Homer Simpson is not only a nuclear technician, but also an entrepreneur, an inventor and an industrialist. He has attempted several times to go into business for himself. He has failed more than once. But his ignorant bliss is never diminished. In this feature, Ed Martin, a small business owner, analyzes Homer's business ventures and offers all of us some words of wisdom.

Homer has started family businesses, done it on his own and tried to form a partnership with his best friend. Maybe all that didn't work out just right. (Well, okay, maybe none of them worked out just right.) But there are good lessons to be learned from failures as well as successes. And as Homer says in "Bart's Inner Child," "Okay, the trampoline was a bad idea. But you know what? At least I'm out there trying new things."

In one way or another Homer has mastered some of the most basic tenets of business success.

Economic Theory
First of all, it helps to have a basic understanding of economics, "Money can be used in exchange for goods and services." And, as Homer points out to Bart, "With $10,000 we'd be millionaires!" Woo hoo!

"Buy low and sell high, that's my motto," says Homer. Timing is critical. You have to know when to buy and when to sell. In "Homer vs. Patty and Selma," Homer gets into the pumpkin business. "This year I invested in pumpkins. They've been going up the whole month of October and I got a feeling they're going to peak right around January. Then bang! That's when I'll cash in" D'oh!

Homer knows the importance of management and labor. He explains to his son Bart, "Son, if you don't like your job, you don't strike, you just go in there every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way." Or consider Homer's response to an ultimatum to come to work today or don't bother to come in on Monday, "Woo hoo! A four day weekend!"

Finance
When Homer gets a free trampoline in "Bart's Inner Child," he dreams of starting his own amusement park -- Homerland. He starts to cash in by charging admission to use the trampoline, but then encounters a common problem: He does not have any liability insurance and so is forced to give up his business.

It's always important to know your bottom line and watch your cash flow. In "Bart Gets an Elephant," the boy gets the idea to charge kids to let them ride his elephant. Homer immediately recognizes the potential for a winning business. "Look at this Marge, $58 and all of it profit. I'm the smartest businessman in the world." Great, until Marge points out that the elephant's food bill for the day was $300. Homer immediately ups the price for a ride from $2 to $500, and all his customers leave, demonstrating that price sensitivity of the market also is an important factor. Suggestion noted.

Planning
Homer demonstrates a couple of good business fundamentals in his sugar-selling venture in "Lisa's Rival." When Homer finds a pile of sugar, he tries to sell it door-to-door directly to the consumer for $1 a pound, even though it only costs $0.35 in the store. How can he charge so much more?

First, there is the convenience and exclusivity factor of home delivery. Second, since Homer's sugar fell off a truck it has special prizes such as nails and broken glass in it. When, amazingly, that venture does not work, Homer demonstrates that it is possible to package products in different ways to different markets. He comes up with another way to turn the sugar into profit. It attracts bees, and the beekeepers offer him $2000 to have their bees back. Hee hee!

Homer Simpson

Marketing
Marketing is one of Homer's real strengths. When he gets into the snow plowing business as "Mr. Plow," he demonstrates some common guerrilla marketing techniques such as putting flyers on windshields, giving away premiums to new customers ("Stockdale for VP t-shirts,") and coming up with some catchy ads, such as his Mr. Plow rap. He also generates plenty of business and publicity by performing some notable public service activities such as plowing the parking lot of the Kwik-E Mart just in time for some crooks to knock it off and clearing the streets so people do not have to resort to public transportation or car-pooling.