Opening a business takes hard work, careful planning, and smart decision-making. With so much to learn, an entrepreneur has to start somewhere… often, that somewhere is Google. We’ve analyzed national and state-level search trends to find out what types of small business people are most frequently thinking about starting.

The allure of opening a small business is that you get to be your own boss. The downside is that the boss is responsible for everything, which includes not only the big ideas and (hopefully) big profits, but also the time-consuming, unsexy-yet-necessary details. A smart business owner knows that finding specialized help for tasks—such as payroll, accounting, personnel and office management, and business administration—can leave the owner with more valuable time to focus on building a successful business. The top two most profitable types of small businesses make up almost 40%, meaning there is a healthy market for businesses that specialize in particular professional services.

Geography certainly plays a role in viable business opportunities. Budding entrepreneurs in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado researched opening a bar more than other states, perhaps owing to the fact that a bar in a sparsely populated area would have little competition, as opposed to an area that has a bar on every corner.  

Notably, eight states ranked high for people especially interested in starting a clothing line. However, even though clothing is the most searched small business opportunity in the country, retail is not in the top 10 most profitable small businesses, and it is only seventh of the most common actual businesses. Given the high cost of overhead, renting a storefront, merchandising, and competing for customers with online marketplaces, becoming the next Coco Chanel or Calvin Klein remains only a dream for most.

Perhaps that’s why some of the most common small businesses rely on trade skills, such as bookkeeping, car repair, website design, and computer services. Creating a business that keeps other businesses humming along is a smart way for small business owners to ensurjob stability. 

Specialized services, such as dentistry, real estate, legal services, and health care providers, are also profitable small businesses, making up approximately seven of the top 10 small businesses. Personal practices work because they can be managed at scale: determining the number of clients or customers, personalized care, and specializing in a niche service or profession.  

As the research points out, owning a successful small business could depend heavily on the geography and type of business more than the dreams of the entrepreneur. The key to successful self-employment lies in the foresight to find the right market for the right business, and the hustle to make it happen.

What has been bringing buyers to Bid on Equipment through the month of August and what are they looking for when they are here?
 

Below are the top ten search terms that have shown the largest increases from Internet search traffic this month.

Interest in each of these terms has grown 100% - 1500%!

The top ten overall categories for Bid on Equipment in the last month.

The top ten overall Manufacturer Pages for Bid on Equipment in the last month.

The Top Ten Viewed Items in the Last Month

From motor vehicle parts to plastic products to chemicals and electronic instruments, the United States spreads its top manufacturing industries far and wide.

 A quick glance will tell you that the West Coast owns electronics, food processing is big in the Great Plains, a good chunk of transportation manufacturing occurs in the Midwest and South, and the East Coast is sprinkled with healthcare-related operations, plastic products and electronics. However, there are a few surprises to discover. Read on.

Who knew that both Hawaii and New York are known for bakeries and tortillas? Or in Vermont, that semiconductor and electronic component operations employ more people than dairy product operations?

Other manufacturing realities might not surprise you. Alaska leads seafood product preparation and packaging? Hello, Alaskan King Crab Legs. California leads semiconductor and electronic component manufacturing? We see you, Silicon Valley. Michigan’s pumping out the most motor vehicle parts? Rev your engines, Motor City.

There were 16 states where animal slaughtering and processing appeared in the top three manufacturing categories, 15 states where electronic instruments were in the top three manufacturing categories, and 14 states where plastic products were in the top three manufacturing categories. 

Manufacturing plays a vital role in supporting jobs in a core group of states in the upper Midwest and South. The top 5 states ranked by manufacturing’s share of total state employment are: Indiana 17%, Wisconsin 16%, Iowa 14%, Michigan 14%, and Alabama 13%.

After the Industrial Revolution, mass production of goods led to mass consumption in a necessary way. With factory made goods now accessible and affordable across the country and around the world, the quality of life vastly improved for countless people, elevating our agrarian culture to a global commercial one. In the modern world, there is room for both factory made and handmade, where artisanal can live beside industrial. Check out the differences between the two approaches below.

Though handmade might seem always like the better bet, cost is a major factor in modern consumption. The cost of crafting all the elements that go into modern life is impossible—not at the scale modern society demands. A 20 to 24 piece set of handcrafted silverware costs approximately $426, whereas a factory made set costs only $20. Similarly, handmade plates can run $40 per plate, or $3.50 when purchased at a mass-marketed store. At that price, you can afford to break a few without worry of breaking the bank for a replacement.

Besides being cost-effective, factory made items are also time-effective. While the high quality of proper craftsmanship cannot be discounted, one cannot ignore the length of time it takes for one person to personally make an item. For example, it would take a skilled seamstress or tailor using an old-fashioned hand loom approximately five-and-a-half hours to make a pair of jeans. Considering that 520 million pairs of jeans are sold each year—in the US alone—it would take 1,000 seamstresses and tailors, working 12 hours a day for 365 days each year, for 652 years, to equal the factory output of one year of jeans.

Factory made mass production does not just affect the time it takes to create something, but also to maximize the time allotted to produce. For instance, the harvest window for corn in the US is roughly 60 days. Currently, it takes about 290 man-hours to harvest and shuck 1 hectare of corn by hand. (1 hectare is equal to 2.47 acres.) That doesn’t seem so impossible… until you consider that there are 39 million hectares of corn grown in the US each year. Corn is a foundational ingredient in not only our food processing but also in our livestock feed, and is an agricultural keystone in our economy. To harvest what is necessary to keep the corn industry sustainable would simply not be possible without the heavy lifting of machinery and automation.

The good news is we don’t have to choose between the two approaches. There is room in our world for both the necessity of factory made items and the artisanal craftsmanship of handmade items. Being selective about where our time, money, and energy is channeled can help both sides of the production industry thrive together.

SOURCES:

Products advertised on brand and retail websites including: Express, Amara, Overstock, Zappos, Barneys, Food52, World Market, Target, Walmart, Williams Sonoma, Etsy, Kitchen Collection, JR Cigars, Thompson Cigar, Toyota, Lichty Guitars, Guitar Center, Denims and Jeans, and Dreyfuss and Co.

https://en.wikipedia.org

http://www.caranddriver.com/rolls-royce/dawn

https://www.cars.com/research/rolls_royce/

http://www.caranddriver.com/cadillac/ct6

https://www.wired.com/2010/02/hands-of-goodwood/

http://www.huddersfieldbespokecloth.co.uk/how-many-meters-15-w.asp

https://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/articles/intj_07_83_1.pdf

http://blog.rolls-roycemotorcarsraleigh.com/long-take-build-rolls-royce/

https://www.thebalance.com/corn-planting-and-harvest-seasons-809309

http://www.cambridgehistory.org/discover/innovation/Sewing%20Machine.html

http://www.customsuitsyou.com/gentlemens-blog/how-much-does-a-custom-suit-cost

https://nwrugs.com/blogs/loveofrugs/12931101-how-long-does-it-take-to-weave-a-rug

http://halfwheel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Arturo-Fuente-Unnamed-Reserve-2013-Toro-1.jpg

http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/the-last-great-american-watchmaker-20121101

http://designyoutrust.com/2014/05/10-most-expensive-handmade-cars-in-the-world/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/183635/number-of-households-in-the-us/

http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_15.html_mfd

So many things in life have become more efficient thanks to more automated technology. Take word processing, for instance, and just think of how much faster it is to type a letter on computer rather than hand write it out the old fashioned way. Think of how much faster and more efficient it is to send an e-mail than to mail one via the postal service. These increased efficiencies can't be disputed - and these increased efficiencies don't just impact our daily personal lives, but industry as well.
Case in point (no pun intended) is when it comes to case packing - there's the manual way of doing it and the automatic way of doing it. Case packing is essentially the process of placing packaged product into corrugated cases so that they can be transported to the end user or stores for placement. We probably don't need to tell you how much faster it is to purchase automated equipment for your facility to carry out this work. This post will take a closer look at automated case packing equipment, the types of equipment and just what they can do to increase your efficiency and take your business to that next level.
Why Use Automated Packing?
As we noted in the opening, automated case packing can increase the efficiency and productivity of your packing operations in your facility - characteristics that represent the big payoff behind this technology. There are many reasons why a plant manager might elect to bring automated packing into their plant. These reasons may include:
• Attempting to transition from a small or medium sized company to a large one without significantly adding more labor (i.e. wanting to add a third shift, for example.)
• Feeling the pinch of higher labor costs and bringing in technology to help curb this. And yes, while purchasing this type of equipment comes with a high cost, most companies can recoup these upfront costs in a matter of months due to the increase in efficiency.
• The desire to create a safer, more sustainable working environment - as automated packing equipment enhances safety in the workplace and also helps minimize scrap and waste.
Types of Automated Case Packers
Having trouble deciding what type of automated case packer is right for your facility's operations? There are four main types of case packing technologies to choose from. Here is a closer look at each of them:
• Top load case packers: Fitting to the name, top load case packers load items through the top of an RSC, or regular slotted carton, wraparound or other sort of case. Many top load case packers have multiple stops throughout the line, allowing packagers to fill multiple layers or types of products at various load stations. Most top load case packers are all-in-one machines that also have small footprints. Many even seal the cases with either glue or tape so that they're ready to leave the factory floor upon completion.
• Side load case packers: Just as how top load case packers load product into RSCs from the top, side load case packers load product in from the side. Side load case packers are ideal for confectionary, food and beverage, personal care, nutritional and pharmaceutical products, among others. Like top load case packers, side load machines also often seal the case by gluing or taping the RSCs after they've been filled. Side load case packers may also be referred to as end load packers, as some models fill product into the RSC through the end.
• Robotic case packers: In terms of footprint, robotic case packers take up the smallest overall space on the plant floor. These types of case packers are also ideal for plants that want to maximize changeovers and flexibility.
• Wraparound case packers: These machines pack product from either the side or the top of the wraparound. Like robotic packers, wraparound packers usually utilize minimal space on the plant floor. These types of packers also typically are more affordable to run, as they minimize the cost of corrugated material. Cost per unit is also normally decreased and wraparound packers offer better consistency and efficiency when it comes to palletizing.
Aside from the aforementioned four types of case packers, it's worth noting that there are also optional add-on accessories that can be installed on the equipment to make them even more efficient on the factory floor.
Benefits of Automated Case Packers
As we've mentioned regularly throughout this piece, the big benefit of automated case packing is the streamlining in efficiency of packing operations. As productivity increases, the time and labor decreases, which becomes a win-win for a plant manager. Automated case packing equipment is able to perform more repetitions in less time than it would take to do manually, and because of the streamline in efficiency, changeovers are short, there's less room for error and less waste generated as a result. What's more is that while automated case packing equipment is expensive, most plants can recoup the upfront costs in less than six months after installation due to the increase in efficiency and productivity.
While case packing machines vary in efficiency by model and style, it's not uncommon for most top load case packers to be able to handle about 10 cpm or 20 picks per minute. Side load case packers range from about 10 cases per minute to in the neighborhood of 85 cases or trays per minute. Robotic case packers are said to be the most efficient case packing device, as most have the ability to process about 100 or so packages or cases per minute. These numbers are far more efficient than what it would take to complete these operations manually - and this is even more so the case when you consider the optional add-ons that are able to make these automated case packers even more efficient.

While automated case packers have a place in terms of increasing efficiency when it comes to facility operations, it's also worth noting that these machines are expensive and can range anywhere from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars in cost. While the payoff and ROI of bringing these machines in house is evident, these upfront costs may be a little too much for many businesses. That's where a quality, previously owned machine can come in handy - as you can acquire a quality machine and begin to immediately reap the benefits of such, for a used price.
For more information on automated case packing equipment, and to browse our selection of previously owned equipment, contact Bid on Equipment today.