When you think of home based businesses, what comes to your mind? Selling cupcakes on the porch or making bridal gowns may be common. But, have you ever heard of home based businesses that offer geese-chasing dogs, diaper cakes and spandex clothes? Here are some of the oddest ideas that were turned into smashing businesses.
David Marcks, proprietor of Geese Police, was then a superintendent in a golf course with a problem. The golf course was the choice residence of 600 geese! He used all sorts of chemical repellents to drive the fowls away, but failed miserably. Running out of ideas, he thought of training his new dog to drive away the geese. As luck would have it, the idea worked. However, no one warned him that border collies clear out anything in their path. So, while Cap drove away geese, he also drove away golf balls, squirrels, rabbits and even ransacked his office once. He had to find away to keep his trusty dog busy, leading to another idea that would soon pay him big dividends: the Geese Police. Extending his service to neighboring golf courses pestered with similar problems, he kept his dog busy by visiting his clients and letting Cap run loose on the geese. Now, Geese Police has included corporate parks and playgrounds to its growing clientele.
Another one of those unique home based businesses is Charlotte Fowkes’s Baby Cakes. Baby cakes are gift packages containing baby products such as feeding bottles, undergarments and baby towels. Fowkes uses diapers to outline the shape so that they look like edible layered cakes. They look so real that some curious customers actually think that she runs a cake delivery business. Her inspiration was a similar diaper cake her child got as a gift. She observed that the diapers in the cake were quite unusable and therefore decided to make her own; this time, with diapers that the recipient can actually use. Today, baby cakes are not just for babies. She has expanded her creations to include gift packages for honeymoons, birthdays and corporate events. From retailing, she has also developed her business to take on wholesale orders from companies and even local celebrities. In fact, her business is on such a growing spurt that she is building a retail store to reach out to more potential clients and customers.
When it comes to fashion-related home based businesses, the common undertakings would be haute couture, bridal gowns or ready-to wear clothing. But, for Marie Routhier, spandex is gold. When Routhier was an emerging designer in Canada, she started doing skating costumes before moving on to formal and bridal wear. She soon lost interest and went back to her first love: spandex. She found her niche doing sporting costumes and skating clothes, as she was doing at the early stages of her career. To her, spandex was a more artistic fabric to work with. It had wilder, brighter colors. It also proved to be a joy seeing her works on her clients. Now, through word of mouth and an online network, her clothing line has created a client base not only in North America, but in Europe and Australia as well. Going back to her first love and making a success out of it is truly an inspiration to start-up entrepreneurs and their home based businesses.
Next time you’re about to dismiss an idea in your head, think again. You never know when a seemingly odd idea could turn out into your pot of gold.
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