In America they call them diapers, of course, but I prefer the formal term nappies. Anyway, a very bright woman called Christie Rein founded a company two years ago to manufacture and sell small, compact and stylish changing bags capable of holding a travel pack of wipes and between two and four nappies. As the father of three boys I can understand why she decided to do this. If one has small babies to look after either one carries the nappies loose, or else one has to lug around a full sized nappy bag. Christie's company, which has the rather horrible name 'Diapees and Wipees', offers a range of 22 different styles which are now available online or in over 120 boutiques. As far as I know she hasn't yet found a UK agent, so if you're looking for something interesting to import, then this could be it.

There's a company in Irvine, California, called Ultimate Ears that produces custom-made, upmarket earpieces for professional musicians and music lovers. These earpieces replace clunky headphones or amplifiers that can't capture the sound on stage or in the recording studio. Basically they are a miniaturised version of the technology that is used in big onstage music systems. Each earpiece is custom-made from an impression of the customer's ear. Ultimate Ears now have a generic, lower-priced consumer line too, called Super.fi. The company employs over 20 people, and this year sales will top US$5 million. It's a concept which is simply begging to be copied here in the UK. Alternatively, I suppose, one might go to the founders (Mindy and Jerry Harvey) and ask them if they would agree to appoint you as an agent.

Looking for a drink range to import? If you are then you could do worse that get hold of anything produced by the highly successful US firm, the Jones Soda Company. Because if you want a blueprint for creating a product that will a) attract a lot of media and customer attention and b) fly off the shelves, then Jones Soda Company will serve you well.

Basically, theirs is a marketing-led technique and they have built their brand by creating incredibly individual packaging and by including a selection of truly wacky drink flavours in the their range in order to generate free PR opportunities.

Let's take the packaging first. The company uses an ordinary glass bottle - but the labels are all complete different and carry highly amusing photographs taken by their customers. Each photograph tells a story and it is hard not to be drawn to them when you see them on the shelf.

The packaging is nothing, however, compared to the company's range of bizarre flavours. We are talking about - to name just four - brussels sprout soda, smoked salmon pâté soda, turkey and gravy soda, and wild herb stuffing soda. Being a trained professional and a keen investigative journalist, naturally I wanted to taste them. However, feeling that caution would be the better part of valour, instead I arranged for one of my sons to taste them for me. His comments are unprintable.

The publicity-winning flavours are only a tiny part the company's range. In fact, they offer over 80 flavours of which all but a handful are pretty normal tasting drinks. However, company's strategy has paid off. They have grown to be a £20 million business in less than five years.

As I say, I wonder if their whole approach might not be a recipe for success for anybody else in the food business. Produce something that sounds disgusting and unlikely, get a lot of publicity and on the back of it sell your other, more palatable products.

Still in the US (guess where I have been this week), I was loitering without intent in Queens, NY when I saw the most extraordinary waste bin on the street. Called a Big Belly, it automatically compresses all the rubbish when it gets too full. This reduces the volume of waste and means that the rubbish bins don't have to be emptied so often. I couldn't find a telephone number on the device, but the manufacturer is a company called 'Seahorse Power Co.' and is based in Needham, Massachusetts. One to import? One to copy? I think so.

From the US to Ireland where, driving through a small village in West Cork, I spotted a suspended rocking horse in the window of a small shop somewhere in the Clonakilty area. Stopping to chat with the shop owner, I found out that the rocking horse is made from a single aeroplane tyre cut and riveted and decorated with twine (for the horse's mane). You can hang it from a tree or from hooks in your home. A fantastic concept. Making things using recycled objects has to be the way forward. It is creative and environmental. One of my neighbours has made a handbag out of an old inner tube and another is using telephone wire to weave place mats. Check out a website called RE (www.re-foundobjects.com) for other examples and ideas.

Portable desks for cars? The market for these is obviously amongst salesman and others whose jobs involve spending a lot of time in their car. If you are interested in this sector, you might like to check out the following websites:

My next import suggestion may strike you as somewhat bizarre. It is called table golf and its inventor, Clyde Beasley, describes it as a combination of billiards and golf. Beasley dreamed up the game in 1999 while serving a sentence in Folsom state prison in the United States. As he watched a golf tournament get rained out on TV, he wondered what golfers did on rainy days. Once he got out of prison (some three years later), he created a prototype. The prototype attracted the attention of a television programme called The Price is Right, and this year Beasley's company will sell more than $5 million worth of tables. If you want to see what I am talking about, visit www.teeandcue.com. Beasley's company is called Beasley Creations Inc. and is based in Torrance, California.

What is the new must-have item for injured trendies? Designer crutches, of course. The concept was born of tragedy. Laurie Johnson, founder of LemonAid Crutches, lost her husband and two-year-old son in a plane crash that left her with a broken bone which wouldn't heal. A year later, still in emotional and physical pain, Johnson decided to take life's lemons and make lemonade. Working with her sister, they began to spray paint Johnson's crutches and trim the handles with interesting fabrics. In mid-2005, the company launched its website (www.lemonaidcrutches.com), from where it sells a range of designer crutches with themes such as Safari Adventure and Asian Inspiration. You may be interested to know that 50% of LemonAid's profits go to a non-profit organisation. Anyway, as far as I know, LemonAid Crutches do not have any export sales, making them an ideal product for anyone interested in this area. Or, I suppose, one could develop one's own similar range.

While I was driving through Massachusetts, I found myself behind a little green Mini Clubman with the intriguing slogan on its rear window: "Powered by Vegetable Oil". The business responsible is Grease Car Vegetable Fuel Systems LLC, and they make conversion kits that allow diesel engines to run on vegetable oil. Grease Car's sales have grown by more than 200% each year over the past couple of years, and they expect to reach up to $2.5 million this year. If you would like to know more about this company, visit their website at www.greasecar.com.

I haven't seen this product, but I have read about it in Entrepreneur magazine. As they point out, it really is a simple idea: freeze a big block of ice overnight when energy is cheap. Then use a low-power fan to blow cool air into your air-conditioning ducts during the day when electricity demands drive up rates. Ice Energy's $10,500 Ice Bear 50 (www.ice-energy.com) integrates with existing electronic energy-management or traditional air-conditioning systems, adding one twist: a water tank whose coils create a five-foot ice cube. The next day, Ice Bear needs just 300 watts to deliver 7.5 tonnes of coolness into an office that traditional air-conditioning systems need 10,000 watts at peak energy rates to cool. This technology would obviously sell well in any country where offices are traditionally air-conditioned.

You know those grab handles that hospitals, doctors' surgeries and many elderly and disabled people put up? There is no real reason why they should be so ugly. This was the thinking of Abbie Sladick, 43, founder and president of Abbie Joan Enterprises in Naples, Florida. She has developed a line of stylish grab bars in materials like brushed nickel to match the look of homes, hotels and other buildings. "Our bars are a beautiful accessory, not an eye sore," says Sladick. If you would like to know more about this innovative product range, visit her website at www.greatgrabz.com.

Check out the Power Pack from Medis Technologies (www.medistechnologies.com). The pager-size device plugs into a mobile telephone's recharge port and is a fuel cell using a chemical reaction to generate electricity - similar to the technology that pushes the space shuttle. Just one squeeze of the disposable $20 pack releases enough power to provide up to 30 hours of talk time. Another device doing the same thing is the $8 Cellboost (www.cellboost.com), which you add on to the bottom of your phone using down-to-earth alkaline power. An environmentally friendlier variation on the same theme is the Instant Power Charger (www.instant-power.com), a matchbox-sized power cell that mixes zinc with air to deliver up to three full charges for hours of power. I mention these products because I feel it is only a matter of time before some smart international trader negotiates the rights to sell them outside the USA.

SquidSoap is one of those clever ideas I wish I had thought of myself. First the pump on this soap dispenser marks hands with a washable ink that only disappears after the proper amount of hand washing. Then it distributes soap by the same method. Its purpose is, of course, to teach children good hygiene skills. In the first year since SquidSoap was launched, they are turning over close to $1 million worth of sales but - as far as I am aware - they don't yet have any international trade agents. If you want to know more, check out their website at www.squidsoap.com.

A company called Bern Unlimited LLC has just launched a very interesting product for extreme-sports enthusiasts - a helmet that can be worn for any sport in any season. The firm has already signed up endorsements with the hottest athletes in wake boarding, BMX cycling, snow boarding, mountain biking and skate boarding. An interchangeable liner lets wearers don one helmet for all sports in all seasons. To learn more, go to the company's website at www.bernunlimited.com.

I was interested to see a pair of corduroy trousers in New York where the cord went horizontally rather than vertically. With a bit of research, I found that they come from a company called Cordarounds and they are only available on the fashion house's website (www.cordarounds.com). The same firm also makes a pair of horizontally striped sear-sucker trousers as well as jackets and women's skirts. It is a pretty silly idea - but on the other hand it is beginning to take off big time. If you are looking for an unusual fashion product to import and distribute, this could well be it.

Is there an international market for giant inflatable chairs shaped like baseball gloves? I suspect there is. The ones I have seen - which must be unique - are made from heavy PVC with three air chambers and, of course, cup holders. They come in two sizes and are suitable for use indoors and on water. They are made by a company called Left Field Enterprises, and you will find them on their website at www.leftfieldenterprises.com. It can only be a matter of time before these get worldwide distribution. Perhaps you are going to help?

Another idea I wish I had thought of: rubbish bags that keep away animals and insects. They are called Repellem Garbage Bags and are made by a company called Repellem Consumer Products of Long Island, New York. The founder, Terry Feinberg, is the owner of a healthcare and beauty product distribution company who got fed-up with his rubbish being ripped apart by dogs, cats, rats and worse when he left it in the street. Together with a chemist friend, he helped create a scent offensive to animals and insects but pleasant to humans. So far the Repellem Garbage Bags are only available in a very limited number of US-based retailers and yet 2006 sales were close to $2 million. I am certain there is an opportunity here.

You know all those rather unattractive clear plastic mats that people buy to put under their office chairs? Last year, a US company called SnapMat launched an alternative that has already become a huge success. Visit their website www.snapmat.com to see why. As far as I know, they don't yet have a UK agent.

Finally, my last import suggestion comes from a company that sells recycled museum exhibition banners as wall decorations! The company is called Better LLC and you will find examples of their products on www.betterwall.com.

My son and his girlfriend are both wearing bracelets made from the same beads. They commissioned them from a jeweller in Hatton Garden and the beads themselves are a semi-precious stone... I can't remember what it is called. Anyway, seeing their bracelets made me wonder if there wasn't a business selling bead bracelets, necklaces and earrings. One might pre-manufacture the jewellery items - or make each order up specially. By the way, I don't think I'd try and sell it through traditional retail outlets but would make it a much more personal service. For instance, I think I'd try and get holiday hotels to let me sell the beads by the pool-side. Or else I might try to sell them through restaurants. Or, for that matter, through bead parties. The mark-up on beads is enormous. My son paid over £75 for his two bracelets. In Egypt the identical thing would have cost around £3. I am absolutely convinced there is a business here.

Someone recently gave me a bottle of something called Sundia - a watermelon-based juice, which tasted delicious. As far as I know, no one in the UK is yet importing this product, and I suspect it offers a good opportunity for someone with a bit of enterprise. Interestingly, the man who started Sundia came up with a very clever branding idea. In the US, major retailers insist (as they do here) that fruits and vegetables carry little stickers with the brand name of the product. No one had thought to create a watermelon brand. Sundia offered the estimated 1,070 watermelon growers free stickers carrying the Sundia logo. Now one in three watermelons sold in the US carries the Sundia brand label. So, for little money, they have managed to create a national brand. Clever or what?

The Kabul Connection

Several years ago, I suggested that Afghanistan would be a good place to start a business. Why? Because the entire world is pouring money in for reconstruction and the creation of a modern infrastructure. And because in certain areas - particularly textiles - there exists in Afghanistan a highly skilled yet relatively inexpensive labour force. One example of an entrepreneur taking advantage of this is Hassina Sherjan, who is running a textile business producing pillow coverings, curtains, place mats and other upmarket items. Interested in doing something? You could start by trying the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) (www.aisa.org.af). You might also try the Afghanistan International Chamber of Commerce (AICC) (www.en.aicc-online.org). Finally, you could try the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), which is based at 115 15th Street North West, Suite 700, Washington DC 2005 and whose website is www.cipeafghanistan.org.

Here's a really simple idea. Create an effervescent tablet (like those vitamin C ones that you can buy) containing 17 herbs and nutrients and sell it as a concoction that is meant to bolster the immune system. This is exactly what a company called Air Borne Health (based in Bonita Springs, Florida) did in 1997. Now the company is turning over $151 million a year having grown by 4,673% in the last three years! Why? It is the sort of product that develops a fan base, and since last year, when an investment partnership acquired a majority stake in the company, Air Borne have instituted a broad marketing plan aimed at families and commuters. It is a fiendishly clever and simple idea. One that I am sure could be copied.

Speaking of ideas that could be copied, there is a new range of biodegradable cleaning products, including laundry detergent, soap, spray cleaners and room fresheners about to be launched on the UK market. The brand name is Method, and although the company is only five years old it is already turning over £14 million a year in the US, Canada and Australia. Why is it so successful? I am sure the packaging, sense and relatively low price have all helped. But, like the better-known UK brand Eco Cover, what Method are doing is capitalising on consumers' demands for environmentally friendly products, a demand which has yet to be sated. Making soap and other similar products is not, actually, that complicated. More than one company in this field has started out in its founder's kitchen. If you are looking for something you can start on a small scale but grow, biodegradable cleaning products could well be it.

CandyRific design, manufacture and sell novelty confectionary items. They spin, light up and make noise. I am afraid they are not terribly environmentally friendly... but they do sell well! With names like Giggle Head Candy Pop and the Chinese Yoyo Candy Pop, the firm have managed to grow from a home-based business to over £3.5 million in sales in the space of four years. What's more, by outsourcing all production, they have managed to keep the number of employees to just three. CandyRific are based in Louisville and, so far as I know, they do not yet have a UK import agent.

When the United States Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories discovered that its anti-Anthrax spray also killed mould, it went looking for a private-sector partner. A company called Scott's Liquid Gold heard about the lab's desire to commercialise the product and a new product - Scott's Mould Control 500 - hit US store shelves last summer at a price of less than $30 a bottle. Professional mould removal can cost hundreds - if not thousands - of pounds. The active formula, of course, is a closely guarded military secret. So there is no hope of copying the product. On the other hand, as far as I know, Scott's Liquid Gold have not yet got a UK importer. There has to be an opportunity here.

Here is a cost saving you probably never knew you could make: cut the water out of the cleaning fluid you order. That's the idea behind Jaws, or Just Add Water System, a subsidiary of Toledo, Ohio manufacturing firm Canberra. Re-usable spray bottles are shipped with cartridges of liquid cleanser that customers mix themselves at the tap. Jaws squeeze 200 cartridges into a box that would hold only 12 regular bottles - and ship them at half the weight. It is just a wholesale operation for now (clients include hotel chains and other companies with big cleaning bills), but Jaws have already done $11 million in sales since they launched three years ago.

Not to venture into the realms of bad taste or anything, but there is a lot more money to be made from the whole funeral/memorial business than you may realise. I have always wanted to turn my walled garden into a pet crematorium and only the fact that I am not that desperate for cash has really prevented me. Now I have some other different ideas in mind. My inspiration comes from three different companies - all US-based - and creatively making profits to... um... die for (sorry).

First up, Space Services, which arrange to send your remains, or the remains of your loved ones, into space. Not cheap - witness the fact that they have projected sales this year of $5 million. But the sort of concept that has clearly taken off (sorry again). Perhaps it might be possible to become their UK agents.

Second off the block are Eternal Reefs, based in Georgia. This company mixes the ashen remains of the loved ones in with environmentally friendly concrete and... um... creates these sort of 'reef balls'. The reef balls (good heavens) are then placed off coastal waters in the chosen location. So far, 350 people have gone for this, and Eternal Reefs are making $500,000 a year in sales.

Lastly, there is LifeGem. OK, get this. LifeGem will take some of the dearly departed's ashes and, using the carbon, render a diamond to be worn in a ring or necklace. This strikes me as slightly weird... but I am impressed with the fact that they have sold the concept to 200-300 people a year since 2001 and are currently anticipating sales of $7.5 million.

See if you can track down something called a Fire Fly toothbrush. This is an ordinary toothbrush with a blinking LCD handle that lights up for the requisite 60 seconds children need to spend brushing their teeth. Believe it or not, the company behind the Fire Fly is now turning over $30 million in sales and has eight other new products ready for launch next year. My understanding is that the company name is Dr Fresh and that it is based in Buena Park, California. It is just possible that they have started exporting to the UK already - in which case perhaps someone would let me know.

My oldest son recently sent me something called a Fit Deck - a pack of fitness cards designed to help people wanting to exercise. If you want to check out the product, visit the company's website (www.fitdeck.com). You may be amazed to discover that the projected sales for this business for 2006 are close to £5 million. Furthermore, as far as I know, they do not yet have a UK import agent. If you are into fitness, perhaps that agent could be you.