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Another week, another half-dozen interesting new business ideas from around the world: ultra-personalized banking in Turkey, private offices at a London hotel, clinical grooming from the US, and more. Our next edition is due 12 September 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 Hoxton Hotel just opened its doors in a hip neighbourhood in London's East End. Besides the usual meeting spaces for guests, the Hoxton also offers private offices for non-guests. Perfect for getting work done between meetings in London. Each office features a desk, free wireless internet, a phone and a private bathroom. The offices are open from 10 am to 4 pm on weekdays and are currently on offer for just GBP 19 per day. Offering work space to non-guests is a smart sideline for hotels, who should be able to incorporate them with existing (underutilized) business centres without too much trouble. Flexible being spaces for mobile warriors are fast becoming a global trend. For more examples, see our previous coverage of The Coffee Office in Canada, The Hubworking Centre in London, Habitaz in South Africa and Bureaux in Australia. Back to the Hoxton, which incorporates plenty of other innovative elements. Taking the easyJet approach to rates, rooms are cheapest far in advance, including elusive attention grabbers of one pound a night. Like most inexpensive airline tickets, reservations at Hoxton Hotel are non-refundable (unless made at GBP 119 or over). This deviates from the hotel standard of 24-hour cancellations, but enables very sharp prices by London standards -- nightly rates average at GBP 79 per room. The hotel was created by Sinclair Beecham, who co-founded Pret a Manger. The Hoxton is Beecham's first foray into the hotel world, to which he wants to bring a superior, well-designed experience at affordable prices. Frills include free wireless internet throughout the hotel, Frette linens, duck-down duvets and affordable phone calls. As quoted in the Observer, Beecham's inspiration stems from his own underwhelming experiences: "I paid GBP 2.50 for a Mars bar in a hotel the other day. I mean, what do they think I am? In business you've got to treat your customers with respect, not like dumb bastards. That's why I wanted to open a hotel, because I find it so frustrating." Amen to that. Website: http://www.hoxtonhotels.com Spotted by: Zsolt Kohalmi |
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Amenity creates skincare products for men. The company launched two years ago, no doubt riding the much hyped wave of metrosexuality. Now, after listening carefully to feedback from its customers, the young company is launching an entirely new range of products. Amenity claims to be pioneering "clinical grooming", a skincare segment that will provide men with solution-focused, physician-developed products. While doctor-developed products have been hot in the women's market for a while, science-based formulas for men are new. The line of six products will target men's specific skin problems (razor burn, irritation and ingrown hairs) and was developed for men's thicker, oilier skin. Containing plenty of natural ingredients like willow bark extract and shea butter, Amenity products are all alcohol-, oil-, fragrance and cruelty-free. The packaging is smart, too -- dispensers release a metered dosage, are shatter-proof, and locking closures make them safe for gym-bags. Amenity's Clinical Grooming line -- gel face cleanser, shave cream, after shave & face moisturizer, anti-breakout gel, 'the balm' and foot spray -- will available online and through specialized retailers in October. Time to snap up international distribution rights? Website: http://www.getamenity.com Forward or comment on this article » |
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In April, we reported on Tribe Wanted, the entrepreneurial social experiment that's aiming to create the world's first online and offline tribal community. Tribe Wanted views a Fijian island as its geographical home, and yesterday, 13 'first footers' landed on the island. The group participated in a traditional ceremony with the island's native inhabitants, who the imported tribe will be working with over the next three years. So far, Tribe Wanted has sold 925 of 5,000 available memberships. Over the past months, tribe members have gathered in various parts of the world to get to know each before heading out to Fiji, and to hone their survival skills: gutting fish, starting fires and navigating by the stars. The organisation also gained support from the Fiji Visitors Bureau, which is happy to see some activity in often overlooked northern Fiji. Website: http://www.tribewanted.com Forward or comment on this article » |
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Photos by kind permission of Matt Jacobs, Capn Design. The hottest new eatery in New York won't get rave reviews for fine service provided by its waiters. It doesn't have any. Nor does Bamn! have tables, cashiers or any of the other basic amenities diners have come to expect. Instead, Bamn is a throwback to the first half of the 20th century -- it's an automat diner. Windowed compartments display hot, fresh food. Customers throw in a few coins and are rewarded with instant gratification. Bamn's menu focuses on fast comfort food: hot dogs, grilled cheese, chicken strips, mac & cheese, etc. So-called 'waiterless restaurants' were first brought to the United States from Berlin in 1900, and Horn & Hardart Automats was once the largest chain of restaurants in the world. The last automat closed in 1991. Repeating history, Bamn's founders came up with the idea of reviving the automat after visiting Amsterdam two years ago. (Fast foodies in The Netherlands never gave up on automats -- the Febo chain is a mainstay of Dutch food culture.) Convinced that the "satisfaction is automatic" approach would once again be a hit with New Yorkers, Bamn imported automats from Holland, and set up shop at 37 St. Mark's Place. Most items are less than USD 2.50, and the retro-futurist snack shack is open 24 hours a day. trendwatching.com reported on dormandise ("dormant products, brands, logos, campaigns and spokespersons that still reside in the collective consumer conscience, even though the actual merchandise has long ceased to exist") a while back. Shall we baptise this concept dormandining? ;-) Hungry, hurried customers in most cities are likely to welcome another option for cheap and super-fast food, especially if it's available 24/7. So there's no reason why shiny new automats can't be a (recycled) hit across the world. Website: http://www.bamnfood.com Forward or comment on this article » |
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Like My Postbank Cards, which we wrote about last year, Garanti Bank's Flexi Cards allow customers to personalize the look of their bank cards. But Garanti takes the concept a bit further: customers can develop their own banking product. Flexi Cards are Visa cards that let the cardholder make a few key decisions, allowing them to set over ten parameters. When applying for a card, customers can manipulate variables like reward rates and types, interest rate and card fee. The rewards system is especially flexible, not only letting customers determine reward ratio and type (cash or points), but also enabling them to choose which payments will earn them extra rewards: whether it's broad categories like restaurants, or specific stores like Zara. Interest rate, bonus rate and card fees are selected by sliding bars that render various combinations of rates and fees. Card fees, for example, can be pushed back to zero by committing to a monthly spending minimum. A lower interest rate leads to a lower bonus rate, etc. Lastly, after making serious decisions about financial terms, customers can design their own card, choosing from different colors and a gallery of images, or uploading their own image. There's even the option of picking a vertical card, which is a world's first for Visa. Opportunities? While customers appreciate being in control and creating a tailor-made card, inside and out, the bank is able to test various value propositions, gaining valuable insights into which customer segments choose which options. Self-segmentation through ultra-personalization. ;-) Website: http://www.flexicard.com.tr Spotted by: Jennifer Yadak Forward or comment on this article » |
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In March, we wrote about Ether, a service that lets users charge callers by the minute. A similar service is offered by JyvePro, which works with Skype. Writers, tutors, web designers, consultants, lawyers, therapists and anyone else with something to say and sell, can download the JyvePro plug-in (an add-on piece of software). This connects a payment system to the user's Skype account, and works like a taxi meter, tracking minutes talked, and invoicing customers once a conversation is over. Calls can be five minutes or two hours -- the systems bills to the minute. For its automated billing system, JyvePro uses a digital payment service called Click&Buy, which also processes payments for online merchants like Habbo Hotel, iVillage, and the European version of Apple's iTunes. Since calls run through Skype, customers and consultants can be based anywhere in the world, turning minipreneurs into global businesses. Customers have access to help/employees on demand, and consultants are able to tap into a worldwide client base, selling their time when it suits them. According to Skype, which celebrated its third birthday yesterday, 7 million people were on Skype yesterday morning, breaking all previous records. 7 million buyers and sellers ready to be connected, giving everyone access to the global brain. Website: http://www.jyvepro.com Forward or comment on this article » |
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