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Another week, another smashing selection of new business ideas from around the world: pet rental in California, a no-frills eco chic hotel in Canada, free snail mail in The Netherlands, an upmarket food store for kids in New York, and more. Our next edition is due on 9 May 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 Zealand-based Hire Things, which is currently in public beta, is promoted as a low risk, cost effective marketing channel for hire and rental services, and a facilitator for 'micro-hire-businesses'. Think of it as eBay for renting goods. The company is an enterprising mash-up of two major trends: minipreneurs (consumers turning into entrepreneurs) and transumers (consumers becoming less interested in owning). Hire Things is easy to use. Register on the website, list and price items, and choose what to display publicly and what to make visible only to your 'Trust Network'. Users receive an email when a prospective customer submits a booking request, with the estimated costs calculated automatically by Hire Things. It's up to the lessor to accept, counter or refuse the request. Once owner and customer agree, the system confirms the booking and provides each with contact information so that delivery can be arranged. Currently Hire Things doesn't charge for item listings, photo uploads or completed bookings, but later this spring they plan to charge fees for successful bookings, beginning at 5% for bookings up to NZD 100. Hire Things plans to establish similar marketplaces in Australia, the UK and other countries. The concept should definitely appeal to consumers who'd like to tackle a backyard project but get cold feet at the idea of buying tools they'll use only once, or would like to try out a new hobby without spending hundreds of dollars on something they might not be interested in three weeks from now. Launch a person-to-person hire network before Hire Things gets to your neck of the woods. Find 'riches in niches' by specializing in one area, like art, musical instruments, photography or sporting equipment. Target expats or people on holiday, or create specially themed rental packages. First, read up on what drives transumers and how other companies are catering to their desire not to own. Website: www.hirethings.com Spotted by: Natalie Ferguson
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No-frills chic has been covered extensively by our sister website trendwatching.com. Industries from ranging from fast fashion to low-cost airlines have adopted the consumer favourite of high style combined with affordable prices. Now, with the growing wave of concern for consumerism's negative impact on the environment, a third element is being added to the no-frills chic equation: eco-friendliness. Inspirational example? A new hotel chain in Canada, due to open its first location this year. Run by family-owned Groupe Germain, ALT Hotels will combine design, atmosphere and chic interiors with the best possible price *and* with serious efforts to minimize impact on the planet. The Montreal hotel will incorporate geothermal technology, which is an industry first in Canada. Designed by architect Viateur Michaud, ALT Montreal will use the earth's constant temperature of 10 degrees Celsius (at a depth of about three meters) to help heat and cool the hotel as needed. Other energy-saving measures include efficient lighting throughout the building, and heat recovery from water used in commercial washers. Earth-friendly measures come at a cost, especially those that go beyond labels and so-called greenwashing. Which presents a challenge for manufacturers and service providers. The solution? Become even more innovative, from the ground up. To save costs without skimping on style, ALT Hotels is using a new construction concept: pre-fabricated rooms. The sleek, modular rooms are built off-site by a furniture manufacturer, making it possible to assemble rooms while the hotel itself is still being built. Have you spotted other examples of cheap-chic-green products or companies? Please share by leaving a comment below. Website: www.althotels.ca Spotted by: Therese Nguyen
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The process is simple. Customers set up an account at voicequilt.com. They purchase phone time and issue an invitation to friends and family, providing them with the toll-free phone number they need to call to record their message. Phone time costs from USD 9.95 for a MiniQuilt (3-5 Messages, ½ hr), to USD 34.95 for a Community Quilt (40-50 Messages, 3 hrs). The customer then listens to the recordings and creates a playlist. Once the playlist has been finalized, the Voice Quilt is shipped to the recipient on a CD (USD 11.95), inside a wooden keepsake box (USD 79.95 – 139.95), or downloaded from the internet (no extra cost). Founder Hope Flammer came up with the idea after her best friend’s husband became ill and lapsed into a coma. She accompanied her friend to the hospital every day to visit with him, speaking, laughing and playing his favourite music as if he were awake and participating in the conversation with them. Fortunately he recovered. “I came away from that experienced convinced that loving voices can make a difference,” Hope says. “Preserved for years to come, the greetings and memories of close friends can remind us of special times. A family story, a child's laughter, a best friend's quirky expressions... these are sounds that nurture the spirit.” Voice Quilt’s strength lies in its simplicity. One person arranges everything online, and the others just dial in whenever it suits them: it's as easy as leaving voice mail. One to set up locally! Website: www.voicequilt.com Spotted by: Joanne Reed
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Back in December, we covered Tourfilter, an easy online tool for tracking live gigs. We recently spotted two new start-ups (plus one incumbent) that are also helping music lovers find the shows they wouldn't want to miss. Calling itself a "digital to analogue lifestyle converter", Sonic Living is more like Tourfilter: the user needs to tell it which bands or artists to look out for. Saving users from typing everything in manually, Sonic Living lets users upload lists of artists from an iTunes library or last.fm account. Sonic Living also integrates a social aspect that iConcertCal lacks -- users can easily find other members who like the same artists, or are going to a certain show. Last.fm, the social music network, recently added an events feature, too, which also lets users see who else will be attending a concert, creating an appealing and relevant link between online and offline social interaction. Both iConcertCal and Sonic Living have limited reach outside the US. Of the major international cities we checked in iConcertCal, only London came up with a good number of upcoming shows. Sonic Living lists thousands of events in London, but no other non-US cities. Tourfilter already included a London page, and has added Melbourne, Dublin, Vancouver and Toronto to their international roster. Last.fm has international coverage, but mostly appeals to its own user-base. Which means there's plenty of room left for smart listing concepts in cities across the world. Combine the best of the above, and find a way to stand out. Could be early notifications, to insure users won't miss out on fast-selling tickets, or mobile listings, or the most complete calendars, or... For more on catering to consumers' incessant desire for relevant information, check out trendwatching.com's infolust briefing. Websites: www.iconcertcal.com - www.sonicliving.com - www.last.fm Spotted by: Josh Spear
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Sporting all manner of iconic images and clever slogans, printed t-shirts continue to be hot fashion—and hot business. Online retailers Migrante and Inka Clothing Co. are cashing in by targeting a specialized market: Latino emigrants. Both offer hip and stylish clothing that embraces Hispanic culture and ideals so customers can literally wear their ethnic pride on their sleeves long after they've departed their home countries. With the vast influx of immigrants to the United States from Mexico, Central America and South America, it makes sense to cater to this growing customer base. Moreover, since a strong sense of community is at the foundation of both businesses, it's an easy leap for these brands to be much more than just t-shirt shops. Migrante, which is Spanish for “migrant,” bills itself as “more than fashion, a whole movement,” bringing together style, art music, identity and a new voice. Similarly, Inka Clothes is “an urban hippie lifestyle brand that promotes individuality through cultural, political and social awareness.” As globalization continues to redefine our world, business opportunities that appeal to customers' social and ethnic identities are proliferating. Printed t-shirts—an inexpensive and easy start-up—are just the tip of the iceberg! Spotted by: Miguel Betancur Websites: www.migrante.net - www.inkaclothes.com
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Busy moms and dads who want to provide their children with nutritious organic fare, but don't have the time or wherewithal to whip up all their meals from scratch, will love the Kidfresh concept. A children’s food store, designed by a team that includes an award-winning chef and dietician as well as a pediatric nutritionist, New York-based Kidfresh offers prepared “Grab + Go” meals or “Mix + Match” selections that cater to four different age groups, ranging from baby to age 10. Food boxes are colour-coded according to age, and contain breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks, priced from USD 4.95 - USD 7.25 per meal. The company’s founder wanted to create a Whole Foods for children, offering kids the same variety in prepared foods as Whole Foods does for adults. All menu items are made with fresh, all-natural and mostly organic ingredients, and represent a variety of food groups, with an emphasis on fibre, fruits and vegetables. Portion sizes are age-appropriate, and, keeping in mind the interests of young eaters, Kidfresh serves food in fun shapes and colours. Menu items include Organic Yogurt Parfait with Pureed Strawberries, Honey BBQ Chicken & Cheese Wrap, Piggy-Tail Pasta with Tomato Sauce & Turkey Meatballs, and Honey Graham Stix with Yogurt Pineapple Dip. The store, located at 1628 2nd Avenue in New York, is extremely child-friendly, aiming to involve kids in the food buying process. Children can enter through a special doorway, and gather their groceries in pint-sized carts. Kidfresh also offers cooking classes and other events to encourage children to get into the “Kidchen” and take an interest in healthy eating. An in-store counter serves ice-cream, fruit kebabs and Parents can also shop online for Kidfresh meals or groceries. With rising concerns about childhood obesity, health- and weight-conscious parents are likely to be a profitable market to tap into. Our recent items on pre-packed healthy lunches and fresh and frozen gourmet baby food are further evidence of this trend. Website: www.kidfresh.com Spotted by: Paulo Vischi
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Yesterday, we covered two companies that make it possible for consumers to send snail mail by email. More from the old school mail front: Dutch Gratis-Post lets people order envelopes with free postage for mailing within The Netherlands. Like most of the free love concepts we've covered in the past (from free photocopies to free phone calls), the concept is supported by advertising, in two parts. Ads are printed on the back of the envelope, and in exchange for 5 free ready-to-mail envelopes, users also agree to receive advertising messages by email for a period of four weeks. If you think consumers can't possibly be interested in being ad-bombed for four weeks in exchange for EUR 2.20 (one stamp is EUR 0.44) worth of postage on ad-covered envelopes, you're wrong ;-) Gratis-Post ran out of its first print-run of 52,500 envelopes a few hours after they launched last Monday. Registered users can order a maximum of 5 envelopes per week. To give you a bit of insight into the format's revenue structure: for EUR 12,500, advertisers can have their ads printed on 10,000 envelopes, an email shot sent to registered users and banners placed on gratis-post.nl. Although the Dutch may have a reputation for pinching pennies, they're not the only nation to love a no-cost bargain. If you're in advertising or looking for a relatively easy company to start up, go to your local printer and national postal service, and start bargaining. Website: www.gratis-post.nl
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We've mentioned transumers before—consumers who value experiences more than ownership—with examples like shared ownership of cars, yachts and second homes, or leasing concepts for handbags, jewellery and other luxury goods. What we didn't see coming, is for that line-up of material goods to be joined by man's best friend. People who love spending time with dogs but can't manage full-time ownership can now join a flexible pet ownership program. Flexpetz recently launched in Los Angeles and San Diego, and offers consumers the option of having a dog for just a few hours or days a week. Which is a good solution for people who'd love to have a dog, but are too busy, travel frequently, or live in buildings that don't allow dog ownership. The dogs come from breed rescue shelters, who take in specific breeds and help pick animals that are well-suited to life as Flexpetz. When they're not spending time with members, the dogs live in a cage-free facility that provides a safe and steady base. The company's founder, Marlena Cervantes, views Flexpetz like an extended family: "When our dogs spend time with their extended family members, they are lavished with love and undivided attention. We feel our this concept allows our dogs more love and attention than single ownership can often provide." Membership is limited, and each dog generally spends time with a small group of people. Monthly membership costs USD 39.95 plus a daily fee, and members can reserve their pooch of choice online. Before being allowed to rent a dog, members go through a mandatory training session with a certified Flexpetz dog trainer. The service aims to expand to New York, San Francisco and Boston soon, followed by other cities in the United States and abroad. One to set up locally? Or how about starting a website that matches two or three owners, facilitating fractional dog ownership based on location, availability and personality? For more examples of transumerism, check out the trend briefing. Website: www.flexpetz.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!
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