100 Business Ideas- The Most Interesting, Uncommon, Strange Business Stories.

Dena Kaufel Story

http://www.onsitehaircuts.com/

Silicon Valley's technology workers may be among the most likely to succeed, but they aren't usually voted best tressed.

Dena Kaufel, the 43-year-old founder of Onsite Haircuts, recognized the root of the problem - "Not everyone wants to take two hours out of his workday to drive to a salon" - and responded.

Kaufel and her staff drive a pair of Winnebagos outfitted as traveling beauty salons, complete with barber chairs, mirrors and sinks, to 11 company parking lots throughout the area.

http://www.propertyroom.com/

Last year PropertyRoom.com, an auction Web site that sells lost, stolen or forfeited goods from police departments, opened its doors to third-party vendors.

Revenues jumped 33 percent, to $8 million, and are projected to hit $10 million to $12 million in 2006.

PropertyRoom.com has signed up more than 750 departments since it was launched in 1999, and its 70 employees ensure each product's authenticity and condition.

http://www.lucinda.com/

Rags-to-riches entrepreneur Lucinda Yates’ inspirational story has captivated audiences across the country. In the early 1980s, after a divorce and a financial setback, she and her young daughter were left homeless and impoverished. Through hard work and creativity, she was able to get her life back on track.

While homeless in Portland, Maine, Yates taught herself how to make jewelry. With the help of friends and family, she found a home and started over.

http://www.m80im.com/

When Dave Neupert founded the word-of-mouth marketing firm M80 in 1998, he had a tough time selling his idea to music and television executives.

His pitch was simple: For a fee, he would find superfans — people who already loved a company's shows or musicians — and train them how to woo new consumers via the Internet.

Neupert's idea ran counter to conventional "buzz marketing," which reaches out to people who have lots of diverse friends — newspaper columnists, for example, or early adopters of new technologies — to spread the word.

http://www.recellular.net/

http://www.jbfsale.com/

Starting a business was the last thing Shannon Wilburn and Davon Tackett were thinking about when they decided to sell the toys and clothes that their children had outgrown.

"It didn't even cross our minds," recalls Ms. Wilburn. "We just said, 'Let's have a weekend sale to make a little extra money.' " Her mother had told her about an event in Dallas where people sold their kids' castoffs en masse, so the pair thought they would try the same concept in their hometown of Tulsa, Okla.

http://www.theferretstore.com/ and http://neeps.com/

2005 Sales: $7 million

Company: Gift and stationery company in Venice, California

Projected 2006 Sales: $3.5 million

Latecomer: Former book editor Bilik was a chronic procrastinator. The idea for her business actually came while putting off the creation of her illustrated memoir. After designing and sending belated holiday cards in January, her friends encouraged her to sell the cards. “Humor is a great way to acknowledge and excuse your own shortcomings,” Bilik says. “January” is now her bestselling holiday card.

2005 Sales: $9 million

Manufacturer and distributor of promotional, private-label and licensed items--most notably the Clik Clak line of mint- and candy-filled tins

Donna Slavitt worked in both the hospitality and retail arenas early in her career, but it was a job in Old Navy's prototype coffee and candy division that led her to her passion--creating fun candy and mint tins. Wanting to branch out with her own specialty retail creations full time, she enlisted the help of college friend Amy Katz, who also works as a corporate lawyer.