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Another week, another cascade of interesting new business ideas from around the world: being spaces for mobile entrepreneurs in Canada, flavour straws from Australia, a saucy chic boutique in the United States, modular coffins from The Netherlands, and more. Our next edition is due on 4 July 2006. In the meantime, check out our daily postings on www.springwise.com, send us your tips, and please don't forget to tell your friends and colleagues about us. Much appreciated! |
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The Coffee Office is built for business – meeting spaces, workstations, conference rooms and café are combined into a centre for mobile professionals. Based in Windsor, Ontario, The Coffee Office was founded to offer business professionals everything they need to stay productive outside a traditional office, in what trendwatching.com calls a being space. A café section is open to everyone, and like the rest of the building, offers free high-speed wireless internet and plenty of power points. The rest of the space is reserved for TCO members, who have access to private workstations and conference rooms. For CAD 90 per month, members have free use of the workstations and members lounge and (fuelling productivity) 25 complimentary coffees per month. Conference rooms can be rented for CAD 35 or 50 per hour (small or large), and private cubicles for CAD 5/hour. When it's time for a power nap, a sleep module is available for CAD 10/hour. Other thoughtful touches include noise diffusers that help keep conversations private, and access to a Nerd On Site. We previously covered similar initiatives in New York, which offered work spaces to writers or parents. TCO, however, is focused exclusively on the 'mobile warrior'. The Yankee Group, a Boston-based research and consulting firm, estimates that 50 million people—about 38 percent of the working population in the United States—are mobile workers, defined as those who spend at least 20 percent of their time away from their primary workplace. These employees in the field, independent contractors, freelancers and minipreneurs all need a flexible base for doing business. Plenty of opportunities for The Coffee Office (which is working on expansion through franchising) and other new entrants in this field. Hey, they may eventually even sell to Starbucks? ;-) Website: http://www.thecoffeeoffice.com Forward, comment or link to this entry » Spotted by: Chad Comartin |
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Last month, we reported on ViTrue, a new type of ad agency that's building a platform to encourage consumers to create commercial videos for brands. The Atlanta-based agency's first campaign is being launched later this week. A partnership with Moe's Southwest Grill (a fast casual Tex Mex chain of restaurants with over 200 locations in the United States) will help bring the "Moe's Burrito in Every Hand" campaign to online audiences, in combination with regular ads on radio, TV, and in print. Makers of the customer-made ads will be asked to showcase how they are doing their part to put a Moe's burrito "in the hand of every woman, child and man across the nation." Ad creators will be rewarded through a contest. Submitted ads will be judged by Moe's customers, the Sharkle online video community and a panel of Moe's representatives, and the grand prize winner will win one free burrito every week for the rest of his/her life. Moe's video community will be online here: moes.sharkle.com. For more examples of how companies are dipping their toes in the waters of co-creation, check out trendwatching.com's customer-made. Website: moes.sharkle.com |
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Regular readers know we're fond of saying that everything can be upgraded. Case in point? Worlds away from tawdry shops frequented by men in overcoats, Kiki de Montparnasse has turned the sex shop into an erotic boutique. Adopting the stage name of Alice Prin, a nightclub singer/model/painter who was photographer Man Ray's muse and lover in 1920s Paris, Kiki's Lower Manhattan store is anything but sleazy. Described as 'Madame de Pompadour meets Monica Vitti', the store is luxuriously furnished and dimly lit. An inviting entrance resembles an upmarket lingerie boutique, and stylish creations in French lace and silk satin lead the way to sophisticated objects of desire. Glass cases hold handmade whips and 'restraining arts' kits in crocodile leather with gold hardware; elegant Kiki-branded toys include a vibe bejewelled with Swarovski crystals, which also adorn tasselled pasties. Opened last month, Kiki de Montparnasse isn't the first company to provide a luxurious take on sensual products. London's Coco de Mer, an erotic emporium founded by Anita 'Body Shop' Roddick's daughter Samantha, sells a host of decadent toys and undergarments, and works with craftsmen that are usually employed by haute couture designers. Swedish Lelo crafts sculptural toys from luxurious materials, and San Francisco-based Jimmyjane sells a Little Something (an 'elegant and seductive accessory') that comes in gold and platinum and be personalized with etched words of love. Or lust. The limited edition features engravings inspired by 18th century sailor tattoos. For those entrepreneurs who can create the right combination of playful, provocative, seductive and chic, this is a high-margin market ripe for the picking. Website: http://www.kikidm.com |
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EveryBody Special is a new, low-cost wooden coffin created to meet extreme demand during emergency situations. Designed by Dutch EveryBody Coffins, the EveryBody Special is a modular coffin that's extremely easy to assemble. No tools, nails or screws are required – the pieces just click together. The standard material used is 12 mm multilayered wood, and more environmentally friendly options are also available. Since they're lightweight and packaged in flat-packs (Ikea-style), transporting EveryBody coffins is very cost efficient: up to 570 extra large (XL) caskets fit into a 20 foot container. Combined with their easy assembly, this makes the coffins highly suitable for burial and cremation in disaster areas and epidemic situations. The company hopes to offer a more dignified, humane alternative to plastic body bags that are often the only option when large-scale disaster strikes. Besides selling to governmental and aid organisations, EveryBody is also offering its product to commercial distributors in those regions where consumers will welcome a low-cost alternative to expensive caskets. As we've pointed out before, everything can be reinvented! Website: http://www.everybodycoffins.com |
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French Kit a bien manger is doing for Paris what Leaping Salmon did so well for London until they sadly disappeared: delivering semi-ready meals to busy urbanites, who want to dine well, but don't care for the shopping and chopping. Deliveries include all the ingredients for a stylish dinner, and cooking instructions. Part-time gourmands put it all together and get the satisfaction of having prepared their own fresh starters, entrees, and desserts. Prices charged rival those at top-end restaurants, and reflect the fact that Kit a bien manger is sourcing its ingredients from exclusive purveyors, going after moneyed professionals looking for a proper insperience. Needless to say, customers can choose from a wide range of wines to accompany their meals (which is, as every food expert knows, where you make the real margins). Kit a bien manger currently delivers in the 5th, 6th, 7th, 14th and 15th arrondisements, charging EUR 8 for delivery. Kits can also be purchased in their own 'boutique' on the Rue du Cherche Midi. Entrepreneurs interested in emulating Kit's business model should also take a look at recently featured Mobo, and other food & beverage ideas: there's no end to innovation when it comes to feeding big cities around the world. Start your own Kit a bien manger, or if you're working at a FMCG company, partner with these people to add a bit of tryvertising-love. However, do study the Leaping Salmon business case: an idea that makes total sense should still be executed in a financially prudent manner! Website: http://www.kitabienmanger.com Forward, comment or link to this entry » Spotted by: Thibaut Bayart |
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Sipahh, a new twist on the traditional straw, is filled with naturally flavoured beads that dissolve and impart flavour to cold white milk as it is sipped through the Sipahh. As the tagline says, “Insert into cold milk, Sip, and say Ahh!” Sipahh straws come in six fun flavours (Strawberry, Chocolate, Caramel, Banana, Toffee Apple, Cookies and Cream and Choc Mint), contain no artificial preservatives or colouring and less than half a teaspoon of sugar. Each straw flavours 250-300 ml of cold milk. Sipahh is a clever way to encourage children to drink milk. It's healthier and cheaper than flavoured milks, revives the appeal of straws and gives children a fun new way to experience milk. Sold in a large number of supermarkets and convenience stores in Australia and New Zealand, the milk flavouring straws were also recently launched in McDonald's restaurants in South Africa. The straws were created by Australian Unistraw, which is also developing energy straws for athletes, vitamin-enhanced straws, and medicinal and pharmaceutical straws that will improve medication delivery to patients who have difficulty swallowing pills. Sipahh is the company's first foray onto the commercial market, and has won a number of awards. A convenient and playful way to get children to drink more milk? Sounds like something school cafeterias should sell instead of sugar-laden fizzy drinks. And how about adult versions, like coffee-flavoured straws for a homemade iced-latte? Snap up distribution rights for your region! Website: www.sipahh.com / www.unistraw.com Forward, comment or link to this entry » Spotted by: Leoni Steffens |
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Giving them priority access, Mobo lets customers order from restaurants and pay for meals using sms. How it works? Customers create an account, which includes their credit card details. After signing up for the service, they can order online via www.gomobo.com, or by text message/sms. The order appears on the restaurant's in-store Mobo system, and is automatically billed to the customer's credit card. The restaurant confirms the order, and the customer receives a text message stating when the order will be ready for pick up. Every Mobo restaurant has a separate Mobo Pick Up counter, so when their order is ready, Mobo users can walk straight to the counter, state their name and last four digits of their phone number, and pick up their food. For those customers that can't leave the office, Mobo also delivers. Since complicated orders (medium rare, hold the mayo) are cumbersome to order by text message, users can store their favourites in their online account, simplifying the procedure to just texting a corresponding number to Mobo. According to Mobo, the benefits for partnering restaurants are increased profits from new Mobo customers, higher average order amounts, increased customer loyalty and improved operating efficiency. Mobo, which launched in May 2006, currently works with over a dozen restaurants in New York City, with more to join soon. The company is also developing platforms for other services that involve people standing in line, such as transportation and entertainment. Customers save time (which IS the new currency), get a bit of that oh so coveted VIP treatment with their takeaways, and vendors increase profits. Now that mobile phones are truly ubiquitous, and ordering takeaways online is no longer a novelty, this concept should work well anywhere! Website:http://www.gomobo.com |
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Following the popularity of US-based Threadless, the ongoing t-shirt design competition that urges users to submit t-shirt designs, a European version has just sprung up. Like Threadless, Derby is a design competition. Members of the public can send in designs, which are given 10 days to be scored by Derby's visitors. The designs with the highest scores are printed on high-quality t-shirts and sold through the site's shop, and the winner gets GBP 350 / EUR 500. Similar initiatives exist in France (La Fraise), Germany (Cyroline) and The Netherlands (Buutvrij), but Derby is the first pan-European player, and was launched in English, German and French. Besides selling winning t-shirts online, Derby has also opened a real-world shop on the Gabelsberger Street in Berlin. Derby was created by Spreadshirt, a large German print-on-demand company that lets users design and print their own t-shirts and other merchandise, and sell them on their own Spreadshirt pages. As always, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And a good idea will work almost anywhere. Which is why we spend our days spotting and sharing them ;-) Now, how about a global website that offers the best customer-made t-shirts from around the world? Website: http://derby.spreadshirt.net |
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Slowly but surely, established brands are climbing aboard the customer-made bandwagon, inviting consumers to co-create. But as our sister-site trendwatching.com predicted a while ago, true co-creation can only blossom if brands share revenues resulting from consumer generated content with those same consumers. Which is why we like Vodafone Netherlands' new KijkMij TV (Look at Me TV) initiative, which not only involves customers uploading their funniest, sexiest or most informative (cameraphone) videos, but also pays these minipreneurs 10% of revenues generated when other customers download their video.* How it works: Vodafone customers shoot their own videos, using a camera or a cameraphone, and upload them to the KijkMij TV channel. Videos will appear in one of the following categories: Erotica (Babes and Hunks), Bizarre, Holidays, Stunts, and 'I love...', and can be viewed via Vodafone's Live service. Downloads will cost 25 euro cents, meaning every viewed video will net the owner 2.5 cents. By uploading a video, participants are automatically assigned an account tied to their mobile phone number. Using PayPal's MassPay, Vodafone pays out accrued earnings when accounts surpass EUR 10 (which equals 400 downloads). Two and a half cents may not sound overwhelming, but if online videos and their viral effects on the web are anything to go by, there is always the promise of a sudden 100,000 or even 1,000,000 downloads for the truly crazy or sexy, even if downloads aren't free. After all – we're putting our bets on KijkMij's erotica category – sex sells! Only spoiler: Vodafone won't allow 'anything naked below the belt' ;-) * A similar program was launched in the UK last Fall, by mobile media company ''3: 'performers' get 1 pence per download. For more examples, from the stingy to the generous, check out customer-made. |
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Woot!, the 'one day, one deal' online retailer we reported on in March, has sprouted a new vine. Sidling up to regular Woot, which offers great bargains mainly on electronics and gadgets, Wine Woot focuses solely on fermented grape juice. Taking it slower at 'one week, one wine', Wine Woot came about by popular demand. After offering a Rinfrescante wine for sale, regular Woot was deluged with requests for more wine offerings. Which didn't seem at all a bad idea. So Woot partnered up with Wine Country Connect, and a new sales channel for discounted wine was born. As Woot explains, wine isn't all that different from electronic gadgets: "Gadgeteers and oenophiles alike have strong opinions, so we let them sound off in our community forums. And because winemakers make marketing predictions far in advance of product release – just like electronics manufacturers – wine inventory is equally subject to overstock, excess, and end-of-life opportunities." Makes sense! What's next? Website: http://wine.woot.com |
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