My friend Brad owns somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 snakes. He lives in a single room in house with other people. In that little room he has a few dozen drawers, cubbyholes, and terrariums where the snakes live, and right smack dab in the middle of it all is the bed where the sleeps. It's an interesting place to visit. (I sometimes wonder how often he brings girls home from the bar and, when he does, how they react.)

Brad is a web developer, and since he recently came into a whole lot of spare time (he isn't working right now), he created a website for snake owners to share their collection online, as well as manage feeding schedules and expenses.

The thing I like about this project: it's not for everyone. I think people get really excited about starting a coffeehouse, or a frozen yogurt boutique, because just about everyone drinks coffee and indulges in frozen yogurt. They're easy to accept because it seems like there's very little risk involved.

Brad went in the other direction. Sure, only a small number of people in the world own a snake collection (compared to the proportion of cat owners), and of those few, only a few might have an interest in using online software to manage their collection. But it's a niche that's large enough. He found a market that wasn't being served, and built something for them. And not because anyone asked him to, or paid him to...he just had an itch.

Now he has a bit of a challenge: convince snake owners that they could benefit from using his site. Snake owners have been feeding their snakes for years without the Internet, and they're probably used to it, so it doesn't feel like they have a problem. How do you sell a solution to a problem that people aren't even aware they have?