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Another cool idea: Form a company based on your hobby...example an organization company. Charge $250 an hour organizing other people's stuff. Join the Chamber of Commerce in your local area and get a good advertising agent to help you spot the best advertising opportunities. It doesn't have to cost a forture. Here in the middle of the USA you can get a bus bench for $43 a month, yellow page ads for $40 a month, and even a billboard for less than $200 a month! Be creative and let your light shine. Take all forms of payment, including mastercard and visa. Nowadays, you can actually accept credit card payments on your cell phone! See your bank for details on these cool new merchant accounts!!

IDEA A computer offsite backup company. This particular venture in today's world would be very easy, and very lucrative if you approached it right. There are many backup software writers begging for your money, so the selection is pretty vast. The easiest way to get into this venture is to obviously know a bit about computing and backups, but if you don't , you can hire the skills easily enough.

The way to really make a splash using this type of business plan is to get it started on your own and be persistent. First, you need to be set up and running with the software and confident in your own ability to use it. There are variables here such as the purchase of a nice server if you are to maintain it in-house, which is only suggested if you are technically inclined or irretrievably stupid. The option also exists to purchase your capacity from a vendor such as Qwest or Cox. In my opinion, that's the way to go because of space and bandwidth issues, not to mention setup costs. Another big advantage to a big vendor such as this is that you will have an ally when it comes to technical issues. Your software vendor will also be a big ally in your business venture.

At that point, it's time to turn on your marketing and financial genius. Don't have any of that? Well, that's what I am here for.

Marketing! Computer people sometimes aren't very good at marketing because it means interacting with people. So, if you are a computer person, hire a marketing person. If you are an all-around entrepreneur, you can handle this. The easiest and most cost effective way to get your business off the ground is to of course sell your service to other businesses. Backups are a big deal, and businesses invest billions of dollars every year to keep their data safe. The target demo for this type of business would be the smaller businesses in your area who need your services because they are not yet sophisticated enough to have a good backup plan in place.

Make no mistake here: EVERY small business that does not have an offsite backup plan needs you. Unfortunately your biggest enemy here is the status quo, meaning that businesses do not yet know they need you and they are happy trucking along by themselves. The easiest and best way to get to these people is to call them and schedule an appointment to talk to them about their backup plans. Cold calling is very unnerving at first, but after about 100 calls or so it becomes easier. Have a script hammered out before you start calling so that you have an idea of what you are going to say, and then say it! Ask for the appointment, thank them, and go to the appointment and ask for the sale.

In order to get your target number of sales, you will have to have a target number of calls that will generate a target number of appointments, a percentage of which you will close as sales. The math you could figure out as you go, or buy a book that an expert has written on cold calling and appointment techniques. The more you do it, the better you will be. Isn't it funny that everything turns into a sales job?

Financial genius: HERE is where this business gets fun, and where I try and take a lot of my ideas because it is the future: Monthly Electronic Funds Transfers. When you work out a price list for your services, they should all be based on a monthly fee. You will create a contract that gives you permission to draft an account monthly for a certain fee for a certain service level that you provide. The BEAUTY in this plan is the residual effect of a monthly draft.

Let's say that the first month you close 15 sales at a draft amount of $24.95 for your service. That means that first month your income is $374.25. That's not much, but you are just getting started! The next month, say you close 25 sales at a draft amount of $24.95. The second month your total draft is now $998.00 (you now have 40 people on your plan). Remember those 15 people that you closed the first month? Guess what? You get to bill them every month. It sounds pretty basic, but you see here how closing sales every month could build to an amazing monthly income in a very short time. It's a great concept. So, now the third month, you close another 50 because you are getting GREAT at your pitch. Now, your draft (monthly income) is $2245.50.

Now let's say that you want to go national with this idea, but of course you can't do it all yourself! That's where your fun and wealth really really begins. Why not give others your opportunity? People that you choose would work for you as sole proprietors or employees (whichever your lawyer and accountant says is best), and they will get a cut of all of the draft proceeds of their clients that they closed. The best part of this plan is that you get a cut of their income also! Charging your people a flat fee of $10 for each of their monthly drafts as a support and internet fee or whatever still affords them an income but makes your income grow exponentially! And, remember, you are paying for the server costs and upgrades, even if you are outsourcing, so take that into consideration here. Your people will take a bit longer to get to a nice residual base, but the promise of the great income is theirs also because the income happens month after month.

Monthly billings via ACH or Credit cards are referred to in the world as EFT's, or electronic money transfers. These require a bit of setup and explanation, but once they are in place they are very simple to do.

The best way to learn about EFT is to talk to a business banker. They can help you set up both major types of Electronic Payments; checking/savings and credit cards. In today's world of Mastercard/Visa ATM cards, you could do away with ACH altogether. Opening a business account and getting signed up as a merchant with Mastercard/Visa to accept those payments could give you enough of an edge without the hassle of ACH.

The difference between ACH and Credit Card payments: ACH payments are automatic bank transfers from the client's bank to your bank. These transfers have to go through the 'FED' before they reach you. Normally banks will deposit the ACH monies into your account up front. Then, if it is determined that a client doesn't have the funds to pay you, your bank will take that money back out of your account. This is a real headache for anyone who keeps close track of their cashflow. Also, when setting up multiple ACH transactions, if one is incorrect, you may not submit it again until it's corrected for fear of the bank taking away your ACH priveledges.

With Credit cards, if an account is incorrect, all it does is bounce back 'declined'. There is no further action by the bank or anyone beyond that point. With credit cards, only what has authorized will be deposited in your account, and you know instantly who is approved and who is declined, unlike the ACH transfers, which can take up to 10 days at some banks. Credit cards are very straightforward, and nowadays, everyone that you do business with will prefer to pay this way. Setting up a merchant accounts to accept credit cards is streamlined with one more step, and that's an online gateway to your credit card processor. Ask your banker what they have available. What an online gateway allows you to do is accept credit card monies from anywhere you can get an internet connection. Think of how easy this makes doing business! Another advantage is the ease of setup of a billing database, that tracks all of your clients' billing info and submits it to the processor as one file, saving you the hassle of having to enter each card number into the terminal every month. With the new security regulations regarding online use of personal information, all processors and gateways are generally very safe.