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Another week, another heaping spoonful of interesting new business ideas from around the world: an eco-friendly spa dentist, a key storage and delivery service, halal baby food, and more. Our next edition is due on 1 March 2007. 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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New Yorkers who have a hard time keeping track of personal items now have one less thing to worry about. For a modest annual fee, NewYourKey keeps copies of keys in a secure storage facility and can deliver them right away if customers find themselves locked out. Keys lost in a nightclub at four in the morning? No problem! NewYourKey will deliver spare keys within an hour any time of day or night, wherever a customer happens to be. Setting up an account is easy. NewYourKey comes to the customer with its mobile key lab, so copies of keys can be made on the spot if spare sets aren't unavailable. Customers must present positive photo identification. For added security, profiles include just name, password and photo, so no address is linked to any set of keys in the facility. Three levels of service are available, with prices beginning at just USD 35 per year for key storage and USD 20 for each delivery. Additional charges apply for customers who wish to store more than two sets of keys or who’d like to authorize a third party to receive copies when necessary. Commercial accounts also are available. NewYourKey, which was launched just a few months ago, is a great example of a business idea built around the type of favour you might ask a close friend, neighbour or doorman. It’s a life hack that should appeal to both busy professionals and notorious scatterbrains, who will be more than happy to pay for the convenience and peace of mind. One to set up in every major city! Website: www.newyourkey.com Spotted by: Kundan Sen |
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Two British companies are bent on closing a gap in the prepared foods market—halal baby food. Up until recently, certified halal meat-based baby foods weren’t available. Because of this, Muslim mothers often delayed the switch from milk to solids, leading to babies developing iron and protein deficiencies. This isn't just a problem in non-Muslim countries, where halal food is often less readily available. According to a report by the Nutrition Unit of the World Health Organization, the prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia in Middle Eastern infants is high – up to 70% in some parts of the region (source: Maktoob Business). Mumtaz Foods Industries offers ten varieties of baby food suitable for infants from 4 to 7+ months old, including Potato, Lamb & Spinach, and Spring Vegetables and Chicken. GEM Food's Petit Gems comes in culture-spanning flavours, from Vegetable & Roast Beef to Middle-Eastern Lamb Tagine. Aimed at Muslim parents who want the convenience of prepared baby food without compromising their religious beliefs, halal baby foods should do well both in Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Mumtaz Baby Food is currently available in selected supermarkets and drugstores in the United Kingdom and in Carrefour supermarkets in Saudi Arabia, with other Gulf Region countries to follow this year. GEM Food's Petit Gems is sold in the UK and France. Two to partner with or distribute! With an estimated 1.4 billion Muslims world-wide, this is hardly a niche market ;-) Website: www.halalbabyfoods.com / www.petitgems.com Spotted by: Leigh Odimah |
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With Life Trackers, turning life experiences into a published book is as simple as sending an email. While self-publishing is nothing new, Life Trackers makes it easy to pull together travel journals, memory books and other keepsakes from just about anywhere a user has internet access. Best of all, there's no cost to join, and customers can get a printable PDF of their book for free. Here's how it works: after a customer signs up, they’re given a personal Life Trackers email address. To add content to their book, they simply send an email to that address with the text in the body of the message. They can add the address to their email distribution lists for big announcements, such as an engagement or birth. Copy it in on personal correspondence about a trip or big event. Forward meaningful replies from friends and family – or better yet, share the email address with them to collaborate on a book. In addition to sending text, users can attach up to three pictures with each message. Besides obvious applications like travel journals or memoirs, Life Trackers suggests using the service to keep track of love letters, messages from college, or emails about a new baby. “Each year, hundreds of thousands of people send dozens of emails about their child's first year of life to friends, family, parents and grandparents, and they receive dozens of replies. Now, you can collect text and images from yourself, and from friends and family, about your baby's birth, first month at home, first smile, first food and first step. Just send everything to your Life Trackers account.” When they’re ready, users can view, edit and publish through the Life Trackers website. Publishing options include a printable PDF document, softcover book or professionally bound hardcover. Great example of a company cashing in on the life caching trend, simply by building on existing behaviour, letting consumers publish texts they already produce and receive on a daily basis, but might not have considered material for a book. Clever! For more on self-publishing, see our piece on Blurb, which makes it easy to turn blogs into books. Website: www.lifetrackers.com Spotted by: Laura Winkleblack |
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What do you get when the founder and former CEO of video game giant Atari and the amusement-themed children's restaurant Chuck E. Cheese takes on modern dining? Entertainment and restaurant visionary Nolan Bushnell has launched uWink Bistro, an innovative restaurant concept that combines modern comfort food with at-the-table entertainment. At uWink, customers place orders on touch screen terminals right at their tables. There are no waiters or waitresses, but rather food runners who deliver meals and beverages. Need a refill on your drink? Extra dressing for your salad? Touch the screen. But that's not all the high tech tables offer. Customers at uWink can enjoy games, table-to-table trivia tournaments, movie trailers, internet-browsing and more while they wait for and enjoy their meals. Bushnell's team isn't skimping on the food, either. The menu features upscale bistro fare made with fresh ingredients. The first uWink Bistro opened its doors in October 2006 in the Los Angeles area. Franchises are already being offered in 36 U.S. states, and plans are already in the works to offer them internationally. Could this new digital dining experience spark a trend? Website: www.uwink.com |
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About a year ago, we covered the UK's first women-only private car hire franchise: Pink Ladies. The company aimed to make rides safer for female passengers and female drivers. The concept is taking root, as witnessed by spottings of similar ventures in Moscow, Dubai and Teheran. Moscow's Pink Taxi was launched in August 2006 by Olga Fomina and two of her friends. The company’s initial fleet consisted of two Daewoo cars and two drivers. Six months later, Pink Taxi has 20 cars and 27 drivers on the road, and is looking to upgrade to Volvo S40s. Following in their footsteps, Ladies Red Taxi was founded in November and operates from neighbouring city Khimki. It doesn't quite fit the 'for women, by women' bill, though, as it caters to both men and women (source: Moscow Times). In Dubai, taxis for women made their debut in January 2007. The initiative was launched by Dubai's Road and Traffic Authority, which trained 100 female drivers and has a fleet of 50 vehicles. The goal is to provide a secure mode of transport for women and children, and the emirate's sand-coloured taxis with pink roofs will mainly pick up passengers at hospitals and shopping malls (source: Gulf News). Last but not least, women-only taxis are slowing gaining official recognition in Iran, according to the Financial Times. The motivation is the same as in the UK, the UAE and Russia -- safety concerns and creating flexible jobs for women. Taxis are a common way of getting around in Teheran, where public transportation is limited and petrol is subsidised by the government. While expected to wear full hijab, female cabbies feel empowered by their job. From the FT: "It gives you a feeling of being useful - because it's a 'male' job, you feel power and confidence," says Neda Malekpour. Although pink-thinking entrepreneurs may have to find their way around anti-discrimination laws in some countries, we having a feeling this concept will continue to spread. Have we left out your local women-only taxi service? Please let us know! You can post a comment below. Websites & contact details: Spotted by: Ozgur Alaz |
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The Perrinepod is a self-contained, stackable housing unit that can be placed within a month of ordering. Mother in law moving in? Adding a home office? No problem for a Perrinepod dweller. Just order a second unit and plug it in. Buyers with large extended families will be happy to know the pods can be stacked to 30 stories high. Made from polished concrete, aluminium and glass, Perrinepod's standard colours are grey and white, but the concrete can be toned to any natural pigment, including black and shades of brown. Its pod-like looks are enhanced by a lack of joins and sharp corners. Making it nearly as plug-and-play as an iPod, internal wiring and plumbing are built in, and utilities are hooked up at one central point. Perrinepods come in three sizes: one, two and three bedrooms (AUD 99,000 - 200,000), with external dimensions of 8 x 6m, 8 x 9m and 8 x 12m. The units are designed and manufactured in Perth. Prices include delivery to metropolitan areas in Australia, erection of the Perrinepod, and all interior fittings. Architect Jean-mic Perrine's philosophy is that the houses should be nothing more or less than its inhabitants need, and that simple design and beautiful material should be able to stand the test of time: "Living spaces have become as transient and irrelevant as fashion. It's no longer a look for a generation that people strive for, its the look of 'now' and it only lasts for a three to four year period. That approach is not sustainable and people are putting themselves and the environment under a lot of unnecessary pressure trying to keep up." Following four years of research and design, the first Perrinepods will be making their debut next month. As more consumers are showing interest in small homes and in the instant gratification of high-design prefab housing, this could be a nice one to distribute in other parts of the world (manufactured locally, of course). Website: http://pod.perrine.com.au Spotted by: Matthew Shaw P.S. The Perrine Pod isn't the first prefab, stackable housing unit. Mart de Jong's Spacebox is a self-contained LEGO-like unit that's being used to house students in The Netherlands. |
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Recently spotted in Berkeley, Transcendentist is the first eco-friendly dentist office in the United States. Certified by the Alameda County Green Business Program, the office practices ecologically sustainable dentistry -- from serving organic chamomile tea to using amalgam separator filters to prevent mercury entering the environment. (Transcendentist doesn't use amalgam, but does remove old fillings.) Transcendentist also uses digital imaging instead of x-rays, which means less radiation for patients and employees, and no need for the chemicals that are used to process x-rays. The eco approach extends to the rest of the office: non-toxic paint on the walls, chemical-free wool carpet and cloth headrest covers and bibs instead of paper disposables. Transcendentist was founded in 2003 by Fred and Ina Pockrass, with the aim of creating a calm and healing experience for clients. To this end, Transcendentist isn't just environmentally friendly, but also incorporates elements of a spa. Every visit includes a foot massage, sound and colour therapy are used to soothe patients, and the office even has its own line of essence-infused, natural body products. Tibetan chimes and 'discovering your inner smile' may send some people running for a stern, old-fashioned dentist. But eco-dentistry makes sound business sense. When setting up their practice, the founders were told to not expect more than 10-15 new clients per month. Instead, they've been drawing between 30 and 40 new clients per month, with some months seeing as many as 60 new patients. (Source: Bay Area BusinessWoman.) Within the next two years, Transcendentist will be rolled out as a licensed business model. Time for a trip to the Bay Area to check it out? Website: www.transcendentist.com Spotted by: Frank Marquardt |
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No worries. We've got you covered. All of last week's articles are listed below. And don't forget—you can access everything we've published in our idea database, which is conveniently organized by industry. Enjoy! Workouts for body & mind Connect18 combines stationary bikes with immersion learning and video travel, letting
customers virtually bike through Mexico while
learning Spanish. An ice cream van for adults The brainchild of a London ad agency director, Scoop sells frozen
delights from a glam pink and black van. Umbrella vending | Update from Singapore Vending for a rainy day...
Why are umbrella vending machines still
relatively rare? Wine drinking & retailing at airports Vino Volo offers weary passengers an escape from the chaotic food
courts and loud bars that are all too familiar at major airports. EcoHangers: in-home advertising This is one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" ideas. Hanger Network developed an alternative to wire hangers: dry cleaner's hangers
made
entirely from recycled paper and printed with full-colour ads. Insurance discounts for GPS-guided drivers Drivers who use GPS devices are less damage-prone than their
old-
school brethren. Which is why a Dutch insurance company is giving
them 10% discount on their auto insurance. Live opera on the silver screen The Met is broadcasting six Saturday matinees to selected movie
theatres, complete
with HD video and surround sound for very close up
arias. Driver, take me to a greener planet! | Update Green livery services continue to pop up everywhere, as demonstrated
by three recent spottings from different corners of the world. Effortless e-commerce for minipreneurs French Zlio lets anyone set up an online shop in 5 minutes. Shop
owners don't actually need to have anything to sell, since orders are
fulfilled by large online retailers. Curation is the key!
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