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Another week, another selection of interesting new business ideas from around the world: peer to peer microfinancing, an online community where parents can post and find local tips, a retailer that helps women find the perfect fit, and more. Our next edition is due on 28 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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Recently launched iliketotallyloveit.com is a community-based website for product recommendations. Or, in terms a Valley Girl would be more likely to grasp, a popularity contest for beautiful things. Members can submit short reviews of desirable goods, with a link to where the item can be purchased. If enough other members like totally love it, the product is promoted to the front page, where it's exposed to a wider audience. With a voting system that's very similar to that of popular news ranking website Digg, the website can be viewed as an online, user-controlled version of shopping magazines like Lucky and Domino. Products categories include fashion, food and furniture, featuring everything from the "Lookin' Good For Jesus Mini Kit" to such obvious favourites as Apple's MacBook Pro. Still in beta mode, the website was founded by four German students, who plan to launch a German variant once they've added a few more features to the English one. Contact them to create your own local versions of iliketotallyloveit.com, in return for a cut of the advertising revenue and referral commissions? Segmented versions would also make sense: products on a tween's hotlist won't necessarily line up with a thirty-something's objects of desire. And, last but not least, the killer app would be to group users' intentions to buy a product, and then use their crowd clout to negotiate a bulk discount. Website: www.iliketotallyloveit.com Spotted by: Cathe Huynh-Sison |
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Around this time last year, we featured a new Australian magazine contained with the label of a bottle of mineral water. iLove claimed to be the world's first magazine on a bottle, offering girls on the move something to read with their water to go. Now, Coca-Cola Belgium will be the first soft drink company to use the Magazine on a Bottle concept. On Product Publishing, which created the innovative labelling technology, worked closely with Coca-Cola Belgium to adapt the labels to Coke's iconic curvy bottle. The first bottles of Coca-Cola Light (chilled 500 ml PET) with GLAM*IT mini-mag attached will be on the shelves in April 2007. Published by Sanoma, GLAM*IT is a Belgian fashion and beauty magazine targeted to a young, female audience. Which makes for a good fit with Light/Diet Coke buyers. As stated by Mie Van der Auwera, editor of GLAM*IT: "Adapting editorial content for another brand is only credible if brand values mutually match. In the case of Coca-Cola Light and GLAM*IT that was no problem. That's why it results in a powerful communication tool for both brands." The removable 24-page magazine is a 'light' version of GLAM*IT, featuring typical content for the mag, but reduced to fit the bottle. Joanna Wojtalik, OPP's inventor, explains the concept's goal: "On Product Publishing is all about broadening and targeting content delivery by using the mass market reach of an FMCG distribution network. The OPP label allows Coca-Cola to place more content directly on its product and thereby enhance the relationship its consumers have with the brand at the point of purchase". More FMCG publishing to follow? Website: www.onproductpublishing.com.au |
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We previously wrote about initiatives that are using the web to allow residents to report issues that local councils or city governments need to take care of. Things like graffiti, fly tipping, broken paving slabs, or street lighting. Both London's Love Lewisham and Amsterdam's Google Maps hack were created by local government. Now, a new venture is moving the concept forward by offering a nation-wide solution in the United Kingdom. Launched last month, Neighbourhood Fix-It lets residents all over the UK pinpoint problems, which are then sent to their local council to deal with. After entering a postcode or location, users are presented with a map of the area. They can view issues that have already been reported, or add something they've just spotted, simply by clicking on the map. The site is free to use and run by mySociety, a charity that also created civic-action websites like TheyWorkForYou.com and PledgeBank.com. In a quiet beta test prior to Neighbourhood Fix-It's launch, several hundred problems were reported. Local councils fixed paving slabs, got rid of redundant estate agent signs, filled pot holes and removed graffiti. As mySociety's Tom Steinberg explains: "Neighbourhood Fix-It aims to change the act of reporting faults - turning it from a private one-to-one process into a public experience where residents can see if anyone else in the neighbourhood has already spotted and reported a problem, and to see how their council is acting on it. We hope the website will make the process of reporting faults more efficient, possibly reducing the number of individual reports that councils receive because people will be able to see that their neighbours have already made the call." Definitely the most efficient way for residents to request repairs, and it makes sense for local governments to encourage citizens to be their eyes on the street. If you’d like to influence how your own local government works, this is one to copy to your country, state or province! Making it easy to get started, Neighbourhood Fix-It gives free access to the website's source code. |
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Every body is different, and just five or six percent of bodies fit the model that most designers use as their standard. Which is why a women's apparel retailer is using proprietary technology to customize selections to a customer's individual shape. When signing up for their personal myShop, customers enter their measurements and MyShape's patent pending ShapeMatch software determines their body shape. MyShape has defined seven basic body shapes, based on proportions and sizes of waist, shoulders, hips, etc. The customer is then shown outfits that flatter their shape and fit their body measurements. And, of course, that match their style preferences. MyShape works with 100 designers, most of whom handle shipping. MyShape receives a sales commission. The start-up's aim is to make shopping effortless for busy women, saving them the time and frustration of trying on 10 different skirts in a store. It also removes the guesswork from online shopping, caused by inconsistent sizing between brands and retailers. MyShape launched in September and is targeting professional women who spend more than USD 1,000 on clothing per year. One to partner with if you're in the fashion business, or to set up in other countries. Related: Zafu, which focuses solely on jeans. Customers enter their measurements and preferences, and Zafu recommends the pairs that are most likely to fit. Website: www.myshape.com Spotted by: Joan Divor and Pauline Jonquiere |
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With the aim of eradicating poverty through business, C4-World is setting up a global investment platform that allows individuals to invest directly in African businesses. Last year, we featured something similar: Kiva, a peer-to-peer microlending organisation that connects private lenders to entrepreneurs in the developing world. Unlike Kiva, C4-World's 'MyC4' investors can expect to receive a return on their investment. The premise is to treat entrepreneurs in Africa as business partners, with return on investment being the most solid foundation for keeping the model moving forward. Another important difference is that MyC4 is focusing on knowledge as well as capital. The Danish start-up is building an online community to share knowledge and best practices from the global community to serve businesses in emerging markets, starting with the African continent. A closed beta is kicking off in May 2007. Interested investors can currently sign up as MyC4-builders to test the platform and create an active community that's up and running before MyC4 opens to the general public in Q4 of this year. 2,015 builders are expected to invest at least USD 200, with a payback period of 6-12 months for the first projects. We like the idea of using an online community to create a platform for virtual entrepreneurship, to transfer not just funds, but energy and knowledge, too. Harnessing the wisdom of the crowds and letting them put their money where their mouths are. Worth looking into or partnering with! Website: www.c4-world.com Comment on this article » |
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Parents who are looking for family-friendly hotels, restaurants and other attractions for their next family vacation may want to point their browsers to Parentography—a new online community that invites ‘Parentographers’ who have been there and done that to weigh in on what spots were most accommodating to their brood. “Parents can share stories, photos, excursion ideas, ratings and reviews on all sorts of family-friendly places and activities. They can search for things to do by location, season, their children's age and other important factors.” The idea is to create a community where parents can share details that typically aren't found on the usual travel websites, such as which restaurants have kids' menus and highchairs available and which hotels offer kiddie pools. Besides reviews, members can also describe excursions, highlighting a string of activities and places. Naturally, Parentography’s content isn’t just relevant to travelers, but also to first-time parents and families relocating to new areas. While content is limited at the moment, Parentography has employed a novel solution to quickly build its library of reviews. To help celebrate the site’s launch, those who submit the 100th, 200th, 300th and so on posts will win USD 100, onward until a grand prize of USD 1,000 is given to the lucky Parentographer who writes the 1,000th post. Not only is this a great incentive for contributors, but Parentography gets 1,000 content items for a rock-bottom price ;-) The start-up’s business model is advertising-based. The potential to expand on this idea to reach other niche (travel) markets is virtually limitless—might there soon be a Parentography-like forum for pet owners, golfers or other interest groups? Website: www.parentography.com |
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March 16, 2007 |
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Have you ever wondered where Springwise gets its new business ideas? No, we don’t just incessantly travel the world for the greatest and latest, we first and foremost rely on…YOU. Many of our readers have already joined Springspotters, our global spotting network, and we hope you will do the same. All it takes is one minute to register, after which you can start sending us interesting new business ideas you have spotted, which we’ll reward with cool gifts. That is, if your submissions meet our guidelines, and no one else has beaten you to it ;-) So please, join our network, start spotting and contributing, and we’ll all win: more gifts for you, and more ideas, more articles, more content for all of us! Website: www.springspotters.com |
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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!
 Helping consumers cut medical costsThree start-ups are attempting to shift power back to consumers by helping them negotiate lower claims, and by giving them access to prices for medical procedures. www.springwise.com/weekly/2007-03-15.htm#medical
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