Start a venture which organises river or coastal boat trips for: Business parties, wedding receptions, anniversaries, birthday parties, etc. Your service would do things like: organise transport to the boat, booking catering services, hiring entertainers and hosts or hostesses.

72. Earn money by providing background music.

If you can play a musical instrument, earn money by providing background music at: Restaurants, pubs, wine bars, tea-rooms, hotel breakfasts, amusement arcades, or ice skating rinks. Also play during the interval at theatres and/or cinemas.

73. Sell copies of theatrical plays by post.

Put together a wide range of new and second-hand publications and produce a catalogue. Advertise your catalogue in both the theatre press and theatre programmes.

74. Buy and sell second-hand compact disks.

Buy collections of disks by post and use local ads to find sellers in your area. The disks you acquire can be sold: by post, from a market stall, or get them stocked at local shops.

75. Have a stall which sells fashionable clothes.

Your stall might be a full-time business, working at street markets or it may be part-time and appear at craft and antique fairs.

76. Set up a sheet music of the month club.

Each month send members a selection of sheets to include the latest popular songs. Club members will include: Musicians, who play at clubs and pubs, record companies and keen amateur musicians.

77. Sell Beatles or Elvis memorabilia by mail order.

Conduct your own research to discover what memorabilia you can produce yourself, for example, reprint photographs and duplicate press cuttings. Also buy goods from collectors and trade sources at home and abroad.

78. Put together a mail order catalogue of children’s educational audio cassettes.

These might cover subjects such as spelling, reading and grammar rules, geography, history, etc. Produce some of the cassettes yourself and buy others from audio publishers.

79. Do your own research to discover the secrets of conjuring.

Write a manuscript about your findings and publish it yourself. The novel and sensational nature of this book will ensure that it sells well from ads in newspapers and magazines.

80. Write and record personalised songs.

Produce songs for all occasions, such as engagements, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, births, homecomings and congratulations. Use classified ads in the personal columns to attract orders.

Begin an enterprise which makes model paper products for dolls and dolls’ houses. These might include: Newspapers, money, stationery, napkins, paper hats, Christmas cards, etc. Sell these products by mail order to doll makers and collectors.

62. Write a book about a hobby.

Write a non-fiction book which may, for example, be about a hobby. Enlist a book printer to produce copies of the book. Sell these to the market that would be interested in the contents. You might, for example, place ads in hobby magazines.

63. Personal English Tuition.

Give personal tuition in your own home on how to write good English. Advertise your service by placing cards in windows of local newsagents. Point out the advantages of taking the course, such as getting a better job and helping the children with their homework.

64. Online singles newsletter or magazine.

Start an online singles contact magazine or newsletter, each issue might include both small ads from people looking for partners and editorials of interest to single people. Use press and magazine advertising to build up a list of subscribers.

65. Holiday singles finder.

Set up a holiday companion introduction service. Your service matches and introduces single people who do not have anyone to go on holiday with. Place classified ads in numerous publications to attract clients. Or produce a publication which lists people who are looking for holiday companions.

66. Business creation newsletter.

Write and publish a newsletter for those who want to start a successful business. The newsletter might, for example, discuss effective ways of: Selling, managing, generating ideas, locating suppliers and finding customers. Use your local library service to research these topics.

67. Wirecraft ornaments.

Begin a crafts enterprise which turns out wirecraft ornaments. These ornaments are free-standing, 3-D objects which consist entirely of wire: the wire makes the outlines. The ornaments might be in the shape of: aeroplanes, helicopters, people, animals, boats or bicycles.

68. Wirecraft ornaments mail order.

Start a mail order business which promotes the craft of making ornaments and models from shaping wire. Design and make up a complete kit for beginners. Include this kit in your catalogue, as well as tools, design ideas and raw materials for wire craftworkers.

69. Mobile laptop desks.

Design and manufacture desks for putting on laps in cars. These should be lightweight and easy to store in a car. They might be used by sales people to make notes about calls, business people to prepare for meetings and passengers to work from whilst travelling.

70. Storytelling DVD.

Produce a series of storytelling DVD’s. An actor or actress reads classic novels directly to the camera, for this you can use a program like camtasia. Hire out these DVD’s by post. You can use whole or part of classic stories for which the copyright has expired. This is the case for any work where the writer has been dead for 50 or more years.

As it had been printed in the early sixties, its author had done his research on patents that had come into the public domain, which is why the vast majority of examples were taken from ideas that had been patented between 1880 and 1925.

The first world war had produced a staggering amount of crippled men, and so some of the patents reproduced mechanical arms and legs. Other ideas revolved around the need to make life more practical in a number of domains related to daily life.

This is only to say that ideas have alway been abundant and that more than often, they do find their way to the minds of inventors out of the need to find a solution to a practical problem. And its a great way to keep on generating new ideas.

In a previous article I made mention of how David Bowie came up with the ideas for lyrics for his songs. He uses a brainstorm technique bases on chaos and chance. In this way, thousands of ideas were generated.

Another way of coming up with new ideas is created by being particularly observant. It could be as inocuous as finding a new way of saving time in people’s daily routines, for example, a new way of cleaning shoes or getting rid of hair in hairbrushes.

Adversity is the source of inspiration.

If something you need to do regularly has become a terribly boring thing to do, so much so that you have come to positively abhor the moment you have to set yourself to the task, maybe this adversity could be a source of inspiration for you to come up with a new way of doing things.

Instead of concentrating on how much you hate doing whatever it is you are doing, focus on what you could do to finish the task more quickly, or make it less boring, more effective or productive, you will be amazed how quicly your mind will come up with suggestions.

Another great technique was passed on to later generations by a most famous entrepreneur named Dale Carnegie. He transmitted his infallible trick of going to sleep with a question which he addressed to his mind or sub-conscious. Before going to sleep, he would take a blank sheet of paper and on top, he would write down his question or describe his problem.

He would then request a solution to his problem or an answer to his question and put his pen and the paper containing the request on the night table just before going to sleep. Invariably, he would find exactly what he was seeking, sometimes, it would even wake him up in the middle of the night. Having pen and paper ready, he could write down his idea before he lost it again by morning.

You won’t believe it works until you try it out, but I can assure you it does.

This business might: 1) Sell comics by mail from a catalogue. 2) Operate a comics of the month club for specialised collectors and 3) Run a comics stall at fairs and markets.

52. Be a home visiting wig salesperson.

By visiting the homes of potential buyers you provide a private and confidential service which is free of embarrassment. Buy a selection from wig manufacturers at trade prices. Advertise your service in newspapers and magazines.

53. Start a service which cleans wire baskets and supermarket trolleys.

BasketShine or CleanTrolleysRus could be the names of companies that make work of providing cusomers with a better shopping experience. Baskets and trolleys often spend most of the day on a dusty floor or outside, open to the elements.

54. Use wooden jigsaw pieces to make earrings and necklaces.

Add a hand painted design to the side of the jigsaw piece not covered by a part of the picture. Call your goods jigsaw puzzle jewellery. Sell from a stall at fairs, car boot sales or get it stocked at trendy shops.

55. Produce kits for making pictures.

Take metal rods and tubes of different diameters and cut into slices. Arrange the slices to make pictures and patterns. Mount these pictures and sell as craftwork. Or produce kits for making pictures with slices of rods and tubes. Use mail order to sell these kits to craftworkers.

56. Beauty treatment mud.

Locate a source of fresh, pure mud and package it in specially sealed containers. Sell this by post for beauty treatment.

57. Set up a business which produces a quality audio CD library of nursery rhymes.

Alternatively, produce a series of CDs which feature X-rated nursery rhymes for adults. Sell these by either getting them stocked in bookshops or by starting a monthly club.

58. Poetry competitions.

Compile and publish a monthly bulletin which informs subscribers of poetry competitions they are eligible to enter at home and abroad. Target your recruitment campaign for subscribers at practising poets.

59. Plans for woodworkers.

Bring out a series of plans for woodworkers, soft toy makers, leather workers and other craftworkers. Either sell printed copies of these plans at wholesale prices or sell the reproduction rights. Then any craftworker or hobbyist can start a mail order business selling the plans.

60. Newsletters compedium.

Publish a “Which?” newsletter about newsletters. As the number of newsletters and subscribers is ever increasing, there is a gap in the market for a newsletter which comments on and judges the value of the others.

Start a service which arranges for people to have their original pop lyrics set to music. This service is to satisfy the vanity of lyricists. Offer clients a complete, low cost package. Attract custom by placing ads in the music press.

42. Devise quizzes.

Devise quizzes which test a persons vocabulary. Sell these to a magazine or newspaper on a regular basis. Alternatively you might do quizzes which test a persons knowledge of a regional dialect. Sell these to regional papers or magazines.

43. Sell second hand furniture.

Call door-to-door and offer to buy unwanted furniture. Or use local media to advertise your interest in buying second-hand furniture. Sell what you buy from free ads in local papers, or start your own second-hand furniture shop.

44. Motor Cycle Memorabilia.

Set up a mail order business which sells motorcycle memorabilia. Put together a catalogue which includes: videos, films, posters, photographs, books, instruction booklets, old magazines and newspapers, etc. Advertise your catalogue in motorcycle magazines.

45. Sell classic poems.

Start an enterprise which reproduces classic poems on postcards and posters. Also do framed prints of classic poems. Sell these from a stall in an antiques or crafts market or get them stocked at souvenir or gift shops.

46. Record collector catalogue.

Produce a cataloguing system for record collectors. This system might consist of a card index box with pre-printed index cards. Each card has a printed section for the name of the artist, record and record label. Sell this cataloguing system through record shops or by mail-order.

47. Audio recordings.

Publish a monthly audio recordings for one trade, such as newsagents, grocers, hair salons, booksellers, etc. Each cassette should give: Trade news, management tips, suggestions for improving sales, etc. Organise a direct mail campaign to recruit subscribers.

48. Newspaper and magazine stand.

Start a newspaper and magazine roadside stand. Ask established newspaper vendors how they got started.

49. Correspondence courses.

Bring out a correspondence course about how to write short stories for profit. Sell from newspaper and magazine ads and charge anything up to the average weekly wage (paid in instalments) depending on the contents of the course.

50. How to write good poetry.

Produce a correspondence course about how to write good poetry. If most poets received a small amount of tuition about how to compose poems, their work would improve dramatically. Sell the course by advertising in literary and women’s magazines.

Produce ‘Add-One’ drama video cassettes. Professional actors and actresses perform a play on video. However, there is one character missing from the video. This character is played by a viewer of the video. The viewer learns his or her part and becomes part of the play at home.

32. Computers, Business, Templates, Small Business Owners.

Create a folder of sample sales letters for all occasions. The letters might sell: advice, maintenance, products, a service which gives free quotes, etc. Sell these folders by direct mail to small businesses.

33. Jewelry, Gold, Representation, Gold Chains.

Earn money by selling gold chain by the inch at public events such as fairs, markets and exhibitions.

34. Jewelry Catalogs, Jewelry Supplies.

Put together your own catalogue of jewellery making supplies. Locate the sources of products by doing the routine work of the mail order trader: write to potential suppliers. Throughout the country there are thousands of craftworkers who would welcome a new catalogue.

35. Pawning, Jewelry, Cash.

Earn a living by buying gold and silver jewellery from people who need instant cash. Because their need for cash is greater than their desire to get a high price, your mark-up can be good. Only buy jewellery which you know you can re-sell quickly for a profit.

36. Customising daily use objects.

Use fabrics to make soft cases for pencils, spectacles, scissors, bibles, money and other small items which are either potentially dangerous or need protection. At first, make a diversity of products until you discover which are the most popular and profitable, then specialise.

37. Create Holy items from old Bibles

Buy old bibles and hymn books from churches and education authorities. Have the pages shredded and use as stuffing material for ‘bible’ or ‘hymn’ pillows, teddy bear and other soft products. Also do ‘bible’ confetti and stuff bottles to make bottled bibles.

38. Popular art, frames, art framing.

Cut out prints and illustrations from old books. Frame them and sell to a wide range of shops and from a stall at a market fairs and car boot sales.

39. Make souvenir luggage tags.

Make leather and wooden souvenir luggage tags. These tags might feature the name of a holiday town and a popular scene. Get your tags stocked at shops visited by tourists.

40. Create a line of Bath oils and bath herbs.

Prepare a mixture of dried herbs for adding to bathwater. Invent a brand name for your product like “(your surname) Original Bath Herbs”. Package each mixture of herbs and get them stocked at various retailers.

The muse is a fickle companion, this has been the subject of poetry, movies and books. There is even a Star Trek episode that revolves around a people who need to inspire their leaders by telling a good and original story, an idea inspired straight from Sherazade, one of the oldest stories in the world.

Yet, coming up with ideas is nothing but being in the right frame of mind and being organized about it. Do you know how David Bowie does it? He explained it during an interview that was aired on many television stations. He starts writing down whatever comes through his mind at different times during any day. Then he takes a local newspaper or a magazine or both, usually picked at random and he starts cutting out snippets of phrases or sentences that catch his eye.

He then cuts out snippets from the material he wrote down. Then he takes all the snippets and he mixes them in a hat or any convenient tool that can be substituted for it and he starts neatly arranging the snippets one underneath the other.

If it doesn’t make any sense, he will change the order of the snippets untill a pattern starts emerging. Before too long, he will have the lyrics for a new song. By taking cue from the content of the text snippets in random order, he creates inspiration to fire his mind into creative thinking. He litterally creates order from chaos.

If that is not a great way to be creative, what is? This world renown artist even gave away the secret of his trade for all to see, literally formulating his recipe for creating new ideas to write lyrics while demonstrating it.

Paint attractive art on rocks to make souvenir paperweights and doorstops. The art might take the form of abstract pattern, traditional pictures or tourist scenery. Call your rocks “designer rocks”. Add a rubber base to paperweights and a rubber edge to doorstops.

12. Sleep aid services.

Create a mail order business which specialises in selling products which help people sleep. Products might include: Sleep inducing cassettes, special bedtime clothing, herbal pillows, books and guides on how to sleep better.

13. Cutom or design house numbers.

Paint on wood stylistic house numbers and names. These painted numbers and names will be an attractive alternative to the traditional names burned into sliced logs. Get your work stocked at shops which sell garden products or household goods.

14. Window painting.

Start a venture which promotes the art and hobby of window painting. On coloured acetate paper have outlines printed for painting pictures by numbers. These acetate sheets are stuck to one side of a window and anyone can paint a picture on the other side of the glass.

15. Gift-shop items: sea shells.

Select one sea-shell which would be suitable for an ashtray, another for a pip tray and another for a paper clip tray. Put these shells into a single packet and sell as a set of useful sea-shell-trays. Sell from souvenir and novelty gift shops.

16. Mail order board game.

Devise and produce a board game which simulates the experience of starting a mail order business. The usual problem of bringing out a board game is the difficulty of getting it stocked in shops. However, a game about mail order can be sold by mail order to business opportunity seekers.

17. Sell Lucky charms.

Make an income by selling lucky charms at car boot sales or door-to-door. Sell, for example: Rabbits feet, horseshoes and four-leaf clovers. Start by tracking down trade sources of lucky charms.

18. Art dealer.

Buy and sell oil paintings. Buy new paintings from artists and old paintings from collectors and householders. Sell the paintings from: home, a roadside site, a stall at crafts fairs or hire stalls for exhibiting all the paintings you have for sale.

19. Manufacture doorstops.

Start a manufacturing business which is devoted to making doorstops. These doorstops might range from the humble wooden wedge to the more exotic and unusual. Package them in polythene bags, staple on a printed card and get them stocked at gift shops.

20. Customising everyday objects.

Decorate everyday objects with pressed flowers. Add an inlaid design of pressed flowers to trays, coasters, jewellery boxes, paperweights, picture frames, wall-hangings, desk sets and table tops.

Set up a home-improvement business which modifies the exterior of houses to give them a Tudor appearance. Your service will include the fitting of ornamental oak beams, giving exterior walls a white covering and adding metal grids to windows.

22. Make wooden noughts and crosses games.

Drill nine holes in a small square block and paint on a grid. Next make ten pegs and pint on each peg an ‘O’ or an ‘X’. Place the grid and pegs into a clear bag and staple on a product card.

23. Sell brassware ornaments.

Bring together a range of brassware ornaments so you can have a stall at crafts fairs, antique markets and car boot sales.

24. Publishing: newsletters.

Publish a newsletter which has the title “Ambitious Persons Way to Wealth” or “Clever People Don’t Work Hard”. The contents of your newsletter might be in a vein similar to Joe Karbo’s “The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches”.

25. Set up and run a school of window dressing.

Organise one-day or two-day seminars for established shopkeepers who want to learn more about this aspect of their business. Also provide courses fro those who would like to take up a career as a window dresser.

26. Write and publish a manual about how to make money from property.

In the manual include chapters on: Buying and selling land, buying properties for conversions and renovations, investing in property, etc. Use direct mail and press advertising to sell by mail order to business opportunity seekers.

27. Found and run a school of investment.

Give tuition to solo students and to groups about different types of investments such as shares, gilt-edged securities, unit trusts, USM, antiques, stamps, arts, etc. For each area covered, prepare lesson plans and follow these closely.

28. Prayer plaques manufacturing.

Make a selection of children’s prayer plaques: Wooden wall plates which feature popular prayers. The prayers might be painted onto or burned into the wood.

29. Transform old coins into jewelry.

Start a crafts business which uses interesting foreign coins to make jewellery. Incorporate coins into pendant bracelet, brooches, necklaces and earrings. Alternatively, make jewellery which features reproduction coins from the ancient world.

30. Create a line of Seashell necklaces.

Use small sea-shells strung together to make necklaces. Find a trade source of small sea-shells and either set up your own production line or employ homeworkers.

Produce Christmas cards which are printed on the front with, for example, “Happy Christmas from the Smith Family”. Or, instead of the name ‘Smith’, pick one of the dozens of other popular surnames. Sell packs of these cards by direct mail to people listed in telephone directories.

2. Rent A Toy.

Make money from renting out expensive children’s toys. The toys you rent out will include remote controlled models and computerised games. Use a little van to deliver the toys to customers. Paint in toy town colour scheme. Call the van a toy mobile or similar suitable name.

3. Business Maps.

Introduce to your region a service which mounts maps for businesses. Keep a stock of local, national and international maps. Mount these maps in a professional manner to suit the wall space available at offices. Send out leaflets about your services to office managers.

4. Amateur Musician Newscorner.

Bring out a regular publication for ambitious amateur musicians. This publication might include ads from : 1) Employers seeking musicians. 2) Retailers selling equipment accessories and supplies. 3) People selling used equipment. 4) Musicians seeking to make contact with other musicians. Also publish interesting editorials and letters.

5. Modelling kits from cocktail sticks.

Design and manufacture kits for making models with cocktail sticks, for example: model churches, castles, windmills, houses, etc. Buy the cocktail sticks in their unpacked state from the manufacturer. Sell your kits by mail order from ads in craft magazines or distribute to model shops.

6. Long Gone Products Directory.

Establish a directory of products no longer made. This directory might include sections on toys, novelties and household goods. Design the directory for business people and inventors who want to know both what has been made before and what ideas might be revived and/or modified.

7. Coin collector gloves.

Make cotton gloves especially designed for coin collectors. The gloves prevent the grease and moisture from fingers getting onto coins. Package the gloves and sell them from ads in coin collecting magazines or distribute to shops which sell collectible coins.

8. How to write coockery books correspondance course.

Bring out a correspondence course about how to write cookery books. The course might include information about: How to devise recipes, how to present them in written form and what makes a successful cookery book. Produce a prospectus and advertise in women’s magazines.

9. Rent A Telescope.

Begin a business which rents out large and expensive astronomical telescopes to householders who want to develop their interest in astronomy. Publicise your service at the local astronomy society and use local advertising to attract clients.

10. Strip Games Compendum.

Set up a company which produces a compendium of strip games, for example: Strip poker, strip snakes and ladders, strip lotto, strip snap, and strip ludo. Sell by mail order from adverts in X-rated magazines.