Business Idea - Wooden Toy Maker

The best wooden toy for me was a thing called a Jacob’s Ladder, little flat blocks of wood wrapped in ribbons that clickety-clacked up and down if you manipulated it right. For my brother his favorite wasn’t made out of wood, but tissue and packing tape - a set of bolo balls that my parents bought in Hawaii. He’d twirl those suckers for hours, usually somewhere near me if we’d just argued. Ouch, those suckers could pack a wallop. An argument for homemade toys is that they’re non-violent, ironic given my experience, but if you see the merits of fine workmanship and the boost in creativity that these toys can elicit give this business a whirl. Patterns can be found on the web, in craft shops, in books in the public library. There are old standbys that always sell well: doll beds, pull toys, yo-yos, animals, jigsaw puzzles, and those neat little, tilting mazes where you try to get the ball through to the end without dropping through holes on the way, or those cool, table top, wooden roller coasters that have a ball roll along, causing little doors to flap open and whirligigs to move.

Business Idea - Education Toy Online Retailer

Educational toys give the added bonus of bragging rights to parents about their genius children. What Nintendo game does that? Plus they make learning fun for kids. Now there are literally thousands of fantastic games and toys available, so why not consider setting up a mail order or web-based store retailing them? Search on Google the words: “educational toys; wholesale”.

Business Idea - Cardboard Playhouses

I remember experiencing serious playhouse envy when as a kid I visited a cousin and saw what her handy dad constructed for her: a sweet little, blue, two windowed playhouse at the back of their yard. Man, oh, man, I wanted one of my own. Kind of like my real estate envy now... Anyway, I think as long as the boxes are sturdy enough, this could be a viable idea. Build them in a way that they can be shipped flat by freight, sell them by mail order or on the web. Your customers assemble these cardboard playhouses and the kids themselves paint the playhouse. You can draw outlines of animals and flowers and other items on the outside of the cardboard and the kids simply color it all in. They can also be marketed to boys, if you design them as secret forts. Research safety issues before committing any serious cash to this business.

Business Idea - Kids Crafts Instructor

If you’re experienced with kids, then consider offering craft classes either individually or in groups. Target ages six to twelve years and look for lots of ideas from your local library or bookstore. Or offer birthday parties designed around crafting for kids.

Business Idea - Lamp Shades

Apparently, there’s a specialty market in lampshades. One Vancouver woman was making beautiful, silk shades and selling them out of her studio for $200-500 a pop. Pretty impressive. You can create lampshades to order right in your own home. Or just recover old wire frames that you’ve salvaged from thrift shops. Wire frames can also be purchased ready-made. Offer many different coverings: linen, plastic, parchment, silk, denim and fireproof papers. Place an ad under the “services offered” column in your local newspaper or yellow pages.

Business Idea - Fly Tying

The art of deceiving fish. Like the fish story itself, elusive and colorful, I’ve heard tales of people making a living off of fly tying, but have never actually met anyone that does. If you’re an obsessive fly fishing fan, you’d have a better idea than moi on how to market flies. One idea is to make up a large inventory during the winter, attach them to large cards and then sell them in fishing tackle outlets and sports shows just before fishing season opens.

Business Idea - Decorative Screens

I read about one fellow in the backwoods of BC who paints details from Caravaggio (sp.?) onto wooden screens and gets $5,000 a piece. No guarantees on that kind of money, but if you have even minor artistic talent and beginner’s carpentry skills, you can make a decent profit from these as a specialty item. An average screen is just three decorated panels connected by metal hinges. You can hand-paint them, wallpaper them, install glass louvers in them, mosaic them, or whatever sells. Wholesale them to department, furniture, gift and interior decorating stores. Put a brochure together, using pictures of your designs and send them around to interior decorators listed in the phone book or industry news outlets.