Animal Breeder

Start-up cost: $10,000–$15,000

Potential earnings: $45,000–$80,000

Typical fees: Often $200–$600 per animal

Advertising: Breeding magazines and shows, newspaper ads,
networking, Web site

Qualifications: Knowledge of specifi c animal breed, familiarity with breed
standards; a permit will likely be necessary as well (check
with your local zoning board)

Equipment needed: Cell phone (with or without hands-free accessories),
computer with Internet access, fax, printer, business cards,
letterhead, envelopes
Staff required: No

Hidden costs: Home kennel and breeding area (check with your local
zoning board for permit fees)

What You Do
Dog and cat shows are more popular than ever. All you need is cable television to
witness the craze. But where, besides the highly undesirable “puppy mills,” do the
most beautiful breeds come from? If you have a passion for purebreds, becoming
an animal breeder might be just what the veterinarian ordered! Once you pick a
breed in which to specialize, you will need to build a small kennel and breeding
ground and fi nd your prize-winning bitch or stud. Th en you will advertise your
breeding service. You may also decide to fi nd a suitable breed match for your initial
animal and sell their off spring to smaller pet shops or directly to the new pet owners.
Once you become known as a breeder, you will be able to quickly and easily
connect with breed lovers via shows and the Internet.
What You Need
A cell phone will probably be your most important piece of offi ce equipment,
along with e-mail for communicating with distant customers and contacts. A good
computer with a high-resolution digital camera will also help you showcase the
animals you are off ering for sale.

Advertising Agency

Start-up cost: $7,000–$20,000
Potential earnings: $35,000–$75,000
Typical fees: $75–$150 per hour, a monthly retainer, or a per-job basis
Advertising: Networking, ads in trade publications, participation in
local chamber of commerce, and a Web site that is a true
showcase of your company’s talents
Qualifications: Knowledge of design, layout, and typography; writing
skills; experience working with businesses on brand and
identity development
Equipment needed: Cell phone (with or without hands-free accessories);
computer with Internet access and full suite of presentation
and design software; high-resolution color printer,
scanner; digital camera; fax; copy machine; business cards;
letterhead; envelopes
Staff required: No
Hidden costs: Your high-end Web site will defi nitely cost you some
money to design and host, but it’s worth its weight in
gold for helping you quickly secure a high profi le in the
marketplace

What You Do
You’re probably not going to be doing the Cadillac ads for General Motors in
the beginning, but if you are motivated and highly skilled you can build up a
home-based ad agency serving clients in a specialized area. To get a foothold, you’ll
need to have at least some experience from a larger agency or a list of potential
clients who already know you and your work. Your participation in activities such
as indoor soccer or squash, etc., could be your lead-in to a small but profi table
market. Or you could specialize in one type of store, one product, or a type of
service. You will get to know your client organizations well, and you will draw on
all of your creativity, both written and graphic. New ways of getting a commercial
message out to the public, including targeted e-messaging, high-end Web sites with e-commerce and exciting new brand-building capabilities are revolutionizing
the advertising fi eld, so creativity extends into the nature of the business itself as
well. Very few businesses can succeed without advertising in one way or another,
so your creativity and awareness of market needs has many possible customers.
You’ll need to educate your clients about the value of advertising, even when things
don’t seem to be going very well for the company. In fact, that’s when they need
you the most.

What You Need
High-end computers with the graphics and print-production software now available
enable small agencies to produce outstanding ads that once required an entire
art department. Setting up this equipment is expensive, though, and could cost
from $3,000–$5,000. Bill out between $75–$150 per hour, or determine your
rates on a per-job basis that takes into account how much work is actually involved
in the project. Many ad agencies also work on monthly retainers of $500 or more;
again, look at the workload and the time and expertise involved in each project.
For presentations, you might also fi nd a laptop especially helpful, which could cost
another $2,000–$3,000.

Keys to Success
Advertising is a rewarding occupation because it relies so heavily on ideas and
inspiration, connected directly to business results. Successful ad agency personnel
(in this case, you) develop close relationships with their clients. You’ll be serving
an area or group that you know about and enjoy, and you’ll be using all of your
talents to do so. As a one-man (or one-woman) band, you must be able to do all
the facets of the advertising process, from sales to writing, design, and promotion.
But remember that it may also be very wise to partner with a good Web design
fi rm to add to your portfolio of services without adding a regular, full-time staff .
While this is a fun and always challenging business, its one downside is that the
pressure never lets up because the competition for clients can be shark-like.

Adoption Agency

Start-up cost: $5,000–$125,000
Potential earnings: $200,000–$600,000+
Typical fees: $12,000–$30,000 for each local and international adoption

Advertising: Local family publications, adoption magazines, Web site
with photo-listing of Waiting Children and plenty of
adoption resources, banner ads on related Web sites of
interest, registration with search engines, referrals
Qualifi cations: Must be licensed by state and/or county
Equipment needed: Offi ce furniture, phone, computers with Internet access,
letterhead
Staff required: Yes—will need at least one licensed social worker to do
home studies and possibly a team of folks to handle and
review adoption paperwork
Hidden costs: Notary services; postage; long-distance phone calls,
particularly to foreign countries
What You Do
For some, the dream of having a child in their family would never be realized
without the services of a qualifi ed adoption agency. You can specialize in private,
local adoptions or include international adoptions from a list of specifi c countries
from which you’ve received permission to help place children in need of homes.
Whether the child is from China, Korea, India, Russia, or your home state here
in the United States, you will have to scrutinize potential parents through the
required home study process, match them with children who are the best fi t, then
off er counseling and support as the parents and child are united. You can also help
children born with special needs fi nd the good homes they so deserve. Th is is a
business in which the blessings far exceed any fi nancial benefi ts. Many adoption
agencies carry high overhead, so what seems like a fortune in potential earnings
can actually be off set a bit by the costs of staffi ng and running a busy agency. Still,
there are plenty of good reasons to choose this line of work, such as the more than
four million children currently residing in orphanages worldwide.
What You Need
You will need to staff an offi ce with everything from people to computers, since
few hopeful parents would be willing to pay huge fees to someone who’s a sole
proprietor running an adoption agency out of his or her home. You need to instill
confi dence in your abilities and qualifi cations from the outset, and then work hard
to keep your reputation intact in what can be a volatile business. It’s not unusual
for a birth mother in the United States to decide to keep her baby at the last
minute, leaving you and your client family back at square one.
Keys to Success
Reputation is everything in this business. You need to be honest and upfront with
your clients about all costs so that they don’t feel you are taking advantage of their
emotional distress over not having a child. Keep posting new testimonials on your
Web site as you receive them—and don’t be afraid to ask for more. Better yet, create
a database of satisfied parents you’ve helped and who are willing to speak to your
prospects about how wonderful you are. Such a list is worth its weight in gold!

Automotive Loan Broker

Start-up cost: $3,000–$10,000

Potential earnings: $50,000–$70,000

Typical fees: Percentage of loan amount from lender or borrower

Advertising: Classifi ed ads in local and national newspapers and

magazines, banner ads on sites like Cars.com, and a Web

site of your own where people could prequalify for loans

online (pending your review and approval)

Qualifications: Finance background would be helpful

Equipment needed: Cell phone (with or without hands-free accessories), offi ce

furniture, computer with Internet access and Web site

hosting capabilities, suite software, printer, fax, business

cards, letterhead, envelopes

Staff required: No

Hidden costs: Utility bills

What You Do

A loan broker brings together the people who need money with the institutions that

are in the business of lending it. As an automotive loan broker you will be specializing

in a type of loan that almost every household in the country needs. Th ere are roughly

1.8 vehicles per household in the United States, and most of the new vehicles sold

are purchased through loans. Th at’s a huge potential market. How can you become a

part of this picture? You have a list of lenders, a long list. You have obtained their trust

with a well-organized business plan. You advertise for borrowers in local automotive

newspapers and Web sites like Cars.com. It is also possible that local auto dealerships

might be good referral sources for you, so it would be worth some buddy-up time

with them. Th e best part is, you don’t have to restrict yourself to your own geographical

area; much of this business can be done via Internet (through your Web site) and

by phone. It is important to have a written agreement before you begin the loan search

process, as most of your clients will use your service instead of a bank because they’ve

had trouble securing credit in a more traditional way.

What You Need

Th e borrowers will visit the lender’s offi ce, not yours. Your initial start-up costs are

your Web site, some advertising, and the equipment to support your paperwork and

communications; all of these should be under $10,000. Th e Web site is crucial and

should include a secure server, since your customers will be sending confi dential

information via the Internet through your site. Still, you should be able to generate

signifi cant business if you can promise decent terms. If you have true marketing savvy,

you could earn as much as $70,000 from all of your eff orts. In short, the potential

for success in this business is high. All you need is the ability to produce. Th e more

automated you make your business, the higher your profi t will ultimately be.

Keys to Success

Clarity on goals and expectations is vital to the professional, ethical conduct of a

loan brokering business. You make it clear to the potential borrower what expenses

are to be reimbursed, and you take a fee only as a commission on a completed loan.

Skill at bringing the two sides of the automotive transaction together can enable

you to earn a very high income once you are established. Persistence pays off here,

as it so often does in the world of small business.