SIMPLE IDEA #1
When you look around you, and think, it’s easy to see that most success stories are built around a basic idea or theme. But what makes them successful? Usually, it’s simply that the person or people behind the success story were just so good at executing their “simple” plan.
We tend sometimes to trip ourselves up by over-complicating things. We make a process out of something that should be an over-and-done with thing, or we undertake elaborate research when all we really need to do is take one little step followed by another, and then another etc.
If, a year ago, someone had told you that you could run a successful business building wooden toys, you would have said they were nuts. Now thanks to the millions of recalled toys manufactured in China containing lead paint and other dangerous chemicals, makers of domestic wooden toys are swamped with orders.
One company makes over 135 different kinds of wooden toys from "riding size" fire trucks to doll carriages to blocks. According to a newspaper article, wooden toy makers can barely keep up and are hiring extra employees. A toy manufacturers spokesman said: "Every time there was a story about a recall, we got flooded with orders."
With the trend to safer toys, other companies are enjoying a resurgence and are also working flat out. With toy orders up 60 percent in the last quarter of 2007, one company manager said he and his staff of 45 were working 16-hour days. It is also clear from the company Web site they are seizing on other current trends such as a buy local movement and environmental responsibility. Equally toy-making could be a pleasant part time job or paying hobby for the Individual.
For a house husband or grandparent, wooden toy-making might not be a kitchen table idea but any small work-shop or the corner of a garage will be adequate at the outset. Essential reading can be found at http://www.diydata.com/projects/plans/childrens_plans.php
a site which is crammed with bright ideas and includes many plans and drawings.
With the necessary tools available in most homes, and the raw material such as the wood being bought (or blagged) as off-cuts from your local timber yard, toy-making could become a year-round group project to raise funds for other projects. This can be one of the cheapest and easiest ideas to kick off with.
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