Two Great Business Opportunities That Will Let You Be the Boss for Less Than $2K
You’ve always wanted to own a business, but with the economy the way it is, you might not think it’s a good time. Not necessarily. There are opportunities out there that require very little investment.
They say you have to spend money to make money. That’s true, but what if you don’t have to spend as much as you think? That would be great, right? But no legitimate business opportunity can be had for less than $2K, you say. And if it is legit, there’s no way a business for that kind of money could ever really be successful. Well, you’re right to be skeptical. There are a whole lot of business opportunities out there that should give you pause. On the other hand, there are some where the up-front investment is incredibly reasonable, and the potential payoff is significant...if you’re willing to work for it.
Take eBlueCoupons and SterilMattress for example. Both business opportunities have a very low barrier to entry and both are on the cutting edge of a rapidly growing industry. But perhaps most importantly, both of them are owned and operated by individuals who feel passionate about what they do and who are determined to make a difference.
eBlueCoupons: The Passion to Fulfill a Need
Gary Gordon’s been in marketing and advertising for more than 30 years. He’s done it all for companies large and small that were looking to build their brand, advertise their products and services, and generate business. Years of experience have taught him that large companies are not the ones struggling to market themselves; it’s the small- and medium-sized ones that need efficient and cost-effective solutions to meet their greatest marketing challenges.
Gordon says one of the biggest mistakes small- and medium-sized businesses make is spending all of what little resources they have trying to get new customers in the door, when they should be looking more toward retaining the customers they’ve already got. According to Gordon, the biggest question should be, “How do I get the first 100 customers to just keep coming back?” Born of his sincere desire to help smaller business owners be successful in driving traffic and selling more of their products and services, with little effort and for very little investment, eBlueCoupons was born.
eBlueCoupons puts in place the most turn-key and cost-effective marketing mechanism for small- and medium-sized businesses imaginable. Here’s how it works…
For just $495 for the first three months (and $250 per quarter thereafter), you become an eBlueCoupons licensee with your own assigned territory (up to 250,000 pop.). Your job is to interface with the small- and medium-sized businesses in that territory to bring them on-board as your clients. They, in turn, provide an incentive to their customers to become part of what will become their own monthly (or other regularly timed) e-mail coupon club, featuring eBlueCoupons. eBlueCoupons gives you everything you need to get started, and you do not need any technical expertise. Once you’ve signed up the businesses in your territory, all of the actual website and e-mail maintenance is handled by the company; you do nothing else. So, what’s the catch? There is none. “I wanted to provide a business opportunity to people who want to work for themselves or who need to given the current economy,” says Gordon. “I didn’t want it to cost a lot to get started, and I wanted it ultimately to provide small- and medium-sized business owners with a service they just could not afford to live without.”
So, if it’s all done electronically, why doesn’t Gordon just handle all the business outreach and customer service himself from some central location? “Businesses still like to know who they’re working with,” he says. “People want face-to-face interaction and someone to talk to if they need something or there are problems.” With the long-held theory that “all business is local” in mind, Gordon’s goal is to set up a nationwide network of eBlueCoupons licensees, ideally one or two per state, who can then grow their own operations across multiple regions. “Our licensees represent eBlueCoupons, but we want to encourage them to name and grow their own individual businesses,” he says.
Gordon’s ambitions for the company are very realistic. Licensees find the service virtually sells itself, as no small- or medium-sized business owner could ask for a more affordable and easy means of generating return clientele. Once a business has signed on with a licensee for eBlueCoupons, they receive FREE website and coupon design and development services, automatic monthly reminders to update their coupon offer(s) and even assistance with materials to advertise the coupon club at the point of sale. And, each business pays just $395 for the first month, and just $79 per month thereafter. Licensees receive a 50% commission on each sale. Do the math…If a licensee signs up 200 businesses in his/her territory?a very realistic goal?that’s $7,900 per month; and it just goes up from there.
“We’re looking for great communicators who are big on customer service and who can make sure businesses in their assigned territory know about the eBlueCoupon club,” Gordon says. “But they don’t need to know anything at all about computers and graphics; we take care of all of that.” In fact, the company does everything it can do to ensure its licensees have what they need to be successful. It starts each licensee out with 1,000 business cards to market eBlueCoupons to businesses in their region, and provides ongoing support via phone and e-mail, as well as a complete training manual. Additionally, new licensees don’t even have to do the homework to figure out which businesses to contact in their territory, although that kind of initiative is what makes for even greater success. eBlueCoupons provides its licensees with a list of contacts and businesses within their assigned zip code(s).
The company also offers a range of additional products and services that its licensees can promote to enhance their attractiveness to businesses as an indispensable marketing partner. It offers free website development, whether a business is an eBlueCoupon customer or not. A reasonable monthly maintenance fee then includes a block of time each month for that business to work with the company to update and change the site as needed. eBlueCoupon’s “comebackagainsoon.com” website-based fundraising program is another very marketable component of the company’s services that licensees can use to generate yet more income.
“If you’re not passionate about helping businesses help themselves, the way I am, says Gordon, “this business just isn’t for you.” He knows from many years of doing what he does best that all businesses experience the same growing pains and struggles when it comes to their survival. So, he has worked incredibly hard to ensure eBlueCoupons meets their marketing needs at a number of levels, and he welcomes the right people to join him. “There are two ways to get started in business,” he says. “Doing it yourself is an awful lot of work. If you can get into a business opportunity like this one, where you can set up a service you can feel really good about and not have to go through all that, why not?”
SterilMattress: Turning a Need into a Passion
Working on an off-shore oil rig, Tom Hefter sure didn’t think he’d end up being a business owner with a passion for cleanliness. But life is what happens when you’re making other plans. “We were all so sick,” he says. “All of us working on the rig would be coughing, congested and we’d have trouble breathing. Then, we’d all go home, and we’d start to feel better.” Efforts by the company hygienist to figure out what was causing all those symptoms yielded nothing. So, Hefter took it upon himself to buy the best, most powerful vacuum he could find to clean his own bunk out. Lo and behold, he started to feel better. Then, unbeknownst to the rig’s mechanic who was suffering the most, Hefter started cleaning his sleeping area out too. Before you know it, his symptoms were clearing up as well.
Turns out, Hefter was on to something that even the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has now made a top priority. Indoor allergens can make us extremely sick. And, today’s incredible increase in the rates of allergies and asthma can largely be attributed to heating and air conditioning and the fact that we trap allergens indoors with us like no other time in our history. Not only do we not air out our homes like we once did, but we don’t tend to air out the items in our home either, specifically our mattresses.
Within a home, the majority of indoor air pollution is caused by dust mite allergens (DMAs). And DMAs account for 80-90% of the allergenic composition found in house dust. Guess what? Those DMAs originate in mattresses for the most part because dust mites love to be warm and in the dark, so they absolutely love the micro-habitat of our beds. Children with asthma and older people are particularly susceptible to the ill effects of dust mites, but so are otherwise healthy people. In fact, it’s not just allergies and asthma that can result from dust mite exposure. Bronchitis, respiratory infections, perennial rhinitis, eczema and dermatitis are just a few others.
So, what’s the good news in all of this? Well, if you’re Tom Hefter, the founder/owner of SterilMattress, or one of his licensees, you’re able to capitalize on what is quickly becoming a growing trend. The American public is finally catching on to what the Europeans have known for quite some time?intense, HEPA-filtered vacuuming, coupled with UVC light and “green” enzymatic cleaners are the only safe and effective way to truly clean your mattress, home and other hard surfaces of allergens, including dust mites, mold, mildew, pollen, spores, fungi, bacteria and viruses.
“I have seen a ten-fold increase in the number of people looking for professional mattress cleaners just within the last year,” claims Hefter. “The EPA’s shift in focus from outdoor to indoor allergens is long overdue and is really increasing public awareness about this problem.”SterilMattress and its nationwide network of licensees provide the solution. For a one-time charge of just $1,595, its licensees receive all the training and equipment they need to be successful in starting and growing their own business in mattress cleaning and anti-allergen maintenance. Licensees may operate under any name they choose, but are welcome to use the SterilMattress brand name if they like.
Given the current focus in the media on indoor allergen control, Hefter’s most successful marketing tool?one he shares with his licensees and equips them to perform?is the $35 free, in-home consultation. This litmus test lets potential customers know if they have light, medium or heavy dust mite infestation in their mattresses. It’s not surprising that few SterilMattress licensees leave that exchange without doing a service right then and there, or at the very least setting a future appointment. And, once the service has been performed, the recommended maintenance is to do it again at least twice a year. Service is recommended more often if there are severe allergies and asthma conditions present. Each licensee is encouraged to set his/her own pricing standards and appropriate discounts, all with Hefter’s guidance and support.
“In this business, I don’t believe one size fits all,” says Hefter. “We’re here to train and support our licensees in every way possible, but when it comes to things like marketing materials, I want them to have flexibility.” He is willing to share any materials that he and his colleagues have developed thus far that have been effective so that licensees can modify them to fit their own needs. And, he expects that favor to be returned. “SterilMattress and its licensees are a family of sorts; we need to share our strengths and successes so that everyone within it can do well as a result,” Hefter says.
He goes on to say that, “We want people who are looking to build their own business in a growing industry. As people become more and more educated about the need to combat indoor allergens, this business is going to really take off.” The current economic slow-down has had no apparent effect, he claims. In fact, Hefter thinks business will only increase as people do all they can to save the mattresses they’ve already got, rather than buy new.
In addition, the marketplace for cleaning virtually anything with high-intensity, HEPA vacuuming and UVC light is practically endless. SterilMattress’ 3-step process to destroy allergens in all porous fabrics and even on hard surfaces is good for the environment, as it is much safer than chemical treatments. And, oftentimes, it is far less costly. “With the equipment we give you and the enzymatic cleaners, you can clean anything,” Hefter says, “draperies, furniture, carpets and even hard surfaces like floors and countertops.” You can also clean these items anywhere, not just residences. Hotels, nursing homes, hospitals, locker rooms…the possibilities go on and on.
As the public continues to recognize the importance of limiting indoor air pollution for the benefit of the nation’s health, the demand for SterilMattress’ services will only continue to grow. Hefter, for one, welcomes all the media attention to the problem, as well as the public information and education efforts of not only the EPA, but his competitors and all those companies marketing products to eliminate or reduce indoor allergens. “All that information swirling around out there is educating the consuming public,” he says. “And there are very few companies offering the services we provide right now. So, we all stand to benefit and get our own market share.”
Interested in learning more about this or other Business Opportunities, Distributorships, Licensee Opportunities and Small Franchises? Start your search here...
