Sometimes you just get stuck for ideas. Your mind is a blank. It makes it even harder to come up with the goods if your present or future business rests on your ideas. A little help and inspiration for a new article , a new product, or a completely new business wouldn't go amiss in these circumstances. The purpose of the ideas in this series of articles is to get your brain thinking. The ideas may seem a bit crazy and unrealistic - almost too simple. But.... the intention is for these ideas to act as a trigger, making you say something like: "That idea's ridiculous, but if I change it around a bit I could..." So, use one or more of these ideas as your starting point and brainstorm your way to a new opportunity. 1. Begin an enterprise which sells garden gates door to door. On your sales trips, take with you a smart folder which has a large photograph of each gate you are selling. Provide potential customers with a price which includes installation. Your target houses should be easy to spot! 2. Start a home based computer bureau. There are hundreds of business computer programs available such as wages, record files and accounts. Buy and use these programs to provide a computer service to local businesses. 3. Set up a business which promotes the making of lampshades. Lampshade making can be sold as either, an interesting new hobby, or a business opportunity. Produce a mail order catalogue of lampshade making equipment and supplies. Advertise your catalogue in craft magazines. 4. Begin a computerised dating service. Operate this service like a traditional dating service, but hold all your records on a computer and use the computer to aid your search for compatible partners. Have leaflets about your service printed and place them at shops in your area. 5. Be a sleep consultant. Large numbers of people have difficulty in sleeping at night. This is not usually a medical problem, but can be corrected by using a suitable method or attitude of mind. Provide people in your area with confidential advice about how to sleep soundly. 6. Start a venture which designs and manufactures portable theatrical footlights. Potential buyers of these footlights include: amateur theatre and dance groups, pop and rock groups, children's entertainers , variety entertainers, nightclubs and mobile disc jockeys. 7. Create an enterprise which rents computers to private and business users. The computers you rent out might be new and second hand. Also rent out peripherals such as printers, stands and feeders. Use local media to inform people about your hire service. 8. Buy original computer games programs from home computer enthusiasts. Find these programs by advertising in computing magazines. Produce a compilation of the programs on a master tape. Have copies of this master tape duplicated on cassettes and sell from ads in home computing magazines. 9. Produce a series of low cost audio cassettes which help school pupils revise for public examinations. You might give these cassettes a brand name like 'Personal Revision Cassettes'. Get these cassettes stocked at newsagents and bookshops. 10. Set up a firm which publishes a monthly computer cassette program for home computer enthusiasts who want to improve their program writing skills (e.g. C++, html or web design). Each cassette might give ideas, examples and tips about how to become a better computer programmer. 11. Start a firm which organises educational holidays and weekend breaks for computing enthusiasts who want to further their programming skills. The courses might be held at a bed & breakfast house out of season. Advertise your holidays and breaks in computing magazines. 12. Design and publish diaries for each star sign. The special feature of these diaries is that a star reading is given for each day of the coming year. Have these diaries mounted in a special display rack. Get astrological shops to accept one of your racks. 13. Use luminous paint (the kind used on watches and alarm clocks) to highlight features on natural ornaments such as starfish, coral, colourful rocks, pine cones, etc. Place these ornaments in a UV illuminated display case to illustrate the luminosity. Get these cases displayed at gift shops. 14. Start an enterprise which makes high quality, home-made paper. Sell the paper at a premium for use as: personal stationery, certificates, presentation scrolls, printing paper for manually operated printing presses etc. 15. Bring out a selection of lucky charms which are for hanging from the windscreens of cars , vans and lorries. The charms might be mini horseshoes, rabbits' feet, wooden or plastic number sevens, four leaf clovers, etc. Package your charms and distribute to a wide range of retailers. 16. Begin a business which manufactures kits for making mosaics. Each kit has a pre-designed mosaic and people have to complete it like a jigsaw puzzle. Use ads in craft magazines to sell the kits by mail order. 17. Set up an enterprise which sells greenhouses door to door. Buy the greenhouses from manufacturers at trade prices. Produce sales literature and recruit sales people to sell the greenhouses for you. 18. Start a postal business which rents out war gaming model soldiers and other accessories. War gaming enthusiasts around the nation can use this service to play war games of any size from any period of history. 19. If you have a spare room, take in a lodger, or start a small scale bed and breakfast business. If you choose the latter, either place a sign outside your house which reads 'Bed and Breakfast', 'Vacancies', or advertise in the window of a main newsagent. Currently you can earn a useful tax-free sum from this method. 20. Make money from anatomical charts. Use the charts to: 1) make stylish framed prints; 2) make unusual designs for T-shirts; 3) decorate household products such as wastepaper bins and lampshades; 4) make decorative or educational posters; or 5) make a collecti.