Debra Cohen: Success with Homeowner Referral Network

If you’re a homeowner, one of the most perplexing challenges is where to find reputable home repair or building contractors, from painters to plumbers to architects. New contractors, on the other hand, also find it difficult to find customers for their services.

Debra Cohen launched a profitable home-based niche business with her Home Remedies of NY, Inc. http://www.hrnbiz.com/ , which is a homeowner referral network that matches homeowners with reliable, prescreened home-repair workers. The referral services are offered free to homeowners; while contractors pay a commission to Home Remedies for any work secured.

With the success of her referral services, Debra now offers a business opportunity where other entrepreneurs can replicate her service in different areas. To date, there are more than 400 Homeowner Referral Network (HRN) businesses operating in various parts of the United States.

Nicole Simons: A Nutty Success Story with Fortunuts

Some successful business ideas come from childhood.

As a child, Nicole Simon's mom would make her special walnut recipe for friends and co-workers during the holidays. Friends asked for their delectable walnut treats that making it and giving it as holiday gifts became the tradition in their household. They decided to add a fun element by adding a fortune into each bag as a reminder of how fortunate they felt each year as their giving list grew.

In December 2002, Nicole was urged to find a way to make their nuts more accessible to everyone. She sold her special walnuts -- which she describes as, "a little bit of sugar, a dab of salt and a whole lota love" -- to the public at The Santa Monica Farmers Market, in Los Angeles. The nuts came in Chinese take-out boxes, with fortune messages, and they were a huge success.

Since their humble beginning, Fortunuts has become a successful gourmet food item, with assorted sizes, new unique packaging and made-to-order fortunes. Nicole's Fortunuts now come in three varieties: Sweet & Salted Walnuts, Mesquite Walnuts, and Sweet & Salted Pecans Today, Fortunuts is available in upscale stores, online at Fortunuts.com http://www.fortunuts.com/ and in gourmet gift baskets.

Call for Stories of Women Entrepreneurs

For women entrepreneurs who may be interested and want their stories published in a book ...

Real Solutions Press LLC is accepting story submissions for The Smartest Thing I Ever Did…®as a Woman in Business, one of over a dozen titles in this new book series. The contributors of each published story will receive a byline as well as a 100-word bio to tell the world about who they are, what they do, and how to contact them. It translates into very valuable exposure for any businesswoman. Featured Contributor and Co-Author opportunities also are available.

Worthy, national charities are being sought to associate with each title in the series. These charities will be helping to market the books to their large national membership base and will be receiving a donation based on sales.

Stories and charity suggestions may be submitted in two ways: privately on our company website, www.RealSolutionsPress.com, or on our newly-launched blog site, www.TheSmartestThingIEverDid.com. Posting on the blog allows for a link back to the contributor’s site, which can prove valuable for search engine rankings.

Mandy Haberman: Success with a No-Spill Drinking Cup

For any parent or guardian of infants and toddlers, keeping your little ones dry while drinking is a challenge, as most sippy cups in the market leak.

Mandy Haberman , an award winning English inventor, decided to invent the technology to create a totally non-drip trainer cupy when she saw a toddler spilling blackcurrant juice all over her friend's carpet.

Having successfully invented the Haberman Feeder in the 1980s, she decided to create a toddler's drinking cup with a unique valve that is moulded into the mouthpiece to ensure that the spout seals between sips, so absolutely no spills. The risk of tooth decay is also minimized because drink only flows when the child drinks.

Hence, the Anywayup Cup was created in 1990.

In 2000, Mandy received the title British Female Inventor of the Year; and in 2003 was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as a ‘Pioneer to the Life of the Nation’.

Sheri Schmelzer: Earning Millions from Crocs Decorations

Crocs are the very popular resin clogs dotted with holes and comes in every color, from pinks to blues to yellows to blacks. They are ugly shoes, but both adults and children love them. In fact, the company grew from $1 million in revenue in 2003 to a projected $322 million in 2007.

Given the tremendous popularity of croc shoes, Sheri Schmelzer decided to ride the wave and offer products that would allow users to customize their croc shoes.

A stay at home mom, Sheri and her three daughters had an idea in 2005 to personalize and decorate the holes of their crocs (they owned 12 pairs at the time) with unique charms made from rhinestones and clay that would fit in the holes of the shoes. Hence, Jibbitz was born.

Jibbitz croc charms come in a wide variety of designs, ranging from superheroes like Spiderman to sports to Scoop the Digger to beer mugs. Sheri is the chief designer, while her husband runs the business as CEO.

Her business sold about 300 designs of charms for crocs and she was able to sign up more than 4,000 retail outlets. In December 2006, Crocs the company bought Jibbitz for $20 million with Sheri and her husband remaining on board.

Sheri proves that inspiration for successful businesses are everywhere -- you just have to look closely. While others merely see the holes in Croc shoes as plain holes, Sheri saw the business potential of those holes -- and earned her millions.

Renee Wood; Success in the Bereavement and Sympathy Business

When a love one dies, be it a friend, colleague or family member, cards and flower arrangements are typically given to the family. However, there are many who are looking for alternatives to traditional bereavement cards and flowers, and who are looking for a more personal way to express their feelings.

When the father of her sister-in-law died, Renee Wood was looking for a meaningful sympathy gift to express her feelings but was unable to find one. Instead, she created a teardrop shaped pendant with a forget-me-not flower embedded in the design along with a verse that she had manufactured. When friends asked for her special necklaces, she knew she had a business on her hands. That was the start of her business, The Comfort Company http://www.thecomfortcompany.net/ .

Today, her company sells jewelry, ornaments, pet loss gifts, garden benches, and other items that function as sympathy gifts and memorials. Renee’s business is doing well with more than 200 orders a week – and growing.

Successful Entrepreneurs WITHOUT Going to Universities

The UK publication Mail Online wrote a very interesting piece listing some of UK's richest and most successful entrepreneurs -- but WITHOUT a college degree.

Here's some of them:

Robert Braithwaite is the founder of boat-builder Sunseeker International http://www.sunseeker.com/. He left school at 14 and worked at his father's engine-servicing company. He borrowed £5,000 and built his first boat a 17-footer. In 1968, he started his boating company Sunseeker. One of his claim to fame is that his company built the power boat in the opening frames of James Bond movie (Pierce Brosnan) The World Is Not Enough. He is now worth an estimated £130 million.

Laurence Graff is the founder of Graff Diamonds International http://www.graffdiamonds.com/. Reportedly worth around £2.5 billion, this self made man is #462 in Forbes Magazine's richest billionaires list. Yet he left school at the age of 13 and instead took on a Hatton Garden apprenticeship in diamonds.

Education is important in life, but success can come even without it as long as you work smart, have a lot of determination and personality to succeed.