Business is, first of all, an idea. AT modern world conventional commercial schemes do not work due to the oversaturation of the market with goods and services. Most often, original, never used business plans turn out to be effective. Some ideas turn out to be so extraordinary that, at first glance, they are perceived as frankly delusional or completely inadequate. Surprisingly, many of them work and bring considerable income. As practice shows, even the most stupid business ideas can produce an economic effect, despite the skepticism of others.

Sale of air

Daniela Dorrer, an entrepreneur from the Bavarian village of Adlkofen, came up with the idea of ​​selling her customers intestinal gases of cows, packaged in cans. The appearance on the shelves of such an unusual product was favorably received by buyers. Not only that - the cans with barn flavors (that's what Stall Duft was the name of the product packed in plastic containers) were snapped up at a record speed.

Daniela opened her website to sell cow gases worldwide. Often unusual goods bought by Germans, Australians and Chinese

Life in a modern city is filled with the smell of gasoline, rubber and plastic. For some, these smells are familiar, but for people who have moved to bustling cities from a quiet and peaceful countryside, this is not so. According to user reviews, the opportunity to breathe in the country air returns to childhood, awakens nostalgic memories. The mixture of smells of straw, rotten wood and a cowshed is so familiar to the village dweller that many pictures of childhood are pulled out of the subconscious.

According to Daniela herself, such a product is a therapeutic and prophylactic agent that can cure, for example, a headache. The entrepreneur recommends not poisoning yourself with pills, but inhaling a natural rural aroma, which, in her opinion, is much more effective than pharmaceuticals. When a portion of the "medicine" runs out, you can buy another, the price of a liter jar is a little more than $ 8.

The plans include the expansion of the assortment - packaging of aromas of the poultry house, goats, pigs and other rural living creatures. In the future, Daniela Dorrer hopes to launch fragrances from different regions of Germany and other countries, expand the geography of her products, start selling air historical sites, tourist attractions. Her plans are far from empty projects, since sales are going on with enviable stability, goods are not stale on the shelves.

Daniela even plans to launch barn-scented shower gels and other beauty products.

Socks for outsourcing

This is the name of the famous BlackSocks service, founded by Samuel Lichty. The idea is simple: a user buys an annual subscription for $89, which gives him 9 pairs of socks twice a year. The project started back in 1999 and during this time managed to cover 79 countries. Income declared in 2009 amounted to $5 million, which indicates a high demand for this service.

The service saves a person from having to look for the same socks every day

The point of the idea is that the user stops wasting time looking for clean socks (according to Mr. Lichti's calculations, each man spends 12 hours annually on this). In addition, a person is completely relieved of the concern for acquiring this toilet item - socks will be sent on time and in sufficient quantity.

The idea was born in rather curious and unpleasant conditions for Samuel. Working as a junior consultant in advertising agency in Zurich, he once took part in negotiations with Japanese partners. At the end, everyone was invited to a tea ceremony. Tradition dictates that everyone should be without shoes. Samuel, who did not expect such a turn of events, found himself in an unpleasant situation - in the morning, getting ready for work, he habitually chose two identical socks from a pile and mechanically put them on, not paying attention to the hole. At the ceremony, he was ready to fall through the ground - it seemed that everyone was just looking at his big toe sticking out of the hole.

The young man was very worried, thought a lot about what had happened, and an idea began to form in his head about solving such problems once and for all. Practice has shown that the situation is really serious, and there are a lot of people who want to get the opportunity to forget about the search for new and whole socks once and for all. People are always willing to shift their problems onto other people's shoulders, and household chores are no exception. The BlackSocks company was created, which solved this, at first glance, insignificant, but in fact a very important problem for its subscribers.

Life situations can push a person to a crazy, at first glance, idea, which over time will bring good profit. Sooner or later, each of us has such "revelations", and it is important to properly dispose of them.

Balls for car antennas

Decorate car antennas with various ribbons, balloons and other trinkets started a long time ago, but the American entrepreneur Jason Wall brought this business to perfection. As he himself claims, the whole snag is in strong balls that can withstand the pressure of a headwind.

The most popular antenna toys are balloons and flags

In fairness, it should be clarified that the idea does not belong to Wall completely, but it is hardly possible to find its true author over the years. Jason only slightly transformed the idea, brought it into line with today's realities, technologies and fashion. He founded In-Concept Inc, of which he is both President and CEO.

The company opened an online store Antennaballs.com, where you can order a lot of interesting antenna tips - in the form of smiling faces, predictor balls, pretty girls in cowboy hats, etc. All products are made very skillfully, allow you to decorate the car in an elegant and positive style.

This is not to say that the path to success was strewn with rose petals. In parallel with the increase in the range and volume of products, there were litigations with competitors who accused Jason of copyright infringement and even unfair competition. The problems began almost from the first steps of the start-up company, but, in the end, the parties settled their relationship and reached an agreement. As a result, In-Concept Inc merged with the well-established company HappyBalls.com, which brought great benefits in terms of design and advertising.

Today, In-Concept Inc sells more than just antenna tips. Wall expanded the range to include key chains, pencil tips, Christmas decorations, and car mirror toys.

The company's positions are stable, growth prospects are quite optimistic. Jason himself declares that the idea is not the main thing, he owes his success to perseverance and the ability not to give in to the difficulties, which in any business there are too many.

Pixel per dollar

British resident Alex Tew needed money to study at the university. The search for funds prompted him to a strange, but very original solution. Alex bought the site for £50 and named it milliondollarhomepage.com. The title is speaking. It consists of a million pixels (1000 in length, the same number in width). For each of them, Alex set a price of $1. The sale was made in blocks of 10 by 10 (100 pixels each). The meaning of this was that everyone could buy a certain section of the page and place their advertisement with an active link to their own resource.

Alex himself wrote on his blog that this idea seemed crazy enough to him, so it could work

In the first 3 days, 400 pixels were sold, and this was the easiest money in the life of a young man. The popularity of milliondollarhomepage.com grew by leaps and bounds, even such giants as the Times newspaper and Yahoo bought a place on the page. The initial purchase of the site cost less than $100, but then an additional cash injection of about $40,000 was required. A press secretary was needed. The last thousand pixels were put up for sale on January 1, 2006. It was sold for $38,100, and the site brought in a total of $1 million and $37,100.

Hoping the idea could help him with his tuition fees, Alex received $37,000 in his first month, enough for a three-year business management course. The site was launched in 2005, but in 2006 Alex interrupted his studies after 1 semester.

Alex Tew's site had a lot of clones, but they didn't get as much success as the prototype. The idea was based precisely on novelty and could not be reused with the same success. Today, 22% of the pixels on a site are redirecting users to non-existent sites.

It is noteworthy that Alex did not stop there and at the end of January 2006 launched new project- Pixelotto website. The idea was to get double the profit - each pixel was already valued at $ 2. However, prize pixels were assigned as a "bait" for users. Whoever gets them was supposed to receive a prize equal to half the proceeds. But this time there was no such success, the site was closed in early 2008. The winner got 153 thousand dollars.

Currently, Alex Tew is working on new Internet projects, but such success is no longer expected for them.

Sell ​​your destiny

One of the most strange and shocking projects can be called the act of Mike Merrill. At the age of 30 (2008), he "divided" himself into 100 thousand shares and announced the sale of each for $ 1. Today, there are about 160 shareholders who "own" Mike and collectively decide his fate by voting. All important decisions are made by the board of shareholders, although Mike also has a vote. He initially announced the futility of acquiring shares, which, according to his plan, were to be distributed among acquaintances. Mike needed some tools to develop his projects, and he decided to get them in such an original way.

Mike started by selling 929 shares for his friends, and after 5 years he sold more than 3700 " valuable papers”, while their price increased by 20 times

As a result, it turned out that shareholders are interested in "playing Mike". Together they decided to refuse a vasectomy, decided to vote for the Republicans, developed rules for the relationship with a girl for their ward, and so on. Mike wears clothes from the same brand - Brooks Brothers, goes in for sports 7.5 hours a week. Mike's life is governed by the community and subject to collective regulation.

When Merrill made such a decision, he did not think about what it would result in. Mike tends to see it as a kind of performance, allowing people to get a specific pet that they are responsible for. The fact that the ward is himself does not bother Mike at all, although it brings some inconvenience. Stocks rise in price, life goes on and is managed by collective efforts. The initial cost of "securities" has grown from 1 to 20 dollars. At the same time, 3 shares belong to two former and one current girlfriend of Mike. The future of the idea is unknown and rather vague. Mike's idea is recognized as the most strange and unexpected, although quite interesting.

What conclusions can be drawn

Analyzing the above examples, one can note one common property: they are of great interest to potential users. According to psychologists, when faced with such proposals, people consistently experience several feelings:

• astonishment;
• interest;
• Adoption;
• desire to purchase a product or use a service.

When planning to start a business based on a non-standard idea, it is necessary to determine exactly how useful or interesting it can be to people. Often a situation arises when there is no obvious benefit or need, but there is a certain element of the game that involves and keeps the buyer. An example is the story of Mike Merrill, who, in fact, does not offer his shareholders anything tangible or significant, but the interest successfully replaces them with a material acquisition.

If the idea captivates the buyer, makes him think about it, even with a fair amount of irony, then the result will be impressive. At the same time, you should not consider your undertaking as a solid and long-term business. Rather, it is a good way to make yourself known, to ensure fame and recognition. These elements of publicity can bring much more income if they are properly managed.

There are enough stories about the successful implementation of frankly crazy entrepreneurial ideas. They confirm the point of view that not only logic and exact calculation work in business, but also unexpectedness, originality of direction, which amuse the consumer, attract his attention, forcing him to purchase strange goods or services.

The examples given should not be considered as a direct guide to action, this is just an illustration of a creative approach to solving the issue. The main task is to be able to stay on the verge of extravagance and outright idiocy, so that potential consumer formed a positive image of the proposed product. There are many examples of stupid business ideas, and all of them have suffered a predictable and well-deserved failure. Therefore, having planned to carry out a plan that is risky from the point of view of philistine logic, it is necessary to clearly distinguish between frank stupidity and non-standard thinking in order to get the desired effect at the end.

In the online business, as, indeed, in the usual one, a lot depends on the business idea. Some ideas are cut in the bud because they seem crazy and not profitable. Below we present 10 ideas that seemed unpromising to everyone except their authors. Only madmen could invest money in these projects. But, no matter how absurd these ideas initially seemed, their implementation made it possible to make fortunes.

1 place.

Milliondollarhomepage.com

There are 1,000,000 pixels on a website and each pixel costs $1 - this is probably the dumbest online business idea that a person could think of. However, 21-year-old Alex Tew, who came up with the idea, is now a millionaire.

2nd place.

SantaMail

And now this is a good idea. Find a postal address in the North Pole (a city in Alaska), pretend to be Santa Claus and charge $10 from parents who want their kids to receive a letter? And what do you think? Since starting his business in 2001, Byron Reese has sent over 200,000 letters, making him a couple of million dollars richer.

3rd place.
Doggles

What a fantasy you need to have to think of selling designer goggles for dogs.

This stupid business idea was implemented by the creators of the site Goggles.com and within a year it turned into a multi-million dollar business.

4 Place.
Laser Monks

LaserMonks.com is a profile branch of the Cistercian Abbey of the Virgin Mary, a monastery of only 8 monks located in the hills of Monroe County 90 miles northwest of Madison. Now these slackers can refill and light, for a modest fee, your printer cartridges! Hallelujah! And according to reports for 2005, the monks sent $ 2.5 million. Praise the Lord!

5th place.

Antenna Balls

What could be dumber than making and selling balls that cling to car antennas? Who will buy them?

But strange as it may seem, they are bought, and how! This stupid idea belongs to Jason Wall and now he is a millionaire.

6 Place.

Make a deck of cards with pictures of different exercise, and start selling them for $18.95 per deck. In my opinion, not an idea, but a disaster. However, former Navy SEAL and fitness instructor Phil Black posted a $4.7 million income last year. Of course, this is more than paid in military service.

7 Place.
PositivesDating.Com

Would you go on a date with an HIV positive person? Paul Graves and Brandon Koechlin decided yes, they could, so they created an HIV dating site last year. Profit for 2006 amounted to 110 thousand dollars. They hope to have over 50,000 registered users on the site in the next two years.

8 Place.

Designer Diaper Bags

Christie Rein - The 34-year-old mother suffered constantly from the fact that she had to stuff diapers for her young son in a separate bag so that they would not crumple in her handbag. Reine wanted something compact, pretty and stylish, so in November 2004 she and her husband decided to create a special diaper bag that was big enough to fit the entire travel kit and 2-4 diapers. With 2005 sales of over $180,000, Christie's Diapees & Wipees designs bags 22 various styles, which can be purchased online at 120 boutiques worldwide for $14.99.

9 Place.

PickyDomains
Hire a third party to invent for you beautiful names domains? Yes, people will never pay for it! In fact, the process of looking up domain names for other people has become a booming business, especially when there is no risk involved. PickyDomains currently has a waiting list of people willing to pay their hard-earned money for a cool and catchy domain name. The company expects PickyDomains to hit six-figure sales this year.

10 Place.

Lucky Wishbone Co.

Fake plastic chicken wishbones. It looks like this stupid idea destined to fail. What sane person would buy fake chicken bones? As it turned out, a lot of people are ready to buy it. The company currently produces 30,000 bones daily (they cost $3 each). This unusual idea comes from Ken Achronin, who literally made his first million on chicken bones in 2006.

In the online business, as, indeed, in the usual one, a lot depends on the business idea. Some ideas are cut in the bud because they seem crazy and unprofitable. Below we present 10 ideas that seemed unpromising to everyone except their authors.

Only madmen could invest money in these projects. However, no matter how absurd these ideas initially seemed, their implementation made it possible to make fortunes.

1. Million Dollar Home 1,000,000 pixels, to pay one dollar per pixel is perhaps the dumbest online business idea that a person could think of. However, 21-year-old Alex Tew, who came up with the idea, is now a millionaire.

2. SantaMail. And now this is a good idea. Find a postal address in the North Pole (a city in Alaska), pretend to be Santa Claus and charge $10 from parents who want their kids to receive a letter? And what do you think? Since starting his business in 2001, Byron Reese has sent over 200,000 letters, making him a couple of million dollars richer.

3. Doggles. Develop goggles for dogs and sell them? Dumbest business idea. And how could they become millionaires and be able to sell their developments around the world? That beats me.

4. LaserMonks LaserMonks.com- This is a specialized branch of the Cistercian Abbey of the Virgin Mary - a monastery in which there are only 8 monks, located in the hills of Monroe County, 90 miles northwest of Madison. Yep, real monks refill your cartridges. Hallelujah! The level of sales for 2005 was 2.5 million dollars! Praise the Lord!

5. Antenna Balls. You will not be able to sell antenna balls online. No way. And of course it won't make you rich. However, that is exactly what Jason Wall did and is now a millionaire.

6 FitDeck. Make a deck of exercise cards and start selling them for $18.95. In my opinion, not an idea, but a disaster. However, former Navy SEAL and fitness instructor Phil Black posted a $4.7 million income last year. Of course, this is more than paid in military service.

7. PositivesDating.com Would you go on a date with an HIV positive person? Paul Graves and Brandon Koechlin decided they could, so last year they created an HIV dating site. Profit for 2006 amounted to 110 thousand dollars. They hope to have over 50,000 users on the site in the next two years.

8. Designer Diaper Bags Christie Rein is tired of carrying diapers in a separate portable bag. The 34-year-old mother constantly suffered from the fact that she had to stuff diapers for her little son in a bag so that they would not crumple in her handbag. Rain wanted something compact, pretty, and stylish, so in November 2004, she and her husband sat down and decided to create a custom diaper bag that was large enough to hold an entire travel kit and 2-4 diaper. With 2005 sales of over $180,000, Christie's Diapees & Wipees designs bags in 22 different styles that can be purchased online at 120 boutiques worldwide for $14.99.

9. PickyDomains. Hire another person to come up with beautiful domain names for you? People will never pay for this. In fact, the process of looking up domain names for other people has become a booming business, especially when there is no risk involved. PickyDomains currently has a waiting list of people willing to pay their hard-earned money for a cool and catchy domain name. The company expects PickyDomains to hit six-figure sales this year.

10. Lucky Wishbone. Co Fake plastic "wish bones" from chicken. Looks like this stupid idea is destined to fail. What sane person would buy fake chicken bones? As it turned out, a lot of people are ready to buy it. The company currently produces 30,000 bones a day (they cost $3 each) and its founder, Ken Ahroni, expects 2006 sales to hit the $1 million mark.

Breed jellyfish

Marine biology graduate Alex Endon of San Francisco found a way to apply his knowledge to entrepreneurial activity. He decided to breed unusual pets - jellyfish. The dream of creating a special aquarium for them came to Alex during his studies. So that jellyfish do not stick to the walls of the aquarium and can move normally, a special filtration system and a container with laminar flow water. Since these organisms are 95% water, they are very demanding on habitat conditions. The young man began to study the pet market and noticed a growing interest in jellyfish.

It turned out that no one had considered the idea of ​​creating such an aquarium before him. Soon the model was ready. It turned out not only habitable for sea jellyfish, but also beautiful. Endon invested $50,000 in his startup. A year later, his income grew to $250,000, and later to $500,000. The price of an aquarium depends on the size and configuration. The cheapest can be purchased for $369. The cost of the jellyfish themselves varies from $22 to $55. In addition to the aquarium, the set includes a three-month supply of food, a feeding pipette, LED lighting with a remote control and other accessories for a comfortable life of exotic pets.

K.C. Hartman/Youtube

Turn rocks into pets

An American Gary Dahl offered to get an even more amazing pet to his compatriots. In April 1975, he was relaxing at a bar with friends and listening to them complain about their dogs and cats. They spoil furniture, bring dirt, get sick, require food and care. Then the man first thought about the ideal pet, which is devoid of these "flaws". He laughed and told his friends that a stone could become such a pet. The reaction of the audience was so lively that Gary was determined to turn his idea into profitable business. He did not even have to spend money - very soon he found two investors.

In the nearest hardware store Dahl bought large Pacific pebbles for about a cent each. All that was left was to think of the concept. As a copywriter, he wrote a 23-page comic manual . For example, immediately after the purchase, the author recommended that the new owners put a stone on old newspapers. So the pet should quickly calm down and get used to the new environment. The money was needed only for the manufacture of boxes. They came with air holes, Pet Rock lettering, and straw bedding. The costs paid off very quickly. In six months, Dahl sold 1.5 million stones for $4 each and became a millionaire.

Sew corn spa pillows

The business idea of ​​Kim Lavigne from Alabama was also born unexpectedly. One November day, she was sitting at home and sewing clothes. In parallel, the woman watched her husband in the backyard feed the deer with corn kernels. Kim thought these grains could be sewn into a pillowcase and made into a relaxing pillow for the kids. With the help of her sewing machine, she realized this idea in a matter of minutes. She liked the result - the pillow helped relieve muscle tension and rustled pleasantly. After that, the woman guessed to heat the product in the microwave. It turned out that corn not only retains heat well, but also begins to smell delicious.

Lavigne began making spa pillows for her children, giving them to friends and neighbors. The idea to monetize this idea came when strangers began to call the housewife with a request to make the same pillows for their children. An American woman registered a patent, named her invention Wuvit and started promoting it at craft shows. In the end, one of the major retailers agreed to sell a batch of her pillows. Lavigne spent the money she received on improving and promoting her product. Over time, she expanded her range of products, became the owner of a multi-million dollar fortune and wrote a book about her success story.

Trade Pixels

Briton Alex Tew in August 2005 needed money to pay for his studies at the university. Instead of looking for a part-time job, the 21-year-old decided to start his own online business. He created an unusual advertising platform - a website with a million empty pixels. Tew started selling them for $1 each. Anyone could buy a place there and place an image with a link to their site. The minimum price is $100. This is how much a 10x10 pixel block cost. It would be simply impossible to distinguish something on a smaller area of ​​the screen. In two weeks, Tew earned the first $4.7 thousand. The buyers were his friends and relatives.

To attract new clients, the young man sent press releases to major British publications. Sales skyrocketed when the entrepreneur was brought to the attention of the BBC. After that, news about the site began to appear not only in the English, but also in the foreign press. As a result, the audience of the resource has grown to 25,000 unique visitors per hour, and there are almost no empty seats left. Due to high demand, Tew decided to list the last thousand pixels on eBay. It went to an online health food store that bid $38,000. In just five months, the unusual project brought in more than $1 million to its creator.

milliondollarhomepage.com

Do Sunglasses for dogs

While walking, Ken and Roni di Lulo from California noticed that their dog was squinting and whining in the bright sun. Then Roni took her old swimming goggles and remade them for the Border Collie. The result pleased not only the di Lulo family. The neighbors loved the new look of the dog so much that Roni decided to create a website with funny pictures of him and different models of homemade glasses. Very soon, she began to receive letters from different parts of the country: everyone wanted to buy the same accessory for their dog. The number of orders kept growing. Then the couple began to contact to different manufacturers glasses with a request to make an unusual trial batch.

Taiwan agreed to make a model with a wide nose bridge and adjustable straps. After a while, di Lulo's startup was talked about in the press, and PetSmart allowed their products to be sold in their stores. The goggles blocked 100% of UV rays and protected the animals' eyes from wind and dust. Veterinary ophthalmologists began to recommend them to their clients, and in 2004 the US military ordered more than a hundred pieces for dogs working in Iraq.

woof.doggles.com

A place on the list of the most useless inventions did not affect sales. In just a few years, dog glasses brought the creators $ 3 million. Now the accessory can be bought at a price of $ 14 to 25.

According to VTsIOM, 60% of Russians would not like to start their own business. 37% of respondents said that they simply do not have money for this.

But you don't have to have a big business to start your own business. start-up capital. You can earn money on anything and without investments. We have collected examples of the most idiotic working business ideas. They can be implemented even today.

Daniela Donner from Germany sells bottled mountain air to city dwellers. Air from different cities is sold on the Internet: London, Paris, New York. In Russia, they also do this - all resorts are filled with banks with mountain and sea air.

friend for rent

The Japanese have a very popular rental service for relatives and friends. At Hagemashi Tai, they rent out friends they go to parties with or spouses for family reunions. The roles of friends and relatives are played by actors.

listen to others

The American company Vent By Phon helps relieve nervous tension. For $2.99 ​​per minute, you can call and blow off steam over the phone. The operator does not give advice, does not provide assistance. He just listens and occasionally puts in "Yes" and "Mmmm."

Throw loved ones

The Breakup Shop helps customers break up with their loved ones. Clients write the text of the breakup letters, arrange them in the form of postcards or gifts. There is a service of a personal visit to the “victim” by an employee of the company or an explanation by phone.

catch cats

The Catch Your Cat company helps to catch cats and cats. When it’s not easy to get your pet out from under the couch, you can call a specialist for $ 80: he will come, catch the pet and put him in a cage.

Adopt bulb

At adoptapickledonion.com, you could adopt a pickled onion. For $8, it was offered to choose a bulb for adoption from several photographs. The "guardian" was sent an adoption certificate and a photograph of the bulb.