In business, you’re usually told to start small and scale from there. After all, the business world is packed with examples of corporations that grew too fast or went belly-up as a result of overzealous expansion. In addition, the business started by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Apple Inc., which was originally a business of selling blue boxes, a hardware device that allowed users to make long-distance phone calls for free, is a business that rose up from humble beginnings.

However, some business ideas come from a founder’s imagination and are so outrageous no one else would even attempt them. In the business world, business proposal ideas like these are called “pie in the sky” business ideas. Undoubtedly, the business proposal behind them must have been outrageous.

1. Cannibal Cafe

Cannibal Cafe was a short-lived business that opened in 2005 at an abandoned drive-in movie theater in Hadley, Massachusetts. The restaurant served lion burgers, bear burgers, kangaroo steak, boar bratwurst, and other exotic meats in an effort to “help maintain the survival of many endangered species” while simultaneously satisfying human appetites for meat.

The business plan was devised by Craig Bryant, a business owner who had previously worked in business development for pharmaceutical companies. However, with all the bad publicity surrounding the business, Bryant closed Cannibal Cafe one year later.

2. Eggs for Cars

The business of the Eggstasy business plan, which was released to Fortune Magazine in 1998, is eggs. It had a business proposal wherein the customers would pay $50 for a lifetime membership and then an additional $150 to be able to purchase one of their soon-to-be produced cars every six months. For each car purchased, the business would take seven eggs from club members.

3. In 30 Days or Less

Sara Sutton Fell’s business idea was the result of a business failure. In 2004, Sutton Fell began an online business that promised to teach job seekers how to get hired in 30 days or less. However, after failing to get one member hired within the 30-day time frame she had promised, her business failed.

4. Edible Paper

Steve D’Onfrio’s business idea is another business startup idea set up for failure. In 2000, D’Onfrio came up with a business plan to create business cards made of edible paper. The business idea was born out of his bad business experience with Key West Aloe, a business that once again failed to produce the results its founder had expected.

5. Popped Like a Balloon

The business idea behind the Ultra Light Balloons business startup idea was to provide flights for people up into the Earth’s stratosphere. However, in 1999, when owner Brian R. Eason attempted to launch a balloon, business was not as successful as he had hoped. In fact, business with his business was so unsuccessful that the business never even took off from its launch site in Elbert, Colorado.

6. Behind These Walls

The business idea for the company Behind These Walls was derived from an idea that business owners like to use when business isn’t going well. The business plan was to turn the business’s building into a haunted house, but instead of being one month long, the business plan proposal is that it would be open year-round.

However, the business didn’t go as planned and it soon closed.

7. A Business About Businesses

The business idea that was hatched by Robert E. Rich Jr. in 1984 was a business that would literally be business about business. Rich turned his home into a business-themed restaurant called The Rainforest Cafe, which featured all sorts of business items. It probably had an organizational chart on the walls as decor.

8. Bookkeeper Business Solutions

In an effort to “help maintain the business’s business” business owner Christy Wildenstein came up with a business idea that would regularly clean and maintain business books. Wildenstein is the founder of Bookkeeper Business Solutions, a business that helps business owners keep their business documents organized. Hopefully they also offer how to write a business proposal.

If you need a tool for making a business proposal, try out Venngage.

9. Eating Alone

The business idea behind the business name Eating Alone was a business plan designed to provide business meals for business people who often eat business alone. The business idea featured complete business meals that would be delivered by a courier or picked up from the business owner’s offices.

However, since its inception in 2003, the business has never been as successful as business owner Lisa Gartner had hoped.

10. Unsustained Drive to Sustainability

The idea behind the business name International Living Future Institute was created to help business owners understand what it means to be sustainable and how businesses can benefit from business practices that are not harmful to business or business surroundings.

However, due to the collapse of the US economy in 2008 and other economic factors, this business failed as well.

In Conclusion

If there is one thing the world loves, it’s a good idea. People love to see what new and creative ideas entrepreneurs writing a business proposal can come up with. However, some business ideas are just too strange for anyone to get behind, and these ones are proof of that.