Here’s the truth behind a very simple business opportunity – plenty of people need stuff towing, but don’t want to do it themselves. It could be a caravan, a trailer load of rubbish,  a car, a boat, a motor bike…even a mobile toilet! Towing needs  the right vehicle, special equipment, a bit of messing around and a certain amount of confidence that you’re not going to end up in a ditch or scraping a wall.

If you have a 4×4 and a tow bar, you could be in business. Your new freelance towing service could be marketed online, in the local press and by contacting caravan companies, boatyards and local councils directly. It’s a pretty simple business, but one that could yield plenty of repeat business once you’re up and running.

It’s January and the media is awash with exercise and weight loss advice. The market for health and fitness related products and services is bigger than ever – but you need a unique angle to be successful. Driving to work this morning, I heard about a gym based in Sheffield with a twist – it’s run by serving fire officers, and the equipment and programmes are based around firefighter training. The two guys behind the business say that membership is expanding rapidly and they hope to open new branches in the near future.

We’ve featured military –style  training programmes in the past, but I haven’t seen anything , Fibased on firefighter training before. There’s little doubt that conventional exercise equipment becomes pretty boring after a while, so there’s always a gap in the market for a new approach. What other occupational, sports or interest groups might hold within them the seeds of a new exercise craze?

http://www.firehousefitness.co.uk/

Sometimes I think we underestimate the incredible tools at our fingertips. You…anyone…can have your own TV channel on Youtube, accessible by millions around the world.  Some videos have millions of views – more than many of the cable television shows out there. You are also able to put advertisements on your videos and receive a portion of the ad revenue. This is where many YouTube personalities make their money. However, they can also make money through endorsements and appearances as their fame grows.

The key to a successful channel is to have fresh and original content that comes out on a regular schedule. Subscribers come to expect videos from you, just like they expect a television show to run on a certain day. Some people have daily shows, others have a video a week, and some even have several videos a day.

In addition, try to have the best production value you can afford. You could film everything on your phone, and that may be all you need. However, you should also consider getting better quality equipment if you have the chance.

Ultimately, what will make or break your channel and differentiate it from the rest is you! It’s your take on the world. Make it unique and interesting and success is all the more likely to come.

At first I thought this might be a joke, but apparently not. Wolverhampton entrepreneur Entrepreneur Adrian Nantchev is making £1,000 a week writing personalised messages on potatoes and then anonymously mailing them to unsuspecting recipients specified by the customer. He says he got the idea after seeing something similar in America and a quick Google search backs up his story.

Last May, Alex Craig from Texas launched Potato Parcel, a website that will ship an inscribed Russet potato to your friends (or enemies) anonymously. The 24-year-old has averaged $10,000 per month in sales since the business launched in May 2015. He has sold more than 3,000 spuds in just four months.

These businesses are being marketed as an alternative to greeting cards. I’m not sure about the longevity of a business like this, but it does raise an interesting question – if you can make money mailing potatoes, what else could you mail for profit?

Website: www.potatointhepost.com