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Another week, another dose of interesting new business ideas from around the globe: the world's first folding guitar, pop-up hotels, a service that enables you to start up your own mobile phone network, an eco-friendly moving solution, and more. Our next edition is due on 18 April 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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Sydney-based Todae offers businesses practical advice for cutting down energy and water usage and reducing their environmental impact. For AUD 399, a Todae consultant will come to an office or store and check everything from recycling to heating and cooling systems. The business is then provided with a detailed report that explains how to cut costs and go green. Todae's service is geared to small to medium businesses looking to save money, be less harmful to the environment and create a "strong environmental brand ethos" amongst customers and staff. It's an excellent concept, and Springwise believes many consumers would also be interested environmental assessments. Plenty of people would like to diminish their negative impact on the earth, but aren't sure exactly what to do about it. Or are too lazy or busy or both ;-) Having an environmental expert come to the door and give a home a full check-up would definitely help. Besides compiling a checklist of very specific issues to improve, 'home greeners' could of course offer to implement the necessary changes, too. So, set it up, brand it well (how about eco badges for homes?), and start knocking on doors. Before you know it, you'll be running your own franchise. P.S. Todae also sells a wide variety of eco products for homes and businesses, both through their website and from a recently opened shop in Sydney's Glebe district. Website: www.todae.com.au Spotted by: Catarina Ng |
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Just launched at the Musikmesse in Frankfurt by Swedish start-up the DeVillain Guitar Company, the Centerfold guitar solves a problem that every guitarist has experienced: portability. The folding guitar is a patent-pending product developed by an airline pilot who's also a fervent guitarist. Having a hard time taking his guitar with him everywhere he went, Fredrik Johansson started working on a prototype for the instrument that's now being brought to market. The guitars, which are handmade in Sweden, slip into a small backpack which will have no trouble fitting into an overhead luggage bin. The neck folds down with strings still attached, and if it's in tune when you fold it, it will be in tune when you unfold it. The neck and body are connected with an airplane aluminium bolt that ensures maximal connection. Lefty versions aren't currently available, and DeVillain will only produce 300 guitars this year, for a direct to consumer price of EUR 2,600 or USD 3,370. A folding electric bass is in the works. Since the electric guitar is one of the world's most popular instruments, the potential market for DeVillian's highly innovative product is substantial. Time to snap up local distribution rights? And how about some inflatable drums? ;-) Website: www.devillain.com |
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Read any good books lately? Goodreads provides an online platform for discussing just that. Booklovers can share recommendations for their favourite page-turners with friends, online acquaintances and other like-minded bibliophiles. Unlike the reviews found at sites like Amazon.com, Goodreads write-ups have a more personal touch since the site is built around a networking concept. Users can sign up in just a few simple steps and immediately begin entering reviews. Books are rated on a five-star system, ranging from one star for “didn't like it” to five for “it was amazing.” Members can discuss what they loved or didn't love about books they've read, see right away what the consensus was among fellow reviewers and even comment on one another's reviews. Moreover, they can catalogue their collections on virtual bookshelves that can be customized to reflect their own personalities. Default shelf names are “Read,” “To-Read” and “Currently-Reading,” but it only takes a moment to add new shelves, and users can have fun with their category designations. Members are encouraged to invite their friends to join, but many may just as easily make friends on the site as they happen upon others who share similar tastes for murder mysteries, 19th century French literature, memoirs or whatever genres appeal to them. Like any well-rounded Web 2.0 venture, Goodreads also offers a widget that can be added to a member's blog, MySpace page or website that keeps a running tally of what the person has been reading or reviewing lately. The business model for Goodreads and its siblings is based on racking up referral fees from online book stores like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. As the websites grow, they’ll also become highly valuable tools for the publishing industry, which could lead to additional sources of revenue. Since reading books isn’t limited to English-speakers, this is definitely a concept to copy to other countries or languages that don’t yet have their own (popular) online social network for readers. For more inspiration, check out Shelfari, Bookjetty and BuchPfade, to name a few. Website: www.goodreads.com |
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Moving supplies such as boxes, bubble wrap and other packaging materials remain piled up in landfills long after people have settled into their new abodes. EarthFriendlyMoving has set out to change that by offering eco-friendly moving supplies available at consumer-friendly prices. EarthFriendlyMoving's RecoPack—short for Recycled Ecological Packing Solution—containers are made from recycled plastic and come in five convenient sizes. Customers can rent RecoPacks for just “a buck a box a week”, which, depending on how long they keep them, may actually be less than they might spend on traditional cardboard boxes. Even better, RecoPack containers are lightweight, sturdy and stackable, and EarthFriendlyMoving delivers them and picks them up in their bio-fueled trucks. Customers who want to further protect their breakables might wrap them in EarthFriendlyMoving's Giami packing paper, a honeycomb-like recycled paper made to replace bubble wrap. Instead of “packing peanuts,” customers can use RecoCubes, which are made from recycled paper sludge—simply toss them in the yard after use, and they'll compost to help feed trees and grass. EarthFriendlyMoving even employs “Poopy Pallets,” each of which are made from 500 recycled baby diapers. These and other green solutions are available for rent or purchase, and customers can get free estimates as soon as they're ready to begin planning their move. EarthFriendlyMoving currently operates in Long Beach and Orange County, with plans to expand their reach through more of Southern California in 2007. The company hopes to go nationwide within the next few years. It's a great example of finding a profitable—and ecologically sound—niche market within the trend to go green, and of bringing innovation to an industry that hasn't changed very much over the past century. Website: www.earthfriendlymoving.com Spotted by: Wakako Takagi |
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Just over a year ago, we covered Ether, which makes it easy for (budding) entrepreneurs to sell spoken advice and support by providing them with a dedicated 1-888 number for customers to call, and taking care of billing and payments. Now, a massive player has joined the arena. Skype's latest software release includes a beta version of Skype Prime. The service is very similar to Ether: sellers set a price, fixed or per minute, find buyers for their service, and Skype handles the rest. Of course, instead of using phone lines, both sellers and buyers use Skype's voice over IP platform. While Skype charges 'call providers' more than Ether does—30% commission versus 15%—Skype's obvious benefit is its existing global user base. Skype has over 171 million registered users, is available in 28 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Which means a very large reach for minipreneurs who'd like to sell their services, whether they're offering Spanish lessons, tax advice or something saucier. (Note that Skype's guidelines state that call providers cannot offer any content or service that is adult, sexual, pornographic or paedophiliac.) Other alternatives include BitWine and Wengo. If you've used one or more of these services to expand your consulting, tax or astrology business, we'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment below! Website: www.skype.com/share/skypeprime Spotted by: Andrus |
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Pop-up retail created plenty of buzz over the past few years, but seems to be over its peak. So, what's up next? How about pop-up hotels and resorts? Two recent spottings from the travel and tourism industry: On land, there's Spanish Hotel Movil, a large truck trailer that can be dragged to any location and turned into a two level hotel within 30 minutes. After its 11 rooms are unfolded, the hotel on wheels can sleep up to forty people, making it roomy enough for wedding parties, family reunions or luxury camping trips with a large group of friends. Hotel Movil isn't short on luxury: every room has a bathroom, plasma screen TV, DVD, internet access and more. Depending on the trailer's configuration, a bar and movie screening room can also be included. Price for a weekend is EUR 7,000. Alternatively, you can buy a hotel of your own for EUR 400,000. Secondly, touted as "the next frontier of the sexy jet-setter life," Nikki Beach at Sea aims to be the world's first floating resort, and will move from party to party across the globe. The concept is being developed by Nikki Beach Hotels and the Kloster cruise family, targeting Nikki Beach's young and hip South Beach clientele. The USD 498 million floating hotel and party boat will set sail in 2009, starting off in St Barth’s for New Years, then on to Rio for a week of carnival, followed by the Winter Music Festival in Miami and the Cannes Film Festival. While a floating resort isn't a venture you can start up overnight, pop-up hotels could carve their own niche for exclusive, ‘any time, any place’ travel experiences. And there should be plenty of opportunities for the events industry, too. One to watch! Website: www.hotelmovil.com and www.nikkibeachatsea.com Spotted by: Joandó Reverter and Donal Cahalane |
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Hot on the heels of Spotrunner, which we featured a few weeks ago, comes Spotzer. Like Spotrunner, Spotzer offers ready to air TV spots at a fraction of the price of tailor-made commercials. Spotzer is currently in 'alpha' phase, and busy building a library of pre-produced commercials. The Dutch-American start-up will use a number of methods to keep costs down. It's using excess capacity at large production studios and creating sets of commercials in one go, using the same amount of resources (actors, locations, travel expenses) that would traditionally be required for a single shoot. Spotzer will also be buying unused footage from ad agencies and marketing and film schools. Television archives form another source: Spotzer has access to the BBC’s archives, a veritable treasure trove for a wide range of moving images, including decades-old material that now looks delightfully retro. Last but not least, Spotzer is working on an online platform to allow freelancers and pro-amateurs to contribute video footage. All of Spotzer's spots are suitable for use by a wide variety of companies, who can personalize videos by adding their own message and voice-over. Advertisers don't get exclusive use of an ad; they licence it for a specific region. Spotzer offers highly targeted media planning, helping advertisers find the right mix, reach and frequency to fit their aims and budgets. Besides regular television advertising, Advertisers can also run internet and mobile video ads, as well as advertising on out-of-home television, such as digital screens in office buildings, airports and restaurants. The beauty of the concept, of course, lies in creating something once, and selling it over and over again. Opportunities? While Spotzer and Spotrunner try to conquer the North-American and European markets, now is the time to launch similar initiatives for the rest of the world. Website: www.spotzer.com Comment on this article » |
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We've written about mobile virtual network operators for gay customers, for 16-24 year olds and for charity. Now, anyone can start their own MVNO using Sonopia, which launched earlier this week. Sonopia works with Verizon to handle calls and data transfer, and lets anyone from a rock band to a church group set up their own mobile network brand. In return, the mini carrier will receive 3-8% of revenues generated by the customers they sign up. Brands create their own calling plans, get a co-branded website and are able to send their members messages about the latest news or special events. Organizations that have already set up a Sonopia MVNO include the National Wildlife Fund, the American Medical Student Association and the Long Island Ducks (minor-league baseball). Someone also started a San Francisco Foodies group and the LonelyGirl15 Fan Club. The obvious challenge when setting up your own MVNO is to create a strong enough hook to convince customers to switch from a major carrier to your service. Which could be exclusive content sent only to members/customers, like a pre-release of Fergie's latest song, or daily nuggets of wisdom from Dr. Phil. Non-profit networks are helped by the feel-good factor of knowing that profits are being donated to the cause of one's choice, as is the case with the National Wildlife Fund: "Help preserve our wildlife today... one call at a time." Since Sonopia doesn’t charge set-up costs, there’s nothing stopping you from setting up your own mobile network today. It might not make you a telecom mogul, but it could provide a nice additional stream of income. Website: www.sonopia.com Spotted by: Rick Rodrigues |
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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!
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