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Another week, another array of interesting new business ideas from around the world: designer garages, feel-good footwear, culinary soda, eco-friendlier car insurance, and more. Our next edition is due on 7 November 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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Springwise always enjoys simple new business ideas that somehow hook up the local, loud, inebriated offline world with the ubiquitous interaction only possible in cyberspace. Check out Wiffiti, a service that enables people to send text messages to large flat panel displays in venues such as cafes, bars and clubs. Messages sent to Wiffiti screens are also visible on the service's website, encouraging people to text from anywhere and then watch responses from across the US, if not the world. How it works: every Wiffiti screen displays its own unique screen ID and the number to text one's message to. Texted messages show up in seconds. Besides replying, other users can also grow or fade messages by texting commands and a message's tag to the same screen. The first Wiffiti screen was installed in January 2006 at Someday Café in Boston, MA, a city that now has three additional Wiffiti screens. Other screens can be found in Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Knoxville, Boulder and New York. Costs for a user are the same as for sending a standard text/SMS message. Makes for a great conversation starter, pick-up tool or interactive soapbox, and should go down well in other cities and locales around the globe, especially as the rest of the world is truly SMS obsessed. And don't forget, there's ALWAYS money to be made the moment you figure out how to get consumers to start sending text messages. Website: www.wiffiti.com Spotted by: Ozgur Alaz Forward or comment on this article » |
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While traveling through Argentina, Blake Mycoskie came across canvas shoes that his feet took an instant liking to. He took the alpargatas--comfortable utility shoes that resemble espadrilles--reworked them a bit, and started TOMS Shoes. Not just casual chic slip-ons that were spotted all over L.A. this summer, TOMS Shoes give new meaning to 'two for the price of one'. For each pair purchased (USD 38), TOMS gives a pair to a disadvantaged child in South America. Materials and shoes are produced and manufactured in Argentina under strict 'no sweatshop' guidelines, ensuring fair labor practices and minimal impact on the environment. The shoes are available online and at a limited number of boutiques across the United States. Which leaves consumers in many other countries who'll no doubt welcome feel-good footwear. Time to stock up for summer '07? Website: www.tomsshoes.com Forward or comment on this article » |
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Touted as the UK's first eco-friendly car insurance, Ecoinsurance offers customers a cleaner conscience and a greener planet, at no extra cost. Each vehicle insurance policy comes with carbon offsets for 20% of the customer's car's CO2 emissions, based on an average passenger car with average annual mileage. Customers who drive cars that emit less than 100 grams of CO2 emissions per kilometer receive an extra 10% discount on their policy. (This includes the Honda Insight and Smart Diesel, but not the more popular Toyota Prius.) The company also works with an eco-friendly repair network, paying appointed body shops more to ensure they recycle oil and old parts. Ecoinsurance doesn't seem to be in it just for a bit of positive green PR. In 2005, its parent company Co-operative Insurance became the first insurer in the world to commit to an ethical engagement policy. Meanwhile in the US, Travelers Insurance is offering hybrid drivers 10 percent discount on auto insurance. Which is only fair -- hybrid drivers are classified as lower than average risk, and are preferred customers: middle-aged, responsible and financially stable (source: USA Today). Not your traditionally sexy demographic, but it sounds like good business ;-) Whether you're selling organic cotton or auto insurance, make it easy for your consumers to be green! Website:www.ecoinsurance.co.uk Forward or comment on this article » |
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Time for an update: here we are working hard to bring you sophisticated new business ideas from around the globe, and guess what brought in the largest number of readers? Our piece last year on Kono Pizza: pizza in a cone. (From Kono Pizza's site: "the result of advanced studies and research both of a culinary nature and in terms of technological innovation.") Since then, Kono Pizza has been going from strength to strength, sealing franchise deals around the world. However, they're not the only ones going after the billions spent by consumers on-the-go looking for portable comfort food: there's the Conniza in India (on the menu at Pizza Corners throughout the country) and US-based Crispy Cones, which smartly positions itself as the leader of all things cone. Humble lesson to be learned? You can reinvent everything, you can copy everything, this is a multi-billion dollar industry, consumers are increasingly TRANSUMERS and dozens of countries (and thus hundreds of millions of consumers) are still waiting for their first pizza cone outlet... So this idea still has mileage, more than a year after it received mass coverage. And that in itself is interesting, too: things move fast, but they don't always move *that* fast. Time to get cooking. Website: www.konopizza.com Forward or comment on this article » |
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To many men – and a few women – the garage is a haven for unadulterated self-indulgence. When Vault founder Chad Haas was looking to outfit his new garage, he realized there was nothing suitable on the market. Demanding high quality and stylish furnishing and accessories, Haas found nothing quite lived up to his needs or desires. So he founded Vault, "your showroom for treasures." Vault offers a range of upmarket and stylish made-to-order garage furnishings. Homeowners can personalize their garage with fine quality cabinetry, work chests, flooring, wall treatments and hand-crafted garage doors. Think industrial floor coatings, stainless steel slat walls and period-authentic furnishing and you can just see the sparkle in any true car lover or handy(wo)man’s eye. Customers choose what configurations work best and can even get cabinet or floor colors to exactly match a car's paintjob. Through the development of Vault garages, Haas has extended the traditional context of home furnishing and taken it outside of the house. We wrote about a similar company back in 2004 – Premier Garages. With homeowners seeking dream garages to go with their dream houses, it seems there's plenty of room in the market for more garage innovators and upgraders. For more examples of businesses delivering on consumers' desire to bring top-level experiences into the domestic domain, check out trendwatching.com's insperiences trend. Website: www.showroomgarage.com Spotted by: Luxist Forward or comment on this article » |
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DRY Soda is the first culinary soda in a line of all-natural, lightly sweetened beverages designed for those wanting a sophisticated non-alcoholic option to accompany a meal. The soda is currently being sold in four flavors: kumquat, rhubarb, lemongrass and lavender. All natural, non-caffeinated, flavored with fruit and herb extracts and sweetened with pure cane sugar, each bottle of DRY soda contains just 50-70 calories. Less sweet and more sophisticated than Coke or Pepsi, DRY soda is specifically designed to be paired with food; each flavor accentuating certain types of food. The website offers descriptions of each of the four flavors in much the same way as a good wine. Descriptions include the soda’s characteristics, suggested food pairings and even a mixer idea if consumers wish to mix the soda with their wine or use it as a base for cocktails. Lavender, for example, is a great accompaniment to cheese, pork and chocolate, whereas lemongrass works well with Asian dishes. The concept was dreamt up by Seattle based entrepreneur Sharelle Klaus who, when pregnant, was frustrated with the lack of non-alcoholic options on the market. Seems like a good niche addition to a growing market for 'adult sodas'. DRY Soda is currently only available in the US, distributed like a wine rather than a soft drink, and it's on the menu at a select number of upmarket restaurants. Worldwide interest is growing, so it’s a good time to get involved! Website: www.drysoda.com Spotted by: Todd Kluger Forward or comment on this article » |
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