What Business Would You Start?

Once, everybody kept a fresh resume in the top desk drawer. Today it's a business plan. Inc. asked dozen of likely and not-so-likely observers of the economy to name the enterprises they'd start today -- and their answers paint a picture of our collective economic future

It's another sleepless night in the year 2007. Those fat-free restaurant repasts don't go down as easily as they used to, and the neighbor's blasted dog alarm keeps going off. You could flip on the teleputer, but according to your personal-entertainment consultant, there's nothing on now that you'd like.

Why not sleep in a little late, anyway? The commute never takes long -- especially since the kids agreed to sweep their toys from the hall leading to your study. And the morning telemeeting can't take place until after the doctor checks in to perform those remote tests she's been after you about. Sometimes it seems that life was so much easier in the old days, back when people drove to offices to do their familiar jobs and then came home and blissfully forgot about them. Who on earth saw all these complications coming?

Almost everyone, it turns out.

If the above scenario sounds strange, then ask yourself this: If today you had to start a business other than the one you're in, what would it be?

That's the question Inc. posed to the 60 or so folks whose new-business ideas are shared in the pages that follow. What do their answers -- which include all the products and services mentioned above -- say about where our lives are headed?

You'll be on your own. The obliteration of so many management jobs has understandably led people to conclude that no one will take care of them economically. So they'd better take care of themselves.

Life's increasing complexity is itself an opportunity. "I would look for an area where customer needs are changing very rapidly," says reengineering guru Michael Hammer, echoing the thoughts of many we spoke to. Examples? Hammer cites electric utilities, health care, and telecommunications.

Work life and private life will move in together, if not actually get married. The merger between work and life will offer opportunities to companies that can help people -- or their own employees -- manage the blur.

But what makes us so sure, in the end, that these are indeed the businesses of the future? Simple. We asked only topflight economists. Big names, too -- like Ivana Trump and G. Gordon Liddy, Philip Crosby and Georgette Mosbacher. No, those aren't the folks we traditionally think of as the Keyneses of our time. The fact is, though, as each of us is forced to take more responsibility for our own economic welfare, we all need to be economists now. Even Ed McMahon. (See page 2.) Especially since Johnny's retired.

Of course, professional economists do have opinions on these matters as well. But their reputations rely on being correct, not on being specific. Allen Sinai, chief economist at Lehman Brothers in New York City, says he'd start a business built around "a usable product, especially one that saves people money." It's hard to argue with that.

But then, we aren't kidding ourselves about all the ideas people offered. "If I had a specific idea," says MTV creator Robert W. Pittman, "I'd be crazy to tell you." That means the very best ideas are still out there, known solely to a chosen few who will share them only when they are ready. Of course, there are some folks who don't yet realize that they have an idea that could grow into a big business by 2007. All they need is some inspiration. Well, there's plenty of it here.

Now You Know Why They Never Wrote a Sequel
Tom Peters, author and guru: Dark corner of mundane industry

Robert H. Waterman Jr., coauthor and coguru: Information technology

Tom Peters, coauthor of In Search of Excellence: "My theory is actually reducible to one line: look for crappy industries led by crappy companies -- whatever isn't software, multimedia, or biotech. The better mousetrap can be effective in businesses like garbage, paper products, and pallet racks. At some level anything Wall Street is interested in is fundamentally going to become overpopulated."

Robert H. Waterman Jr., coauthor of In Search of Excellence: "I'd do something related to information technology. It could be software. All the big guys are throwing a lot of money into the information superhighway. The fact that they are spending money means there is a lot of loose change I could pick up."

Basic Instinct
Debbi Fields, gourmet-cookie retailer: Health spa

Far be it from us to suggest that Debbi Fields has anything to feel guilty about. We'll let her do it.

Fields, chairman of Mrs. Fields' Inc. (average calorie count per cookie: 180), says she would open a spa that helped people learn to "lead a good, healthy life." Among its offerings: advice on cosmetics, fashion, and relaxation techniques, such as yoga. And did somebody say nutrition? "People aren't going to learn to lose weight unless they learn how to love the foods they eat," Fields says. "We'd have to create special recipes and things that they can make at home and things that they could even buy."

Such prepackaged food products, Fields says, would fuel the company with an ongoing revenue stream. While such add-ons might be sold nationally, the spa itself would have just one location. "Eighteen years ago I thought what really mattered was quality," she says. "Quality is still really important. But today you have to add phenomenal personal service. People want to be nurtured."

The Next Big Thing? Personal Protection
Georgette Mosbacher, cosmetics consultant: Personal alarms

Victor Kiam, entrepreneur: Travel alarms