Mainstream news reporting seems to be driven by what you might call ‘flavour of the month’. Today it might be Ebola in West Africa, and then that gets forgotten about and the emphasis shifts to the Ukraine,  ISIS or whatever. Coda news is a new collaborative initiative involving experienced journalists from the likes of  the BBC and New York Times. It’s aim is to continue to focus on individual, single track crisis situations long after the focus has shifted elsewhere. The rationale is that there are people who want and need a much more long term and in-depth coverage of a situation than the mainstream provides.

You’re probably not in the news business but it’s an interesting metaphor for something which could make you a lot of money. Within every market, there’s usually a hardcore of people who want something more serious and ‘in depth’ than that provided by the mass market providers who are skimming the surface. This will mean different things in different markets, but these more committed individuals will often pay a substantial premium to get exactly what they want.

www.codastory.com

Moving home  is stressful for anyone, but when you’re getting on a bit, it’s even more stressful still. That’s the fact behind the emergence of a relocation services called ‘Caring Transitions’, which aims to take the strain out of the process for senior citizens.

‘Caring Transitions’ is a US based franchise operation with operators in 150 locations. Services provided include sorting of personal belongings, packing, shipping, selling off of excess possessions, clearing and property cleaning.

Is there a service like this, targeted at UK senior citizens? I’m not sure, but there certainly isn’t one with a national presence like this. With an ageing population, there’s a huge opportunity for somebody with this.

There’s no money in poetry, or at least there didn’t used to be. But I just read about a trio called ‘The Haiku Guys’ who are hired by corporate organisations to provide entertainment at events. Their corporate client list includes Bloomberg, Google, Barnes & Noble, Steve Madden, and J. P. Morgan.

The trio dress to the nines, and sit behind old fashioned typewriters in front of a sign that says “Free Haiku”. The idea is to entertain guests by writing them poems carefully tailored to their mood or interests.  Charging between $200 and $250 per hour, The Haiku Guys are able to rake in serious money by attending up to six events  a week.

This is a labour intensive business, and therefore something that’s difficult to expand. It would be quite easy to copy in another area though, provided you have the right skills and personality. Big companies are always on the look-out for something different to entertain their employees and clients at corporate events.

Do you know what unboxing videos are? I didn’t until yesterday and then when I found out my first reaction was, ‘nobody will want to watch that’! Shows what I know. The biggest channel on Youtube at the moment is an unboxing channel, and their most popular video has had 216 MILLION views so far.

Check out the ‘Fun Toyz Collector’ Channel on Youtube. I’m still incredulous as I write this, but all the videos consist of are a woman’s hands as she takes toys out of their box and describes the contents in one of the most irritating voices you will ever hear. There’s no clever filming, no witty comments….nothing. And yet almost all her videos have attracted millions of views – and of course the huge advertising  revenue that comes with that kind of audience.

I’m struggling to understand the appeal, but there clearly is one.  So how might you cash in on the unboxing phenomenon? If I figure it out myself, I’ll let you know.

If you’re trying to decide what field to go into, you can do a lot worse than look at where expansion and growth is taking place. Here are the top 10 fastest growing franchise companies in the United States, together with the markets in which they operate:

Top 10 fastest growing franchises

1. Subway – Fast Food
2. Dunkin’ Donuts – Fast Food
3. Cruise Planners – Travel Agency
4. Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches – Fast Food
5. Vanguard Cleaning Systems – Commercial Cleaning
6. Great Clips – Hair Salon
7. Taco Bell – Fast Food
8. Bricks 4 Kidz – Legoengineering classes, camps, parties
9. McDonald’s – Fast Food
10.Sport Clips – Men’s sports-theme hair salon

What do we see…food, travel, cleaning and personal grooming. Hardly rocket science is it?