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Small business opportunities are really shaping the new American economy. Small businesses have always been a driving force in America, but it seems to be even more so today. Perhaps I’m more keenly aware of small businesses, since I’ve owned and operated a number of them over the last 20 years. But, I sense a sea change in both sentiment and desire.

According to the US Census Bureau, there are now roughly 28 million small businesses in the US. A small business is defined as a company that has less than 500 employees. Of these small businesses, the bulk of them, about 22 million, are identified as single person businesses with no employees. And, the total gross receipts are staggering … $992 Billion in 2007.

I believe small business opportunities are growing because of several factors: the state of the economic recession, obvious unemployment issues and the fact that there are many more resources available to the small business than ever before. Much of this is driven by the ubiquity and availability of downright cheap technology.

For example, when I bought my first computer, many “generations ago” …, it cost me $6,000. Forget about Internet connectivity, think dial up (barely), and 16 KB, not GB, of RAM. These are dinosaur terms to emphasize a point. Today, a Dell Net Book can be had for $184 after rebate, Internet connection for 20 bucks a month, and a phone service with unlimited calling for as little as $19 / year.

How can you beat this type of setup when it comes to building small business opportunities, especially out of your home? My company is the epitome of a small virtual business. We are 10 people small and we all work out of our homes. The technology that we’ve implemented allows us to be linked together through a virtual PBX system, project management software, instant messaging, online meetings and much more.

Many of the tools that we use are free, some are unbelievably cheap. For example, a virtual PBX with unlimited minutes for $49.99 a month! This system gives us 10 extensions, so that our clients only need to call one 800 number to access any one of our team members. In the “old days” this would have cost us thousands of dollars and would have needed to be installed in a physical location. There’s nothing to install or download here, baby!

So, what are the top 10 online small business opportunities fueling my imagination? If you can wrap your arms around the term virtual, the ideas are limitless. My top 10:

1. Virtual Assistants – So much work, so little time. Virtual Assistants “free up your day,” as one of my colleagues in the business likes to say.
2. Internet Marketing – Think Google search and you’ll know what I mean. Companies are moving their marketing dollars in DROVES to the Internet. Print, Radio and TV are dying breeds.
3. Answering Services – You can’t always be in two places at the same time. Set up your own Virtual PBX, cultivate some clients and answer their calls for them.
4. Online Researcher – The Internet is a wealth of information. But, you still need time to sift through the dirt to find the gold. Turn your curious nature into a saleable asset.
5. Internet Broker – This business is as old as eBay. People want to buy and others want to sell. But, some are technology “challenged.” They just don’t know how to sell anything, let alone on eBay.
6. Stock Up! – The Internet’s appetite for online “stock” content is voracious. Think 300 million websites. They all need some type of photo, video or graphic. And, there are plenty of sites to sell your passion.
7. Creative Services – If you’re a photographer, videographer, graphic artist, hobbyist or professional, move your attention to Internet. Linked with #6, the need for QUALITY work is exploding.
8. Freelance Writing – Coupled with the explosive nature of the Internet, blogging is as hot as it gets. No, not about your kids’ latest soccer game, but serious ghost writing for individuals and companies.
9. Expense Reduction Manager – Everybody’s looking for a deal these days. And, they’re everywhere. Some people just don’t know where to look.
10. And, my all time favorite – Personal Shopper – I threw this one in for fun. “Back in the day”, people paid good money for others to shop for them.

Let’s just hope that legislation on AFFORDABLE health care, doesn’t rain on our parade!

Read more articles from David Chan.

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Joint ventures used to be a term that caused a lot of confusion over who, what and why. The “who” related to the parties working together; the “what” referred to the goals of the joint venture; and the “why” was really about the decision to partner rather than to go it alone. These days, creating joint ventures make a lot of sense both offline and increasingly online.

In my most recent blog about the California governor candidates, I pointed out that there is an inverse relationship between marketing spend and Internet “success.” Witness Meg Whitman’s $900,000 investment in Internet marketing and the poor results she’s garnered with Facebook “Fans” and Twitter “Followers” compared to her rivals, Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown.

Joint ventures in this case made a lot of sense. From an offline perspective, it certainly did not hurt Gavin Newsom to get an endorsement from the hugely popular Bill Clinton. Mr. Clinton likely pushed Mr. Newsom’s acceptance level in this political battle by several percentage points.

In fact, Mr. Newsom has some 58,000 fans to Ms. Whitman’s 4,500. What is not so obvious, though, are the online joint ventures he created to drive his popularity into the stratosphere … including his one million plus Twitter followers. While it’s possible to grow ones followers and fans organically, it generally takes a lot of time to create that many followers.

Let’s flip the analysis. Over the last several months, I’ve been fortunate to work with a number of celebrity personalities. A common theme always seems to pop up, “doing great, but would like to do better.” This, by the way, is what makes America great … striving for improvement … not just sitting around being happy with the status quo.

When evaluating joint ventures it’s always a great idea to create win / win / win scenarios. Make sure you understand what each party gets out of a relationship. In addition, since these days everyone has limited financial resources and are time constrained, creating a joint venture makes a lot of sense for a very simple reason – shared risk, shared reward.

Let’s take a real example. In creating a new online marketing campaign, we have several requirements for success: testimonials, saleable products, exclusive content, a well known brand, and much more. With limited time and financial resources, the decision to build vs. buy vs. joint venture becomes glaringly obvious – joint venture for those areas where you lack resources or talent and build or buy those pieces which you can control.

Joint ventures don’t have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler they are the more likely they are to succeed. Another simple example of this is obtaining content. Imagine that you are selling timeshares. You can try to create content on your own, but it would be much easier to joint venture with a real estate company. In return for their support, you promote their timeshare inventory.

The possibilities for joint ventures are limited only by your imagination. These days the blueprint for success is to think WAY outside the box. Don’t let naysayers say that it’s never been done before. President Obama didn’t!

Read more articles from David Chan.

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As a business development professional, I believe leadership is a fundamental quality required to succeed in this career. Senator Ted Kennedy demonstrated all of the qualities of leadership and then some, including vision, openness, and above, all, compassion. His tireless effort over four decades fighting for health care reform is a legacy that will transcend beyond his senate seat. I read with great interest the Newsweek article written by Mr. Kennedy himself The Cause of My Life, wherein he describes what has been his lifelong passion regarding universal health care.

Senator Ted Kennedy has had his share of sorrow and tragedy throughout his family’s legacy. I learned a tremendous amount about why health care reform was so important to him. In 1973 he learned firsthand how families had to make critical decisions about health care for their children because of their ability, or worse, inability to pay for medical care.

At that time, his 12 year old son, Teddy, had to have his right leg amputated because of an aggressive cancerous tumor. During the treatments to fight cancer, Mr. Kennedy met and interacted with other parents who were financially less fortunate than him to pay for aggressive, sometimes experimental cancer treatment.

That was a defining moment for Senator Ted Kennedy’s health care reform stand. He goes on to state that “That experience with Teddy made it clear to me, as never before, that health care must be affordable and available for every mother or father who hears a sick child cry in the night and worries about the deductibles and co pays if they go to the doctor.”

Mr. Kennedy talks about his son Patrick who had asthma serious enough to require hospitalization on numerous occasions. His daughter, Kara, was also diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002. Thankfully, because of quality health care and chemotherapy, she has survived that insidious scourge.

Here is a man who has the wealth of the Kennedy family to afford the best medical treatment for himself and his family. Why should he care about those who cannot? There are certainly other legislative policies that Mr. Kennedy could have taken up that would have been much easier to “win.” But, he chose this piece of legislation because he is a leader of the cause and plight of the common people.

No matter what side of the political fence any of us sit, the cause for health care reform, or more appropriately, universal health care is one that is consuming our country’s attention. Many have asked to rename Barack Obama’s health care reform after Mr. Kennedy. This is certainly a worthy idea as many of the tenets of President Obama’s plan come from Mr. Kennedy’s four decades of work in health care.

I just returned from visiting one of my UC Berkeley school mates. He is also terminally ill with cancer. Over the last couple of months I’ve learned how our broken health care system has tried to initially deny his hospital stay and then his desire to live out the rest of his short life at home. It has been proven time and time again that end of life patient care at home provides a better quality of life than in a hospital setting AND it saves money!

If Senator Ted Kennedy’s health care reform policies and lifelong work succeeds in the hands of the current administration, he will have achieved what countless presidents and politicians before him have failed to do … not just universal health care, but a platform for a more fair and just society. After all, isn’t that why our forefathers immigrated to America in the first place?

Read more articles from David Chan.