Springwise.com: There's a new on-line shopping retailer who just might revolutionize the purchase of pre-packaged consumer goods: Alice. Here's the scoop: "Just launched into beta this week, Alice offers more than 6,000 unique products from hundreds of different manufacturers. Its prices are 20 percent to 30 percent lower than those at other online stores, it says, and shipping is always free. US consumers begin by creating a free account and then selecting a list of all their favourite products, ordering only the items they need right then. Each shipment is bundled together in a single 'Alice' box and delivered directly to the consumer’s door. Meanwhile, Alice organizes all the products on the member's list, finds coupons and deals for them, and reminds them to reorder when they are likely to be running low." Free shipping? Coupons? Up to 30 percent off? Where do I sign up? Oh, wait. They don't ship to Alaska. For those of you lucky enough to be in the Lower 48 states, check out Household goods, straight from manufacturers for the details on this innovative business concept.

Entrepreneur.com: Instead of coming up with a recipe for success on your own, why not enlist in the army of very successful entrepreneurs who own franchise businesses? Jeff Elgin, CEO of FranChoice Inc., a company that provides free consulting to consumers looking for a franchise that best matches their needs, is an expert in what separates a good candidate for franchising from the bad and offers his views on the traits necessary to join the ranks of winning franchise owners in a recent piece entitled Is Franchise Ownership in Your DNA? From Elgin's piece: "Many people believe franchise ownership is for the true entrepreneur--the type A personality with the confidence to blaze new trails in the business world. The truth is actually quite different. Franchising is about following a proven system to replicate the success of the original unit that the franchise is based on. Entrepreneurs often create innovative new businesses, but it's the Steady Eddie types that tend to produce most of the success in franchises." That's an unexpected twist in what most people see as a high-pressure, forceful environment and one that opens the doors wide for a kindler, gentler franchise operator.

Entrepreneur.com: Now is the time to start up your low-cost, on-the-side Internet business says successful businesswoman and author Melissa Campanelli. "To begin with, internet startups have low overhead and startup costs--as low as $3,000, thanks in part to inexpensive, yet robust e-commerce software and services on the market. What's more, the business can be set up in a home office and attended to at nights and on weekends, allowing new entrepreneurs to keep their day jobs. In addition, many budding entrepreneurs can set up their online businesses in less than one week." People are driving less and looking to hyper-local solutions for where to purchase their next pair of trend-setting shoes or box of diapers. Why not meet this need and setup a niche business that offers something extra or special to help compete with price-cutting big box stores? Read Starting an Online Business in a Down Economy to learn how.