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Another week, another half dozen interesting new business ideas from around the world: zippy electric cars in London, a robot store in Nagoya, gift giving by text message, and more. Our next edition is due on 19 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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Designed in California and manufactured in India, GoinGreen's G-Wiz electric cars are a hit in London, where the company has sold over 600 units, making London the electric car capital of the world. GoinGreen, which was founded in 2004 and has received numerous new business awards, did so purely by word of mouth – without dealers, showrooms, advertising, or sales staff. The company cuts costs by selling directly to consumers through its online store. No need for showrooms, either. Interested consumers can make an appointment to test-drive a vehicle at one of four locations in and around London. Potential emission-free drivers have a choice of two models, aptly named AC and DC. The standard DC model has a maximum range of 40 miles, can go up to 40 mph and is priced at GBP 5,956. Its slightly faster (45 mph) sibling features optional extras like leather seats, remote central locking, and batteries that are upgradeable to hi-performance lithium-ion. AC is available in a variety of colours, including leopard and tiger prints, and is priced from GBP 6,807. Unlike most electric vehicles, the G-Wiz can seat four. Besides saving on gas, G-Wiz drivers in London are also exempt from paying the city's congestion charge of GBP 8 per day and don’t have to pay road tax, either. Some neighbourhoods also offer free parking for electric vehicles. Limited range and speed are hardly an issue in the city, where most trips are short and traffic doesn't usually allow for speeds over 15 mph. (To see the G-Wiz in action, check out this video.) GoinGreen is the first retailer to sell a large number of this model, which is known as Reva in its native India. Reva is said to be the cheapest commercially produced electric car in the world, and suggested niche markets include small island nations (expensive to get fuel to), and postal delivery services, whose vehicles stop and start frequently and don't need to drive at high speeds. Interested in selling a racier battery-powered ride? Check out Tesla, which is building electric roadsters that will be available for purchase in early 2007, with an anticipated delivery date of fall 2007. A Tesla Roadster can do zero to 60 mph in about 4 seconds, has a top speed of over 130 mph and a range of 250 miles. Plenty of opportunities for emission free entrepreneurs! Website: http://www.goingreen.co.uk Forward or comment on this article » |
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Dutch cadeaucode.nl, which launched earlier this week, lets late or lazy gift givers send presents by text message. How it works: the giver goes to the company's website, enters the recipient's phone number and a message, pays by credit card, and a message containing a unique gift code is immediately sent to the recipient. While gift vouchers by email have been around at least as long as Amazon.com has, there's a fun immediacy to receiving a gift by text message -- a greater element of surprise, compounded by the gift voucher being instantly redeemable online. Cadeaucode's gift selection is limited to ten items, currently ranging from a Madonna Live cd/dvd to the infamous 'shave all over' Philips Bodygroom, and the assortment is regularly updated. According to the company's founders, the limited selection is there for a reason: Cadeaucode doubles as a buzz marketing tool. Gifts are provided to Cadeaucode at no cost by brands hoping to gain a bit of inexpensive exposure. From that point of view, it would definitely make sense for the website to offer more information about the products than it currently does. None of the gifts show a price tag, and although the gift voucher only comes in one value (EUR 25,25), some products have a higher retail value. Which adds to the appeal for consumers – it's a present and a potential bargain, sweetly wrapped in a short message. ;-) (We reported on a similar initiative last year – Buy Me A Beer, a British hospitality spin-off that lets consumers turn 'I owe you a drink' into an sms that's redeemable at participating pubs. More >>) Website: http://www.cadeaucode.nl Forward or comment on this article » |
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Belgian Ello Mobile is a new mobile operator that was established with the sole aim of giving away 100% of its profits. Ello is a mobile virtual network operator – it uses an existing network. Instead of offering bargain-basement cellphone plans, the company offers its customers the chance to contribute directly to a cause with every call they make, and every text message they send. Customers can currently pick one of six projects, from protecting the jungles of Sumatra to providing mobile schools to street children in South America. Another six projects will be added over the next few months, all of which have been selected by an independent panel of experts. Ello understands the need for charitable organizations to be completely transparent, and will share full profit and loss statements with its customers. To minimize costs, the company is entirely web-based, and works with a small administrative staff. Profit margins are forecast at 24-33% for the first three years, and are targeted to climb to 41% after 2009. Meanwhile, just launched in the Netherlands, Tommy Telecom is also forging a link between social causes and mobile telecom. Albeit with a very different approach. Tommy's customers are required to structurally donate time or money to a recognized cause. Which means their customer base is 5 million Dutch citizens. Like Ello, Tommy Telcom is a virtual mobile provider, operating on KPN's network. Unlike Ello, Tommy offers cheap cell phone plans. For EUR 5 per month, members can call other members at no charge, and non-members at EUR 0,15 per minute. Here, the goal isn't to give away profits, but to offer socially engaged consumers a reward for sponsoring causes and an extra incentive to keep donating. And of course the scheme will also encourage members to ask their friends and family to sign up too, so that all involved can call more people for free. Whether you make it easy or rewarding for your customers to be good, turning existing consumer behaviour into a way of contributing to a better world is innovation we applaud. Website: http://www.ello-mobile.be Website: http://tommytelecom.nl Forward or comment on this article » |
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Launched a few weeks ago, Pink Choice is a review website for gay and lesbian travellers. The company was founded by the owners of two successful gay guesthouses in Massachusetts, who were frustrated by the lack of relevant information when planning their own holidays. While TripAdvisor and other online travel review communities feature a wealth of user-generated information about hotels and holiday destinations, no such website exists specifically for a non-straight audience. Pink Choice aims to feature the most reliable, honest and trusted reviews exclusively for gay and lesbian travellers seeking first-hand information about gay-friendly accommodation worldwide. Besides encouraging members to post reviews and rate hotels, Pink Choice will also hand out annual Pink Choice awards, that will be presented to hotels, guesthouses and inns that have provided the very best in gay and lesbian accommodation. Based on conservative estimates, the American gay and lesbian community alone represents a USD 65 billion travel market (source: Community Marketing, Inc). Which makes Pink Choice seem like a very smart move. The website currently only features a few dozen destinations, and the number of reviews is very limited. Time for users to start generating content! Website: http://www.pinkchoice.com Forward or comment on this article » |
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Opening next month in Nagoya, the Robot Mirai Department store will sell robots and robot accessories. The store is part of a complex that also houses Nagoya's new Robot Museum, and its star product will be a 35 centimeter tall humanoid that goes by the name of Nuvo. Nuvo responds to voice commands, can be operated by remote controls and cellphones, and not only walks, but dances, too. Though heralded as the world's first specialist robot shop, that's probably stretching the truth a little. Speciality shops already exist in various cities in Japan and across the world (to name two: Robopolis in Paris and Robot Village in New York). But these are geared to robot hobbyists and mainly sell kits and technical manuals. To non-hobbyists, RMD's high-tech look and ready-made products will no doubt more closely match their automaton fantasies. RMD was developed by Gyrowalk, an agency based in Osaka that handles 'Media & Publishing, Sales & Marketing, Research & Development, Education & Entertainment Concerning the Future of Robots'. One of Gyrowalk's previous initiatives is the Robo Cafe in Osaka, described as a futuristic space where everyone communicates with robots. Every robot in the cafe is for sale, and the high-tech gizmos are balanced by organic food and drinks. (Robo Cafe opened in October 2005.) Since robo-enthusiasts are hardly limited to Japan, Springwise believes every country could do with a robot department store. Or at least a robo-café. Time to grab your jetpacks and head over for a closer look. Website: http://www.robot-museum.net/rmd |
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Here's something that captures the zeitgeist in a novel yet simple way: Canadian t-lists are t-shirts that list the owner's top 5 for *anything*, from five worst movies or five most admired musicians, to five best products ever, or five things he or she will never eat. T-lists t-shirts are sweatshop-free and can be shipped globally. The company has set itself the goal of becoming part of the vernacular. So what about that zeitgeist? List- and profile-mania is proliferating rapidly, thanks to social websites like MySpace, Facebook, lastfm and Bebo, which are connecting likeminded individuals from around the world. (Not to mention the thousands of dating sites for those who want to be more than friends.) Refreshingly enough, this new listmania is not about keeping track of mass market hits, but about individuals: their likes, dislikes, preferences, interests and so on. Taking this trend and translating it to the 'real world', as t-lists has done, is pretty clever, and may well be the start of many new offline products and services that help individuals literally wear their profiles on their sleeves. All to facilitate conversations, express oneself, or quickly identify other 'tribe members'. Now, t-lists being a young company, Springwise is sure they wouldn't mind sealing some international distribution deals. Especially if those deals would help them get a better grip on local lists, in languages other than English. Oh, and if you're feeling really entrepreneurial: there's no end to business opportunities when it comes to connecting outspoken individuals who actually like being part of a group as long as its members are just like him or her. For this week, t-lists have definitely made Springwise's top 5! Website: http://www.t-lists.com Spotted by: Kristian Andersen Forward or comment on this article » |
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