Successful spin-offs - taking elements of an existing business and spinning them off into new products - includes related article on 12 spin-off ideas - Industry Trend or Event

Home Office Computing, Jan, 1997 by Jill Robbins Israel

"We wanted to find out as much about our customers as we could," says Van Bebber. "We also wanted to expand the Happy Puppy brand by coming out with the first survey of game players. And we knew there would be a market for this information."

Van Bebber contacted Simba, a research publishing firm in Wilton, Connecticut. From there, Greenfield Consulting, a marketing research company in Westport, Connecticut, became involved in the project. The online survey questions were created by Simba, tabulated by Greenfield, and promoted by Happy Puppy through a contest on the site. Although the survey took 20 minutes to fill out, the response was tremendous--the company received 2,400 responses in less than two weeks. (The anticipated response was 1,500 in four weeks.)

The response from buyers was also strong. The survey, marketed and sold by Simba, was priced at $2,295 for a hard copy, $10,000 for the data on CD-ROM. Van Bebber reports that the company has sold a number of survey reports and that the project has been profitable.

"The idea worked well because the survey questions were all about gaming, and our site is where the gaming community is," says Van Bebber. "Overall, I feel that the project was a success. It helped us with branding, made us some money, and helped open doors at the large ad agencies, enabling us to increase our advertising revenues."

Whatever kind of company you run, keep stretching your imagination to see what resources you have that someone else might want--and would be willing to pay for. Who knows? Your sideline may become so successful that it ends up in centerfield.

A DOZEN IDEAS FOR SPIN-OFFS

Turn your existing resources and knowledge into additional money makers for your business by trying one---or all!--of these suggestions.

1. Information packages.

The most popular spin-off products, information packages are easy to create and can be inexpensive 'to produce. Take your business expertise, turn it into a booklet-- and voila, instant product. From there, you can create more elaborate packages containing multiple items (a booklet/audiotape/transcript combination, for example) and sell them for a hefty profit.

2. Audiotapes. Because audiotapes are relatively inexpensive to produce and duplicate, they're good candidates for an initial ancillary product. Unlike video, however, where you can usually just tape a live session, an audiotape needs more structure. Resources: Producing and Selling Your Own Audio Cassettes audiotape by Gordon Burgett (805-937-8711; $9.95); Audio Cassette Producers (303-369-4365, www.audiocp.com).

3. Seminars. If you normally consult with clients one at a time, try charging half your regular daily rate at a one-day seminar given to 20 or 30 people. Team up with another company with a complementary focus--your audience will get twice the information and you can split the marketing and production costs.

4. Videotapes. If you're conducting seminars or training sessions, have one or more sessions professionally videotaped. You can sell the tapes alone or as part of a higher-priced information package. Some companies that package video products: Polyline (847-390-7744), PolyWest (818-969-8555), and Blackbourn (800-842-7550).