business Checking and Savings accounts with BOA.
• No Consultant or consultants
• Mentors and key advisor
• Personal Financial Statement
Include personal financial statements for each owner and major stockholder, showing assets and liabilities held outside the business and personal net worth. Owners will often have to draw on personal assets to finance the business, and these statements will show what is available. Bankers and investors usually want this information as well.
VII. Startup Expenses and Capitalization
You will have many startup expenses before you even begin operating your business. It’s important to estimate these expenses accurately and then to plan where you will get sufficient capital. This is a research project, and the more thorough your research efforts, the less chance that you will leave out important expenses or underestimate them.
Even with the best of research, however, opening a new business has a way of costing more than you anticipate. There are two ways to make allowances for surprise expenses. The first is to add a little “padding” to each item in the budget. The problem with that approach, however, is that it destroys the accuracy of your carefully wrought plan. The second approach is to add a separate line item, called contingencies, to account for the unforeseeable. This is the approach we recommend.
Talk to others who have started similar businesses to get a good idea of how much to allow for contingencies. If you cannot get good information, we recommend a rule of thumb that contingencies should equal at least 20 percent of the total of all other start-up expenses.
Explain your research and how you arrived at your forecasts of expenses. Give sources, amounts, and terms of proposed loans. Also explain in detail how much will be contributed by each investor and what percent ownership each will have.
VIII. Financial Plan
The financial plan consists of a 12-month profit and loss projection, a four-year profit and loss projection (optional), a cash-flow projection, a projected balance sheet, and a break-even calculation. Together they constitute a reasonable estimate of your company’s financial future. More important, the process of thinking through the financial plan will improve your insight into the inner financial workings of your company.
12-Month Profit and Loss Projection
Many business owners think of the 12-month profit and loss projection as the centerpiece of their plan. This is where you put it all together in numbers and get an idea of what it will take to make a profit and be successful.
Your sales projections will come from a sales forecast in which you forecast sales, cost of goods sold, expenses, and profit month-by-month for one year.
Profit projections should be accompanied by a narrative explaining the major assumptions used to estimate company income and expenses.
Research Notes: Keep careful notes on your research and assumptions, so that you can explain them later if necessary, and also so that you can go back to your sources when it’s time to revise your plan.
Four-Year Profit Projection (Optional)
The 12-month projection is the heart of your financial plan. The Four-Year Profit projection is for those who want to carry their forecasts beyond the first year.
Of course, keep notes of your key assumptions, especially about things that you expect will change dramatically after the first year.
Projected Cash Flow
If the profit projection is the heart of your business plan, cash flow is the blood. Businesses fail because they cannot pay their bills. Every part of your business plan is important, but none of it means a thing if you run out of cash.
The point of this worksheet is to plan how much you need before startup, for preliminary expenses, operating expenses, and reserves. You should keep updating it and using it afterward. It will enable you to foresee shortages in time to do something about them—perhaps cut expenses, or perhaps negotiate a loan. But foremost, you shouldn’t be taken by surprise.
There is no great trick to preparing it: The cash-flow projection is just a forward look at your checking account.
For each item, determine when you actually expect to receive cash (for sales) or when you will actually have to write a check (for expense items).
You should track essential operating data, which is not necessarily part of cash flow but allows you to track items that have a heavy impact on cash flow, such as sales and inventory purchases.
You should also track cash outlays prior to opening in a pre-startup column. You should have already researched those for your startup expenses plan.
Your cash flow will show you whether your working capital is adequate. Clearly, if your projected cash balance ever goes negative, you will need more start-up capital. This plan will also predict just when and how much you will need to borrow.
Explain your major assumptions, especially those that make the cash flow differ from the Profit and Loss Projection. For example, if you make a sale in month one, when do you actually collect the cash? When you buy inventory or materials, do you pay in advance, upon delivery, or much later? How will this affect cash flow?
Are some expenses payable in advance? When?
Are there irregular expenses, such as quarterly tax payments, maintenance and repairs, or seasonal inventory buildup, that should be budgeted?
Loan payments, equipment purchases, and owner’s draws usually do not show on profit and loss statements but definitely do take cash out. Be sure to include them.
And of course, depreciation does not appear in the cash flow at all because you never write a check for it.
Opening Day Balance Sheet
A balance sheet is one of the fundamental financial reports that any business needs for reporting and financial management. A balance sheet shows what items of value are held by the company (assets), and what its debts are (liabilities). When liabilities are subtracted from assets, the remainder is owners’ equity.
Use a startup expenses and capitalization spreadsheet as a guide to preparing a balance sheet as of opening day. Then detail how you calculated the account balances on your opening day balance sheet.
Optional: Some people want to add a projected balance sheet showing the estimated financial position of the company at the end of the first year. This is especially useful when selling your proposal to investors.
Break-Even Analysis
A break-even analysis predicts the sales volume, at a given price, required to recover total costs. In other words, it’s the sales level that is the dividing line between operating at a loss and operating at a profit.
Expressed as a formula, break-even is:
Break-Even Sales = Fixed Costs
1- Variable Costs
(Where fixed costs are expressed in dollars, but variable costs are expressed as a percent of total sales.)
Include all assumptions upon which your break-even calculation is based.
IX. Appendices
Include details and studies used in your business plan; for example:
• Brochures and advertising materials
• Industry studies
• Blueprints and plans
• Maps and photos of location
• Magazine or other articles
• Detailed lists of equipment owned or to be purchased
• Copies of leases and contracts
• Letters of support from future customers
• Any other materials needed to support the assumptions in this plan
• Market research studies
• List of assets available as collateral for a loan
X. Refining the Plan
The generic business plan presented above should be modified to suit your specific type of business and the audience for which the plan is written.
For Raising Capital
For Bankers
• Bankers want assurance of orderly repayment. If you intend using this plan to present to lenders, include:
o Amount of loan
o How the funds will be used
o What this will accomplish—how will it make the business stronger?
o Requested repayment terms (number of years to repay). You will probably not have much negotiating room on interest rate but may be able to negotiate a longer repayment term, which will help cash flow.
o Collateral offered, and a list of all existing liens against collateral
For Investors
• Investors have a different perspective. They are looking for dramatic growth, and they expect to share in the rewards:
o Funds needed short-term
o Funds needed in two to five years
o How the company will use the funds, and what this will accomplish for growth.
o Estimated return on investment
o Exit strategy for investors (buyback, sale, or IPO)
o Percent of ownership that you will give up to investors
o Milestones or conditions that you will accept
o Financial reporting to be provided
o Involvement of investors on the board or in management
For Type of Business
Manufacturing
• Planned production levels
• Anticipated levels of direct production costs and indirect (overhead) costs—how do these compare to industry averages (if available)?
• Prices per product line
• Gross profit margin, overall and for each product line
• Production/capacity limits of planned physical plant
• Production/capacity limits of equipment
• Purchasing and inventory management procedures
• New products under development or anticipated to come online after startup
Service Businesses
• Service businesses sell intangible products. They are usually more flexible than other types of businesses, but they also have higher labor costs and generally very little in fixed assets.
• What are the key competitive factors in this industry?
• Your prices
• Methods used to set prices
• System of production management
• Quality control procedures. Standard or accepted industry quality standards.
• How will you measure labor productivity?
• Percent of work subcontracted to other firms. Will you make a profit on subcontracting?
• Credit, payment, and collections policies and procedures
• Strategy for keeping client base
High Technology Companies
• Economic outlook for the industry
• Will the company have information systems in place to manage rapidly changing prices, costs, and markets?
• Will you be on the cutting edge with your products and services?
• What is the status of research and development? And what is required to:
o Bring product/service to market?
o Keep the company competitive?
• How does the company:
o Protect intellectual property?
o Avoid technological obsolescence?
o Supply necessary capital?
o Retain key personnel?
High-tech companies sometimes have to operate for a long time without profits and sometimes even without sales. If this fits your situation, a banker probably will not want to lend to you. Venture capitalists may invest, but your story must be very good. You must do longer-term financial forecasts to show when profit take-off is expected to occur. And your assumptions must be well documented and well argued.
Retail Business
• Company image
• Pricing:
o Explain markup policies.
o Prices should be profitable, competitive, and in accordance with company image.
• Inventory:
o Selection and price should be consistent with company image.
o Inventory level: Find industry average numbers for annual inventory turnover rate (available in RMA book). Multiply your initial inventory investment by the average turnover rate. The result should be at least equal to your projected first year’s cost of goods sold. If it is not, you may not have enough budgeted for startup inventory.
• Customer service policies: These should be competitive and in accord with company image.
• Location: Does it give the exposure that you need? Is it convenient for customers? Is it consistent with company image?
• Promotion: Methods used, cost. Does it project a consistent company image?
• Credit: Do you extend credit to customers? If yes, do you really need to, and do you factor the cost into prices?
Comment by Leonard L.Wright -
Business Plan in PDF format here: http://www.higherdefinitionmedia.com/businessplan.pdf
More documents available upon request.
Thank you for your time.
Andrew
Comment by Andrew Waite -
Mark,
My plan is to open a retail sales lot for mobile home. I have 20 years of experience as a manager. I have handled all aspects for sales and finance, ordering homes from factory and display of homes. I am a workaholic, I can’t get enough of this business. The initial loan would be $50,000 investment, profit on double wide $10,000.00, single wide $5000.00. Company would pay all the taxes and we would split the profit each month.
Comment by Zack Gray -
American Idol, a hit show in its eighth season continues to be a force among television shows. My proposal is a website which people or contestants can upload videos of themselves singing in which we then place them in a tournament style bracket which fans can then vote on to see who would move on to the next round. A deal would have to be made with a recording label but profits would come from small entry fees. Start up costs would go to a company who could create this website. You will get a return on your investments hopefully through the 1000s of contestants you have to pay to enter the contest.
Comment by Daniel Pak -
Great Idea. I bet many people will give a shot.
Thank Cuban and good luck with mavs.
Comment by David Kuol Anyieth -
Hi Mark, I have an idea that I have been working on for the past year plus. It’s in a $ 54 Billion dollar a year and growing industry with over 945,000 monthly customer and thats just in this country and it has five markets, this is just one market, it currently has no one marketing to them, with this idea, and it is needed. It costs .007 to package. Each case would sell for $85.00 a case with 4000 ps. We need about $ 30 Million to get it off the ground and We have already identified all the customers. we are looking for a partner or however you are willing to invest. I can give you the full details if you contact me. PS We currently have an investor willing to invest 25% of the $ 30 Million, but if it’s possible we would like one investor to come in with the full amount. Thanks for the opportunity Frank Haro
Comment by Frank Haro -
OK Mark, this is what I have. I have long been known with friends and family as a great BBQ’r, plus I slow smoke the best jerky you have ever had. My ribs and chicken just fall off the bone. For years people have told me I needed to sell these products, but I had steady employment and never looked into it. I have been unemployed since last October and when I heard about what you were doing here it seemed like something I should look into. I would propose using your investment to buy a bigger smoker than what I have so that I could really crank out the meats. I see Blockbusters,flea markets and convienince stores as my main outlet for the jerky. I would also develope a website to sell all my products online. I have already secured a web address that I think is perfect.
Comment by Scott -
Hey Mark
This is a great idea, I was mortgage broker that was devastated by subprime mortgage collapse and lost thousands. Now a real estate broker, I want to offer discount realty services flat fee MLS $299 for listing and selling homes and 50% rebates cash back for buyers wanting to purchase. in other words the Wal Mart of real estate companys. Cheap and efficient and lots of volume…check out my philosphy on my website and seller and buyer tabs..if your not interested maybe some one reading would be ….good luck..this is a great business model . cause all employee’s are commission only and no overhead pure profit once concept gets out to public and will change the way national RE companies do business..no more traditional real estate..
Comment by JOE -
Hi Mr. Cuban,
I’m very excited at the opportunity you have extended to the masses. There are millions of great ideas out there to be explored. I, fortunately, have an idea that is already a reality and is ready for mass consumption. My group has created a hydrogen-on-demand system as an aftermarket item for the automotive industry. This product has been third party tested and is in current use on a variety of vehicles. For example, we have had 2001 Ford F350 with over 150,000 miles that is averaging 39 miles to the gallon, 90% cleaner emissions, 10% increase in horsepower, and 8% increase in torque. All of this from a unit that can be installed in a few hours and has the installation complexity of putting in a high end stereo in a car. All of these details can be seen at our site at Hydrorunner.com
We have had great success in making contacts and developing relationships with all of the many trucking companies such as FedEx, Ups and the USPS to name a few. We have a full business plan, performa and financials that can be viewed immediately. Our goal with this funding would be to start the production process. Units are priced according to engine size. We currenty have a big rig version available now for $5,500 that is getting 14-16miles to the gallon. A 100% increase in fuel mileage. We also have 4, 6, 8 cylinder and small diesel version as well.
The unit pays for itself in a matter of weeks just from the fuel mileage increase alone. If that were not enough, there are current government tax credits for these products in excess of $8,000 dollars for those who purchase “green” products. This technology can essentially pay for itself.
This product is the future for the automotive world and beyond. It is not theory. It is a reality, and we have it. Please view our website at Hydrorunner.com. Thank You.
P.S. A unit is available for a test drive in Dallas upon request.
Comment by Jim Matthews -
Mark,
Everyone’s been to the state fair right?! And who doesn’t love fried food!? Why not partner with a national distributor of candies/sweets etc to buy their line of products to fry. Considering most of these fried foods sell for the equivalent of $5 a pop, it would seem easier to partner with a “brand name” in order to sell more. Factor in a line of products and you add variety.
Also, this type of seasonal business usually employs unskilled and low income wage earners. Start with one State fair and expand to all 50 due to your licensing agreement.
Comment by Tom -
Mark, please review our company as we have a shovel ready project in Uvalde, TX 70 miles southwest of San Antonio. We are a 21st Century Agriculture firm with state of the art greenhouse designs that are powered by biomass combustion system,solar energy that is self sustaining and produces medicinal quality fruits & vegetables without using any petro-chemicals. Will generate 200 jobs within the first 45 days & with help can return initial funds within 60 days. Check us out at: http://www.slideshare.net/alwmsjr/saladacresuvalde3
Comment by Al Williams Jr -
Mr. Cuban.
I will be brief. I have a concept that will increase the number of interpreters working in real time, how many deaf clients can be served efficiently, and more importantly, free up the time that is spent by emergency responders (police, fire, emt) waiting for interpreters to arrive in an emergency situation.
I am an interpreter. I know the costs involved with serving the public when these kinds of situations happen. I have plans for a portable laptop/tablet kind of device that has a direct connection through emergency vehicle broadband to video relay services of some kind. I think this device should not be tied to one company to provide the interpreting, and there are some legislative issues concerning how soome interpreting can be billed. (technical jargon like VRS compared to VRI) Now is the most opportune time to make this a reality, since we now have mobile broadband capabilities and small adequate electronics that can run real time video with little or no lag.
This can and will eventually be done, but if we can fund a small device about 12 inches or so, it can be stowed in emergency vehicles, and be ready to use in a matter of minutes. Compared to 45 min or more waiting for a person to show up to do the same job.
This product can be sold to every police, fire, emt crew that thinks they will run into the deaf population. Take a minimal profit, and reap all the goodwill for providing a truly great service.
I live in Tacoma, WA. I could meet in seattle to discuss or set up some kind of video conference.
Thanks for your time, and please let me know what you think.
Comment by Jason -
sorry i didnt add but I would do 10-20 equity always negotiable. i actually have most stuff lined out except kiosk so it would cost way less for me to get started.
Comment by kyle hensley -
Mark,
Love Basketball? Love Hantis.
New table sport has already been played in 5 countries (US, Spain, Germany, Peru, France). We are looking for funding in Table & Ball Design/Manufacturing and Advertising.
From basketball’s humble beginnings through creator James Naismith he was able to see his sport grow and become an Olympic tradition. That is what Hantis will be, a sport for generations to come.
Beneficial to YOU, MC:
Getting on the ground floor of a sport that will echo through human history.
Lucrative sports equipment, from the tables required for play and the balls yet to be manufactured.
The Hantis Creators:
We started playing in highschool, 4 years ago. Since then, developed a website, provisional patent, logos, and videos. We have minimal funding; what we could scrape from our parents and part-time jobs to fund what we have created already.
Why we need You:
Your fame. Your money.
What WE (myself and 3 friends – the creators)
WILL DO:
Invest money FOR new ball design/manufacturing (made specifically for hand-to-hand play)
Invest money FOR new table creation – PORTABLE, STABLE, SLEAK; and economical to not break the banks of schools/organizations willing to buy and promote the sport.
Interested? http://www.hantis.net
Thank You!
Comment by Ben Fatherree -
I have a couple of great ideas that can make us both money.My first dea is to open a cajun restaurant on the west coast. When i visited Seattle , Washington last year there wasn’t i place to eat crawfish like the way we eat here in Texas. bring a little southern cooking to the west coast. i think its a good idea and can makes us money because everyone like to and needs to eats.
my other idea i have it come up with an anti- energy drink.
This drink we help people relax them from a long day at work and
contains all natural and vitamins.They have recently came out with the first anti-energy drink. You have Coke vs. Pepsi
Red bull vs Monster and now Drank vs our drink. my last idea for us to make money is to come up with video phone for the cell phone. Since everyone in todays time have a cell phone now we can introduce the video phone for cell phone we people can see each other while on the cell phone. Here are some of my ideas. i have many more great ideas
Comment by bich ngo -
My idea is called “THE TAP TABLE”.Basically it is a self serving refrigerated keg holder for sports bars all across the nation to watch the Mavs on a big screen.The table could be exclusives with major beer companies across the country and world for that matter.We could even sign deals with sports team that have affiliations with these types of companies.(Example-Dallas Cowboys/Miller Brewing Company,Liverpool FC/Carlsberg beer)Sports bars,chains could have exclusive brand specific tables.These tables would be available for reservation for specific sporting events 2-4 hrs.,deposit required,valid drivers identification to prove age,bar coded with DPS for authenticity and verification,a Martin Meter-t-similar to a gas pump to show dollars spent and levels of product.16 seats per table-perfect for group of friends,business assoc.,parties,etc…to have their very own TAP TABLE…..No more waiting in line at concession stand for stale beer and sitting in crammed seats at the stadium and you don’t need to spend alot of money for game tickets and parking.Spend that money on enjoyment watching the NBA FINALS @ your favorite sports bar with your friends in a great spirited atmosphere.Mark,you make your money at the arena night end and night out.Now we can bring an extension to sports bars that already have a loyal following and what better a person than you,Mark Cuban,to bring this product to your fans and your customers-the businesses who purchase these unique tap tables.Racetracks,stadium clubs,personal boxes for game watching parties,sports bars,resorts,hotels sports bars etc….. Let’s build the one and only TAP TABLES for sports fans who don’t want to fight the traffic.Being at the game is one thing,but hosting your very own party to watch the Mavs crush the Spurs and showing off your tap table that your friends can enjoy is another way to reach your fans.Our customer base is large as all of these potential customers will have to have 4-6 at least for their establishments.We build a prototype that will not cost more than $2000.00,We will sell them for around $5999.00.The customer eventually pay for there tables and keep them for 100% profit.They will be hot!!!!YOU CAN MAKE THIS PRODUCT A REALITY AND TAKE ALL OF THE CREDIT AND PROFIT AND COPYRIGHT.ALL I ASK IS A SALARY THAT YOU SEE FIT.WE CAN DO THIS.The only catch is the legality in sports bars.Can paying customers dispense for own beer or does a server have to do that.If you see it in any way to make money get in touch with me.Have a great day.God bless Kevin MARTIN
Comment by kevin martin -
Even in tough times, there are few things that people cannot do without. Two of these things are food and gasoline. So why not combine the two? But not in the traditional way. We need a gas station where we can pump our gas and order our food all at the same time. So add touch screen ordering menus to the pump and allow for payment at the pump also. Then take the receipt in to the convienence store to pick the food up, and I mean real food. (Hoagies, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, etc…) Competitively priced gasoline would bring people into the store and the high volume of food sales would create a good profit. This plan also has the potential to work anywhere in the US, and the US can support hundreds if not thousands of these stores across the country. (which could allow for a large employment opportunity) Also on a final note you are not trying to sell anything new to the population you are just repackaging it in a different way so people should be very receptive.
Comment by Zack -
My idea of a great business is to help the people that are in foreclosures, help save there home. We do not charge untill the home is saved. Don’t charge $1,000.00’s to do the work, make us work to save the home and get paid. If the property cant be saved they will need that money that they did not pay to relocate is how i see it. Charging $200.00 to $500.00, after the home has been saved from going into foreclosure and being foreclosed on, is the best way i can see work.
Comment by Juan -
It’s funny that I saw what you were doing on WFAA news because I was thinking today about a great business venture in the county I live in. Just recently the City of Greenville has aloud the sell of alcohol in stores, and with that has been an increase in the number of DWI stops. I alone have had 2 friends lose their clean records due to some overly aggressive rookie cops. My idea for a town peeking over 25,000 is to start a taxi service for the nightly crowd in Hunt County and surrounding areas as needed. Unlike Dallas their is no public transportation for the occasionally party goers. I feel that my idea would be a great benefit not only for public safety but for all those that have lost careers over making poor decision in a drunken stupor and did not have any other choices but to get behind the wheel and drive.
Comment by Nance' -
Does anyone here make websites? Or work in video production or game development? If anyone is interested in working with me on the open source eductional system please let me know here. If we get enough people interested Cuban could follow suit.
The idea is to make highly creative and interactive learning resources and to make a environment online conducive to people working together and helping each other learn.
Think of it as the Youtube of learning. We could have contests where people compete to make the most effective learning videos and the winners receive awards for the best video. And I would hope Cuban makes an exception for this service being ad driven because it is educational.
Comment by charlie -
Mr. Cuban,
I am writing to you because of a great business Idea. This idea is dealing with education industry. I have put together a demo teaching kids how to speak in English and Spanish with the style of Hip Hop. The reasoning for this idea is that a lot of kids listen on the radio and can learn all of the negative music. Why not do it the same way. You may say there is something out there like that. Well it’s not one dealing with the current style of music. The cool thing is I have studio access and producer and Bilingual artist. The artist can be branded into a character which this project can become an interactive CD/DVD with a work book. The vision is real big all I need is for you to at least listen to the demo it will sell its self I promise.
Thanks in advance,
Vernon Robinson
Comment by Vernon Robinson -
Mark,
My idea would be to open up a sports bar in Allen where all the new shops & mall are opening up in Allen on 75. With everything going in I dont see any bars going in. Hooters is the only place to really go to up here and its packed on game nights.
Thanks Jason
Comment by jason -
Great Idea but to summerize so that this isn’t a 34ft long blog. All the facts and technical data is available for the retrofitting the engines on the MD-80 series aircraft in order to compete against the more economical and fuel effeiceint Air Bus that is having difficulty providing the orders from the demand. There are litterlaly hundereds of 80 series aircraft that are still low time aircraft that could be retrofitted with new engines at a cost one tenth of the cost of purchasing an Air Bus.The US carriers alone would save billions of dollars by keeping the 80 series aircraft and retrofitting the engines and save easily 16% on fuel consumption over their competirors. Tona of technicasl data exsists showing the retrofit is viable abd has been pitched to a few major airlines that at my dismay could not see the 10 year savings in thmarket as worth the investment. I interested email to me and you can show me how to post the large summary of the business plan on this blog.
Comment by Brian Perryman -
Here is my idea, there are places like auntie annes and cinnabon where you have to pay a lot of money to open a franchise. Why not start up something and sell something that everyone likes.
My idea is to open up a food kiosk or store in a mall and sell carnival foods like funnel cakes, cotton candy, corn dogs, bloomin onions snow cones. I know these places do good if you go to a carnival or a city festival there is always a line for these products. But you can hardly ever find these items unless you are at a carnival or festival.
Auntie annes and cinnabon average over 120000 profits a year after paying all bills, this should do roughly the same. Start up wouldn’t be all that expensive rent, fryer, 3 compartment sink and cotton candy maker and a hood for the fryer. I you did this in a kiosk shoud be able to be done for under 10,000 and if you where bringing anything near what the other companies like this bring in then you could bay back all investment and pay all bills within the first 6 months.
Comment by kyle hensley -
Mark, tremendous opportunity you are giving the “Average Joe”. But it is “G.I. Joe” that I would like to focus on.
My plan circumvents many of your rules, ignores others. Still I think you may be intrigued….
BACKGROUND: I am a former soldier in the U.S. Army. My wife has been involved in child-development organizations for over five years now. I work for a major Aerospace company. We live near a military base.
We see a HUGE need for military members to be able to have a reliable place for their children to spend time – perhaps daily during the week, or even perhaps even overnight (if both parents are deployed) for extended amounts of time. We would work with military base to be included into Family Action Plans for deployed soldiers.
This is NOT a typcial “daycare”. Our plan is to establish a Child Development Academy, catering specifically to the needs of military families. Once mature in our hometown, we may look to replicate the concept in other military towns.
Initially, we would charge a weekly fee to the parents to make this happen, but would like it to grown into a “Scholarship-based” arrangement, where businesses in the community could truly support their military families. Perhaps even a teaming-arrangement with the Fallen Patriot Fund.
Initial Funding: We have seen a property in our area that is out of reach for us financially, but would be ideal for our use, as it has a home and a building very close to the home that would be used for child development purposes, and also has a basketball court on the property. Should you select our business investment, I would even agree to re-paint the colors to match that of the Dallas Mavericks (despite the fact that we live in the area of a rival team).
Recurring Costs: Would be self-supported on fees, then scholarships.
Comment by pat -
use your celebrity to get word out to everyone about the opportunity to join the Mark Cuban club.
membership costs 10 dollars. membership entails absolutely nothing except a guarantee of 5 dollars for every new member one recruits.
20,000 people join, you get 200,000 dollars. each person gets 3 friends to join, you get 300,000 dollars (600,000 from new members minus the 300,000 pledged to recruiters). they all get 3 friends to join, you get 9,000,000 dollars.
granted this isn’t a business plan in any sense, is probably illegal, involves me in no way, and would only attract people with three stupid friends that also had three stupid friends, but whatever. let me know how it goes.
Comment by Bernard -
Hello Mr. Cuban
I am thinking you can do great things with your resources.Of course i always wanted to win the lottery, not so much for me but to rid the homeless.My plan was to go where i could buy less enexpensive land and proced to grow crops with the homeless people that would be invited to live there. This problem has magnafied because of people losing there jog. SO COUNTIES EVERYWHERE BEGIN TO GROW THERE COMMODITES THAT IS PART OF THERE ENVIROMENT, THE KEY IS THE GOVERMENT IS RUNNING IT. THE FEILD WORKERS, TRUCK DRIVERS, CROPDUSTERS, HARVESTERS, PROCESSING FACILITY ect. Now why dont the goverment buy some resteraunts, buy there commodities from the goverment ran crop producers, make the goverment a co-op. With the recognition of the goverment ran facility it would be understood that these products created jobs.I belive the support will be there. Mr. Cuban you are a man of great vision. But i can see this is more long turm. So contruction projects usally put a lot of people to work but should mostly be founded by private sector. Oh well GO MAVERICKS
Comment by randy roberts -
I think I made contact but it said September. I don’t know wht I did wrong. I have just gone in to debt to start the Black label pet Designers Showroom at the World Trade Center. i would like to license Dallas maverick pet wear to sell to upscale retailers who visit the showroom. No one in the world has ever done a venue like this. This is the luxury end of the pet industry marketing to the ready to wear industry.
Comment by Janice Ford Grimes -
HEY MARK,
THIS ONE BASICALLY STARTS WITH ONE OF THOSE OLD 1 HOUR VIDEO HUTS, OR A LITTLE SPOT IN THE MIDDLE OF A PARKING LOT. MAYBE BRAND NEW WOULD HELP, SO PEOPLE KNOW ITS CLEAN.
MY IDEA IS TO JUST SERVE 1 MEAT A DAY WITH ALL THE VEGIES. FER INSTANCE JUS COOK (1) ONE BRISKET, AND THATS IT.WHEN ITS GONE ITS GONE. LET THE CUSTOMERS CHOOSE HOW MUCH I SHOULD COOK. IF THEY COME EVERYNIGHT MAYBE AFTER AWHILE WE WOULD BE UP TO 6 BRISKETS, OR 10 CHICKENS OR WHATEVER. WOULD BE EASY TO DO THE VEGIES CAUSDE YOU ONLY GET SO MANY SERVINGS PER BRISKET, CHICKEN, SAUSAGE ETC. ETC.
MAYBE EVEN A MOBILE STYLE RETRAUNT?!!! WAS THINKING OF NAMIN IT CUBANS, BUT PEOPLE MIGHT THINK ITS CUBAN FOOD LOL JK :p
Comment by Mrs. Teri Stanski -
Atlanta-based enterprise committed to improving athletic safety through
research-based technology, today announced it is working closely with Schutt
Sports to develop a commercially viable heat-sensing helmet insert, which can
detect potential heat stroke in a player in real-time. News of their joint
development activities was officially announced at the American Football
Coaches Association Annual Convention hosted by the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090111/CLSU014 )
“From the moment we began researching a way to prevent non-fatal and fatal
injuries due to heatstroke, it has been our hope that the technology would
find mass distribution through a relationship like this,” said HotHead CEO Jay
Buckalew. “Placement of the Heat Observation Technology (H.O.T.)(TM) System in
Schutt helmets will have a significant impact on the lives of these athletes.”
Developers at HotHead have spent years perfecting a dime-sized sensor that
is expected to be implanted in the forehead pad of new and refurbished Schutt
football helmets beginning this fall. The sensor will track the temperature
trends of players on the field and send that data to a PDA (Personal Digital
Assistant) on the sidelines where it can be monitored in real-time. In the
event a player’s temperature rises above normal, an audible alert is set off
to warn a coach or certified athletic trainer that the player should be
evaluated and cooled down.
While concussions and head injuries remain the most highly publicized
injuries for football players, heat stroke and other heat-related problems are
a very real threat to athletes and can be even more serious than other
injuries.
“Yesterday’s helmets were designed to simply protect players from head
injuries,” said Schutt CEO Robert Erb. “Our association with HotHead Sports is
part of our long-range effort to build “smart” helmets which protect the
player as a whole. Thanks to the ground-breaking H.O.T.(TM) System, we hope to
help coaches and athletic trainers take the guesswork out of whether or not a
player is overheating.”
According to USA Football, more than 21 million Americans — from pee wee
to the NFL — will play football this year. Overheating, especially among
programs in the South, is an area of long-time concern for coaches, parents,
certified athletic trainers and administration. Until now, they have never
been able to accurately monitor the true temperature of an athlete on the
field.
About HotHead Sports
HotHead Sports, a division of HotHead Technologies, Inc., is an
Atlanta-based company offering a patent-pending and proprietary monitoring
solution termed the Heat Observation Technology (H.O.T.)(TM) system. The
system is designed as an aid in the prevention of heat-related illness in
athletes. Within the coming years, HotHead Technologies will target additional
segments that have a need for biosensor technologies such as public safety,
military, industrial, and other markets. “HotHead “, “HotHead Sports”, Heat
Observation Technology (H.O.T) and the HotHead Sports logo are trademarks of
HotHead Technologies, Inc..
HotHead is a registered trademark of HotHead Technologies, Inc.
About Schutt Sports
Schutt Sports is the world’s #1 maker of football helmets and faceguards
and is the first helmet maker to move its technology beyond traditional foam
padding. SKYDEX2(R) TPU Cushioning is available in the ION4D, AiR XP and DNA
Pro+ lines, absorbing as much as 55% more force from impact in game-like
conditions. Nearly 60% of the helmets and 80% of the faceguards around the
world, from the pros to the pee wees, are made by Schutt Sports. Schutt Sports
is also the Official Base Supplier to Major League Baseball(R). The USA
Olympic Softball Team has won three gold medals and one silver medal wearing
batter’s helmets from Schutt Sports.
SOURCE HotHead Technologies, Inc.
Don Yaeger for HotHead Technologies, Inc., +1-850-412-0300, don@team180.com
Comment by Jay Buckalew -
Mr. Cuban,
I am writing a documentary with historical value. I am seeking funding for this project. Stated below are the details. Currently the Dallas County Community College District is considering supporting my project, of which I will be the guest lecturer at the Mountian View Campus on Next week Tuesday. I hiope that you would consider my project a worth while investment.
The Negro Spirituals Project
Dr. Leela Pearl Honeysucker-Miller presented a PowerPoint lecture on Negro spirituals at the 2008 African American National Biography seminar at Harvard University. After discussing her research on the origins, meanings, and historical values of the Negro Spirituals, host Dr. Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr. compelled her to share the knowledge by enriching the 45-minute presentation into a documentary series.
The uniquely African-American legacy will be explored in a two-part, 4 hour series of interviews and anecdotes with Black scholars and celebrities, archival footage, and performances by notable artists. These performers will present their craft in their own manner, throughout the entire documentary; as topic of focus, there will be constant singing of the Negro Spirituals.
Public’s awareness and understanding of the body of Negro Spirituals and its history. Focus will be on the origins, its evolution, how it relates to present day music, and how it affects the Black Church music ministry.
The series will increase The Negro Spiritual Project aims to:
Educate about composers, writers, and the unknown Black slaves who created them, their meanings and other contributors.
Develop and disseminate educational publications, including website, book, and study guide.
Create public forums, radio programs, and workshops.
Hip hop and gospel music have dominated or taken control of Black church music. As the African-American community seeks to restore the dignity, values and pride of our fore fathers, it is important for the churches and the community to preserve the rich heritage explored in The Negro Spirituals Project. With the goal of bridging the generational gap and cultural void created by ignorance of this significant music form, The Negro Spirituals project will also illuminate the correlation between the spiritual and contemporary African-American music.
(Proposed) INTERVIEWEES & PERFORMERS and Participants:
Scholars:
Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. – Author and Harvard University Professor
Dr. Cornel West – Author and Princeton University Professor
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson – Author and Georgetown University Professor
Dr. Sam Edwards-Professor of History, Stanford University; San Francisco, California
Dr. John Hope Franklin-Author and Duke University Professor and Historian, Durham, North Carolina
Mrs. Levoita Pointer – Executive Director of the Noel Pointer Foundation Inc. New York, New York
Mr. Calvin Earl, Noted Negro Spiritual Researcher, Williamsburg, Virginia
Celebrities:
Mr. Tom Joyner, Radio Personality
Dr. Bill Cosby, Actor
Ms. Dorothy Heights, Activist
Rev. Della Reese. Actress
Ms. Debbie Allen, Actress and Director
Ms. Cicely Tyson, Actress
Mr. Wynton Marsalis, Musician, Composer
Mr. Danny Glover – Actor, Producer
Mr. Spike Lee – Director, Producer, Writer
Mr. Tavis Smiley – PBS Talk Show Host
Dr. Maya Angelou – World Renowned Poet, Author
Mr. Magic Johnson – Former NBA Superstar, Entrepreneur
Mr. Quincy Jones – Composer, Music Producer
Mr. Bobby McFerrin – Composer, Performer
Mr. David Robinson – Former NBA Superstar, Concert Pianist, Educator
Religious Leaders:
Rev. Dr. Floyd Flake- Pastor of The Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York
Bishop T. D. Jakes – Founder, Pastor, Potters House; Dallas, Texas
Rev. Al Sharpton, New York, New York
Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Operation Push, Chicago, IL
Rev. Clay Evans, Recording Gospel Artist, Chicago, IL
Bishop Arthur Brazier, Apostolic Church of God, Chicago, IL
Bishop Dr. Horace Smith, Chicago, IL.
Pastor Paula White – World Renown Ministries
Bishop Kenneth W. Carter – Presiding Prelate, 10th Episcopal District, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Fort Worth, Texas
Rev. Dr. Freddie Haynes-Pastor of Friendship West Baptist Church; Dallas, Texas
Bishop Ronald M. Cunningham – Presiding Prelate of the 8th Episcopal District of The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church; Dallas, Texas
Performers:
Three Mo Tenors: Cook, Dixon and Young
Ms. Melba Moore – Recording Artist
Dr. Bobby Jones – Bobby Jones Gospel
Mr. Fred Hammond -Gospel Recording Artist
Mr. Harry Bellefonte, Recording Artist, Actor
Ms. Phyllicia Rashad, Actress and Vocalist
Mr. Darrius Brooks – Gospel Recording Artist
Rev. Richard Smallwood and Vision – Gospel Recording Artist
Dr. Roland Carter – Composer and Choral Conductor
Dr. Clyde Owen Jackson-Texas Southern University Choral Director, Houston
Ms. Karen Krieger, Soprano, Metropolitan Opera Company
Mr. Robert E. Honeysucker, Baritone, Boston Pops Performer
Dr. Gene Townsel Choral Workshop Conductor, Tenor
Mr. Rolland Carter, Composer and Choral Conductor
Rev. Dr. Kathy Flemming, Organist and Soloist
Rev. Dr. Jimmy Allen Thomas, Minister of Church Music
Rev. Nolan Williams – Minister of Music, Composer
Ms. Gladys Knight, Recording Artist
Pastor Donnie McCurklian – composer, singer
Ms. Aretha Franklin – Grammy-Award Queen of Soul
Sweet Honey in the Rock – Acclaimed Folk Singers
Ms. Shirley Caesar – Grammy-Award Winning Gospel Performer
Ms. Patti LaBelle – Grammy-Award Winning R&B Performer
Ms. Yolanda Adams – Grammy-Award Winning Gospel Performer
Ms. Tina Turner – Grammy-Award Winning Rock Performer
Sounds of Blackness – Grammy-Award Winning Gospel Group
Ms. Judith Jamison – Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey Dance
Concert Choirs:
Fisk Jubilee Singers – Dr. Paul Kwami, Conductor
Texas Southern University – Dr. Clyde Owen Jackson, Conductor
TIMETABLE:
1 year
2 months development and research
January – February 2009
1 months pre-production
March 2009
6 months production
April – September 2009
3 months post-production
October – December 2009
LOCATIONS:
The Negro Spiritual Project will travel around the country to illustrate the breadth of this music and uncover the regional influences, as well as to access many of the featured interviewees and performers. Preliminary locations include:
Dallas, Texas
New York City, New York
Atlanta, Georgia
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Chicago, Illinois
Durham, North Carolina
STRUCTURE:
Episode 1:
The Origins — history of slavery
Plantation Life — comfort and freedom from bondage
Underground Rail Road — coded messages
Episode 2:
After the Civil War — Black schools and intellectual emancipation
The Composers & Performers — keeping the Negro Spirituals alive
Contemporary Spirituals — today’s Black music ministry
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:
How do the Negro Spirituals relate to today’s Black Church?
Why have the Negro Spirituals been replaced by radical music within their congregations?
What are the other boilerplate questions?
Interview Questions for the Negro Spiritual Project
1. As you reflect on the Negro Spirituals, and their origins, what comes to your mind?
2. Why do you think that the Negro Spirituals are being under utilized or in most cases, NO longer being used in our Churches?
3. What is that saying to you about preserving the Black Heritage?
4. Besides during the Month of February, How can these emotions, these thoughts be injected into the minds and the hearts of today’s youth?
5. Seeing that hip hop and radical gospel music have pretty much dominated or have taken control, could a possible reason for Churches today not incorporating the Negro Spirituals into their regular Sunday Morning service be that it does not attract young people, thus not growing the congregation?
*********************************************
PRODUCER NOTES:
QUESTIONS:
Among the names given for interviews and performances, WHO IS COMMITTED?
Do you have a video of your lecture or the PowerPoint as a reference?
Do you have a resume/CV for the proposal?
Why did you first pursue this subject?
How do you propose raising funds for the project?
Do you have a preliminary budget?
Why each celebrity? Why were they selected to be included?
What is the influence of the spiritual in other forms of music [blues, jazz, rock & roll, folk, etc.]?
What are the African origins of the spiritual?
Where else do spirituals live in the African Diaspora? [Africa? Brazil? Latin America? Europe?]
What do most people know/think about Negro Spirituals?
Define what is meant by ‘radical’ music.
OTHER NOTES:
3-hour episodes is too long. 2 episodes, 2 hours each
Dallas and Hip-Hop are not important enough to this topic to be a focal point. Distraction.
Proposal needs streamlining and proofing.
Need to consider and discuss producer and director credits, deal memo.
Comment by Leela -
Hello Mark,
Just curious how long this offer is available? As a young entrepreneur I want to make sure and do my homework before embarking upon cut throat glory.
To give you a little head ups. I am a writer engaged to a man that has traveled around the world with music greats as Paul McCartney among others. I want a chance to write his stories, as well as my own memoirs.
Comment by Elizabeth -
This is a good one.
The basic business plan is to wholesale western saddles and tack for the equine industry. The western saddle will always belong to America it’s something that can’t be made over seas. Our business has been family owned and operated and profitable for over 40 years. We wholesale merchandise to various tack stores and dealers across the nation. We sell by setting up a trailer full of tack and saddles at various horse and livestock auctions all over the state. We also sell to the general public by setting up saddle & tack auctions in neighboring states. We sell items on ebay, have an established account with a good reputation active since 1999. We have lots of existing customers at both the retail and wholesale level. The problem is that in order to keep a decent inventory most of our capital if not all of it is tied up in the inventory we have on hand and it’s still not enough to satisfy our customers. Furthermore with the economy the way it is our own suppliers have cut down on the credit they give us. This business has been going for 40+ years but we are basically doing everything ourselves on paper with no employees and adding machines. It works, but it has potential for so much more. With a cash infusion we could go digital in everything inventory, accounting, advertising which would mean our sales would jump through the roof. With the added business we would need employees, warehouse space, advertising expenses…etc. Exactly the kind of business that would add to the economy the way you want it to. Furthermore your investment would be secure in the form of actual inventory, goods made of leather that are as tangible as you can get. The second we have increased sales we would be profitable and able to begin repaying your investment in full with interest.
Comment by Travis Teskey -
Locking Hinge
As crime continues to spike in Dallas we are all looking for ways to be more safe in our own homes.
Deadbolts and door locks are only as good as the wood into which they are installed. Most can be kicked in with little effort or picked with as little as a credit card – in many instances.
Enter the locking hinge. With the flip of a tab the door hinge is rendered useless – the door can not be opened regardless of whether locks are engaged.
Financing would be used for technical drawings and training machinists. All hinges would be made here in Dallas at existing machine shops and would be shipped nationwide direct to consumers.
Advertising would be grass roots with effort spent to gain publicity from newspapers, etc as well as attempts to present on home shopping channels.
From MC> is there anything else out there that does this ? And before you say no. Tell me what research you have done to confirm there isnt
Comment by David Farris -
Hi Mark..
I have a product idea but I’m hesitant to post it on the net since it’s not patented or protected in any way as yet. It’s a product idea I had 20’ish years ago but haven’t made the time to follow through. Not an excuse, just reality, work, big family, life, all of it takes time. It’s a see-a-need fill-a-need idea and this is the right time of year for it. If you’d like to know more about it, shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to speak with you about it.
Comment by Sean Willeford -
Hello Mark,
I have an idea that would save people from recieving tickets from speeding,but when people have no idea that they’re speeding.
I was interested in developing a mobile application that would give you the speed limit in that area.
I realized that on my way to Houston that I didn’t see a speed limit sign for miles,and nobody wants to drive twenty miles below the limit when they are oblivious to what the limit is.
Please eMail me if you are interested. Please contact me at jamesdiscipline@gmail.com.
Thank you,
-James
Comment by James Fanelli -
Pingback: Top Posts « WordPress.com
it’s a “Jump to Conclusions” mat. You see, it would be this mat that you would put on the floor… and would have different CONCLUSIONS written on it that you could JUMP TO.
Comment by Tom Smykowski -
Mark,
Very simple proposal that is guaranteed to get plenty of business all over the country.
The company is called “Lawn-gerie”
It is a lawn mowing/ landscaping company with a catch. All the employees are good looking women (at least in shape women) who do all the lawn work in lingerie. There are already tons of people who pay for lawn work done, but this would multiply the conusmers 100x! Can even charge more for the enjoyment of watching them work the lawn. Sex appeal sells! This is a simple but genious idea that could easily be spread to all 50 states and Puerto Rico (just imagine those Puerto Rican girls mowing). I am taking something as simple as paying to have your lawn mowed and making it a true entertainment experience. The only crowd this wouldn’t appeal to is the homosexual men, but they already have the normal lawn crews. Let me know if you have any other suggestions for me to build on.
Comment by Rob -
Dallas has a huge pet market! But being one of the hundreds of thousands of people that have dogs I find the places you can bring your dogs is actually very limited. So my idea…A dog Café! A Café for the dog owner and the dog. Not like other cafés where you’re allowed to bring your dog on the porch but a café that fully integrates the owner and their dog into the environment. A social environment where pet owners can meet other pet owners. Now we don’t have to leave him at home every time we leave! There will be an “indoor park” where dogs can play… large dogs enter left, small enter right!! Oh and a few Simple rules, you sign a waiver your first visit, no doggies in heat, please dispose of your dogs poo, and leave the aggressive ones at home! Carabineer post at every table where you can hook your dog up if hanging out tableside. Certified organic coffee and treats like any café but there will also be treats made for your pooch! Locations will be positioned in high foot-traffic, urban settings, near parks, and/or near national pet stores such as PETSMART and PETCO.
Comment by Amberle Pope -
I have though of this for a while. Take one of the struggling new home subdivisions that are not fully completed,builders aren’t getting lots sold for build jobs. Get citiy councils to agree to let new homes be built with solar power on homes, and wind turbines for power for the subdivision, and where possible its own water wells for the subdivisions. I was on the Planning and Zoning commission for Colleyville and know something of how to get these things approved. The wind turbines can be bought and constructed for the subdivisions, allowing excess power to be bought back by the city or county of the subdivision.
Comment by mary taylor -
Hello all,
I have developed a business plan for a next-gen bank. The plan has been praised by analysts at Microsoft, Amazon.com and top venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The plan draws on canonical work by growth economist Paul Romer, innovation scholar Clayton Christensen, Google’s Director of Research Peter Norvig, and many other world-class specialists. Put differently, while developing the plan I restricted myself to thinking originally only as a last resort :-).
An adaptation of the plan is online at LandofOpportuniTV.com.
An excerpt from the site:
We the undersigned urge President Obama and members of Congress to consider creating and funding a venture capital (VC) firm that invests in American companies that:
i. introduce online markets that provide new and improved ways to customize education [1], and to showcase and earn money from expertise [2] (For details, click on the ‘1’ and the ‘2’. [1.4] contains excerpts from reviews of the business plan.)
ii. introduce a loan program for consumers of customized education ASAP [3]
iii. make the popularity of the company’s markets and loan program mutually reinforcing, so a borrower who performs well in the markets — thereby demonstrating her ability to earn a high and/or fast-rising return on her expertise — is rewarded with a lower interest rate [4]
iv. take advantage of new government regulations to become a bank, as a means of increasing the amount of money the company can lend [5]
v. introduce other loan programs and financial services that complement the markets [6]
The VC firm can be similar in form to In-Q-Tel [7], a VC firm that is funded solely by America’s Central Intelligence Agency.
———————
I hope you will consider signing the petition, and introducing it to others.
Of course, email me if you have any questions, etc.
Mark, thanks much for your blog. I’m a longtime reader, and I’ve learned a lot from it.
Viva the rebels! 🙂
Comment by Frank Ruscica -
I am a senior in college and have recently started looking for a job. I am using website like careerbuilder.com and monster.com to post my resume. After dealing with both of these sites it seems clear to me that they are mostly inadequate. I LOVE the idea, and I truly believe that if they were done correctly then that site could change the way companies recruit and connect with potential employees.
My idea is for an online job site that does not SUCK. One that actually creates value for both employer and potential employee.
Here are some specific things I think could change the dynamic of the industry:
(1) Fix the poor design problem. The two sites I listed above are just plain annoying to navigate. Why not strip away all the useless bullshit on these sites so a user can actually navigate without loosing his mind? I would suggest the most basic layout possible for increased user understanding.
(2) Fix Navigation and key word problems that arise from search. I can’t understand why these two websites REFUSE to separate job postings into entry-level, management, professional, etc. This would DRAMATICALLY decrease search time and would allow both parties to get down to business. Additionally, there must be a better search algorithm then what they currently use. I feel like I am using yahoo circa 1999. I suggest that it would be essential to create an algorithm that could do more than just match a few key words.
(3) When these companies post jobs (on the two traditional sites) they generally do it the most traditional and boring way. Why not actually make it sound exciting? Make it sound like more than something that will pay the bills. At least stray away from the traditional scripted bullshit. Try to show employees that they will actually make a difference. That they won’t get lost in the crowd. The goal should be to broadcast how this position will be fulfilling to you. To actually relate to someone in a human way is foreign it appears. The ultimate goal of the blurb should be to show that your work will mean something and that you will be truly happy with what you produce.
(4) I constantly get automated emails from careerbuilder and monster that say nothing. This distracts users and DESTROYS value. My general rule of thumb is that if you are not saying something that creates value and you are not offering anything then don’t send it. Believe me there is no quicker way to lose a customer then to fill their inbox with meaningless bullshit. Why not move past automated emails and try to make an actual connection with someone? Maybe have a person who is the company’s “connector.” This person would be in charge of sending personalized emails to their customers monthly. This would establish a REAL conversation and would allow the company to gather huge amounts of useful information about their users.
(5) When you register to one of these sites you are asked a few questions (to create your profile), and then you post your resume and/or cover letter. Then, the site attempts to connect you with companies that have answered similar questions the same. How superficial is this? This is not real. I KNOW THERE IS SOMETHING BETTER. The way I see it all this does is prove to the website that you are not, in fact, a machine. Do four key words (finance, banking, sales, marketing-for example) and your resume really describe you as a person? Do these things show your work ethic, dedication, and passion. After all are these not the important things? How does a resume SHOW what you have accomplished. It doesn’t. It simply TELLS things that you might or might not have done. But where is the section in the resume about passion? Where is the section that says that you work hard and you will do whatever it takes? It is not there. You know why? Because you can’t TELL about passion. Passion is SHOWN through blood, sweat, and tears. Passion is getting up every day and doing what you were put on this earth to do. Not because you simply want to, but because you need to: You were put on the earth for this purpose, you were born for this and if you believe this and put it into action you will change the world.
Sure resumes can be personalized to an extent, BUT, the important aspect missing is SHOWING what you have done. SHOWING that you work hard, are persistent, and will do whatever it takes to get a job done. After all, that is what I would want in an employee. So why don’t these sites, or any company for that matter, have a reasonable way of evaluating this if it seems to be so important? Who knows. BUT, herein lies the opportunity to truly change the world. You don’t even need to come up with this one on your own. The Internet and the free distribution of content and ideas is already here. Waiting for you. The possibilities are endless. Right now I have my Internet browser open to three of my favorite websites. I consider these three people to be some of the most inspiring individuals on the Internet. AND, more importantly, all three can be contacted IN REAL TIME with the click of a mouse. I can connect with ANYONE I WANT these days. I can ask Mark Cuban business related questions (assuming I have something to offer). I can talk to Jeff Jarvis about the future of news. I can email Tucker Max and learn about strategy, business, and not letting others define your life. Connect with these people and you can change the world. What do you have to lose? You can establish and ongoing conversation with two of the most influential Internet entrepreneurs for free or you can pay 100,000 dollars to attend business school to learn about business models that are becoming obsolete.
THE POINT OF ALL THIS is that it is now possible to use the Internet to SHOW the world what you have done. Start a blog, or an online business for minimal cost and a resume becomes obsolete. No one will care about you TELLING them what you have done when you can easily SHOW them. Show them that you worked hard, that you got up every day and dedicated you time to something worthwhile. So why don’t careerbulider or monster allow you to do this? I would suggest having that same “connector” from above administer a REAL interview (via email or whatever) before allowing someone to post anything on their site. This would allow companies to truly understand the real emotions and type of people they are looking to hire. Ask these people the questions that matter. Questions that actually relate to actual human feelings. Questions that SHOW these companies that these are actual people. This would be WAY more efficient. Think of how many hiring mismatches occur because of mis-judgements. What if there was a way to vastly eliminate this? Companies could run must smoother and their employees would be happier. How much money and time would this save? So much that it is very unclear why it has not already been adopted.
(6) I would suggest that it would be HUGELY beneficial for these employment sites to create a real and meaningful community. Let others learn from people who were once in their shoes. Create a message board and various blogs that start a conversation. Create a loyal following that will help to spread the word. Why don’t these sites do this? Why do they not tap into their most valuable assets? It will never be known. What is known is that it is possible to do this. It is possible to actually learn from your customers and to provide for them what they want.
Those are just some basics ( I can think of more but they will mostly be addressed in the next section)—
So how is this all going to make money?
(1) These two websites charge you an up front cost of around 500 or so dollars just to put up the ad. I suggest that you do not charge the employer anything until after they have found someone to hire. This would increase job postings and give the job seeker more options to choose from. I would suggest collecting a small amount after the person is hired. Much smaller than 500 dollars. Pricing could even be democratized (similar to how radio head allowed fans to choose how much to pay for their cds).
I believe this idea is highly scalable and would not cost too much to run. I could start out emailing companies and offering this as an alternative. It is free until they find someone to hire so there is no risk in them posting their jobs. I strongly believe In the power of personal connections.
It would cost hardly anything to run and maintain. I am not even sure if would need that large of an investment. Basically, all I would need assistance with is setting up the website, hosting it, etc. I do know you can do this through web.org or similar programs. This only cost around 30 dollars a month.(plus an initial 300 dollars set-up cost) I could obviously handle that. Hiring employees might be an issue. However, I don’t think it would take too many to run this site. Definatly not the 2500 that are employed by careerbuilder.
If you were to invest I would give you an equity interest in the company. As the site grows so will your interest.
Thanks a lot for the opportunity.
Comment by Lee Musser -
Mr. Cuban,
With the economy the way it is, and the way that it is heading the ideas that will be profitable are scarce. One however is almost a guarantee, gold. As the economy worsens, or as the american dollar becomes worth less and less gold is a commodity that will 1) Never lose its value and 2) Only greaten its value the worse the economy gets and with it heading there will soon be worth amounts never seend before. Today an ounce of gold is selling for over a thousand dollars an ounce. That has raised significantly and will continue to raise. My idea is to start an online sight that buys and sells gold. Invested in now gold can make you alot of money, if your patient and wait even a little longer then soon it will be worth even more. With your support of a website like this, my plan is to have it be one of the most well known providers of gold and to be profitable for time to come. It is simple and even if it fails the product you are buying is not like clothes, or automobiles or any thing along those lines. It has worth anywhere to anyone. making it very safe. it is a simple thing to do i would just need your support and help in funding it. i am what you would consider young and inexpierienced but i am business minded and full of energy, ready to make money. as far as your money being returned it would be as the profits started rolling in. and with equity, i would let you decide what was fair. i feel like you would know more than me what a fair amount would be on something like this. i hope to hear from you soon to discuss details. thanks for your time and GO MAVS!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Nic -
“””@charlie Your idea for an open source college is out there. http://academicearth.org and done by MIT already thru their OpenCourse site. http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm Both are free and provide great lectures by some of the top schools / profs around.”””
Thanks for the info M.. but my idea is much different than this.. much more interactive. Much more user friendly. Think of it like the YouuTube of learning. Much more interactive, user friendly and graphic orientated.
And besides.. just because there is the MIT open course ware doesn’t mean there isn’t room for others. The key difference is that what I envision would make learning much more fun.. just like what Dr. Seuss did for teaching kids to read. I feel I have the creativity to do this and the vision. But I would need money and Cuban’s entertainment connetions wouldn’t hurt either.
Comment by charlie -
(This format is getting hard to follow, I didn’t see that you’d replied to my reply. )
To sum up for people finding this first, I suggested a new science project day at a hardware chain store. I recommended building a web audience first, then taking it to the hardware chain stores. Mark replied that we should just try one or two first at some local stores. I replied that I’d asked, but the local managers suggested I just contact corporate. Here is Mark’s reply to that:
“From MC> so talk to corporate and see what they say. Its an easy concept to understand. Your having a ton of members probably isnt going to change their perception. The other option is to give it for free for a couple months and document any success and then take that to corporate. I wouldnt invest in a website first approach”
Mark, here’s my reply to that: Me, an unemployed guy in Denver calling on Home Depot, Ace or Lowes: not much chance of success. Possible, but way below average.
On the other hand: Someone from Mark Cuban’s office calling those three leads to a HUGE chance of success.
If someone reading this blog works at Home Depot, Lowes, or Ace, or knows of how to get in touch with the right people, feel free to contact me through the link on my name below.
Mark, I’ll let you know if someone contacts me, but I think just attaching your name to this will help a lot. Indeed it already has! Watch Channel 8 tonight at 6 p.m. in Dallas for proof!
Comment by Scott Yates -
to the cannabis guy: I’ll be your first customer. I sense great synergy between our ideas (I proposed the Airy, pet air). Your product would give mine so much more life. Let’s get Mark on board.
Comment by ali -
Hamburger Earmuffs!
(still working on the pickle matrix)
I hope to post something more serious shortly.
Comment by Ed H -
@James…https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:2/cat:26?sort=name
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9897
All available for free as is.
Comment by M -
So basically you want to get equity for a bond-like investment (business immediately profitable, cash flow generative, no bumps along the road). Who are you trying to help here?
Comment by Guest -
Mark, here is my concept:
Used Music CD’s Can Save the Record Industry.
Everyone has piles and piles of old CD’s lying around their house collecting dust now that they have either converted them to mp3 or have been too lazy and just bought the same music on ITunes, Amazon, etc.
The Consumer Wins:
We will buy up all used CD’s from the American public. We will tell them that for every CD(from a relevant artist) that is in working condition with the jewel case, booklet, etc. we will give them a $1 credit towards the purchase of used CD’s at ITunes, Amazon, or Wallmart.com – the three largest online music retailers to my knowledge. If Joe consumer is smart, they will have already ripped the music off to their PC(which is completely legal to do) so essentially they are getting something for nothing. Plus, we now have a website where the general public can purchase great music for a fraction of the cost of buying “new” digital music. Plus, what about all of those hard to find artist and music that has just never been converted to digital. Now, people have an outlet to find those types of titles.
The Record Labels and Artists Win:
Now, we all know that the record labels are getting killed. Their model in the new “music economy” is dying and/or almost completely dead. However, the labels still control about 99% of the popular music ever recorded in this country and abroad. They either own the masters, the publishing or a combination of both. What they just haven’t figured out is how to get back control of the distribution piece and/or make any money with it. And whether artists like it or not, they sold their souls to these people the 2nd they signed a record deal. I think you will see a completely different paradigm in the future, but almost all music recorded even today is still controlled by the label that first distributed it.
Now, back to the idea. We tell the labels that we will receive and catalog all of these used CD’s. We will then build a giant used CD website where all of this music will then be for resale. Right now if you go to Waterloo(I live in Austin) you can buy Used CD’s. When Waterloo sells a CD I’m fairly confident they are not paying any royalties back to the labels. With this idea, we go to the labels and tell them we will pay them a decent royalty for every CD sold back to the public. Now they get a shot in the arm by realizing revenue on a piece of music that might have just sat collecting dust in someone’s CD case. Plus, and this is the biggest thing in my opinion – that “old music” is now being put back in circulation. For example, for me personally, I might not have ever bought a Beatles CD for $15 at a store or $10 online because frankly, they were before my time and I just don’t get it. But you know what? If I can get it for $2, I might finally see what the fuss is all about with those guys. And here is the best part – if I don’t like the CD, I rip it to my pc and then sell it back to the “used CD store” and at least I get $1 credit. Then it goes back to the “store” where it can be resold and the circle starts all over again.
What about ITunes? Won’t they be upset?
The short answer is maybe. To me, the idea about the $1 ITunes “gift certificate” will be a tremendous jolt of free business for them. Say I got a $10 gift certificate. Chances are I’m going to buy $15 worth of stuff while I’m shopping. That is just the nature of how that works. Obviously, these “coupons” would have to be specialty coded so that they would know not to comp the labels on those sales. One thing they might not like is all of the extra bandwidth issues, but not sure about that piece. Plus, we are completely limited by our inventory. We are selling a physical product and can only sell what we have. They sell ease of use and convenience by buying online. We are competing solely based on cost, which in my opinion, is the most important piece of this entire equation and why I think this idea might work.
Now, my disclaimer: I realize this idea has a lot of moving parts including some pretty extensive legal and infrastructure issues. I basically typed this on the fly today as I love your website and wanted to contribute something just for fun. I’m kind of an idea junkie and this is just 1 of about 10 music related ideas I have. Feel free to email me if you’d like to hear more. Thanks for reading.
Comment by Brian -
Followup: this is an example of the types of self kits that are on the market now. Essentially it replaces writing with your own marker except that it sinks in and doesn’t fade. So your name is always there.
http://www.jumpusa.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=J&Product_Code=BALLTATTOO&Category_Code=BKTACCESSORIES
Comment by Anthony -
MC,
Thanks for the opportunity!
How about a company to design/build custom web browser toolbars for Firefox. The toolbars can be customized from everything from sports, to Nascar, to churches, to businesses to anything. Since you are the owner of the Mavericks – how about start with basketball teams – charge each of the 30 teams $1,500.00 to develop their customized toolbar, then move on to the NFL, PGA and so on. The toolbars are then FREE for all users/fans of these sports teams, members of churches and so on to download and use so that can always be in constant view of their teams, as well as in constant view of buying tickets for games, buying gear from their teams and so on.
Comment by James -
@charlie Your idea for an open source college is out there. http://academicearth.org and done by MIT already thru their OpenCourse site. http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm Both are free and provide great lectures by some of the top schools / profs around.
@KimGalavanting. Your idea has merit and is a good one. Doesn’t sound like start up costs would be to much. I say make it happen and start going even if Mark doesn’t get involved. Take out a small business loan and get running.
All in all. Some ideas I have seen are good, others bad, but congrats to all for at least submitting something. One pattern I have noticed is a few of ideas don’t need the input of Mark, rather hard work and dedication aka sweat equity from the founder to make them work. Mark got everyone thinking here, now its time for all of us to be doers, and make these ideas happen, whether or not Mark invests.
Comment by M -
Pingback: Big Think mobile edition
You sir are a jackass.
Comment by Hasib Katis -
Mark,
My business proposal is as simple as the product. Bottled water, but not the same stuff packaged by countless manufacturers today, but water that is enhanced with electrolytes, b vitamins, and all natural energy supplements. Though the marketplace currently offers items such as Smart Water and Vitamin Water I believe this product fills a niche currently not occupied. Energy drinks are a rapidly growing beverage and by supplying a tasteless, healthy source of energy would lead to instant sales. I have constructed a marketing/business plan for an Operations Management course at college, and if you have the slightest interest in this product I will post the proposal.
-Jason
From MC> Was looking more for ideas that werent replications of businesses dominated by global brands.
Comment by Jason -
Mark,
“Fresh fruit juice store chain”
I have always wondered why we do not have good ‘fruit juice’ stores in US as a chain where I can go for a break. The Idea will be to provide natural juice – no preservatives freshly crushed.
We will have to build the sourcing and store design etc. Infact I am a programmer with some entrepreuneurial blood but havent really made a business plan till date.
I am pretty sure its sales will be season dependent (spiking in summer) but we can develope a dedicated clientele.
It is one thing I really miss here, fresh fruit juice and various milk shakes made fresh. We could have exotic fruits etc. I would try and price it at $3 and make profit from volumes. I would use mirrors in the stores and display all the fresh fruits to entice customers including the exotics.
We could then build customer loyalty programs , health conscious drives etc.
A starbucks like concept, but on a pure natural fruit scale and not as sophisticated a store. More open to the public where anyone can feel like walking in on the spur of the moment.
If you or anyone out there likes the idea, I hope you get in touch with me to get it running and I can work on a profit %.
I would start it smallscale but enough stores and publicity to garner attention. The theme would be freshly squeezed, no preservatives, fruits and shakes available with sugar/splenda et all.
Ash
Comment by Ashok Madhavan -
I think I have discovered the answer to our economic woes. Unfortunately my credentials are too weak to get the respect that’s probably needed to be taken seriously. My only accomplishment is that I have been in business for nearly 38 years. I do understand how business in America works. I do understand that the way to compete to be most successful has lead to the recession that we are in today. I also understand how to explain my thoughts by using facts and a few assumptions that can be understood by most. Open your mind America because you are about to hear a refreshing, new idea that makes sense and is easy to understand and follow. Here goes:
I am a laundry service contractor. I supply and service coin/card operated washers and dryers to apartments and condominiums. I get my business by competing with my competitors. Our customers are primarily made up of apartment owners, management companies and government procurement officers. We’ll start with how the government bidding process works. Each prospective bidder is sent a long list of set minimum guidelines which must be met by all. Some where among the many pages of set standards is one blank space to fill in by all bidders. The majority of the time, the company that fills in that one blank space with the best price, wins the bidding war. Next we’ll look at how most apartment bidding goes. The management company will invite a few companies to bid their job. Most will invite companies that have a reputation that has given them enough credibility to receive an invitation. Again, price is usually the determining factor to winning the bidding war. Everything I have just reported is fact; it’s openly known that price usually determines selection. Now we need a little common sense to understand what it takes to be most successful. The company that is best at meeting the minimum standards and the best at saving costs is the company that can best afford to be most competitive with their price. Our system makes it necessary to place priorities on minimums to be most successful. It is easy to understand what has happened to our country using a system where it rewards those who do the least the best. Cutting costs means cutting jobs. I believe I have just put my finger on the pulse of America’s problems. I have explained by using facts and a few simple to understand assumptions what is wrong with our system. I believe this is the root of the problem which needed to be identified before we could begin to take the necessary steps to fixing the problem.
Are you ready for the solution? Sit back, take a deep breath and get ready for what seems too simple to be the answer. Simply reverse the selection process by filling in the price for all to meet. Make it a necessity to do the most the best to be most competitive. Reward those who hire for need, not fire for need. Let’s follow thru what would now occur. Bidding an apartment complex today is relatively competitive. One company might offer to pay $1,200 a month to the owner for the contract while the others might be $1,000 to $1,100. It’s not usually a big range. With this new bidding system, the owner will let all perspective bidders know that the monthly commission will be $1,200. Based on the known price for all, the winning bid will awarded to the company that bids the best service, machines, timeliness of commissions and any other factors that might give them a more competitive edge. For example, Saturday service might make the difference in the award. Suddenly, to be most competitive all companies must place their priorities on doing more. Suddenly, hiring people becomes a necessity to be most competitive.
Now look America, I am not a Harvard grad nor an economist so the idea might need some work, but the start is here. We need to understand how our system has worked in reverse for many years. It has created a monster that needed to be pointed out and understood before a solution could be found. I don’t know if I have the answer, but I do know that this is a fresh approach that has been explained by using facts and a few simple assumptions. We all sure know what hasn’t worked, so isn’t it about time we moved on?
Comment by Michael Scheffres -
Feature Film Movie Challenge
* $107 to enter your team–you can have more than one team.
* Each month there is a new subject and genre, such as romantic comedy involving the recession.
* Team has one month to make the movie
* All the movies are posted online for viewers to vote on what they like most
* The ten movies with the most votes are viewed by a panel who then decided on with the winning movie
* Winning prize is X dollars — a % of entrant fee and any sponsorship and a trophy
* Movies can also be shown in a local theater in a film festival style
Revenue stream includes: number of movies.
Potential revenue stream includes: ticket sales from film festival
Costs include: server space, programming of movies, incorporation costs, et cetera
An off-shoot: once the company proves profitable and reputable a bracket style tournament where the movie makers must make multiple movies over a six month period.
Comment by W.Parillo -
My idea is to sell personalized sporting equipment with a person’s name or whatever they want written on a basketball or football in permanent ink in the font of their choosing through the internet. How many times have you been at a gym or playground and wanted to make sure you got your ball back? If it says CUBAN in big letters you know exactly what ball is yours and it will discourage theft since its permanent and if your name isn’t Cuban you probably dont want a ball with that on it.
You can already buy stuff like Basketball Tattoo online to do it yourself but if you buy NBA balls and permanent ink “tatooing” kits in bulk you drive the cost down. Buy everything in bulk and buyers just have to pay for shipping and a nominal fee to put the tattoo on. Can sell to virtually everywhere in the world but would focus on internet sales in US.
1. It can be an existing business or a start up.
–Start up
2. It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. Why ? Because I want this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. Thats the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time.
–Selling a physical product and can be up and running in a week or so.
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
—can be profitable very quickly, see how sales are going and buy supplies in bigger quantities as orders come in, easy to advertize through blogs, etc.
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
–Can be done much faster.
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops.
–Fine with me and the reative investment for you will be relatively small.
6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered.
–Wanted to get this to you quickly. If you are interested, just email me and I’ll run the numbers and get you a full report tonight.
7. Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else.
–You and I as owners. Can hire many workers pretty easily and quickly. Could literally have high school students do most of the labor for this. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com , scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download
9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own.
–fine with me.
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont.
–I hope you do.
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows.
–Fine with me.
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money.
–Willing to split 50/50 with you all the profits we do not reinvest to grow.
13. No mult-level marketing programs (added 2/10/09 1pm)
–Done.
Hope you like this idea, I can see a big market for this not only for people buying for themselves but parents buying for their kids, etc. Nothing like getting a fresh new NBA ball with your name on it for xmas when you’re young.
Thanks for the opportunity,
Anthony
Comment by Anthony -
Here’s that link again.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dftkh6nc_1gpvhp2dn
-Jacob
Comment by Jacob -
Great idea Mark! Also like the Wickler–plenty of opportunity for data crunching there to pull out unknown revenue opportunities. I also wonder why Galavanting would choose to print a tangible travel guide when there are so many electronic distribution methods–kindle, mobile phones, PND’s that would cut costs big time. But anyway, here’s what I would do.
Start off with an e-book, “Productivity Tips and Hacks For People With Mood Disorders”. Probably wouldn’t go with that title, but you get the idea. People are obsessed with lifehacks and “getting things done”. People with depression or bipolar disorders have a different “feature set” if you will that can be utilized and molding to function in a productive way. An afflicted person just needs the personal insight to know how.
An e-book would cost nothing to write other than time. I would distribute it through electronic means such as the Kindle, via productivity websites (would have to find a suitable profit share), and then build a community around it. Whether than be a Ning social network, blog that monetized through premium content or tangible goods, iPhone application, or any other means of effective distribution.
I am sure that this would be a sellout with the productivity obsessed, mood disorder suffering or not. The investment wouldn’t be required until the product was ready–and it wouldn’t need be much–and it’s so low cost, profitability is almost guaranteed. The real profitability is the business built around the initial idea, but should it flop no one loses!
Justin
Comment by Justin Davey -
I have a great idea. I would like to start a company that brings doctor’s offices to the 21st century. A large source of revenue will be from the digitization of medical records. This is a market that is going to explode, especially if the Government forces doctors and hospitals to go digital. Most of this will entail simply scanning old records and converting them to pdf. Since this part is so easy I would only need money to hire about 4-5 high school graduates (or less) to perform this task. For the first month I would need about $1,000 per employee or $5,000 total. I would also need some equipment which would come out to a one time cost of about $1,000. This would include a few scanners and external hard drives.
Now this part of the business is profitable, we earn money by the project (charge approximately 20% more than expected labor cost) but this is also only a temporary field. Eventually all records will be digital and we will need to evolve to survive. That is why I would also like to start another service which is medical office management software and support. I would like to hire one college graduates with an IT background to perform this side of the business. From scheduling, client billing, and insurance claim filing there is a great deal that can be done here. With simple spreadsheets, not costly software that currently dominates the market, we can show doctors and office managers how to run their business efficiently. Why pay for expensive software that requires support from the guy ho sold it to you when it acts up when you can use excel…a program most anyone can use. I would only need about $3,000 for the first month to pay this employee and I could do a lot of the same work as they do. My main job will be finding clients, I would be like a drug rep going to medical offices and offering my services. Some initial marketing capital would help to get us out there such as putting our business in the yellow pages and internet advertising. I have already started on a website (http://www.wireddoctor.com/Home) so there is no need to hire someone for that. As an additional service we could do traditional IT work like setting up office networks (that are secure and meet with HIPPA compliance standards) remote storage of secure medical records (in case of disaster and a mistrust for Google) and just about anything IT related.
Grand total I would need about $13,000 to get going and would expect to be at a break even in 3 months or less (I am assuming that every project will take 3 weeks and bring in around $10,000 –this will be highly variable depending on clinic size) and after that I would only need about 2 additional clients a month to maintain a company this size in this field and still turn a profit of approximately $5,000 monthly.
Comment by Nicholas Creel -
Mr. Cuban
We would love to present our business plan to you but not over a public domain. Please check out our website http://www.truebrew.com. If you are interested in hearing more about our company and how we fit your criteria please contact me.
Comment by Shelli Kranz -
Hey Mark,
Okay my idea is for interactive virtual sporting events. I wonder what it would be like to have a first person view from Santonio Holmes when he caught the game winning SB pass. Or sitting in the drivers seat of your favorite Nascar driver. Or seeing your favorite big leaguer hit a 450 foot shot from his point of view. Or for that matter from the refs POV. Or from the 50 yards line if that’s what you want. How about being a pit crew member? I think that I could develop a product that would encompass all these things with the help of transmitters and software by a developer such as EA sports. Live and streaming into your living room via the internet.
I think the first sport would probably involve nascar because that would be the easiest to develop and at the same time also has a very large fan base. These transmitters would transmit a real time location of each car in relation to the track and with the help of software, present a real-time event for the end-user. The subscriber could the move to any location on the track including drivers seat, pit-stops, grandstand, and practicaly any location you could think of. The user would then have control of where they wanted to view or pick the view of the person they have selected (driver or pit crew, for instance).
The end-user would pay a fee to access whatever event they choose on a monthly term. These transmitter and receivers are already out there thus shortening R&D time. I believe this could be profitable in 90 days after testing and negotiations with Nascar. The last number I heard there were 20 million Nascar fans out there, if we signed up just 1% of those fans for this service and charged them 5 bucks a month, that would generate 1 million dollars a month. Not only that, many teams could use this a training tool for future races. There is more revenue there as well.
I would be willing to make you half owner or 50-50.
Tell me what you think,
Geoff
Comment by Geoff -
Mark,
My business plan is me. Below is my cover letter and the link to my resume.
I am currently exploring opportunities with organizations that are seeking experienced Senior Business Development Professionals. I am a highly talented and innovative professional with more than nine years of broad experience in business development, marketing, strategic planning, sales and marketing operation, and financial analysis. I have a proven history of success in outlining and maintaining highest standards of strategic business development and execution.
I am a creative self-starter with highly developed communication and interpersonal skills. A “breakthrough specialist” able to identify, negotiate and win new business, manage relationships and influence decision makers. I have a deep understanding of the sales/business development process and proven results in identifying and understanding client’s interest to drive actionable results and marketing strategies.
Highlights of my career include:
• Consistently exceeded all business objectives resulting in the successful co-founding and eventual sale of (4) four hospitality-marketing companies. All of which are profitable and survive to this day.
• Maintain broad and deep c-level contacts in numerous Fortune 500 companies. I brought a consultative approach to selling where increasing overall performance, maximizing human potential, and helping realize greater ROI has been an integral part of my business development and strategy for years.
I have maintained a proven record of accomplishments as a results-orientated team player and business development expert focused on exceeding sales objectives. I have an extensive financial and sales/marketing background combined with the ability to make presentations and influence multiple decision makers in highly competitive environments. My educational background includes a BBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of San Diego and Post-Graduate studies in Marketing from Cornell University.
Here is the link to my resume (http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dftkh6nc_1gpvhp2dn) which further details my qualifications, background, and experience.
With much respect,
Jacob
Comment by Jacob -
Mark,
We want to introduce you to ThermoAthletics.com the online athletics partner site of AVACore.com
Our technology which was developed by DARPA.mil helps to cool the body. What we’ve found is that when the body is “cooled” via the venus plexus of the hand and a vacuum is applied, it DRAMATICALLY improves endurance which in turn improves strength many fold. As an example, an individual who was tested performing a bout of pull exercises managed 180 pull ups. Over the course of 6 weeks while using the Thermo Glove to cool down his body his strength dramatically improved. At the end of 6 weeks he could do 600 pull ups during an exercise bout.
We have sold our “Thermo Glove” product units to the NFL, NBA and others. It was initially developed to help victims of heat stroke recover from injury and also supplied to US Special Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of vehicle mounted units on armored cars where heat stroke in high heat conditions was a frequent occurrence.
The units sell for $2500, due to medical grade pumps, and other high priced parts needed for manufacture etc…While a $200-500 dollar version is in the works, we lack the funding to mass produce the low cost version. Lance Armstrong has used it as well as other notable athletes. This is a paradigm shift in how we think of STRENGTH. The basic premise of the technology is that fatigue occurs not due to breakdown of muscle but to due to heat build up during exercise which reduces endurance / stamina. I’ve been using these units personally and I can now bench 225 lbs. 42 times non stop with no problem. I am not an NFL athelete.
I can demonstrate the unit at your offices. We are located in Dallas and this is our first attempt at introducing DARPA / Navy SEAL technology to the mass sports market as well as eventually maturing other applications and markets including health applications, and the military market. We are currently in talks with NASA since using the technology helps to make the brain function better and focuses the senses. In tests pilots were able to make less repetitive function mistakes after cooling down their core temperature using our device technology.
We have already broken even, we just need to bring awareness of the technology to the mass sports market and need funds for marketing and to readjust people’s perceptions of how the human body really works through live, evidence based scenarios via a robust marketing strategy.
Comment by Fareed -
Genius. This is the best solution to help real people connect and create wealth.
Comment by Joseph Sherman -
I’m not sure whether now is a prudent time for this idea, but it’s worth floating out there.
The idea would be a one-stop test driving facility for new car purchaser. Rather than going to individual dealerships to test drive new cars, they would come to a single location, where we’d have a fleet of cars that people could test drive in a single sitting.
Pricing options could be done a la carte or there would also be packages to test drive a particular class of car (sedans, minivans, etc). Partnerships could be set up with dealerships in order to push certain types of cars, referral fees, etc.
Comment by Chris -
A unique alternative to eBay.
Instead of simply providing a site where sellers list items and bidders bid on those items, we’ve developed a technology that brings the auctions to the bidders.
Think of it like Google’s adwords/adsense model, but we’re using interactive auctions (An entire auction in an ad box!) instead of static ads. The auctions are relevant to the content of the page, so it’s designed to draw users who are interested in that particular content. Imagine reading a blog post about a digital camera and looking at an ad on the side of the page showing an image of the exact same camera on sale and closing in 10 minutes for $50 with a big ‘BID NOW’ button beneath it.
A few days ago we “finished” our beta site so we’re just getting started. We’ve also started to do a few marketing tests to see which method would bring in the most users – so we’ve already begun to see some sellers listing items and site owners using our auctions on their sites.
We use a similar revenue model to eBay (Listings Fees and Sales Fees). We don’t generate any revenue from advertising although we do share revenue with website owners. When a website owner places one of our interactive ad banners on their site (by adding a few lines of code to a web page), they earn money when their readers bid in an auction.
At this point there are only two of us involved in the project. We’ve have the technology and website working on a shoe string budget but if we had access to funding I know we could scale up quickly, “BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days” and “be profitable within 90 days”. It would be a challenge to move that fast but with the funds to market our site combined with struggling retailers trying to find ways to sell distressed merchandise I think we’d have a winning concept.
Oh and if you’re interested in seeing the concept in an early beta version you can find us at bidboxr.com
Comment by Troy Yohn -
Pingback: Mark Cuban Stimulus Package «
Seamus has some creative ideas! I wouldn’t mind a Garbage Ninja.
Comment by Mike -
My Business Plan
A franchise of bread bakeries. What seperates these bread bakeries from others?
1. The product line would be simple and cheap. Only one dough recipe from which a variety of breads can be produced.
2. The dough recipe would be all natural.
3. The stores would be simple, small neighborhood storefronts.
4. The cost of the bread would be set to compete with the large bread labels at the local grocery store. In other words, the cost of a loaf of bread would be $2 and less (I haven’t demonstrated this part yet, but believe it to be very possible).
5. Bread would be baked fresh twice a day. One batch in the early morning and one batch in the early afternoon.
Each store would only need a handful of employees. Bread baking itself is simple and can be taught to anyone willing to learn. I would steer clear from pasteries and trying to compete with the “local” family bakery…this is a neighborhood bread store where fresh baked, healthy bread is available during the day. The only equipment required would be a small refigerator for refigerated raw ingredients, a large mixing bowl, assorted baking pans, a good large capacity stove that vents well to the outside (nothing sells like the smell of baked bread), a cash register and some environmentally friendly bags.
So there ya go…I don’t normally do this stuff (business plans), but I’ve been to third world countries where they do this stuff everyday and I see a growing demand here in the US particularly for corn syrup free bread (try and find some a local walmart or target or any other grocery store).
Comment by kenyongerbrandt -
I have a lot of ideas. Here is one of my favorites that I’m hoping to pursue this year (with your help, of course). Thanks for doing this–it’s quite inspirational.
WEDZIP.COM
Connecting vendors and consumers in the 50-100 billion dollar US wedding industry. Eventually expanding to the 250+ billion dollar global wedding industry.
WHAT IS WEDZIP.COM?
In short, wedzip.com aims to be the LendingTree.com for weddings. Brides (or wedding planners) submit their wedding information one time to the wedzip site. Wedding vendors who are available on that date submit a proposal/estimate for their services through the site. The bride can then view proposals online and choose to contact the vendor to book their services.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
(1) Bride submits her wedding details (including location and budget) to the WZ site. (2) Vendors in her area are alerted via email and text message. (3) Vendor signs in and views the details of the wedding. Vendors do not see the bride’s contact information. (4) If the vendor is available and interested, they submit a proposal/estimate for their services. (5) As proposals come in, the bride is alerted via email and text message. (6) The bride then chooses to contact and book the services of vendors. (7) A vendor may remove a proposal if they book a different wedding on that date. (8) Brides may also limit the number of proposals received (per vendor-type).
WHY IS IT SPECIAL?
Most wedding websites are simply glorified directories that make money by charging for listings or advertisements. What’s more, brides must still contact each vendor to check their availability. Wedzip.com sets itself apart with a better business model (below) and more convenience for both vendors and consumers.
Additionally, wedzip is an ideal business to launch in a down economy. Price-conscious brides will use the site to find vendors that fit their budget, while vendors only pay to bid on weddings that fit their schedule/price range (instead of paying several hundred dollars to simply be listed in a directory).
HOW WILL IT MAKE MONEY?
Wedzip.com will have 2 primary and 1 secondary source of revenue.
1. Proprosal fees. In order to submit a proposal/estimate, a vendor must pay wedzip a small fee (somewhere between $5 and $20). One option is to have a sliding scale based on the budget of the wedding (i.e. it costs more to submit a proposal for a high-budget wedding). This will be the primary source of revenue for wedzip.com. Because several vendors will be submitting proposals for each wedding, there should be decent revenue for every wedding submitted.
2. Processing fees. Vendors will have the option to use wedzip.com to accept payments (deposits and balances) from brides. When a bride selects vendors to use, they can submit payment to the vendor via credit/debit/ACH. Wedzip will process the transaction securely for the vendor, while taking a small transaction fee (5-10%).
3. Additional services. As a secondary source of revenue, wedzip could provide online services (specifically website sales/hosting) for wedding vendors. My current company provides such services (and is quite profitable) and I would adapt our CMS for wedding vendors.
WHY FUNDING?
Primarily, funding would be used for marketing. In order to gain traction with brides, I feel a decent marketing campaign in necessary. This would include print campaigns in major markets, online campaigns, and more.
A small amount of funding may go to development, but I can handle most of it internally.
CASH FLOW/PROFITABILIY
Revenue on wedzip.com would begin immediately (in the form of proposal fees). Our only major costs are a server (< $500/mo to begin with) and marketing costs (which will vary). Assuming we can gain traction/traffic with the proper marketing, the business would be break-even almost immediately and profitable within 30-60 days.
EQUITY
I’m willing to give up to 30% equity. More is negotiable depending on the terms.
—
Thanks again,
ED
Comment by Erik -
Mark,
You would have a better idea than most on the demand for what i’m proposing. The idea is custom merchandising, mainly apparel, for sporting leauges such as the NBA and NFL. Direct-to-Garment printers can produce 40-50 uniquely designed shirts per minute with quality just as good as traditional screen printing.
The biggest hurdle is of course getting the proper licensing to make it happen. But imagine being able to sell t-shirts with a picture of Dirk pulling up for the game winning 3 and the wording “I Was There” just hours after it happens. The advantage is that you no longer need to forecast demand and aren’t stuck with overruns as each item is affordably created at the time of purchase.
In order to meet your criteria of being profitable in a short amount of time, it would be best to start off with only a few teams and a manageable number of designs. Once the venture is profitable, then the next step would be to branch out to more teams and build out the website to accommodate users that want to create their own designs, such as putting their drafted fantasy football players on the same shirt.
Here in Louisiana, we have an angel investor incentive that provides 50% of the initial funding (up to $10 million) in tax credits so the value is stretched even further. Here is a quick breakdown of the funding and cashflow:
T-Shirt price: $25 (going rate on NBA.com)
cost to produce: $7-8 (includes labor and materials)
licensing: TBD
Profit/item: $17-$18 minus licensing
Startup costs (machinery and initial inventory): $200K
conservatively assume a profit of $10/item then would need to sell 13,000 items to recoup initial investment(tax credits figured in) within 90 days ~ 140/day
I would think a 10-20% stake would be fair depending on your involvement of getting the licensing deals to go through.
Look forward to your comments and hope we have a few instapreneurs born from this project.
Comment by Jeffrey -
All of my ideas take two months and one day to profit, so I’m out, but Mark – thanks for taking a proactive and positive approach to things, regardless of how successful any of these ventures are.
I’m glad there are people like you who think and act in the fashion you do.
Comment by Brian -
I get it. Don’t worry about having your idea stolen, put it out there and maybe someone will run with it, maybe you’ll even get funding. Either way, if it’s a good idea, everyone wins. The spirit of open source. Okay, here are ten off the top of my head (some of these won’t meet the criteria, I’m sure, but if it spurs someone with a better idea, then it’s all to the good):
1. Garbage Ninjas: A service to take your garbage cans to/from the curb on collection day. Employees work their local neighborhoods (giving the service a national reach) and get paid for 2-4 hours of work. Perfect 2nd job or something to keep you busy while you look for work since you put them out in the morning and return them in the evening. It’s the new paper route (since papers are going out of business).
2. Handwritten Note Service: Snail Mail is so yesterday. . .and classy. Next time you get invited to a nice party, instead of firing off a “thank you” email, type the same message into this web service and a handwritten version of your letter will be mailed out for about the cost of buying a Hallmark Card.
3. Digital Footprint Investigator: Someone close to you just passed away but all their online accounts are still active. Someone comes in and does an audit of that person’s online life and lets you know what needs to be turned off, who needs to be updated and what accounts are still pending. If there’s anything embarrassing, you don’t have to explain to your tech-savvy niece that her Aunt Harriet was into online plushie pr0n. Let a professional handle it.
4. Online Wine Vault: You like wine, you can even afford really expensive vintages for those special occasions. But you don’t have a wine cellar and don’t like keeping something that expensive and fragile around. So buy it from the online wine vault. Nothing but a confirmation is sent to you. The bottle remains in a vault under optimal conditions until you want it. When you are ready to party like Bacchus, have it overnighted.
5. Cardboard Toys: Kids like the boxes stuff comes in. So send a box. Cardboard Toys come with detailed instructions on how to make a castle, say, or a rocket ship. You also get all the boxes you need. All boxes are recycled, natch.
6. House Parties for Children’s Toys: Parents want their kids to have the best toys for their stage of development. A toy consultant comes in, meets with a group of families and discusses and demonstrates the best toys for each child’s developmental stage. The person could also consult with a specific family and their specific needs.
7. Camping Video Game: Did you ever find yourself just admiring the beauty of the water in Far Cry? So why not have a game that just has environments. From coastal to highland, from cloudless skies to stormy weather. Have it underwritten by clothing and camping gear companies. When you’re hanging out at the beach, your avatar can be wearing the latest Speedo. If you’re trekking up an ice wall, you can choose actual gear from Mountain Hardware. The “game” is not about points, it’s about viewing exotic locations and daydreaming about where you’d rather be.
8. Auto Reader: I’d like a talk radio station that only discusses issues I care about. So design a website where you enter your OPML files, and RSS feeds and the site reads the posts to you. Now you can work on whatever you’re doing and instead of having the radio, you can have your favorite blog going in the background.
9. Hobby Consultant: In any hobby, there’s a progression (Windows, Linux (different flavors), BSD, back to favorite Linux distro, back to Windows for games, settle on dual-boot). Some people just want to know the progression quickly and decide early on where to concentrate their focus. A Hobby Consultant gives you the lay of the land in your chosen hobby, identifies the leading websites and resources for your topic, gives the typical progression for most users and suggests where to focus based on your interest. All the info is out there in a distributed fashion, this just concentrates it in one place.
10. A blog where someone offers to fund ideas that can be profitable in 90 days and. . .oh, wait.
Comment by Seamus -
Mark, great idea. As much as i would like to be your partner in business, I am not here to submit a business plan for myself, but instead I would like to nominate a few companies. General Motors, Chrysler, Ford (sooner or later they will need it), all the banks, wall street and most states. The rules you spelled out should be the doctrine for any stimulus/bailout plan.
Comment by ryan lapointe -
Hi Mark,
I’m editor of a leading online women’s travel magazine…got here via a tweet. Our young company is called Galavanting Productions because we also do all kinds of travel media projects. I host a new web travel show called Galavanting that’s been optioned by a distributor as well.
Have had an idea that I think would really work, but no extra capital to fund its startup. A lot of travel guidebooks are fine, but only feature one destination at a time. They also become obsolete after the trip.
What we’d like to do is create customized travel books: The Galavanting Guidebooks.
There are a couple of sites doing something fairly similar, but they rely solely on content produced by WikiTravel. Yuk. Not sure about you, but I’d never pay $25 for a printed version of WikiTravel.
What I would pay for is aggregated information from quality travel bloggers, writers and content partners who put together comprehensive city & destination guides–and photos. I’d be thrilled to have a book for my next trip to three European destinations customized to my exact itinerary. I’d be ecstatic to then have journal pages to write on in that book, and places to put ticket stubs and photos. I’d have a place to write down my hotel confirmation numbers, etc., right in the pages of my city guide. My book will turn into a scrapbook of the trip and graces the bookshelf for years–and that sounds like a bargain to me. Because it’s become a trip diary, I’d never loan it out to a friend, but I’d recommend they get their own…
Content would come from placebloggers and travel bloggers; their writing will be edited and fact-checked by us. WikiTravel can suck it. This will be quality content from a trusted source.
Galavanting Productions recently launched TravelBlogExchange.com and within weeks have over 400 travel bloggers around the world as members. They’re active and engaged. They’d jump at the opportunity to write a city guide, get paid every time someone uses it, and be noted travel guidebook authors. Plus they’re quick. They’re bloggers. The content would be submitted and vetted in no time.
We could have this project up and running in the timeframe you specify. Which incidentally is just in time for travelers making summertime plans. Don’t think they’re still traveling? Yes, they are–just talked to PBS’ Rick Steves at the NY Times Travel Show on Saturday, and his tour company’s advanced-level and niche Europe tours are up this year from last. Students are still studying abroad, single professionals are still saving up. And our incoming Google searches prove they’re still planning trips.
Travelers all want to stretch their dollar though and buy wisely. What better than avoiding the purchase of four guidebooks for their itinerary, and using one that will become a keepsake?
We already have a following and would promote it with our recurring episodes of ‘Galavanting TV’ as well as on the e-zine. We’d also leverage the strong network we have within the travel industry to promote the guidebooks. The bloggers who write for us would also post them and have ad badges pointing people to buy them (since they’d profit from it, of course they will).
I’d need a project manager to help me, a web developer, copyeditor and graphics person. And don’t forget our fabulous interns. We’ll promote the hell out of it via social media, paid advertising and press outreach. We could get this sucker up profitable in 90 days for $20,000.
Books will be about $7.00 cost to print, and $1.50 to the blogger/author of each city guide used.
Price point depends on how many destination cities a user adds. One destination is a base price of $19.95 for the custom-printed Galavanting Guidebook, add $2.95 for each destination city + S&H.
They’ll buy it because each destination guidebook at Borders or Barnes & Noble will cost them at least $20 bucks, and 80% of that book would be useless to them since they’re likely not visiting the entire country. If they’re going to four countries & five cities, they’d pay $80 for conventional books.
They’d pay $34.75 for their Galavanting Guidebook — and not have to buy a journal or photo album. And hell, the subtitle of the book could be “Annie’s Great European Adventure”, or something. What’s not to love?
And we’d make a $20.25 profit from Annie’s Galavanting Guidebook.
This will appeal to younger travelers, but the novelty and economic sense it makes will draw in every demographic. Retirees have grandkids who’ll make them do this. But especially us chicks, we like this kind of thing…and women make 70% of all household travel decisions.
They’ll make awesome gifts too.
There’d be a cheaper e-version for Kindle/iPhone users.
We’d work our butts off and you’d get a 15% equity in the Galavanting Guidebooks.
At first I worried someone would steal this idea after seeing it here. Then I remembered they wouldn’t be able to pull it off because they don’t have the connections and street credit we have in travel. Plus–they probably sleep, and I don’t.
It’s the next big thing. Seriously. I look forward to hearing from you.
Kim
(@kimmance)
Comment by Kim@Galavanting -
http://www.CreativeApartmentMarketing.com
Comment by Tiffany Yelverton -
Love this concept. When times get tough, it’s time to get going…in the right direction.
Invest in Human Intelligence. The day we die is the day we will know everything. Until then, each and every day is an opportunity to learn something.
Get up off your seat, on your feet and go get it. Take what you have and make it better. Learn how to train and market yourself, what you have, and with what you have. Tough times make us more Creative. Brain Power outweighs Dollar Power any day.
Stimulate that thought and you just might find the power within.
Comment by Tiffany Yelverton -
Mark,
Here is one of my submissions. Let me know your thoughts.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dftkh6nc_0czxthdhq
Cheers,
Jacob
Comment by Jacob -
Think Threadless.com…. Custom T-shirts designed by the people for the people. Get designers to submit ideas, pick the best, reward them with cash, take rights for the design, put them on shirts and sell them. Designers win = they get their name and designs out their. Consumer wins = They want good design at an affordable price. Seller wins = $$$
Take Threadless and apply that to something else…
Coffee mugs. Plenty of people drink coffee/tea/something out of a mug. It’s a massive addiction. More so drinking coffee/tea… but loads of people use mugs.
Obviously people care about the way their shirts look more than the appearance of their coffee mug, but as a novelty item/gift idea/AND a cheap one at that (aim for a 5 dollar price point – can be tiered for effort of design, style of mug, etc.) Would be fun to have a couple at your office and you could also sell them in sets for the home and what not.
Clever sayings on mugs.
Great designs on mugs.
All modern. All now. Not silly coffee mugs of yesterday. Mugs of today.
Comment by ryan -
Mark,
If you want to help entrepreneurs, invest in TheFunded.com. Besides the fact that the site meets all of your requirements (though we do not have a formal business plan), TheFunded has 10,510 Members, 95% of them are entrepreneurs and 78% have professional investors. The support that the site provides to these Members is invaluable, from (1) helping evaluate potential funding sources through a social rating system to (2) discussing highly sensitive operating decision with the protection of complete anonymity. CEO Members of the site have already recommended that you consider this investment, which is the reason that this is being posted:
http://www.thefunded.com/funds/item/5022
The entire site and all of the events are planned, built, designed, operated, and run by one full-time person, the Founding Member. However, the site is truly owned and operated by the Members, thousands of entrepreneurs fighting to build great companies. These Members have contributed in excess of 30,000 ratings, reviews, and comments that represent the single largest body of information on entrepreneurship contributed by true domain experts: the CEOs themselves.
Anyway, just a thought. You know where to reach me… 😉
– The Founding Member
From MC> I would need to see numbers and more details. I have been to your site before, but as you know, the challenge is business model. Sell me on how I could get a return
Comment by Adeo Ressi -
One thing that unites all business pitches is that they require a set of financial projections. The problem is that producing a set of integrated financial projections requires significant time and expertise. I am developing a website that will simplify the financial projection creation process. I run a financial model consulting service: http://www.FinancialModel.net, have an MBA from Yale, and was Director of M&A at Interval International (formerly an IAC portfolio company). The website I am creating will offer the basic functionality of creating a set of integrated statements from scratch or from templates for free. We will make money by charging for premium models and services (see below). The website interface will have an expert mode and a novice mode depending on the expertise of the user.
Free Service:
• Set of integrated financial statements (Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow)
• Basic templates (e.g. restaurant, daycare center, etc.)
• Download PDF version of model that is ready to present to investors
Premium Service:
• Monthly Fees:
o Flexible formats (download XLS, PPT, DOC in addition to PDF)
o Advanced functionality (Sensitivity analysis, valuation, etc.)
• One-Time Fees:
o Consulting service packages
o Premium templates (e.g. bio-fuel plant, online retailer, etc.)
Target Market:
• Finance professionals
• Boot-strapping entrepreneurs
Quick Path to Profitability:
• Low fixed costs (hosting, communications, etc.)
• Most marketing will be via blogs, press, word-of-mouth
Development Stage:
• We have made significant progress on the backend model creation software (30 days from completion)
• Seeking funding for front-end development resources
Comment by David Greenbaum -
Help me get an In-N-Out Burger franchise in Dallas! You can pay me in double-doubles!
Comment by Tim -
“From MC> I wrote software for more than 10 years. I know exactly what you are talking about. I was more about the chair than the desk. Build one and send me a picture. Maybe i will be your first customer”
will do. Send me a temp email address and i’ll forward pics once I get a prototype built.
Comment by chasd00 -
My full proposal trips some sort of filter or bug in your WordPress setup. I’ve truncated it as possible; let me know if you need more explanation, as I’ve plenty to spare:
Greenfield IT will be a open-source IT managed services provider (MSP)
for small businesses. A core administrative and customer support
staff will coordinate remote IT contractors, salesmen, and clients.
Open accounting and scrupulous support (internal & external) will
help build trust between all involved, which will draw (and keep
happy) the best talent and clients.
This solves several problems:
1) Open source hackers don’t like doing the client management or sales portions of independent contracting, but also chafe at traditional work-spaces and management.
2) Small businesses often can’t make the transition to open source with just their internal IT staff.
3) Current MSPs tend to mistreat or ignore small businessmen, treating them as unprofitable.
The starting focus will be basic internet presence (web development,
system administration, etc.) services. The mid-term goal is to
expand breadth of experience, to aid clients wherever they may want
help. Longer term goals include a robust apprenticeship system, and
in-house projects to capitalize on client commonalities. By adhering
closely to open-source philosophies, we keep our maintenance load
light, which gives us a flexibility more traditional IT companies
often lack.
Comment by Nathaniel Eliot -
To the cannabis guy: no need to antagonize Mark, obviously he doesn’t need the trouble of being a legal weed kingpin right now. It would take a fair amount of capital to do it at the warehouse level, but surely there are ways of doing it on a smaller scale with less capital and working your way up so you can be ready to really step things up once a national initiative passes during Obama’s second term.
Comment by Kevin -
Look, I don’t know what Mr. Cuban’s blog said as I don’t really read blogs in general. I will review Mr. Cuban’s latest one though as it appears from skimming it that lot of effort and great brilliant economic advice went into it. But I do know this though. Our national forthcoming “lets hope it’s minor” depression needs a little relief, a distraction as you might say, a turn-around in direction. A lift. A good old fashion pick me up. And the best way I think to get things started is to have the incredible Dallas Mavericks “WIN” the 2009 NBA Championship. Take no prisoners, smart, prompt, quick and final! A sweep!!! Later all – patrick
Comment by Patrickin SantaBarbara -
My idea is to start an advertising-run, open-source education system over the internet. The idea is to create an open source college on the internet. IMO schools have become like big business. They aren’t concerned with educating people. They are concerned with making money.
A big part of this would be to create a series of videos teaching high level mathematics. What I would like to do is make the Dr. Suess of mathematics for adults. A big reason our country has fallen behind is because people aren’t educated and can’t afford education. what I want to do is apply the technology and creativity that goes into big budget movies and video games and apply that to teaching mathematics and science in a package that entertained people as much as a star Wars movie or the best video games.
And we could do this for all types of different subjects. Open source free college.. run by advertising dollars. This would save the world.. not just the US.
Comment by charlie -
Mark,
First time commentor; faithful reader of your blog.
I work for an established (20+ years) small business that is encumbered by the incredibly tight credit market. We’re a small operation (7-8 employees) and what we do is simple: We buy non/under performing residential (exclusively) mortgage loan portfolios on the secondary market. First liens only. We service and manage them in-house. We are small enough that we can generally work with & modify individual loans to get them performing if it’s feasible. Our goal is generally a 20% return over 18 mos.
My guess is that you are quite familiar with this particular business and probably have lots of opportunity elsewhere if you so desired. I’d really just be interested in hearing your opinion of it, especially in the current market. We have a lot more opportunity than we do available credit!
Comment by Will -
Every year tons of college graduates major in CS can not find job. My idea is teaching them how to program in iPhone in real life and then collect 25% of the revenue for every app they created. Honestly, I think it takes about 2 weeks to charge a young guy to produce iphone apps.
Comment by Johnson -
Mark, if you want to invest in something really important to help the economy AND the world.. this is what you should be investing in and promoting…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alL-loQu7ow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfjOIoPwolg
http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-12-21/news/quantum-leap/1
Comment by charlie -
Jordan,
Re: your electronics idea. Whenever, I shop at the grocery store, I try to be a conscientious consumer, but the supermarkets do such a poor job of providing info on the environmentally friendly products. If I could look up info (think catalog similar to looking up spark plugs at the auto store) in regards to the effects certain paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning products, etc. have on the environment (from a trusted source), I would be more inclined to purchase the product.
If you are looking to make money on this, I recommend connecting with environmental groups or lobbyists for environmentally friendly companies to provide capital to offer environmental ratings on consumer goods found in the supermarket (if you own Albertson’s or Safeway and want me to spend more money, this idea will help you too).
Unlike electronics, people don’t generally research their toilet paper or kitty litter purchase online beforehand and grocery store clerks likely know little of the environmental impact of the products they sell.
Also, with ease of access, consumers are much more likely to allow trusted research to affect their purchasing decisions. Environmentally conscious companies should unite to take on this project, but if someone reading this blog wants to handle the hard work and sell to the companies, I think it would work.
Comment by Mike -
my idea – workforce of people to copy your cds and dvds to digital media. there’s a few sites out there that do this, but you have to pack it all up and ship it to them. why not start locally and provide a service that comes to you to do it? someone comes to your house, digitizes all your a/v media and gives you back a harddrive with it all on there. the ease of use factor would be the differentiating factor. the initial investment would be a van set up with a computer system to do the copying. there’s plenty of people, technical people, that are out of work. so getting people to do this kind of work wouldn’t be that tough.
just bouncing it around in my head. but too busy with the day job to ever get too serious about it. i just think with the way that digital media is taking over, would be a good service to offer.
Comment by travis -
“From MC> How would it be better than many of the good desks that are out there ? How many others are building custom made desk and are you sure you can do it for $75. What market are you in ?”
I’ve been looking at all the desks in the same price range in the various office stores (Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, and even Ikea) none of them really get it right because they’re just thinking of a standard desk that you put a computer on. My desk is designed specifically for programming/IT. It’s nothing fancy or complicated just useful (the Baltic Birch makes it quite attractive too). Honestly, if you saw the design you’d probably just shrug but if you worked at my desk for a good length of time you’d notice the difference. Think of it like the difference a good office chair makes.
I haven’t built one yet but I am planning on making one for my home in a couple of weeks plus my employer wants a couple. I’ve priced out the materials and assumed it would take 1 hour with the right tools to build. I’m not 100% sure on how much labor it would take to pack and ship one but it couldn’t be that much, maybe 45 minutes?
I’m in DFW so i guess my market would be DFW but there’s no reason why it can’t go further with Internet sales.
My plan, doing it on my own, is to start really small and just do a dozen or so sales a month. I’m fully and happily employed so it would take a lot to convince me to leave my job given the current economic conditions.
From MC> I wrote software for more than 10 years. I know exactly what you are talking about. I was more about the chair than the desk. Build one and send me a picture. Maybe i will be your first customer
Comment by chasd00 -
Just realized that my comment above about the TV station didn’t have the proper reference in it: I’m talking about my idea for a special science day at a hardware store. They want to use that idea as an example of your stimulus plan. It’s a local station to you there in Texas.
Comment by Scott Yates -
The idea is one that has been floated before but I think we are approaching the point where it could now become the norm. Take the cable television model and start bundling online media properties and charging monthly for full access to those site. This has been floated before with micropayments and subscriptions but I think that by getting media properties to group together gives them strength.
The goal and challenge here would be to get every local newspaper and large media instition to join (since those who don’t would see a large spike in traffic even though they would still only be making money via cpm).
To make the idea more accepted by people who are used to getting content for free their can be a referral system where someone gets a credit everytime the sign up a friend helping to pay their(the user’s) cost for content.
Sign up would be driven by overlays on a site when a user tries to click anywhere inside the front page. Leave front page content up free of charge, everything else is charged. Also sign-up would be generated by people recommending articles, etc.
Example:
I would be interested in
The Buffalo News
New York Times
Techcrunch
Alley Insider
Espn.com
Smashing Magazine
At $2 a month per site I would be paying $12 a month for content.
The company’s take would have to be around $.25 giving the media company’s take somewhere around $1.75 per reader.
If you look at traffic figures for New York Times.com via (compete.com) The site has 16.5mm unique visitors a month assuming that drops a third when it is a pay service you would have 11.5mm users a month paying 2 bucks which would be 23 million a month. Around a 20 Million dollar take for the media company and almost 3 million for this entity. This is an example of a large scale site.
For a mid-size city site like the Buffalonews.com the numbers would be more like 480K users down to 347K X 2 making it $694k a month split to 607k a month and 87k a month. Still not a bad take when multiplied by the number of cities this size across the country.
This revenue is also in addition to any advertising revenue a media company leaves on their site.
The company would need a small staff 2-3 developers to build a secure system for handling payments and successfully tracking users since they are now paying for content. Also the entity would need 1-2 sales people to sell the idea to local entites and leverage larger media contacts. And a part-time PR person to handle publicity especially to gain placement in other B2B media publications.
Comment by nb3004 -
Continuing my inexorably obnoxious “Fund the pot farm” rants, I’d just like to remind Mark and everyone here that the biggest growth industry during the great depression was also illegal when the whole thing began: Booze.
When prohibition ended, bootleggers quickly became wealthy, legitimate businessmen. Their distributors… not so much.
Anyway, I’ll shut up now.
Comment by VonGuard -
I propose to charge a subscription to your blog. I can agree to give you 20% of the profit.
Cheers,
Matt
Comment by Matt -
MC,
This idea is gold, GOLD, baby!
OK, maybe not, but it at least is generating some interest. I have a TV reporter who wants to do a story about this and wants to interview me by satellite. If there’s some reason I shouldn’t do it, contact me directly using the link on my site.
I think the fact that a blog comment has a major TV station interested is proof that this idea has real legs, and that you and I working together can actually create something of value.
If I don’t hear from you or “your people” I’ll do the interview and then come back here and post a link to it once it’s up.
Woo Hoo, we’re off to the races!
-Scott
Comment by Scott Yates -
I know i had some typing errors, I would be happy to explain further anything you might have questions on. The main feature of the shirts are large Obama face shots with different slogans. Sorry for any confusion.
Comment by William Putman -
I want to start a Papa Murphy’s Franchise in my area.
http://www.papamurphys.com/public/franchise_locations.cfm
There are currently now franchises in the state of Virginia, the concept of a “Take and Bake” pizza is largely unknown in the Northern Virginia area and based on the fast paced live of the people around here, getting a pizza that you can bake fresh at home for a fraction of the cost of a quality pizza from the local pie maker would be a big hit. I have seen the success of Papa Murphys in the Bay area when I lived out there, I know it would be a hit in the Northern Virginia area. I have experience with running retail stores and my partner was a former district manager for Starbucks.
The Royalty Fee is 5% of net sales per week. Additionally, there is an Advertising and Development Fee of 1% of net sales per week, your return would be at 3% of net sales.
What I need to get started:
* Minimum $350,000 to get started.
Comment by Take N Bake -
“It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days”
Ha! Ha! You have no idea what the economy is going to look like in 60days do you?
Any business that can break even in 60 days has already been started, which means comptition is high, and margins are low. Given the current economy, they are actually unprofitable now.
In any case, good luck! I hope you find one of those suckers that are born every minute.
Comment by Kyle Lahnakoski -
Hi Mark (and everyone),
Walking through a local Best Buy a couple weeks ago, I noticed a man standing in front of rows and rows of external hard-drives. He was older, and looked a bit dumbfounded among the dozens of options. I was reminded of my grandfather, and moved on.
Then, about twenty minutes later, on my way out, I glanced over and he was still standing there. Hadn’t moved an inch. Same position, hand on chin. Other hand weighing the hard-drives, reading the packaging, placing them back on the shelf. One after the other.
I finally approached the man, gave him an honest smile and told him that he looked like he could use some help. He was relieved.
Then I realized, why does shopping for electronics have to be complicated and confusing for 99% of consumers? Most people just want technology to work for them. They don’t want to work for technology. Buying electronics shouldn’t cause headaches.
We find that so many of our friends spend days researching their next camera, TV, computer, or other gadget with little success. Or instead, they suck it up and visit a big box electronics store, often ending up overwhelmed with the selection and underwhelmed with the staff. Even product review sites and consumer report magazines leave most of us more confused than when we began shopping.
Let us do the heavy lifting; the research, comparing value and easy-of-use, and then ultimately choose one product in each category to sell. One camera. One wireless router. One home theater. The product that will be the best for the most people.
We aim to radically simplify the process of shopping for electronics for the majority of consumers.
There is opportunity at every level of sales: we have already seen success based on an affiliate system with Amazon.com. We believe cutting out this middle-man and working online, directly with manufacturers and wholesalers probably will make sense, after an amount of growth within the company. Eventually, there are likely even retail opportunities.
Let me know if you have any questions, please.
Best,
Jordan
From MC>99pct of the people use the internet to find that info. Most of the rest can find someone at Best Buy or wherever to help them. I dont see this as a business. Sorry
Comment by Jordan -
All of those abandoned subdivisions that were built on spec are actually valuable assets that are just wasting away right now. I don’t know that it would break even or be profitable within your time line, but here’s my idea for these subdivisions:
Buy up an entire neighborhood from a bankrupt developer at a steep discount. Then convert the houses into biotech labs and lease them out (by the room, by the house, by the street, whatever) to biotech start-ups that need space but don’t have the capital to build for themselves. You could profit just on the leases, or you could arrange equity deals with the start-ups that lease the space (perhaps as a condition of lease, or in conjunction with additional funding arrangements).
It’s possible that you could reserve a few of the houses and lease them as living quarters for the budding entrepreneurs, but primarily this idea is about using the homes for research and testing space. Either way, if you get a lot of small start-ups working together in the same neighborhood like this, the opportunities for collaboration are limitless and progress is sure to be swift. You could even retrofit them with solar panels to reduce utility costs, and then lease those to companies doing low-power research (just growing lots of stuff in petri dishes, perhaps).
The idea can be replicated for energy start-ups, too. A lot of people are talking about how the next “big idea” in energy will come from someone’s garage. Well, this is an opportunity to provide people with the garages!
There are two obvious obstacles to your time line, though: first, it might take more than 60 days to retrofit these homes for laboratory use; second, it would definitely take more than 60 days to get them re-zoned for that purpose. Other than that, I think this project fits your criteria.
Comment by Richard Carlucci -
write an openwrt module to read out usb data from smart power meters such as voltcraft. release as open source and offer consulting in adapting the module to various router platforms, offer the module to google.org and various “utilities and independent device manufacturers” on this blog.
Comment by openpower -
Your best business is to show people how to achieve the life of their dreams, and the only way they can do that is to have true health! People spend billions on sick care each yea that could have been avoided. Our healthcare system today kills over 1 million people per year, because people base their health on how they look or how they feel. Wrong answer: #3 killer-Heart DZ #2 Killer Cancer #1 what you do when you do not feel good, take medications–Medical care and RX drug reaction deaths kill more than heart disease or cancer. If you wait until you feel cancer or heart disease. You are already gone! You can have all the $$ in the world, but when you lose your health, you will do anything, pay anything,and go anywhere to try to get it back,and unfortunately it is already too late.
I spend zero $$ on advertising , and all my efforts are upon teaching and educating you and every man, woman and child on what true health is. People die from lack of knowledge, but more from lack of action! Let’s give them the knowledge and the action steps to live a life not fearing cancer, and heart disease, not fearing crippling arthritis, no believing the “genetics” lie, and pursue health, happiness, and the abundant life they were created to have. Health is not guaranteed, it is earned.
I assure you the answer is not in a pill, potion, lotion, or magic food, it is going back to the principles and the laws that are in place to govern the body, working with its’ design not against it. This is not another fad diet, or exercises fad, this is truth, healthy living, maximizing the essentials to reach a solid quality 80-100 years of life. Saving billions of people and $$ lost through sickness! Taking the $$ back from the drug companies and back to the people. E-mail me.
http://www.maximizedlivingdrzaino.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/wwwabundantlifechiro
From MC> My 1st amendment, no multi level marketing programs
Comment by Dr. Zaino -
Mark,
I give you DormBeds.com. A mattress business that partners with Colleges and Universities to sell bedding products to students. The business is already established with suppliers and product in place, and is cash flow positive. The beds are marked up 30%-40% over cost, including shipping. In addition this business could partner with college town real estate agencies to promote sales. For example: rent an apartment, and get a bed with it. The addition of a free bed would be incentive for people to sign a lease, and the cost of the bed would be paid out of the finder’s fee generated from the lease. Both real estate agent and Dorm Beds win with increased sales. There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the US, and housing turns over every year, so there is a substantial target market. Why different then Target or Bed Bath and Beyond where students shop? 1. Add value by delivering the bed to the student’s dorm or apartment before they arrive at school, saves them time and hassle especially for students without a car at school. 2. Products are drop shipped so there is no risk in holding inventory. The main expenses would be getting product delivered and into the dorms, which would require hiring a team (think students) for hourly work, and improving the website. When I set this up I hired someone off of Elance to build a quick website, the site simply needs to be updated, with some order processing, and functionality features added. I am willing to give up 10-20% equity. Let me know what you think. Thanks for the opportunity.
From MC> Email on its way. Good luck !
-Dan
Comment by Dan Dietz -
Hi Mark,
My business idea is a grassroots marketing businesses that helps local independent business owners (those on main street) effectively market their businesses within their respective communities via “in-store” events/parties. We help to launch the “in-store’ events such as grand openings, re-openings, VIP closed door events, trunk shows, fashion shows, etc. Services include the planning, the organizing, sending out invitations, getting the community involved, capturing leads information, follow-ups, and so forth. It will help boost the business owners revenues and bring back that sense of community the American people are longing for and seeking.
Staff would consist of savvy event planners/business consultants to go after the stores interested in planning an event for their store.
Thanks for your consideration!
Comment by topseekrit -
Pingback: The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan - Open Source Funding « blog maverick | www.homefloorplans.ca
Noah,
I think you should do it for people’s old photos. I have been looking online for a company that will scan all my old photos into a digital format (I am talking 1000+ photos – not simply take a couple photos to the local kinko’s). The only companies I have found require me mailing my photos to them. I don’t trust the mail system well enough to not lose my priceless photo album, but if I could take the photos into a store, I would pay top dollar. This may require inventing a specific scanner for photos (I have seen a cheap version in the inflight magazines). Good luck.
Comment by Mike -
Simple Idea: Mail Server Appliances for Small/Home Office.
Using Zimbra Collaboration Suite (Community Edition) on GNU/Linux, one can
build appliances that provide email, document and calendar sharing. All
the software required to build such an applicance can be acquired for free.
Target customers would be those who:
1) want avoid the expense of proprietary platforms, both in licensing
and admin costs
2) do not want their email or other information floating around in a hosted
3rd party cloud somewhere
Revenue streams:
a) one-time setup fee to cover purchase of server hardware and labor
b) service contracts for administration, maintenance and monitoring
of the appliance – billed monthly, renewable each year
c) tiered backup/recovery solutions: basic (DR only) and premium
(which would include point-in-time recovery of user data)
d) end-user training on use of ZCS platform
e) admin training re: administration, maintenance and monitoring
f) consultantcy fees for any current Zimbra deployment or for customers that
have decided to forgo the yearly maintenance contract but may need help with
specifc tasks
g) potential VAR arrangement with Zimbra parent company
The problems I see with most small IT companies, and those this model should
avoid:
a) “One-Stop-IT-Shop”: 0 opportunity to develop a focused product set that
you can knock out of the park. most time spent doing low-end work for hourly
fees, limiting profit potential and the ability to create a positive reputation
as a solution provider
b) incident-based pricing model: always associated with a failure of some sort
and customers can develop a level of distrust because they know they only
pay for things to be fixed, not to be done properly in the first place
What would be needed to get up and running:
a) 5 mid-range servers: 1 for appliance development and testing; 1 for
operations; the rest on hand to be able to roll out the first few deployments
quickly
b) 1/4 rack of colo space for ops server mentioned above for monitoring
software (Nagios and MRTG)
c) marketing materials: business cards, domain name registration, flyers
Comment by Erik in Austin, TX -
MC,
This is a fantastic concept in theory, thanks for putting it out there… although I believe an idea is just an idea and the way you laid it out you will undoubtedly continue to get interesting ideas that haven’t been flushed out enough to put any kind of investment into action. But I’m very interested in where this goes. If/when you find something interesting, I’m sure many of us would follow your participation in and funding of that concept.
My small team provides concept to launch services for Internet products and, as former IT consultants, we have been thinking about pushing forward a hybrid services model based on our already profitable services based business model.
The Core:
1. cost of building enterprise-grade web products has come down
2. new frameworks allow these to go from concept to launch quickly
3. small/medium sized business are increasingly becoming reliant on web products to “run” there businesses
4. you can easily build these products with flat organizations and lots of transparency
5. running and scaling web products has also become inexpensive
The Opportunity:
1. target specific industries (big markets) like legal or healthcare where there are a lot of small/medium sized US businesses that cannot afford traditional “enterprise” software
2. solve a specific problem with a simple web product
3. sell alongside traditional IT services (internally or partnered) as a hybrid product/service offering with a focus on product user experience
4. learn, rinse and repeat
5. launch 4-5 targeted web products per year (we have modeled what this type of thing might look like 5-10 years out)
The Risks:
1. differentiation in niche (but big) markets is key and lean operations are key, otherwise big web players can swoop into markets
2. really understanding the needs of the user/niche is key
3. although there is proof that companies pay money for these types of web products, there is the risk that they just won’t
As an example, our small team is able to go from concept to launch in less than 6 months typically, 3 months with additional cash… this includes flushed out prototypes that are tested with actual users, etc… so it would be feasible to target and launch this type of effort quickly within our already existing business model.
From MC> This is actually something that a 1 or 2 man shop could start up and get going quickly if you focused on helping small businesses (not necessarily in a specific vertical) cut their IT expenses considerably using off the shelf , preferably low cost general applications that are cloud hosted. I like the pitch of “Throw out your MS Office, Outlook and ….. and cut your IT costs to the bone”. Not so much the idea of having to develop anything.
THe key is being the integrator , using your software skills to customize the applications to the customer needs. Of course, you have to know what you are doing and deliver for your customers. For me to be interested, you would have to demonstrate that you could this by already securing a couple customers. You might go in and offer to do a free analysis of their IT costs and where you could get them and take a pct of what you save them after your annual support costs . If you get to this point, post again and we can discuss it further
Comment by Rod -
I’ll bite. Here’s my business plan so far. I’m not worried about competition by posting here, as I feel as though any relationships I’ve already built are far stronger than any competitors. I’ve never started a business before so I’m open to any polite critiques.
http://www.scribd.com/share/upload/8936739/1pgghmmjm453yicw3n2o
Comment by Carla -
I’m ok posting my idea to the public as my goal would be to find
someone or a goupd to help build this into a company…Transparency
in pricing has completely changed markets for almost everything in
the consumer world, primarily through the internet (airline tickets,
hotels, cars, etc.)
The big area that has yet to be infiltrated with pricing transparency is
business-to-business sales, starting with ERP and Software-as-a-Service
(SaaS) applications, management consulting and other corporate purchases.
My idea is to build an information portal, vendor review and pricing
exchange (online) that would allow procurement officers to view how
their vendors price software and other B2B products and services to
similar corporations.
Having years of experience at both software vendors and consulting
companies, I recognize the wide range of prices that corporations are
charged. Opening the door into how vendors price their products and
services will certainly drive down the costs for corporate clients,
which should be an attractive offering to any procurement officer.
Companies would pay a subscription fee for access as well as required
to anonymously provide pricing for their vendors (similar to the model
for salary.com). The more companies that join and share their data,
the more transparent the pricing will become. Transparency increases
the value for the information, which in turn could increase the cost
to join such as exchange.
Other revenue streams could include value-add consulting services around
vendor selection. There are many additional revenue opportunities for
such an exchange, so since this is open source, I would welcome additional
ideas. I would personally look to partner with someone on this,
specifically someone (or group) with direct procurement experience.
Comment by Matt -
Here’s one that is a simple service that is scalable, does great things for the environment and is really is to manage.
1. The company picks up on a weekly basis from urban and high density neighborhoods, compost garbage or wet garbage.
2. The company sells the receptacle for X as well as the pick up service for Y. This receptacle could be a container that stays with the client or a biodegradable corn based pick up bag.
3. The company has an arrangement with an individual based on location to dump the waste and convert it into organic potting soils
4. The soil is branded and sold
I am using Vancouver as a model for this idea and am looking for financial assistance with this project.
i have the land deal for the compost, and I am in need for capital funding for the pick up vehicles, collection bags, and have begun discussions for distribution of the soil product through a growers direct supplier.
any takers?
dave
Comment by david geertz -
Pingback: Sorry Sallie Mae, I’m still deferring my student loans – Tales From the Recently Laid Off
Hi Mark —
A veteran entertainment/new media exec and a A-list TV writer/Exec producer team up to create premium content for brands across all digital platforms. Our proposal is located here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/12087546/Venice-Media-Proposal.
Thanks!
Comment by cosimoto -
Mark,
Love the idea, here is my pitch.
Okay it goes like this America is a copy cat society. People like to jump on bandwagons and do what the masses are doing in order to fulfill their need to be in a group, popular or trendy so this is my business idea.
Obama t-shirts. Okay sounds funny right? Well look around you, Barry Obama is everywhere. He’s the “it” thing right now as far as making a statement. So I think you take some of his more popular sayings and twist it a bit for example.
-yes he did
-yes we did
-I made a difference November (whatever day voting was) what did you do?
-his initials
Obviously each shirt would have some sort of art design with featuring Obama’s. I would make one of each shirt, professionally photography them and set up adds on e-bay for each one. Additionally I would set up an e-commerce website to buy them directly with out paying the middleman (eBay). With the correct e-bay listings (photos, pay a little more to have your add on top feature) and a mass marketing campaign those shirts would be selling like hot cakes because the market targeted is eager to show their support externally. By only producing one of each shirt until orders are processed, we would save on overhead. The initial investment could be minimal, because there would be no need to get a third party t-shirt producer until we have the orders. Then we can play them off each other to get the lowest bid. Depending on volume of product ordered the idea would be to eventually purchase the equipment to do it ourselves. (This also would create jobs)
-You start by selling them at 10 0r 15 per shirt (buy now option) with shipping but they only cost a 1 or 2 to produce upfront (this number will drop due to economics of scale), and not much more to ship.
The best part of this is that the company when initially successful can launch into posters, patches, and move to other public figures, pop culture things and more. Therefore it will continue to create jobs. Think of how much JFK memorabilia is worth, and valued to consumers. This is that kind of opportunity, to make lots of money in a short period of time, and using that revenue to expand and grow.
Thanks for your time, hope to hear from you soon.
-William
Comment by William Putman -
Mark,
I just love your heart!!
I also love our Mavs!
Brenda
Gainesville
Comment by Brenda -
Great premise, but the devil is in the details:
A) Must be a “completely flat orginization, no emplyees”. I agree with the idea of everyone works, but this idea ensures a lack of accountability. Recipe for disaster. Is HD Net or other MC ventures flat?
B)MC is asking an individual to share an idea, without a contract in place? What’s more, the contract is “take it or leave it”? Anyone with enough intelligence and drive would never agree to these terms. Certainly not a “flat orginization” principal.
C)Sharing an idea with potential competitors, before that idea has an opportunity to succed is ridiculous; and it raises the probility of the individual putting in all the sweat and reaping none of the rewards. Might work in Cuba, but not here.
I applaud MC’s effort, but any person with ambition would be better off weathering the current economic storm, until they saved enough money or found a partner/investor truly committed to that
idea.
Long term, real ideas and individuals desrve better partners.
Comment by Fred -
Low-cost Portfolio Risk System
The institutional investment market place has varying needs and budgets to address the issue of risk management of their investment portfolios. The purpose of this product is to meet the demands and fiscal responsibilities of institutional investors with $100million-2billion under management. The target customer will have separate accounts (equity and fixed income), mutual funds, offshore funds and private equity investments. This will be an entry-level risk system that is inexpensive and easily implemented for firms with 1-10 people managing the investment portfolios. The general idea is to make a completely hands-off product that all of the data-entry and maintenance is handled by the product management, not by the customer.
To say that there is not competition in the risk management space would be foolish. There are several firms that have all-inclusive programs that are very robust and serve their purpose well. However, these products are tailored primarily to 2 groups; hedge funds and institutional investors that can afford to spend $300,000 or more (and have adequate staff power to support the inputs).
As there are several competitors in the risk management space, this product must have a niche. There are three discernable differences that this product will offer: no manual work on the user end, low cost, and standardized data retrieval. The product will not be underlying holdings based and it will not be simply returns based. It will be in the middle of the two. The output will be exposure based (i.e. net and gross exposures to; sector, country, industry, leverage, liquidity, etc.).
The mechanics of the data retrieval, entry and output are the key to maintaining a low-cost product that maintains a substantial profit margin. The process will work as follows:
1. We receive a list of all portfolio managers and their contact information from the institutional investor.
2. We automatically send each manager a link each month to input exposures on a secure website.
a. The input pages are customized based on the investment manager type (i.e. the hedge fund page has different inputs than the public equity page).
b. Some managers may be against online entry. Other options are available but not encouraged.
c. In the event that a manager does not want to complete the information, there are 2 options: exclude that manager as an exception or manually approximate the information from monthly/quarterly statements
3. The data is compiled in a SQL database and manipulated there.
4. Our website draws from the database and displays the exposures in several ways.
a. The first report type is simply graphical and can be used for reporting to trustees/investment committees.
b. Numeric and graphical output that the institutional investor can manipulate to change allocations and “model” the changing risk characteristics.
c. Hedge modeling techniques that use some general assumptions (at our cost level, it wouldn’t be possible to model waterfall hedges, etc.)
5. The cycle repeats each month and quarter.
All of the start-up work can be completed using indicative data and a couple of beta clients after the product is launched. The resources needed in the beginning would be:
1. SQL Server
2. Website host with security features
3. DBA
4. Marketing materials (website, logo, mailings)
Future opportunities are substantial. The product could be “white-labeled” by consultants or custody banks as an added service for their client base. The product could also grow into a tiered product that meets the demands of larger institutions or scaled back to meet the needs of slightly smaller family-offices/retail clients.
As an institutional investor responsible for managing a portfolio of approximately $750 million, I know there is demand for the product. I currently use something very similar to this, but have not automated it as I have not needed to support multiple users and/or clients.
Let me know if you would like further clarification on any points as the document is riddled with industry-specific language. This is a quick memo-type document that can be re-worked if you are interested in a more formal proposal. Thanks for reading.
Comment by J.S. -
My idea involves collaboration with taxi services, probably starting locally here in the Metroplex. We would put together a program that folks could purchase “taxi passes” (think metrocard) – and because they are purchased in “bulk” up front, they are purchased at a discounted rate (probably a percentage). The more you purchase at once, the greater the discount. There would also be a capacity to “share” rides, whether with strangers or friends, allowing for a green aspect as well as a money saving aspect to the consumer, while a bump up to the drivers (http://wcbstv.com/local/taxis.share.a.2.917914.html). We <http://wcbstv.com/local/taxis.share.a.2.917914.html). We would also get support and involvement by encouraging AARP, MADD, the local government/schools/universities, “green” initiative programs, and small business owners (mainly bars/restaurants) to get involved, support and advertise for us (hopefully at no cost) especially for the reason of helping senior citizens and/or disabled persons retain independence, and also to encourage responsibility by combating drunk driving. In turn, I believe this would start to drive business for the cab companies (based on conversations with friends that would like to participate) and drive down the cost of taking a cab. The cost of cabs in Dallas is ridiculous in comparison with other cities, and I feel that if we were to increase the demand we could in turn drive down the costs and encourage greater use (and safety).
See examples:
http://www.dartfirststate.com/information/programs/scat/
http://www.discountcab.com/thediscountcard/giftcard.aspx
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/12/29/2008-12-29_p_diddy_offers_15_cab_fare_for_revelers.html
As to your initial investment, what would be the most profitable is having your name behind it. Driving the organizations to become involved, promote the idea, etc. The only up front cost would be purchasing the actual cards that people would in turn purchase and implementing software capable of accepting the cards – which most taxis already have. So cost would be minimal, as the individuals would purchase the passes up front. Seeing as you are the investor, I’d give you 50% equity up front.
From MC> I dont think Dallas is the right place to do it. If its not already being done in NYC, its a VERY good idea. Google the concept, search Icerocket.com for blog references, see if there is anyone doing it. If not, call the taxi commission in a city, like NY where the number and dependency on repetitive taxi rides per person is high. Let me know what you find out
Comment by superkaty -
In these trying economic times, where people can no longer afford seeing their shrinks as often a they would like… I see an emerging market for a product that will help fill those emotional voids. Sure, people can just get a dog or cat, but Alpo will dent the wallet (again, in these dark bailout-ridden times). How about “Airy”tm, an invisible pet made of air? It will come in a cool green-approved plastic container, with a secure nozzle so you can release him (or her) when you feeling a bit lonely. The cost is only the plastic container… the container can come in different shapes depending on what kind of airy you get (some are corpulent, others are thin) – the cost to produce will likely be .10-.20 cents and it can sell for $9.99 (can you say PROFIT MARGIN?!). I’d like to have that oxy-clean guy as my spokesperson. Mark, you can have 50% of the company…or 100% if you can get Darryl Dawkins out of retirement and start him at center (come on, you had Shawn Bradley there for a few seasons…cant be much worse).
Comment by ali -
MC,
Thanks for the feedback.
I actually have talked to a couple of people at the stores, but the problem is that they don’t allow a lot of flexibility at the store level, they just said I should talk to corporate. There’s more flexibility with the Ace franchisees, but those guys are all so strapped right now they don’t have the money to spend.
That’s why I think the route is to build a big pile of blog members first, then go direct to corporate and let them decide if they want our group coming in once a month, or if they want their competitor to invite our group in.
From MC> so talk to corporate and see what they say. Its an easy concept to understand. Your having a ton of members probably isnt going to change their perception. The other option is to give it for free for a couple months and document any success and then take that to corporate. I wouldnt invest in a website first approach
Comment by Scott Yates -
This won’t qualify for your open source funding but I figured I’d throw it out there to you, Mark, and fellow sports-loving entrepreneurs.
The idea is pretty complex but could transform sports radio. Imagine a social network that ties into the radio station’s phone system. Imagine if callers had online profiles. Imagine DJs rating callers from 1-10 each time they call. Imagine interns attaching internal notes to callers profiles for DJs to see. Imagine “Caller of the Month” contents. Imagine polls, contests, promotions online within the network. Imagine callers talking trash to each other all day while listening and “working.”
Callers love to feel like they are “buddies” with the DJs. Callers want to feel memorable. This could really engage everyone (callers and passive listeners) in a way that radio alone couldn’t. Radio stations would have lots more opportunity for advertisements, etc that it would make sense for them to pay a monthly fee for something like this.
Comment by Alex Mather -
mark,
i want to help people earn a return on the assets they already have. think distributed zipcar. how many people own multiple cars or commute to work via subway, train? cars might be impractical but it can definitely work with other assets.
Comment by jeremy -
“From MC> If you would have asked me 4 years ago, I would have said yes. Today, you can buy a scanner for under 100 bucks and go to work. Or rent a higher end for the same. You dont need 150k and to try to start that big would be a mistake. Start small, build a customer base, get referrals and grow it slowly and it could work. make sure of course, to see what competition is out there and see how you can differentiate yourself”
Well isn’t this supposed to be a stimulus plan? One of the key concepts of Keynesian economics is that stimulus should be swift. If the answer is to start small and gradually grow then we’re not really stimulating the economy. By having the resources the establish in more than just one local neighborhood, We Scan Everything gets profitable faster and employs more reps faster. Couldn’t you say to anyone who is not manufacturing a product “grow it slowly and it could work”? For my idea, there is no national competition other than PaperlessSolutions.com but they have a different business model (everything is done by mail) which is more concerning for many people as the scanning is happening by strangers somewhere other than their home and the prices are far more expensive.
As for the amount of seed capital, yes it could be 1/2 or 1/3 the amount proposed however the proposal is designed to ensure that the company can both grow significantly without being starved for resources and will remain solvent long enough. To ask for only just barely enough money to make your product with no margin for error means that you are increasing the risk that you’ll burn through cash if the idea takes a week longer than expected and you may not survive.
Lastly, yes, scanners are cheap, but being able to scan efficiently, both sides of documents at 18 ppm means that a job of archiving the basic package in my proposal would take, perhaps 45 minutes whereas the individual doing that on a flatbed would spend the better part of a day or more. The clients can likely keep up with scanning their new files as they come in but it’s the process of taking care of the old files that we address.
Anyhow, I hear that it’s not for you but I offer it to anyone graduating from college and looking for a simple way to make money in their own community – it’s getting tough out there to find a job people!
Comment by Noah -
So disappointed. Barring the federal legal issues, I feel that my plan, posted above (The first one to conform to your rules, Mark) is the only viable plan yet mentioned here. But it doesn’t warrant even so much as a “I won’t be party to illegal narcotics trafficking.”
Some senators are lobbying Obama this week to get him to call off DEA raids in California. If that comes through, the pot farm idea is really the only thing I see in these comments that has a better than 50 percent chance of meeting all of your goals, Mark.
It’s a growth industry. The places that sell pot out here in the Bay Area are overflowing with customers. One place in Berkeley frequently has lines out the door in the middle of the business day. They can’t keep up with demand. And they buy from just about anyone who shows up to sell. Some stores offer 20 to 30 varieties at any given time, and rotate varieties every week.
I’m telling you, Mark, the pot farm can be done legally, according to California law, and can be wildly profitable in a short amount of time.
Doesn’t that at least call for an email calling me a crook? Or a bolded comment saying that this isn’t a business you want to be involved with? Cause it’s the only one here remotely near your requirements.
Comment by VonGuard -
Hey Mark,
My proposition is simple. Join SendOut Cards. It is a multilevel marketing company but don’t let that deter you. I know you love technology and being on the cutting edge of new products. It is an internet website that allows you to send customized greeting cards in the postal mail just using your computer. You need to visit the website sendoutcards.com to fully appreciate it. If you haven’t heard about it already you will repeatedly in the next few years. If you do sign up please use me as your sponsor as it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Cory Sweeting
Arizona House of Representatives
Comment by Cory Sweeting -
It is important for any founder to be aware of current viewpoints which is why I read only your blog. I don’t need your money. Others do. My intent was to give you an alternate idea not to insult you. Best in the future.
Chris
Comment by Chris Caffee -
Sorry. Should be complementary. I wish I could edit a blog comment.
Comment by emilecambry -
Mark, I like the idea of open source funding. In fact, I
did a blog post a couple days ago suggesting something complimentary
to what you’re proposing for the new administration. Here’s the blog
post for anyone interested
http://emilecambry.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/stimulus-plan-my-two-cents-on-the-need-for-bottom-up-government-vc/
Somehow, I can’t help but feel that the entrepreneurs may get left
out of the process of attacking health care and education, with
too many dollars going to the guys that helped us get in this mess
Comment by emilecambry -
The initial deal for a movie production would not require that
I advertise the movie itself. Would this then qualify? I’ll post my
Business Plan elsewhere, as required in any case. Thanks for the
opportunity.
Comment by Matches Malone -
I would like to start a site for Lions fans, there really are some out there, i’m not one of them, but hope to be someday. The idea would be to pool together and commit to providing funding, however little, and buy the lions in hopes that you would be the majority shareholder. This is completely ridiculous because I’m sure Ford would never sell, but regardless i’m sure you don’t have enough money to buy an NFL team on your own, and I’m sick of the lions being called out on Thanksgiving every year as being unworthy to step on the field. If you were at the helm, i’d expect the organization to be turned around within 5 years. We’ve got great crews running the pistons, wings, and tigers, but it seems everyone forgets about that. The lions seem to be the direct personification of the rest of the horrible things going on in Detroit and Michigan. I think a spot in the playoffs would show everyone here, and even the whole country, that anything is possible.
Thanks,
Fan of Detroit, not the Lions.
Comment by Ben -
Putting your gambling hedge fund into action has been a dream of mine for some time.
There are inefficient markets in the exotic pools at racetracks which can be taken advantage of.
One example is the 2nd Race @ Aqueduct from Feb. 8th.
The efficient market states the exacta combination that occurred had an 8% chance of occuring.
This would require a payout of $26.34 to break even. The actual exacta paid $32.20, for an ROI of 22%.
Using Kelly criterion wagering methodology, a 1% investment would be prudent.
Comment by Eddie -
I noticed on those extreme coupon-cutter sites that some moms are
able to spend $10 on $200 of groceries, through double couponing,
combining seller and manufacturer coupons, accumulating rewards, and
2-for-1 deals. The difference in a good couponer and a great couponer
is thousands of dollars a year.
Of course, since so much of that requires buying in bulk, the more
consumers of the groceries in question the better.
So here’s the idea: a grocery delivery service which delivers for free,
and turns its profit through couponing. Use coupons to collect the
inventory, then deliver from the warehouse at regular or near-regular
price.
Comment by Ray -
Mark,
You must have been reading my mind. I was laying awake last night thinking of what I believe would be a great business venture. I was running through scenarios of how it would be marketed, who would benefit and how and why it would work as a concept. My next thought process was what about funding? I thought to myself who out there would be willing to take a look at a solid business plan, someone who has been willing to do things others look upon as odd. Someone who has a background in a field that is similar to my business/invention. Your name popped into my head. I said to myself, I need to go write my business plan and do some research on Mark Cuban. So I came into the office today and Googled your name which produced your blog. This is a concept I’ve been thinking of for some time now, but the Presidential address last night really solidified the fact that this plan will work. My plan isn’t written yet, and there are areas, programming to be specific, that I have no idea about. That’s why I thought you would be a perfect person to run this by. I understand your open policy, because brainstorming ideas in group settings does produce better ideas and products. My question is, do you know of a place or company where I could get some of my questions answered without risk of not being the first to market.
Thanks,
David O
Comment by David O -
Third Saturday Science: Learning projects for tweens at hardware stores.
Background:
Right now a lot of big stores offer some kind of free project for pre-school through about grade 3. The best is probably Home Depot, which has a project they give to any kid who comes in the first Saturday of a month. It’s free, but I’ve been more than a dozen times and always end up buying something and going there rather than the other hardware stores so I’m sure this is a net positive for Home Depot.
Not nearly as well-served are the kids from say 2nd through 6th grades. Parents want to do more with them, and parents are always worried about teaching them more science. And parents have errands to do on Saturdays. This project will solve all those problems.
Business: Start with a blog full of ideas of easy projects that can be done with stuff from a hardware store. Develop a community to help refine and select the very best ideas. Then (within 60 days!) have a downloadable kit for sale. Immediately begin negotiating with Home Depot and competitors to get one of them to begin offering a Third Saturday event with similar advantages to the first Saturday events they do now, and a built in audience with the blog. Sign an exclusive deal with one of those big box outfits (within 90 days!).
The advantage of this monthly event compared to the existing one is that no manufacturing is needed. Once we sign a deal, we will provide a PDF to them that they send out to the stores with detailed instructions, and then they just take product off the shelf to make each month’s project, and hand out the material that they printed in that store to each family. On that handout will be the aisle number of each of the products used if they want to buy more do it at home.
If Home Depot doesn’t bite, then Ace or Lowes might, and they might want to do it on the first Saturday to stop the drain on the stores they have now with people going to Home Depot.
The risk of posting this idea here is that one of the big stores will just go do it now. I don’t think that’s much of a risk — I’m sure they’ve had similar ideas before, and corporate sclerosis has kept it from becoming a reality.
The bigger danger is that one of your readers will just go start it. However they will be slimy dogs, and they will fail because they won’t be able to build an audience. A partner with you, however, with the kind of megaphone that you own, will be able to turn this into a money maker in 90 days.
It will create some jobs, AND help children learn science AND help families do stuff together AND make money. Win win win win.
OK, how does this match up with your 12 points:
1. Start up
2. There may be some advertising revenue, but it is not central to the biz plan.
3. As the expenses will be relatively low, it will be cash flow break even in 60 days.
4. If we can sign the deal with a big chain inside of 90 days, it will be profitable.
5. Funding needs are actually very low. I will work on this for 90 days for no pay, and I should be able to do just about everything other than a few bits of the technical side. Once we sign a deal we will have to staff up to do the research, etc., but this will not require a huge shop.
6. Costs less to make than to sell: see above, costs are very low.
7. No employees at all in the first 90 days, just me.
8. The business plan is right here, the whole thing.
9. Agreed, no ongoing funding. The plan is that we will not need it.
10. I understand you may not want to be involved in the project, but the megaphone you have will help launch this thing quickly, so some involvement from you will ensure the success. I’m thinking a blog post or two from you, and HDNet might want to do a story with lots of great visuals of kids blowing up stuff and learning about science at the same time.
11. You can put the money in whatever bank you want, it won’t be much, just enough to cover all the start-up hosting, designing and incidental costs for the first 90 days. If you have resources in-house to do all that and we can do it for zero out-of-pocket costs, that’s fine with me. Or if you want me to do it, you don’t even have to open a bank account; just open a credit card that I use and you get the bill and you can cancel it whenever you want.
12. Split: The business equity will be split 50-50.
That’s it. As of this writing I’m the first one, I think, to follow your rules, so I hope you see that I work fast and don’t fart around. I’m sure we can get this done.
And thanks for the opportunity. I agree: this is how we’ll get the economy moving again.
From MC> Why not just create the kit and go directly to the stores and license it ? It costs you nothing to put together your first kit PDF, its just time. You go to your local Home Depot or hardware store (are Ace franchisees still around) and ask them if they would pay to get these weekly or monthly during the school year and daily or weekly during the summer. A different program for different age groups. The answers you get will tell you whether you have a business or not. THen you wont need money from me. You just sit in front of your computer and use your imagination to create the kit. Your only expense might be a lawyer to put together an agreement. But you wouldnt do that until you knew whether or not you had customers
Comment by Scott Yates -
Congratulations:
You’ve just created the worst venture capital company in the world.
The people that invested $500K in our startup and spent 8 years in R&D would quite literally shoot me if I pusued this funding arrangement. Lets see:
1. Give away your idea to the world
2. Sign a crappy disclosure/funding agreement
3. Sign away control
As you look back in the history of technology or business I challange you to offer one example where this kind of approach was successful. Every founder who represented his initial investors by agreeing to terms like this is where he/she belongs … broke and nowhere.
Stong business ideas don’t need this kind of approach. First rule of business ethics is protect the business stength to maximize shareholder value, which you are compromizing right away before the company even lauches a scale play. You’re going to get a bunch of desperate crackpots who want to tie themselves to the Cuban name for notariety. Sorry, Mark, I have a great company in the making and there is no way I can approach anyone in our busdev team with this approach. They would laugh me out of the room.
Instead you should personally call Tim Geitner or Barack Obama and say that you want the government to set up a $10B entrepreneur fund to invest in new businesses, making $1M investments in each company after a confidential review process. You would make national news by contributing $10M to this fund (with matching government funds requested) and you should ask to be on the review board. The government should have a 10-20% stake in each company with full control by the original founders. It would be helpful if this effort also utilizes private investors locally at the same time to maximize the chances for success for each company.
This approach, to me, puts you into a better position to use your considerable resources and talent, in combo with the government reasources and talent, to begin a new and different approach to small business growth in the USA.
Please consider this approach instead.
Best
Chris
From MC> Actually, if I was someone that gave you a nickel, I would be pissed that you even had a second of time to be reading and responding to blogs rather than busting your ass and eating, sleeping and breathing your business with the single goal of making it profitable and paying me and other investors our money back. So , no , I wont reconsider
Comment by Chris Caffee -
How about an actual business idea. I have a real job but I’ve been kicking this idea around for a few months.
First, let me say, given that I’m writing into a comment box on a blog, I hope it’s alright if I make a few mistakes and can be forgiven for the informalness.
I want to create a website builder builder. Yes, that’s two builders. Most niche businesses require a website and most of them overpay, by a wide margin, for terrible design and hosting. Then they pay some more every time they need to update their site (and quite often don’t, because of both the cost and the hassle).
Someone could carve out a nice business by creating a website builder for some particular niche. The owners of said small to medium businesses would go to the site, build their own website, be able to update their own content, etc. They’d get to build and edit their website for free, but they’d pay for hosting. You could even tack on things like email (zimbra, or gmail) and analytics.
There are general purpose website builders but I believe being laser-targeting a particular niche makes it infinitely easier to sell to them. Doctors need a page that shows what insurances they take and restaurants need a place to display their menu. The eventual goal would be to make an extensible and powerful templating system whereby a developer could sit down using the powerful system and create a dead-simple website builder for some particular niche, quickly. So the goal is to build a system for the business to easily and quickly build niche website builders. This would let you laser-target many niches but also bring the advantages of scale to the business.
Now, many of the niches already have similar website builders, but they are almost universally terrible, mostly because of a combination of incompetence and the small market size (which is by definition of a niche).
In the initial bootstrap phase of the business, you would have to pick a niche, focus on the builder (as opposed to the more general purpose scheme), go out and sell, sell, sell to your niche, and get enough revenue to work on the larger idea. Once you had good cashflow from that particular niche, you could start on the larger vision of generating a cross-niche website builder sytem. Later, you could even “franchise” the system into other niches, letting other people sell to their niche of choice, or do it yourself into a few niches.
The non-wages costs of this business would be next to nothing, at first. The websites of paying customers themselves could be initially hosted on virtual servers. This cuts down on alot of logistic problems. Considering you could easily fit a hundred small business websites on a single machine, you’d be generating several thousands of dollars per month for a machine that costs you 100$.
The business would be cash flow neutral (if we exclude wages of the founders) with one or two paying customers. Once it got going, however, it could employ many people from web developers, to designers, to sales and marketing folk.
The investment also wouldn’t need to be very large. In fact, I’m worried it’s a bit small potatos for what you are looking for. I assure you, you could be more aggressive, but I’ve tried to map out the plan of least risk. This is the epitome of seed funding because the primary capital needed is ramen-money for the founders up until they can pay for themselves. A good developer and designer (one person or two) could have a functioning builder in a month for some particular niche, and have a more general purpose builder-builder in three. I think it would take closer to 6 months to actually have enough paying customers to pay the founders market-value.
I do not know the first thing about the optimal ways to pay back the investment (I imagine it’s a legal and accounting quagmire), but the vast majority of the costs for such a business will be in salary, and so, like all software businesses, it scales extremely well. Once it was profitable, there’d probably be some type of dividend-style profit sharing or perhaps the company would buy back your equity from you for some fair price.
As for my qualifications, let me just let you know that your blog’s comment submit form doesn’t render properly on Firefox on the Mac. I had to use Firebug to reduce the columns of the form from 100 to 50 so I could use it. Convincing you that I know what I’m doing is pretty hard as an anonymous guy with a comment box, but hey, that’s a start.
From MC> 1. know about the bug, working with wordpress on it. 2. To get my interest, and its not a bad idea, you would need to start it on your own. Build up a history of charging customers $199 , proving the concept. Then i could get interested
Comment by ldb -
Point taken.
Comment by Eric Barbaric -
1. Buy Used Underpants.
2. ???
3. Profit
Or, since we’re looking at a 60 day window, Buy alot of cheap
pitchforks and torches, and sell them in kits with the addresses
of big bankers and CEOs that make billion dollar bonuses while
laying off countless employees.
Also, arrange bus tours to said houses.
Comment by Deadpan -
Hey Mark- you should just buy Twitter.com. They are on the leading edge of the next media wave with user generated news. Just look at the last 3 world events (Denver plane crash, India terrorist attacks and the Hudson River landing) all broke on Twitter b/f CNN, Fox News, and all major news networks. There is something to be said for that. From there you can monetize it faster than they are and give back to the community through charity work like this http://twestival.com/.
Comment by James -
Hi Mark, great idea. Here’s our submission:
Companies spend tens of thousands of dollars hiring headhunters and user study firms to have them locate people that use their products (or similar products) and give them surveys. These headhunters usually also pay the person to come into an office and take the surveys; usually round $20-50, with some being $100 if it involves computer interaction.
My idea is to take this mobile – have users download our application onto their iPhone, Android Phone, Blackberry or Windows Mobile device and fill out some generic profile data (Sex, Age, Location, etc) and periodically ask them further questions (‘What kind of detergent do you use?’, ‘What did you have for dinner last night?’, ‘How often do you eat out?’) to qualify them for surveys. Companies then send us their surveys, rather than a middleman headhunter, and we are able to send it to specific demographics based on the data we have collected.
Users that complete the survey get a piece of the action as well – allowing us to put money back into the economy by giving any users of a mobile phone a method to earn extra income.
Using the GPS information, the digital camera, and web input fields – we can collect very rich data for our customers increasing the value while targeting users more accurately then headhunters typically can with the volume of unqualified referrals & volunteers they receive.
Our team is experienced in rapid software deployment (We have a team member from the RailsRumble 2008 winning team — which is a 48 hour micro-startup competition) and have developed enterprise applications for the BlackBerry, and actively work on the Android & iPhone platforms as consultants.
We would be willing to give upwards of 15% equity in the company.
Comment by Andrew -
Online typing, spelling and sentence construction lessons for bloggers.
From MC> What about humor lessons for commentors ?
Comment by Eric Barbaric -
This sounds like a perfect opportunity for this guy:
http://blogmaverick.com/2004/10/12/some-investment-opportunities-i-have-to-share/
Comment by Don -
Pingback: Stimulus plan - Mark Cuban Style « Jimiz.net - Jim Becher on the web
shovel arbitrage.
give me some money, i’ll buy up a bunch of shovels real cheap from china. then when the stimulus gets approved and all these “shovel-ready” projects realize that they actually need shovels, i’ll sell them at huge markups, because “buy american!”
let’s see you poke holes in that one, Cuban!
Comment by gilltots -
From MC> 11 isnt weird if you want to make sure the money goes to business purposes and not “client entertainment” or other non essentials
true, but i guess as someone somewhat new to starting up a business/launching an idea, i wouldn’t be so irresponsible with the opportunity. Though judging from the current state of the economy, many clearly are.
michael
Comment by michael -
a preemptive ‘with all due respect…’ No offense, mark. I just thought a stronger point could be made by showing a real exchange that took place and the concerns that cropped up therein. In concept, it’s a great idea. Oh! while i have your eyes, i tried contacting you a year or two ago with an idea i have for you and for you to use for free 😉 It’s still available if you’re ever interested 😉
Comment by michael -
You know, some people are amazing…
One could be given the opportunity of a lifetime basically handed to
you on a platter and yet some want it by their rules.
I say, pave your own way then…
MCS
Comment by Marc in Dallas -
Mark, I think your idea is fantastic. In fact, I’m interested in getting you to look at my business but I am hesitant to post our business plan for all the world to see. Any thought to making this process a little less public?
Comment by Howard Bender -
my girlfriend sent me this link because we have several ideas we would like to see get off the ground. At first, the idea appeared promising, but after reading i thought otherwise. Here is the transcript verbatim:
me: [the link] is very cool; however, i don’t know how comfortable i feel posting the ideas online for all to see, for all to steal
her: I know. That was my hesitation. I think there is a way to start a business without using someone else’s funding, too.
me: though i applaud his alternative ideas, this also concerns me:
10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont.
How about a little tact? Also, the general impression i’m getting is this is a way for him to make money:
12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money.
So basically, he wants to be a silent partner.
Also, this is just weird:
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows.
Thanks, but no thanks, mark 😉
From MC> 11 isnt weird if you want to make sure the money goes to business purposes and not “client entertainment” or other non essentials
Comment by michael -
I’m a software engineer and have sat at a lot of bad desks. I have
an idea for the perfect computer desk. No worthless drawers or
gimmicky keyboard trays, wide enough that you can place your elbows
on the desk even with a 19″ CRT in front of you and proper cable
management so it’s not a mess. I can build it out of Baltic Birch and
prefab table legs from local suppliers. Total cost to build including
labor about $75 I know I could sell them like hotcakes for $175.
It can start as a one man show in a garage and be profitable on the
first sale. I’d give you a percentage of sales for funding
I like my idea because it produces a real life widget and real life
value not something intangible. Standard rules
of inventory, sales, and marketing apply. There’s nothing revolutionary
about it and that’s why it will work.
From MC> How would it be better than many of the good desks that are out there ? How many others are building custom made desk and are you sure you can do it for $75. What market are you in ?
Comment by chasd00 -
I think you’re approaching this incorrectly. Ideas are important, but, as I’m sure you know, the success of a project is in large part due to the quality of the people you are investing in. I understand the concept is to facilitate the free flow of ideas, which is great, but you should instead be looking for creative people that can adapt quickly to situations. A great idea is nothing without the proper people behind it, so I think you should be evaluating the people as much as the idea in your criteria for investment.
From MC> Exactly. But great idea and great people require great execution. I want proof here that the idea, plan and people are packaged together and can reach profitability quickly. Then Im interested
Comment by mojo -
Good Morning Mr. Cuban,
Not sure your take on clubs and such, but this town could use a place
like the place I used to frequent quite often. The place was a cash
cow. The place closed because the owners were getting old and quite
frankly quit caring about the place. It was a place where people of
all races, sizes and personalities went and just had a great time.
I went to this place for about 10 years and stopped going last year
because it was just going downhill.
I have always said, “if I could just get my hands on a place like
this…”. Well, that place is closed now and I am sure someone could
take a like concept and make a killing.
My plan would be to locate a building on the upper Greenville side,
maybe even the old place, and renovate it. I would contact the
previous owners and see if I could use their namesake as well as some
people would be able to identify this place from name alone.
Financially, I am thinking that the building would need at least $25 –
$50k worth of work and take a few months to complete. I would locate
some old staff and get them on board as well.
This place was pouring about $20 – 25k a weekend. I am thinking that
if we get this place pumping again, we could easily see that and more./
Also, I would only have this place open Thursday – Sunday; no weekdays.
Anyhow, that’s my plan…
I will be upfront and say I have no business degree. I have no
business experience other than my sales career in the printing
industry. This is all but a dream and would need help pretty much
every step of the way in regards to the business aspect. If fortunate
enough to receive the help, be assured I am committed to the cause.
Thank you for your time,
MCS
Comment by Marc in Dallas -
It is a Real Project
The project is a real project…… first of all “the SVI pre-panelized
light gauge system for housing” is a processed product that has not
yet been realized in Africa….. Libya needs such a product to address
the mandate of providing quick quality housing in numbers that
stagger over 760,000 units to be provided in the next 8 years….
the SVI product has recently been approved by the government for
usage in Libya…… the products can enter the country and can be
assembled and finished on site……
A signed MOU has been issued….. awaiting further documentation for
presentation of the Contract. A contract for the construction of
5000 units at a cost of $950USD a square metre. The initial contract
for 500 homes, phase one is approximately $125 million; the total
contract is $1.25 billion. The size of the single family residential
homes and apartment units are approximately 220-260 square metres.
(Further discussions are open to extend the Contract to 40,000 units)
We require the following funds:
$50k – funds required to register the company in Libya and enter
into a JV Partnership with our JV Partner. We are prepared to repay
this on receipt of the deposit (below) paid by the Libyan Government, at a 100% return rate where all risk is placed on investor.
$300k – LC or funds to be deposited in the JV Partnership account,
funds will not be used. This triggers the presentation of the
Contract for review and signing. We are prepared to pay a 10% rate
for the usage of the funds or LC for a length of time potentially
90-120 days. However we could retire this on receipt of deposit
from Libyan Government.
$5 million – an LC to support the venture and provide financial
strength to allow the government to participate and to allow the
Libyan government to advance 15% of the contract – $18 million.
I am told that the cheque is provided 6 days after the signing of
the Contract. With our positive cashflow model, we expect to not
require the usage of these funds. We are prepared to pay a rate
10% for the usage of the LC for a length of the project
(approximately 1 year). We expect that we could retire this however
in 3-4 months.
Comment by SVI international group -
Are thier details on how elaborae the business plan must be or at least a set of requirments? I have tons of ideas (many i give away at my site) but nothing formalized becasue I planned to persue them myself.
From MC> The more detail, the better the opportunity for me to participate
Comment by Bill Parker -
Problem: If my 7 year old is having a birthday party and I need a clown or if I’m an NBA team owner and need a halftime act to entertain my fans, I have NO idea where to look.
Business Idea: the amazon.com of halftime show and party gimmick acts
You log on and see videos and pics of acts in your area organized by genre ( magic, acrobatics, funny )
The acts log in and can set their availability dates.
We make money by skimming a little something off the top of every transaction.
I would be willing to give up to 25% equity.
I am a programmer, so I have no doubt that I can make this a reality.
From MC> The question is how much demand is there in any one major marketplace. Given the time period requirements, you would have to actively identify participant acts and work out a deal with them. I dont see how you can be profitable. Plus, I would be shocked if there werent agencies that specialized in just these areas that could be found with a simple search or a glance at the Yellow Pages
Comment by Brian -
Okay, Mr. Cuban, I’ll bite. This is an idea that I put into practice a few years back, but has yet to be duplicated on any level of quality. It’s developing Flash animated, custom designed virtual tours for golf courses. Me and a buddy did one for Wildcat Golf Club in Houston and it turned out really well. http://www.wildcatgolfclub.com/virtualTour/default.html – for reference.
There are a few things that set this idea apart from others. First, each hole is custom created by a graphics designer that has toured the course. No cheesy templates or vague layouts here, everything is from scratch. Secondly, the user gets real tips and help from the head pro at the course (who would write and record the voiceover for tips and advice for each hole being animated). Third, the user gets to see actual photos from various spots on each hole that are taken by the developer and designer when they tour the course.
This idea would be particularly marketable in areas with lots of golf courses who are competing for the same golfers. This online virtual tour would give the golfers a great idea of the quality of the course being considered and would really set the course apart from the others around it. Potentially good markets would be ones that have a high volumn of tourist golfers – places like Las Vegas, Scottsdale, and Myrtle Beach come to mind.
Startup cost would be fairly low, just enough to support the developer and designer in case it’s a little slow in signing up courses in the beginning. The price of airfare and daily expenses while touring the course and playing any practice rounds would be covered by the course being created. Expected cost per hole would be around $1,000, with a discount given for multiple courses or for a course signing up to do all 18 holes ($15,000 or something like that).
There could also be different packages that scale down the available options or add to them. For instance, we could create a version of the online virtual tour with the hole layouts, yardages, and tips from the pro on each page that allows the user to print it out and take with them to use as a professionally done yardage book. You could also create a version that can be made into an iPhone app, or loaded onto the in-cart GPS system. The possibilities are endless, really. You could also approach golf course management companies instead of individual courses to get more bag for your buck. Signing them up to do all 40 of their courses nationwide for only $10,000 a course would cut down on a lot of the cold calls and sales attempts, and give them a competitive edge against other courses in their same markets.
Let me know your thoughts and if you would care to discuss more in detail.
From MC> Its definitely been done before. Plus, Im guessing the economy would make it tough for golf courses to have discretionary dollars to spend on this. But, in this case the best approach is for you to do a demo and take it to some golf courses and see if they say yes. If you can sign up several customers, you probably dont need me, but if you get them to sign on the dotted line at $1k per hole, i would be interested.
Comment by Golf Enthusiast -
Steal this idea. Please. (I’ll put up a fleshed out plan later):
My Idea: Swap Meets and Flea Markets on the unused acreage of closed big box stores
The money: Revenue- $15 per booth.
Expenses-Local Fees, $2 per booth, Land, $2 per booth, Advertising $.50 per booth, Staff- 3 people @ $8 an hour @ 20 hours a weekend – $480 a weekend
There will be 100 vendors from day one. There is room for 1000.
Profit: $570 a week
Can operate about 40 weeks a year (dependent on weather)
Breakeven by week 2. Profitable by week 4. I would need 2k a month for 3 months. Then it would pay for itself.
Mark’s Cut: $2 per booth for the first year. $1 per booth for 6 months after. $6000 investement, $8500-$20,000 return (dependent on the number of vendors).
Even if Mark does not invest, I’m doing this. And you can too. People need flea markets.
The Story: With my mom I run a real estate agency. Obviously times are tough. So we have been looking for ways to diversify.
One of our clients owns a former big box store. He has generated NO revenue, and gotten no interest in the 8 years he has owned his property. The only thing he has done is pay taxes. LOTS OF TAXES.
His property is on a very busy street, and the demographic is poor and lower middle class, which is why the big box closed in the first place.
He asked me to be creative and think of ways to help sell or lease his property to someone.
Then it hit me. NO ONE IS GOING TO NEED THE BIG BOX STORE. But, his store sits on 20 acres of a flat parking lot. And it would be perfect for a outdoor flea market/ swap meet.
I will repeat: Swap Meets and Flea Markets on the unused acreage of closed big box stores. There is one in your town. There is an owner who wants to generate income. Rather or not Mark funds this, I’m doing it, even if I have to sell my Hyundai.
For people that are interested here are problems I have run into, and some solutions (Come hell or high water I’m launching the first market in May):
1. A lot of city governments have regulations that prohibit outdoor flea markets. They believe that these markets bring in crime and characters of ill repute. They are wrong. Swap meets allow people on the bottom to live. I know, my family grew up on swap meets. To solve this image problem use a different name. Call it a cultural bazaar. Call it a world market.
You will also have to work with city govt’s to change ordinances. I have a presentation due next week to the director of economic development. We could lift the anti-outdoor market zoning in less than 60 days because it would generate my town revenue.
2. You will need merchants. I have a list of 200+ merchants who are ready to go. How did I find them? Not on the computer. No sir, I went to flea markets and talked to people. These are not the people you went to business school with. They do not talk in theories. They understand money. I’ve learned more talking to them then I did in my BBA at Emory.
3. You need space. Here is the biggie. After I do all the leg work I don’t want my client pulling the rug from under me and doing it him self. So I’ve made sure I have a couple of locations scouted (5 infact). Now all I need to do is convince him to either lease me the land over the weekends for less than $500 a weekend, or take $1-$2 a head from every person that comes in. This would pay his taxes, plus a little more.
This is a hustlers business. If you aint a hustler. Stay home.
From MC> Its not a bad idea. What I would have to see are deal details and commitment letters from the big box retailers, as well as insurance and other liability protections in place before I invested
Comment by Broderick Turner -
Great idea Mark.
Here’s an idea for the community: Open Source Jeweler specializing in engagement rings.
Description of service:
Consumer registers for service and chooses a budget and setting.
Consumer gets access to a series of educational videos.
Consumer doesn’t act on video except for prioritizing the criteria for choosing a diamond
Diamond expert with access to wholesale market sources diamond that best fits consumers criteria, budget and setting.
Diamond expert obtains best price for consumer in wholesale market, possibly via reverse auction model including certifications, 4c’s, and specific cut requirements
Diamond expert connects consumer with a suitable independent jeweler near consumer
Diamond expert causes wholesaler to send 1-3 diamonds to local jeweler
Consumer and local jeweler set appointment to view diamonds/select specific setting and agree on price for setting
Local jeweler submits a report and consumer is required to respond to report, both report and response are available to public via web
Local jeweler referral is exclusive for set zip codes
Two price points for consumer:
Consumer pays this fee up front.
$25 price point is for those with lower budgets. Consumer gets access to educational videos and local jeweler referral.
$100 price point is for high budgets where expert advice on diamond selection is worthwhile
Jeweler pays referral fee of $100 for the higher budget consumers. They make money from the design/margin on setting. They have an opportunity to win a valued customer.
Consumer pays fee for diamond at the time wholesaler ships
Consumer pays fee for design services/setting upon receipt of ring
Payments come via Noca or credit card. If consumer pays via credit card the consumer pays for transaction fees.
Wholesaler and local jeweler are wired money upon receipt of funds from consumer
Comment by John -
More on my Homebrew Idea is if you sell distillation equipment which is legal in the US for Fuel alcohol with aproval from the Treasury Department then you could sell the equipment and supplies to develop an alternative fuel industry and also set up a Community Supported Energy service selling ethanol .
http://www.permaculture.com/
Comment by Matt -
Why you should quit asking Mark clarifying questions, or for
private meetings, and just get on with it.
http://tinyurl.com/az7rz4
Plus: I KNEW someone was going to propose selling weed. And…I am
pretty sure there are places that will provide up-front cash on your
income tax return. And…no investor wants to see a plan based on
ad revenue, please take my word on THAT. And…”I’ll bet you get a
lot of iphone apps” super funny, I was just going to mention one.
I just built an iPhone app that takes the NY Times API and turns all
mentions of products or services into a clickable link to buy. So you
are reading a hard copy of the NYTimes in the airport, and you read
about M. Ward’s new CD…you pick up your iPhone and clickity click,
download from iTunes and then read the reference to the Black Swan in the
business section, pick up iPhone, clickity click, download Black Swan
from Amazon…app costs .99c, of course. And/or affiliate fees paid
for sale. And/or, partnering with NYTimes to evolve the app as
they evolve their API.
And…adding rules about sustainability…would require too much
detail and complexity…Mark’s initial rules are simple for a reason
…maybe the idea is great, but can be enhanced by thinking about
fair trade or some such. but why limit the ideas getting put forth
with more requirements. Plus…how does something like Twitter address
fair trade? Maybe their offices are set up to be green and leave a
small footprint, but that isn’t something you would necessarily see
or know when discussing the Idea. On the other hand, what was
Twitter’s business model again?
Comment by mattschulte -
Great idea Mark! And to all those that say they don’t want their idea discussed in a public forum, get over it! Someone once said that if you have a really good, innovative idea you don’t have to worry about anyone stealing it, you’ll probably have to beat people over the head with a stick just to get them to look at it! Of course the same is true for a bad idea too.
Comment by Shawn Shepherd -
Mark how about a HomeBrew beer Bussiness it can be cash positive within a month if done right there is no licenceing costs and with the economy going bust theres more people drinking beer at home and craft brewing has seen a marked increase in the last decade .
You wont attract your Bud drinker but the people you do find in the hobby apreciate well crafted beer but they don’t want to pay $10 a 6 pack and well crafted homebrew beer can be made for about 50c a bottle.
Many homebrew business can also turn in to a supplier to the craft brewing industry ,a brew on premise establishment or even a microbrewery if they are licenced by the TTB .
Just a thought for any budding entrepreneurs out there
Comment by Matt -
In short I want to develop a way for people to begin to treat their
recurring monthly spend and the same retail outlets (basic needs,
food, gas, etc) into a pseudo loyalty program where they advance a
consistent monthly spend to stores in exchange or the store adding
some percentage that amount in store credit (percentage can vary and
consumer can make selection every month where to allocate it based on
competitive offers from stores) and manage this through a new debit
card.
The idea further solidified itself from this
http://www.thekrogerco.com/corpnews/corpnewsinfo_pressreleases_04162008.htm
In short I would describe it like this:
Joe Consumer is having a tough time. The companies that he shops at
every month are having a tough time. Joe is used to paying his
mortgage, electric bill, telephone bill, cable bill and other bills on
a monthly basis. Those debts are automatically deducted from his bank
account every month. In some cases, Joe gets a discount from the
provider to have those debts automatically deducted.
Joe also knows that he spends, at a minimum, $200 at the same grocery
store, $150 at the same department store, and $50 at the same
electronics store. Joe has also seen advertisements from his grocery
store telling him that they will add 10% to any gift that he purchases
(e.g. he buys a $100 gift card, and he receives $110 in credit)
Joe wonders why he can’t leverage the spend he knows he is going to
make every month for living needs to receive added loyalty benefits
from all of those stores, like a reverse Upromise, where he
automatically buys store credit every month in exchange for extra cash
from the retailer, but manage that centrally on a new debit card.
Benefits:
1) Consumer gets loyalty dollars from retailers (competitive bidding
for consumer $)
2) Stores get cash immediately (non-refundable) that can work as short
term capital (what is cost of capital vs benefit to consumer)
3) Major CC player can private label and provide some of the backend or someone like that could run the card
4) New software would need to be developed on the CC side, but it
shouldn’t require a new front end to the debit card reader or
interface
5) Overhead should be low
6) The recession will provide the motivation for consumers to join this
7) We keep a cut of the $ and should in the end be printing money
(cash in, cash out, minus our cut).
From MC> No chance its profitable in a year , let alone 3 months
Comment by hmmm -
I look forward to your feedback.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfr3mdrk_13gpzxrz2j
Cheers!
E
From MC> I sent you an email with questions
Comment by eric parmater -
Mark, love the idea, and thanks for the opportunity. Will post again with a link when I write/post business plan to Google Docs. One question – my idea fits all of your requirements, but it will not create a whole lot of jobs by itself, which seems to be state omething you’re aiming for. There is a potential to alter the plan slightly to create jobs within the company, but as you might guess, this draws out the profitability forecast, which I would have to ‘solve’ to get back under your 90 day profitability mandate. Am I correct in assuming that your preference would be for plans that directly create jobs?
From MC> Work on making money first.
Comment by J. D. -
Exploit the growing MMA trend by building and sponsoring a stable of Brazilian fighters who don’t have the privilege of having sponsors within their country like so many American fighters do. I’ll also make sure within their training they learn to speak and write English.
I would also like to build a chain of MMA gear outlet stores. With gear from all over the world. Japan, Brazil, Canada.
Comment by Lee -
Excellent Idea! I do have a few ideas that I may submit, but need a
couple of days to further develop the ideas.
Do you need an intern? I will be glad to volunteer my time to help
you facilitate this “contest”, or any other business projects you need
help with. I’ll be glad to submit my resume and any other
documentation you request.
I believe that you could develop a program similar to the one that
Seth Godin created. http://www.squidoo.com/summerintern08
Not only would having an intern benefit you, but would/could change
someones life.
Benefits to you: Helping change someone’s life, outsource task that
are routine, free your time to spend on more profitable things.
Benefits to intern: Chance to work with one of the greatest business
minds, learn about various industries/businesses, a letter of
recommendation, once in a lifetime opportunity.
Thanks for your time. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Wayne Mullins
Comment by Wayne -
I could live with most of those rules but #3 and #4 seem a bit harsh since a lot of products take more than 60 or 90 days to develope. Most software applications and video games take at least that long to design even before they begin to sell so it doesn’t really sound feasible to expect a software startup to break even in 60 days.
I do have some ideas about some video games that would bring fresh motivations to the market on my blog but I doubt they could be ready to ship in that short space of time.
Comment by Peter Ames -
SVI HAS SUCCESSFULLY GAINED AN OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD INTERNATIONALLY,
HAVING RECEIVED A COMMITMENT FOR $1.25 BILLION DOLLARS, HAVING
EXPANDED OPPORTUNITIES FOR POTENTIALLY $40 BILLION DOLLARS, YET WITH
THE CURRENT FINANCIAL SWING IN NORTH AMERICAN, WE ARE HAVING
DIFFICULTIES IN RECEIVING SEED/SUPPORT FUNDS ALLOWING US TO GO
FORWARD WITH ALREADY COMMITTED GOVERNMENT FUNDS TO SECURE THE CONTRACT
WE ARE PRESENTLY LOOKING FOR INVESTORS TO ALLOW US TO GET PAST THE
INITIAL HURDLES. THIS PROJECT WILL RE-EMPLOY THOUSANDS OF TRADESMEN
AND PROVIDE HUGE DOLLARS IN SUPPLIES, GENERATING 75% OF COMMITMENT TO
THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT.
THANK YOU AND HOPE TO HEAR FROM SOMEONE SOON.
From MC> Let me guess, its in Nigeria ?
Comment by SVI international group -
Question: will you fund a US-incorporated business catering to a US market but where the main developers are in Europe?
From MC> Yes. Im a capitalist. They could be in upper slobobia and Im fine with it
Comment by francis -
Concept is great but if I am going to start something with sweat equity and reach profitability within 60 days why do I need outside money? Perhaps I am being selfish….
From MC> Hopefully you wont need outside money. Hopefully you will step away from the computer and start the company !
Comment by Robert Stanley -
Would you be interested in international projects? I am aware of a Canadian project to provide quick, reasonable cost, effiecent, housing internationally, starting in africa. Patents are pending for the products required, memorandum of understanding is signed for phase 1 of many, and many of the team members are selected. All that is needed is the seed money(+-500K) to start production and line of credit(5mil).
Comment by Rob -
Pingback: Finance Geek » Mark Cuban’s Plan To Fix The Economy With His Money
mark,
here’s the concept for Burger Magic. old family meatloaf seasoning recipe that when sprinkled liberally on hamburgers during the cooking process, makes the best burger you have ever tasted. Here’s the plan:
* gross profit margins are 80%
* initially marketed and shipped direct via web search and fulfillment
* FREE one serving samples mailed out to tens of thousands who request via keywords searches
“Free, Burgers, etc.” – cost of sample including postage is $.60 ea.
* database of potential customers is now built via free samples
* poor economic climate causes increase in cook at home cheaper foods – hamburgers
* analogue is Hamburger Helper – your parents served you this
* once direct customer demand is obtained, supermarket chains call us looking for it.
* startup costs total 25k (5k website, 5k paid search, 15k initial product supply)
* pre-money valuation set at $200K, your 25k investment buys you about 11%
you in?
scott
From MC> Why wouldnt i just buy hamburger helper ? How will you differentiate yourself ? What happens if the sample distribution doesnt work ?
Comment by scott miller -
I’ve been involved (mostly technology) in several startup businesses and think that the criteria for 60 days to cash flow positive as well as the 90 days to profitability would restrict anybody with a new product business plan to post here. I think this would only apply to more of a retail or product already in the bag (or easily in the bag) type of operation. Even then, in this environment predicting demand and cash flow in 60 days is tough.
I think this is great idea and was trying to figure out in m mind why you haven’t had any good idea posted, which I think may be due to the above.
my 2 cents
Go Mavs!
Comment by Scott -
How about “Open Source Funding” as in … funding open source?
Comment by Chris McElhatton -
I imagine a ton of readers want to post an iPhone App idea here
but realize that as soon as it’s posted it will be developed by
someone else real quick. Catch 22.
Anyway – we are in business of designing and developing iPhone Apps
that make money to the owners and I will be glad to sign NDA and
talk to folks with ideas privately.
Comment by Peter -
Great idea – except when a Chinese startup many of which hare VERY good – simple takes one of these ideas and runs with it, at half the startup costs.
Comment by Mike Butcher -
You guys asking about ad revenue realize that Facebook isn’t profitable, right? Ad revenue based models are fundamentally flawed because the rely on driving large numbers of users to your site – not worrying about creating create a great software product. I can not agree with you any more!
Comment by Keen -
Mark,
You should help privatize currency. Please invest in Gold Money. (goldmoney.com)
Comment by Ben -
A cool business helping with energy independence: http://www.scribd.com/doc/12055537/Cuban
Thats the short version. I could go into more detail upon request.
From MC> I dont think it can be profitable fast enough to qualify. However, what I would suggest is that you go to the camera manufacturer with your idea. Tell them you would like to partner with them. Then you go to the local electric utility company. Tell them you want to partner with them. That you will go door to door taking pictures looking for homes that are obviously not energy efficient. Once the homes are identified. The utility company can go to them and work out an energy efficiency program. Which in turn could save them money, and also possibly create business for contractors that make homes more efficient. You may be able to get the utility company to pay you for identifying the homes, and contractors that get any business to pay you. From which you can pay the rental and possibly purchase on the camera. I dont know if utility companies would pay for this, but i think its more likely than the consumers paying to get a picture and then having to do something to fix it based on their own initiative. If you try this, let me know how it goes and we can discuss things further
Comment by Tommy -
Pingback: estatecreate.com blog » Blog Archive » Post your business plan to the comments of a blog
Mark – Here is my proposal. I think I’m the only one whose taken the challenge and posted a business plan.
http://www.slideshare.net/nharlan/wse-cuban-proposal
From MC> If you would have asked me 4 years ago, I would have said yes. Today, you can buy a scanner for under 100 bucks and go to work. Or rent a higher end for the same. You dont need 150k and to try to start that big would be a mistake. Start small, build a customer base, get referrals and grow it slowly and it could work. make sure of course, to see what competition is out there and see how you can differentiate yourself
Comment by Noah -
We are also looking to do a similar thing in the UK, with start-ups over here. I wrote up a list of investment criteria in November:
http://www.pyrosoft.co.uk/blog/2008/11/22/business-angel-investments/
We’ve made 5 investments so far:
http://www.pyrosoft.co.uk/blog/2009/02/04/fubra-investment-roundup-feb-09/
Comment by Paul Maunders -
Hi Mark,
So, post no. 25 and your first business plan…
estatecreate.com, create your own website for property and advertise it
everywhere.
estatecreate.com allows property owners to easily create their own
website for their property and then distribute their content to
classified/property listing sites (sales, lettings and holiday lets) via feeds and simplifies the
process for using AdWords and promoting via social media.
We will charge property owners £5.95/month and will also generate
revenue from URLs, revenue share from property portals and affiliate
deals.
We are about to launch in the UK. We have developed a white label
version which we have implemented for a national newspaper that will
operate on a revenue share basis. I have 5 other similar partners
that are very interested (the UK newspaper industry is in a similar
position to the US – they need to generate more revenue online)
Prospective partners have expressed interest in rolling the product
out to cover other classified sectors including cars, motorbikes
and boats.
I have co-founded and sold two other businesses before this one –
Face (www.facegroup.co.uk), a youth research and planning business
which we sold to Cello PLC in December 2007 and univillage.com,
a social network for students in the UK sold to Sub.tv.
I would be interested in discussing a plan to launch the service in
the US. The product is there – we would need to agree and implement
partnerships with the property portals. We already feed properties to
Vast for holiday rentals.
If you are interested, let me know and I will send you and invite code
to register on the site.
Comment by Henry Yates -
There’s a startling number of small location-based businesses running Google Adwords campaigns outside of their target markets. I live in Santa Monica, and I can easily find Ads for out-of-state Hair Dressers, Dry Cleaners, and Auto Mechanics. I don’t know they’re located out of state until I click on their ads. This costs them money. My goal is to put money back in their pockets by properly localizing their ads.
more …
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg8n78gs_0gbpcqtfd
Comment by Dorian Collier -
My open-source idea:
This may sound funny, but TUMBLEWEEDS are a huge problem in
the desert. Here in Eastern Washington, the city is constantly
paying for crews to go around, gather up tumbleweeds that are piled
up in obnoxious locations (city sidewalks, etc) and then take them to
the dump where they can be burned. Obviously, this involves a lot of
driving around and takes a lot of time and man-labor.
My idea is to build a furnace-on-wheels that could essentially save
the city a lot of time and money.
By being able to safely dispose of tumbleweeds in a “fire-truck,”
the whole process of gathering tumbleweeds,
putting them in the truck, driving to the dump/burning location,
and then driving back is eliminated; you just burn the tumbleweeds
in your little traveling furnace you could weld into the back
of a truck (or some such thing…maybe a trailer.
Feel free to hit me up with your own idea).
I live in Tri-Cities, Washington, and according to the people I’ve
contacted, it’s not only legal here, but it would also serve as a
way for the city to cut down on its municipal budget, something
everyone is looking to do. People are looking for creative ways to
cut costs, and I think this is one that cities would definitely
have to take a look at.
At any rate, this is my open-source idea that I think anyone could
try in their respective city/region.
So as far as my proposition to M.C., here are my responses to his
guidelines:
1. It can be an existing business or a start up…
It is a startup.
2. Can’t be advertising…
It is something where you sell something–either the furnace
itself to various desert cities that have tumbleweed problems OR
you could focus on one specific area and sell the service
(i.e. hit the streets with your machine and burn all the weeds)
3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days…
There really isn’t much needed other than the start-up money to
build the furnaces.
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.
If you had agreements with cities BEFORE building the units, it
would most likely be profitable within 90 days.
5. Funding will be on a monthly basis.
You could just build one unit per month to see how cities react.
6. Sell your product or service for more than what it costs…
This plan can do that.
7. Everyone must work…
It would be a flat organization.
8. You must post your business plan here…
(Hopefully this qualifies as a business plan–I’m not a business
expert–just a college kid).
9. I make no promises…
Understood.
10. I will make no promises…
Understood.
11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify…
Understood.
12. Specify how I get money…
Depending on whether we sold the idea to cities or sold services, M.C.
would be a co-owner in the company that would get a cut of either the
sales of our machine OR a cut of the wages earned from services
rendered to various cities.
Death to the tumbleweeds!
–Josh
From MC> Honestly, its not an area I know enough about to make an informed decision. Sorry
Comment by Josh Thatcher -
After I read the post I was hoping for some business plans but unfortunately nothing yet after 3 hours. I personally am not one for business plans as if I have a product in hand, I would rather be out selling it then spending time projecting numbers in an excel spreadsheet.
I started racking my brain for some ideas that I have thought of in the past and most of the ideas from the past where when I was broke. Now I actually have money and can fund this on my own but then I pictured the media coverage. “Mark Cuban funds new green business as part of his new plan to jump start the economy and help fund entrepenuers.”
Here is the simplized business plan: Sell recylcled pens from China (just sent a few requests in and I am waiting on quotes) Start out by selling to higher end businesses and/or stores that tend to be green conscious. Brand them with a logo called Renewable Pens and you are ready to go. To start out sell directly to businesses on the phone or through walk in. Also setup ecommerce website. Depending on quotes I can see this business being cashflow positive in 30 days from receiving pens and profitable by about 45 days. Will know more once quotes are received but I would start out by selling at higher price point possibly at a 75-100% markup and work my way back from there depending on feedback. Once pens start selling and contacts are created then you can move into other office supplies that businesses currently use that are not recyclable.
P.S. Your comment box is pretty bad. I had to type this in notepad and paste in. For some reason the whole box isn’t showing up.
Comment by Joe -
Pingback: "Open Source Funding" by Mark Cuban | artificial ignorance
I don’t need the money but I’m curious if you’d invest. Here’s the basics:
Product: BrainBank – help bloggers & educators turn their content into something they can reap rewards from (something either than AdSense.) Version 1 is done and live at http://www.brainbankhq.com. First client: http://gp.brainbankhq.com
Revenue Source: Bloggers, companies who want to attract quality prospects & people who want to build a subscription-based members-only websites. Three price-points: $24/mo, $49/mo & $149/mo
Cash-Flow Break Even: Without Founder (aka CEO & programmer) salary $250/month …
so I should be there within a couple weeks.
Profitable within 90 days: Might take longer… probably 180 days. There is a lot of optimization to do based on numbers and getting things flowing faster will require wasting more money than necessary. This is based on future expenses such as access to a strong developer advice & guidance by developers I’ve already been consulting with from time to time (http://www.actionrails.com).
Everyone must work: My plan is to work as little as possible. That’s why everything is aimed to be automated, except for customer service. This won’t be the next Google but it will provide a solid income stream for relatively low maintenance cost.
Business Plan is simple. Offer a product that lets people create online training courses that can be used to attract potential customers or generate revenue. And charge money. And make things simple. Product is about 50% of what I want it to be. Next 3 months will get it to 80%.
Investment: None needed for now. Most of the expenses for now are hosting and credit card merchant account fees. It’s a little short-sighted. I know. Once I hit $1k/mo, I’m going to use that to drive further development.
~ mel
Comment by Melvin Ram -
Hi Mark,
Ok, completely separate from my current business, and solely inspired by this post:
I propose that business be created that allows people to post a public summary of their business idea, and in addition, allows them to post additional (optionally) private details about their business idea, like business plans financial projections, etc.
The public summaries can be as detailed as the business owner wants, or as private. The summaries are publicly available, and the people that visit the site vote on the business overviews, a la Digg.
As business ideas become more popular, it rises to the homepage (or category page, like SaaS, Healthcare, Green, etc).
If you can get a decent number of businesses to post the content, then you can also get investors to go to the site to look at the most popular ideas for investment opportunities.
Here is the business model: you charge investors either a fee per company that they view the full details (along with contact details), or you charge investors a flat monthly fee to access X amount of company details (tiered plans).
A secondary income source would be to allow business owners to pay to have additional exposure to their business plan, kind of like what eBay does. For an extra fee, you can highlight your idea, another fee would allow you to make it featured, etc. These add-ons would be entirely optional.
To get the business idea off the homepage (or category pages), the investor marks it as a pending deal, and the business owner does too. Meaning that business ideas get pulled off when and investor and a business owner mutually pulls it off, otherwise they stay visible for other investors to view.
To setup the business licenses and merchant accounts, etc + salaries for 2-3 people for 90 days, I think this business could be done for around $25k. If you wanted to go no salaries, it could be done for around $5-10k.
If salaries were paid ($25k), I would say 25-30% equity held by you, and the remaining 70% by the 2-3 workers, divided evenly, would be fair.
If you didn’t want to pay salaries, then I believe 5-8% equity for the approximately $10k would be fair.
Your exit would come via a M&A deal, or if after 1 or 2 years no M&A or recapitalization occurs, your payment would convert to a loan at 10% interest and would begin getting paid back to you. Once all payments were made, your equity would be returned to the company to be redistributed among the owners.
This business idea is of course very rough, but certainly doable.
Comment by Joel Strellner -
Taking the bait:
10 second pitch:
I own the domain name :
mobileelectronicbooks.com
****
End of pitch.
Why should Google, Amazon, MS, and Apple be the kings of e-books ?
Basic business model.
Site for the top 10% to 20% not in the Long Tail and not in the
head of the curve either.
These authors are turned down by
stupid and bleeding publishers in NYC. They deserve to have their work
sold and read and not shit canned by Lit major bottom rung editor/readers
who haven’t read beyond the best seller lists in any event.
if we are 50-50 partners, the manager/webmaster we would hire
together but from your designed list would keep 90% of
the first $250,000 we gross, so they have enough money coming
in to run and fund that business. we would get 10%.
From 250K-500K, our share would go up to 20%,
from 500K-$1 million maybe 30%.
Once we get over a million in revenues,
the managing partner gets 55% of the gross.
You and I split the 45%.
The manager vests to 10% equity once the $1 million in
gross sales is hit.
The URL is my IP and skin in the game.
You get to pick the webmaster/ e-book guru/manager candidates,
but we make the decision on the final choice together.
I live in Phx, Dallas HQ is fine, but you pay my SWA flights
once a month.
No Mav tix requested…(grin), but 2 signed jerseys for
my sons 9 and 12….for recess/ playground bragging rights. (grin)
Chairmanship is yours.
As for e-book competitors reading your blog……
Go ahead and validate the space ….
the water is warm…get bigger or better
and buy the company…because the domain name is brandable and generic…
Steve Epstein
PS.
Teaching my 9 year old Shakespeare on my iTouch…
public domain and free..
Screw home schooling….mobilephone schooling is approaching.
Comment by Steve Epstein -
Very very cool idea Mark. Might lead to something big.
I’m in Australia, I wish one of our billionaires would do something
similar. In the spirit of US-Australian friendship I might try to
come up with a business plan a US entrepreneur can “borrow”.
Comment by 8020 Financial -
OK, I’ll ponder and talk with my entrepenurial friends.
In the meantime, since nobody else can answer this one, maybe you can.
It seems to me the United States doesn’t really make things anymore.
We don’t export much except entertainment and “americana”
We don’t make anything here that the world desperately needs.
Bill Clinton suggested that government support of alternative energy and the
green economy could create new wealth and exportable technology.
We could lead the way again in a particular market sector that the world needs.
Why isn’t there a government mandate stipulating to Detroit that we will bail you out
if and only if you accept and meet the challenge of making electric cars.
The technology exists, Detroit’s commitment would drop the price of the batteries needed,
and we’d be reducing our dependence on foreign oil quickly as well as helping the
environment.
What about converting all the semi-trucks on the road to natural gas.
Same situation with the Natural gas available right here in the USA and in Canada.
Maybe that’s a secondary or tertiary plan in the recovery, but one I would like to hear
real discussion about from people who knew, or a real point to why it won’t work from
someone who knows more about big business than me.
That’s where you come in.
In the meantime, I appreciate what you are attempting to do with this post
and will be having a conference call with my entrepreneurial bent friends by
noon tomorrow PST.
Comment by JH -
This is never going to work
Comment by cxc2117 -
Company Name: Yonkly (As seen on Mashable, Tech Crunch, KillerStartups and SoCal Tech)
Our team would like to present Yonkly, which is a niche microblogging platform that has been dominating our competitors on three metrics: (i) traffic, (ii) growth rate, (iii) revenue.
Despite our competition receiving funding within the past two months, we have outperformed them, and will continue to do so through hard work, wit and a long-term perspective.
To all readers, feel free to give us feedback, both good and bad—especially the bad. We love it. It helps us become better.
Website: http://yonkly.com
Video of Yonkly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcgZH3lzrBM&eurl=http://blog.yonkly.com/
Yonkly Executive Summary: http://www.scribd.com/doc/12034545/Yonkly-Executive-Summary
Return for Mark Cuban: Over $20 million with a 2-3 year exit (i.e. pocket change)
Comment by sscheper -
You can read our plan here. We’ve got the right team
and we’re already plotting a course to do this anyway, but you
could make it happen tomorrow, as opposed to a few months from now.
http://www.slideshare.net/omnivore/destination-wyoming
Comment by Ron -
Mark, I think your timelines are a little tight. You’re going to attract a lot of simple iPhone-type apps
and those aren’t going to generate any significant number of jobs or anything else that will help to
stimulate the economy, IMHO.
If you want to support an initiative that is aimed at providing an entirely new ecosystem for entrepreneurs
to build on that will be accessible to all, shoot me a note and I will be happy to elaborate. We could sure
use your help.
Good luck and thanks for the passion.
Comment by Gordon Quinn -
I sure hope you have a readership that is more capable of reading 12
rules and understanding them than the previous posters have been. I really
hope this works out. I look forward to reading some inspired ideas real
soon.
Comment by mp97303 -
Great proposal, though I believe something should be done to
avoid prjects that can throw us back to a new financial crisis.
I miss some rules related to “eco-efficieny”,
to “social sustainability” and to “fair trade”. We’re not in this mess
because seomething went wrong, but most of it was done wrong.
Most of the practices done since yet where not aware of those
rules and speculation was the main goal for business.
Comment by Oriol -
Selling green buds on Twitter. ’nuff said.
Comment by Rolando Breckenridge -
Mark,
I like you’re idea, and I’m up for not only a little “friendly” competition, but the excited about the “jump-start” opportunity which you’ll provide many. As with any entrepreneur though, we can bog you down in details. Can you give specifics for what information, and the amount of information required to post, in order to receive some type of honest attention from you. Perimeters of what needs to be much appreciated.
I also think a revision of #2 needs to be specified, as I’m sure you’re well aware that most (if not all) internet companies have some revenue that is driven by advertisers. As any thing that is worth reading (or gains the attention of others) is worth using as an advertising medium. Also, there’s many different definitions of “advertisements”…. Are magazines, double-click, TV in general, HDNET not making money from advertisements? Are consumer products not delivered and introduced to the consumer via advertisements? Those companies are not only necessary for product delivery, but they create hundreds of thousands of jobs A little clarification on #2 will help drastically hone ideas.
From MC> You are right, they are. However, i have no interest in investing in those types of businesses. They take time to build. This is about hitting the ground running
Cheers,
Jacob Ahrens
Comment by Jacob Ahrens -
Mark,
Ask and you shall receive.
http://www.slideshare.net/alain94040/xtremetalk
Comment by Alain Raynaud -
My idea involves selling off my collection of Star Wars memorabilia that I have been collecting for 35 years. I have a 40 page business plan, although it does break my heart to sell, in this economy, I feel it is a must. The plan is solid, but I don’t feel comfortable posting it as most people wouldn’t understand. Most people don’t have the mental capacity that I do.
Is there anyway that you could fly me out to Texas and we could meet over a cup of Starbucks?
Let me know, I definitely have the best idea of all and the inventory to make it a success.
Follow me on twitter please.
Kevin.
Comment by Kevin Gawthrope -
You guys asking about ad revenue realize that Facebook isn’t profitable, right? Ad revenue based models are fundamentally flawed because the rely on driving large numbers of users to your site – not worrying about creating create a great software product.
Anyone can dream up some scheme to drive lots of eyeballs. A true entrepreneur will create a kick-ass product that actually solves a real world problem, and makes money doing it.
Comment by Kord Campbell -
How’s this:
Provided the Justice department goes along with Obama’s campaign promises, and leave the states to decide what they’re doing with their own laws, I’ve got a fairly simple business plan. One of the oldest there is, really.
An ounce of low grade marijuana, in California, sells for just over US $200.00. High grade can go for double that. A standard grow setup costs a couple grand. Call it $3,000.00. With that much cash invested, and another $3,000.00 per month for rental of a warehouse, plus power and water in ghetto Oakland, you can churn out an average of 25 pounds of bud every 8 to 10 weeks. Less than that, depending on varieties.
So, let’s look at the math, and let’s estimate that we can sell a pound for $3,000 to any of a dozen local dispensaries in the SF Bay Area. Let’s also throw in a 5 pound average fudge factor. So, with a two month period of work, and a $1000.00 extra expenses thing going on, we can expect the following results:
$10,000 initial investment for two months of grow would result in $60,000 of revenue.
Not a bad turn-over. Since marijuana cultivation is a somewhat dodgey subject, this whole plan would be hinged upon a few factors:
1 – Clear and obvious acknowledgement from the federal government that medical marijuana laws will not be infringed by the DEA.
2 – A hand-full of card-carrying stoners: 25 plants allowed per stoner by CA law. That would put us at around 10 stoners to be employed. getting a card is easy, and with that card comes legal allowance for 25 plants a piece. I think there are even larger amounts permitted per person in Oakland and Berkeley.
3 – It might be best to put off the start by 10 weeks, and to bloat the investment needs by another $200 per person so that all involved can attend Oaksterdam University, a legitimate school in Oakland that teaches a 10 week course on Marijuana cultivation, state and federal laws, and other related topics.
So then, Mark: would you be interested at a rate of 33 percent ownership? Or, since this is all about open source, would you be OK getting a 200% or higher set return on your money, then walking away for fear of being indicted.
Others can go ahead and steal this idea if they want. It’s a hell of a quick and powerful way to make money. To avoid any potential legal issues, you’ll forgive me if I decline to introduce any qualifications here in public.
Comment by VonGuard -
Mark,
If you are serious & expect this to work, If you expect to get a large number of plans, If you expect a lot of people to comment on the plans & discus them, Start a slinkset. The comements area of a blog is not ideal for a project like this.
Comment by Another -
Hi Mark,
I too would like to see some sort of way to provide you with private details. I don’t mind making a summary available to the public, but we have a significant first mover advantage on a product that we are developing at Twitturly, and we could lose that if we talked about it publicly.
I will say that it could be released for around $10k-$15k (it’s already almost entirely developed – we just need the money for AWS servers), and we already have a few interested buyers, so I think we could meet your time frames.
If at all interested, I’d be happy to talk to you about it in a more private manner.
Comment by Joel Strellner -
I’ve been buying tickets to scalp. It’s really easy but my credit cards are already maxed out with Jimmy Buffett and Bruce Springsteen tickets so I can’t get any Seinfeld on Friday. I live in a state where it is legal. This would only work as a loan. I’d borrow 10k at 12% interest.
Comment by Kevin -
This is just brilliant and, I hope, will inspire a whole slew of people to do something, think of something, make something. Myself, I operate small and cottage style, designing and laying out books in the after-hours of my civil service day job. My hope is to supplement the pension I’ll receive in five or so years when I retire, so that my wife and I don’t take a hit in our lifestyle (still fairly modest). But I’m commenting to say you’re on the right track about making it a requirement that the businesses you help not be about advertising. In the social networking I do online, I see–read, actually–too much about marketing and not enough about doing something. And we need more doing in this country to move forward out of this mess.
I congratulate you for the idea, Mr. Cuban, for trying to light a fire under people. I hope to God it works.
Comment by Stephen Tiano -
Pingback: The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan - Open Source Funding
Mark,
My plan to help me, and to help others is to invent/build a screen that would go over airplanes engines which would prevent birds from being sucked up in the engines and causing problems.
Let me know what you think,
JTW
Comment by Tyler Wolf -
Here’s my idea for a business.
The current form of government isn’t working.
Start a for-profit business with the goal of competing with and replacing the current government.
Comment by FSK -
I love the “open source” aspect. The founder either believes it is defensible (or has other barriers to entry) or they won’t post it.
Comment by Jackson -
Pingback: Ben Barren - Confessions of a Mad Man » cuban will open source fund u if u have email + profitability in 90 days
Wow, transparency and accountability. What a concept!
Comment by Brian St. Pierre -
Fair enough, I see your point, thanks Mark.
Comment by Ben -
secondary market on delayed california state income tax rebates. seller completes their taxes. and advertises the sale of their return. buyer can purchase the future return at a discount, and a fee which goes to the business.
note: this might be wildly illegal, not sure.
Comment by anthony -
This is the best stimulus plan I’ve seen so far.
Comment by rachelmarsden -
Agreed. Why throw billions at sinking ships when the next new thing
dies on the vine without funding?
I’ll bet you get a lot of iphone apps. Good Luck.
Comment by John -
Mark – Awesome. In all honesty I was hoping that you’d offer something like this up at some point. However, I’m not sure that requiring full disclosure of one’s business plan is going to get that many people to bite on your offer. I have a couple of business ventures that I am trying to get off of the ground and I’d love nothing more to pitch them to you on your blog, but I’m not sure that publicizing the details of my businesses is a good idea. I understand that an idea and business have to be tough enough to withstand competition, but sometimes having that jumpstart on the market is essential.
Not to mention that you gaining a return on your invest would be better served by not creating a potentially infinite amount of competition.
Would you be open to reviewing pitches on your blog and then details privately?
From MC> No. This is an open source opportunity. Not a pitch Mark opportunity
Comment by Ben -
I bet a lot of will come out of this, probably will end up with its own webiste.
Just curious: why is the reason for rule #2?
Thank you and Best Regards,
CS
Comment by Carlos -
Would you be willing to change #2 to it’s not have it’s only revenue from
advertising?
Comment by Michael Buchanan -