I’ve just read about a company in the United States called Redline  that offers personal training sessions for kids run by local athletes. It’s a win-win for all concerned. The athletes get to make some extra cash doing something they love and the kids get the benefits of their experience and the health benefits that regular exercise brings.

When I was growing up, such an idea would have been laughable – you got all the exercise you needed just through play. But that’s no longer the case, and the dramatic rise in childhood obesity is evidence of that. I can  see something like this working well here in the UK as worried parents look to ensure that their kids get enough exercise now, and are set on the path to good health habits for their adult lives in the future.

If you have experience or expertise in the area of exercise, health and nutrition, this could be an interesting niche to investigate, and something of a relief from the crowded adult market.

According to Entrepreneur magazine, if you’re struggling to make money through your own entrepreneurial efforts, it could be because you’re too clever for your own good. Apparently smart people are better at almost everything, until it comes to running their own businesses. Here’s why:

Many  people working in the service industry, particularly in the United States, rely on tips to make up their wages. This has led to the adoption of a number of interesting and amusing ideas for maximising tips which you can see by visiting – http://news.distractify.com/jake-heppner/when-i-tip-youtip-wetip-tip-jar-clever/

Not only will you find good ideas for getting tips here, but some of the techniques have wider applications for anyone working in the field of persuasion – that’s everyone by the way! You’ll see examples of  persuasion techniques involving attention grabbing, distraction, competition, alternative closing, humour, involvement devices and guilt. Plenty to learn from and adapt here.

The spa industry in the United States is  targeting children in a big way. Adult spas are adding separate menus of services for girls, usually aged  4 to 14. The International Spa Association, which tracks industry trends, says  that 25 percent of the country’s approximately 20,000 spas now offer services specifically for the under-13 ‘s  – up from 15 percent just four years ago.

This is clearly a growing trend across the Atlantic and one that can be expected to grow here too. How could you cash in?

Thinking more broadly, what other traditionally adult services might lend themselves to a teen or child-friendly version?

We’ve talked about a number of innovative ways in which companies can charge for their products and service here, and I’ve just found another one. But I’m totally bemused by it. Perhaps you might be able to enlighten me.

A restaurant in Chongqing China,  has started a promotion which entitles male diners over a certain weight to discounted food. The discounts also apply to thin female consumers.

The policy says, for male diners, the more they weigh, the more discounts they are entitled to. If a male customer weighs more than 140 kilograms, then the meal is free.

For female diners, things are a bit different. The less they weigh, the more discounts they are offered. If a female customer weighs less than 34.5 kilos, then she is exempt from paying for food.

Aside from generating a lot of free publicity (which isn’t to be sniffed at) I’m struggling to see any logic to this. I can perhaps see the sense of feeding small women for free because they probably won’t eat much and won’t be dining alone. But why try to attract fat blokes with the lure of free food?

I’m probably missing something. Someone will tell me what it is.