A look at the hottest trends and best business ideas.

By Steve Cooper • Amanda C. Kooser • April Y. Pennington • Michelle Prather • Karen E. Spaeder • Nichole L. Torres • Sara Wilson

Do-It-Yourself Meal Preparation
Let’s face it—we like things good, fast and easy. Hectic schedules barely leave enough time to eat, let alone cook. According to a 2005 national survey commissioned by ConAgra Foods Inc., an Omaha, Nebraska, packaged-food company, more than 70 percent of parents experience some type of stress associated with dinnertime.

The SOS hasn’t gone unnoticed. Entrepreneurs are bringing a new concept to the table: DIY meal preparation. Customers attend sessions where, in just a couple of hours, they whip up enough meals to last a month. Once frozen, those meals become no-hassle dinners at a later date. Offering fun, stress-free cooking, this business idea is certainly heating up, with franchises like Dinner By Design and Dream Dinners helping to spur growth.

Ron Paul, president of Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based consulting and research firm for the food industry, believes the secret ingredient for success is the menu. “Offer a variety of choices so you’re not turning off a consumer who wants fish, red meat or a vegetarian meal,” he advises. “Offer all those alternatives to make sure you have the widest possible appeal.” If your dishes are diverse, you should have no trouble finding your way straight to customers’ hearts (and stomachs).
 —S.W.

Mobile Add-Ons
The mobile market is big—really big. A report by CTIA, an international association for the wireless telecommunications industry, estimates there are more than 180 million wireless customers in the U.S.—that’s a lot of tiny screens. From business applications to software, digital content and more, the sky’s the limit for innovative entrepreneurs.

Paul Scanlan, co-founder of MobiTV, an Emeryville, California, TV and radio service provider for mobile phones, says opportunities abound because many carriers are giving away phones with advanced capabilities, like watching TV. And as Scanlan, 35, points out: “In the internet market, most services [are] free, but in mobile, everybody is conditioned to pay for [them].”

Scanlan, whose business has grown from 15 to 150 employees in just two years, observes that increased data plans have been accompanied by cheaper voice plans, so consumers spend about the same amount. Huge market, better hardware and stable pricing—maybe it’s time for you to get mobile, too. 
—S.C.

Child Care
These days, a baby-sitter just won’t do. “Parents have seen the research,” says Mark R. Ginsberg, Ph.D., executive director of the National Association for the Education of Young Children in Washington, DC. “They know that the early years are the learning years, and they’re looking for programs that support all aspects of their children’s development.” Consider these figures from the Census Bureau: Nursery school enrollment increased from half a million 3- and 4-year-olds in 1964 to about 5 million in 2003. And more working parents means a greater need for quality child care.

So what are parents looking for? Enrichment activities are a big hit—such as on-site music, dance, sports and crafts. Parents also like the idea of giving their kids an early advantage via second-language and computer instruction.

At Carpe Diem Private Preschool LLC in Richardson, Texas, founder Ashley Murphree, 33, offers much of what today’s parents want—low child-teacher ratios, Spanish and music lessons, and a computer lab. Most important, says Murphree, is investing in a safe and comfortable facility, a professional staff and a great curriculum. “Our kids love to come to school,” says Murphree, who saw 2005 sales reach $2.5 million and now has two locations. “They’re not just doing work sheets.”  
—K.E.S.

Shredding
With identity theft on the rise, shredding personal information is de rigueur if companies are serious about protecting clients. And since the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act went into effect in July 2005—requiring businesses that possess records with consumer information to properly store and dispose of them—companies small and large have increasingly been outsourcing shredding.

There’s so much interest, the National Association for Information Destruction has grown from 170 to 700 members in less than four years. And the need for quality shredding services will likely increase in the near future, according to Robert Johnson, executive director of NAID—especially if Senate bill S.1408 passes this year. That’s the Identity Theft Protection Act, which would mandate document destruction for even more businesses. “With detection, apprehension and prosecution [of thieves] being so difficult, prevention is one of the only ways to fight [identity theft],” says Johnson.

Setting her company apart from the crowd is Michele Moody, 48, founder of DocuGuides Secure Shredding in San Antonio. Moody, who launched her business in 2002, focuses on security with high-quality shredding equipment that essentially pulverizes materials, which she then recycles. She’s built yearly revenues to $400,000 by promoting not only the security she offers, but also her environmental commitment—she plants a tree for every client who shreds and recycles 100,000 pounds of paper.  
—N.L.T.

Home Staging
When shows like HGTV’s Designed to Sell and A&E’s Sell This House! become the water cooler topics of choice, it’s safe to say there’s something to this home-staging brouhaha. And according to a 2003 HomeGain nationwide survey of 2,000 real estate agents, home improvements in the $80 to $2,800 range made before a sale yielded the highest returns later.

Not surprisingly, staging—showcasing a property so it appeals to buyers—has become big business. That means decluttering, furnishing whole houses to look spectacular or creating vignettes for walk-throughs. Some entrepreneurs even diversify with services such as consulting, junk hauling, move-in arranging, color consultation and personal shopping. Entrepreneurs like Teresa Hagaman, president and founder of StagedRite Inc. in Berryville, Virginia, are in demand: The 38-year-old has had to hire four employees, as sales have tripled each year since she began in early 2003.

But how will this business fare if the real estate bubble bursts? Trish Boyle, 40, founder of Stage Right Design in Westport, Connecticut, is optimistic: “There will still be people needing to buy and sell homes, and sellers will be at risk of losing equity, so they will need stagers even more.” 
—M.P.

Education & Tutoring Products & Services
Tutoring is a $4 billion market that’s expected to grow up to 15 percent over the next few years, according to educational market research and consulting firm Eduventures. And with the No Child Left Behind Act on everyone’s minds—from parents to school district officials—it’s no wonder.

The act requires public schools that aren’t meeting performance standards to provide tutoring services to students. What’s more, “parents are really aware of how demanding it is out there,” says Francie Alexander, senior vice president and chief academic officer at children’s publisher and media company Scholastic Inc. in New York City. Products and services designed to help students, teachers and school districts meet the requirements of NCLB are hotter than ever, including everything from tutoring centers to software and homework websites.

SchoolNet Inc. CEO Jonathan Harber is bringing in more than $16 million annually by providing K-12 educational institutions with software that tracks and monitors students’ educational progress. According to Harber, it’s that kind of technology-based individualized attention that will be huge. “When I was a student, the ‘one size fits all’ approach was standard in education,” says Harber, 41. “In the future, learning environments and experiences will be tailored to the needs of each student.”  
—K.E.S.

Data Backup
Whoops. There went six months of business data, all lost in the fickle failings of a dying hard drive. It would be poetic if it weren’t so detrimental. IDC recently found that the worldwide storage software market experienced double-digit growth in 2005. Still, many companies either lack a backup solution or rely on outdated and ineffective methods. With laws like Sarbanes-Oxley in effect, data storage is more important than ever.

Many businesses are looking for a better way to back up. Lasso Logic in San Francisco has a simple message: Tape sucks. Their Lasso CDP (continuous data protection) backup appliance is proving to be a big hit with growing businesses, especially because it provides both on-site and remote backup in real time. With 2005 sales near $1 million, they’re tapping into an underserved market that’s growing fast.

“Accounting, legal, medical, health-care and financial services—those are the types of businesses that seem to really have an acute awareness of how valuable their data is,” says Anna Yen, 36, co-founder of Lasso Logic, along with Steve Goodman, 38, Dave Bernat, 40, and Sal Sferlazza, 31. For companies offering simpler, more reliable real-time data backup systems, plenty of opportunities exist in hardware and software development as well as online backup options. 
—A.C.K.

Technology Consulting
Check your MAC address; set up wireless WEP encryption; enable a VPN for half a dozen re-mote workers—you’re not the only one wallowing in technology alphabet soup. That’s why we’re pegging technology consulting as a steamy growth area for 2006.
Businesses without in-house IT departments need experts to hook them up with everything from printers to internet security to wireless networks. But you can’t just rush in with a computer toolkit and a few pieces of software. “One of the key requirements nowadays is to be able to deliver complete solutions to the customer,” says Anil Miglani, senior vice president of research group AMI-Partners in New York City. If necessary, startups “should be open to partnering with others who can complement their own skill sets.”

With the future release of Windows Vista, look for more opportunities to open up. “The new Windows OS will create a new market as businesses upgrade and transition their existing applications,” says Miglani. She also points to radio frequency identification consulting as an area set for growth. And in 2007, extended daylight-saving time goes into effect, and all sorts of digital devices will need adjustments to handle the change. So polish up your technology expertise—lots of businesses are going to need your help.  
—A.C.K.

eBay Aftermarket
Few are unaware of the magic that is eBay. Since eBay’s inception in 1995, an explosion of products, services and software has sprung forth to facilitate the millions of transactions that take place daily. The number of third-party applications to help users succeed on eBay has doubled over the past year, says Jim “Griff” Griffith, dean of eBay Education. It’s not too late to jump in.

According to Griff, hot categories include management tools—software and services that help users launch and manage auctions, or track e-mails and contact information—as well as image hosting for the photos in listings. And with 724,000 businesses using eBay as a primary or secondary business channel, market analysis services are also in demand.

Millions of consumers who are reluctant or too busy to sell on eBay enlist the help of eBay drop-off stores, which handle everything from creating listings to shipping to customer service. In a new twist on the concept, San Francisco-based FoundValue has independent contractors make house calls to find eBay-appropriate merchandise to sell on their customers’ behalf. Stella Kleiman, 37, launched FoundValue in 2003 after decluttering her apartment and selling the items on eBay; the company’s 2005 sales were in the six-figure range.

With so many feeder business opportunities to explore, there’s more than just a little nibbling going on. Consider this a feeding frenzy.  
—A.Y.P.

Travel With a Purpose
For many consumers today, travel is more than just a change of scenery—it’s a journey with a sense of purpose, whether it’s eco-tourism, cultural immersion or adventure. Creating an experience for jet-setters can be your ticket to success in this $600 billion industry.

Baby boomers are the biggest market, having the highest volume of travel, says Cathy Keefe of the Travel Industry Association of America. They took a staggering 268.9 million trips in the U.S. in 2003, according to TIA’s “2004 Domestic Travel Market Report.” They not only have the time and disposable income to travel, but their sense of youth and yen for exploration is also spurring opportunity in the adventure-travel niche (think “soft” adventures such as safaris, bird-watching and sailing). Keefe also notes a rise in luxury adventure tours, where days might be spent roughing it, but nights are spent in cozy quarters.

Other sizzling markets include women (think culinary tours and spa getaways) and adults who want to learn a new skill, sport or hobby. Millennials (those born in 1982 or after) are also an adventurous bunch and go online to research and book trips. To learn more about offering travel services to any generation, Keefe suggests attending adventure and travel expos and industry conferences. 
—A.Y.P.