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Another week, another cross-industry sampling of interesting new business ideas: a powder room for female travellers in Japan, P2P lending for home buyers in the US, layette rental in Germany, wind farmers selling directly to consumers in the Netherlands, and more. Our next edition is due on 22 August 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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A new online marketplace with the descriptive name Home Equity Share matches home buyers with investors. To be exact: it brings together buyers who can afford monthly payments but not a 20% down payment, and investors who want to get into real estate but don't want to become landlords or make monthly payments. Potential home buyers post a profile listing their preferences, including the area they want to buy in, and the price range they're looking for. They're automatically matched with compatible investors, come to an agreement and sign a preliminary commitment. This allows the buyer to become pre-approved for a loan, and to start looking for a property. Once buyer and investor agree on a property, the investor provides the down payment, the buyer arranges a mortgage for his home and moves in. At the end of a specified agreement term—usually three to seven years—the buyer can purchase the investor's interest in the property, or they can sell the house share its appreciation in value. Home Equity Share provides the matching service and contracts at no cost to buyers and investors, but requires that they use a real estate agent who is registered with the company. Agents pay a referral fee of 20% of the commission earned on transactions referred by Home Equity Share. (Since the service is still in its soft-launch phase, it won't be accepting new agents until early fall 2007.) We featured a similar business idea last year: Shared Spaces, a British network that also matches co-buyers. The major difference is that Shared Spaces is mainly targeted at buyers who'll be inhabiting a property together—roommates who are buying instead of renting to get a first foot on the real estate ladder. Unlike P2P lending services we’ve written about in the past, such as Zopa and Prosper, Home Equity Share is targeting a very specific niche: real estate down payments. It matches the parties and provides them with contracts, but doesn’t facilitate the exchange of money. Other niche P2P lending matchmakers to follow? Website: www.homeequityshare.com Spotted by: Susanna Haynie
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Since newborns grow out of a clothing size every month or so in the first half year of their lives, German Lütte-Leihen came up with a solution: a layette rental service for a fixed fee per month. Parents can choose from different sets of onesies, pyjamas and outerwear. The clothes are delivered by post (or by hand to Hamburg and its suburbs). Once babies grow out of a size, the set can be exchanged for the next size up, free of charge. Like Netlix for baby clothes. Lütte-Leihen's 9 – 11 piece sets come in a limited range of neutral colours and patterns, and include everything from bodysuits and pyjamas to socks and hats. Pricing ranges from EUR 17 – 26 per month, depending on which set is selected. The clothing may be used, but it’s in great condition; the items are only used for short while by each baby, and there's not much wear and tear in the first six months. Moreover, most of the clothing provided Lütte-Leihen is made from 100% organic cotton. Besides saving parents the expense of clothes that are only worn briefly, Lütte-Leihen's service spares them the hassle of shopping for new items in a period when time is at a premium. One to set up locally, or on a larger scale? For more examples of rental services and fractional ownership, check out trendwatching.com's transumers briefing. (Related: Marketplace for P2P rental.) Website: www.luette-leihen.de Spotted by: Susanna Haynie
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Windunie (Dutch for wind union) is a collective of 230 wind turbine owners, most of whom are farmers who operate turbines as an extra source of income. All sell the energy they produce directly to consumers. Windunie's customers can pick a specific farm they want to buy electricity from. Naturally, the electricity used by consumers in urban and suburban homes can't be derived directly from a specific source. As Windunie explains: the sum of energy fed into a grid is like a pool of dirty water. When consumers buy sustainable energy, a bucket of clean water is thrown into the pool. More people buying energy from wind farmers means that slowly but surely, the pool clears up. Since the origin of energy coming through an outlet in the wall is mixed, buying from a specific producer is mainly an administrative affair. The farmers get certificates ('Guarantee of Source') detailing how much energy they've produced and standard electricity meters calculate how much energy is consumed in a home. The latter is deducted from the former, and a customer's annual energy bill specifies 'their' wind turbine's identification number. Much like the sweaters we featured a few months ago, Windunie's product comes with a passport listing full details of the farmer whose land the turbine is on. Their name, year of birth, location, hobbies, etc. Which makes for a story consumers will share with friends, and creates a real sense of still made here: the comeback of all things local, surfacing in a world seemingly dominated by globalization. Like any small and local producer, Windunie's farmers should milk every kilowatt of their authenticity. Holiday greetings from Big Utility Inc. seem insincere, but a Christmas card from your friendly wind farmer may earn a spot on the mantelpiece ;-) And with a bit of luck, being more intimately acquainted with the source of their electricity will make consumers more mindful of its usage, too. (Related: Consumer generated power and Full provenance sweaters.) Website: www.windunie.nl Spotted by: Sheila Wigman
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Last year, we featured WC1, a public powder room that had opened on London’s Oxford Street. A place where, for GBP 5, stressed out shoppers and women on their way to a meeting or to dinner can relax, revive and be pampered. A recent spotting from Japan shows that this new business idea is spreading. Angelbe, which opened in December 2006, is a powder room operated by the West Japan Railway Company and located in Osaka's main railway station. Like WC1, the space was designed to resemble a lounge, with chandeliers, soft curves and gentle lighting. Besides spotless bathroom facilities, Angelbe features make-up booths with comfortable chairs and well-lit mirrors, changing rooms and a separate smoking room. Since this is a perfect setting for relevant tryvertising, it's no surprise that several companies have their products on offer in Angelbe: women can sample Shiseido cosmetics and use an array of hair dryers and straightening irons by Matsushita. Visitors pay JPY 300 (USD 2.50/EUR 1.85) per hour for use of the facilities, which are open daily from 6:30 am to 10:00 pm. There’s no doubt that women across the world would welcome an inviting place to recharge while on the go, and they're likely to take notice of brands providing the service. Partner with retailers, transport companies and female-focused brands, and make it happen! For much more on how smart companies are catering to female consumers, check out trendwatching.com's recent female fever briefing. (Related: Luxe London loos, Chic sanitary stop, Mobile loo locator and Schiphol's baby lounge.) Website: www.westjr.co.jp/grbiz/newbiz/angelbe Spotted by: Mio Yamada
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Director Alex Jovy has come up with a novel way to try to get the masses to come out and see his next film, “The Flirting Club”: he's inviting them to be part of the film-making process. Anyone can log onto the itsourmovie.com website to join the fun. The site offers three key ways for participants to take part. First—and perhaps most notably—they can upload their own auditions, taken with digital camcorders, mobile phones or any other device that records video, for parts in the film, much the same way as they might upload clips to YouTube or other video sharing sites. (Those who can't upload their own videos can go to in-person open auditions in London, where their auditions will be recorded for them.) Registration also gives users the chance to vote on other people's auditions, the end result being that average Joes and Janes are not just competing for roles, but are collectively casting the film. And, thirdly, in case crowdsourced acting and directing weren't enough, those who want part of the financial action can invest as part-producers for as little as GBP 10, each pound invested going straight to the movie budget and buying additional votes on the scripting. Would-be stars and starlets can learn more about the film and available roles on the website and can submit auditions for as many parts as they like. For each character, the top three choices will get the chance to audition before an expert panel of judges to decide who ultimately gets the part. Another innovative way of tapping directly into consumer interests, itsourmovie won Best New Film Idea at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002 and is bound to gather even more notice when “The Flirting Club” hits the box office. itsourmovie isn't the first crowdsourced film project we've covered. This time last year, we wrote about A Swarm of Angels, which aims to create a GBP 1 million film and give it away to over 1 million people. They recently completed phase 2 of 5, and the community is working on two scripts. (Related: Crowd-buying a soccer team, Crowd-managing a band and Bands funded by their fans.) Website: www.itsourmovie.com Spotted by: Georgia Lee Cleland
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Entrepreneurs vying for a share of the children's market should look out—your competition just got harder to size up! Three-year-old Mia Bergman is being credited with inventing a new product for fellow pint-sizers that could well be a hit in toy stores. Mia's mother, along with her business partner, decided to capitalize on the young tyke's fondness for burying small items in Play-Doh to dig out and rebury. So, they whipped up a batch of their own dough—using a nontoxic combination of flour, water, salt and a touch of lavender oil for scent—buried some small token items inside, and voila—Treasure Dough was born! Treasure Dough is available in an assortment of colors and themes, including “Princess Loot,” “Under the Sea,” “Zany Zoo” and “Dino Diggers.” Each bucket retails at USD 14 and includes 12 to 13 small toys that children can discover to play with and rebury at will. Because the items may pose a risk of choking, Treasure Dough is recommended for children ages three and up and can be purchased online and in a handful of select stores. Not a bad start for a toddler! It just goes to show the power of knowing what appeals to your intended market! ;-) (Related: Facilitating kidpreneurs.) Website: www.treasuredough.com Spotted by: Gwen Yuffa
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Could catering to niche markets be the next big wave in online video sharing? Yideoz, a new venture launched for the Jewish community, is banking on it by offering a forum for uploading and sharing video files that appeal specifically to this demographic—promoting cultural pride as well as providing a venue for expressing shared interests. Like other content sharing portals, Yideoz makes its money through ad sales, so users can log on at no cost to view featured favourites or browse categories such as Food and Cooking, Friends and Family, Holidays, Israel and more. Members are encouraged to build profiles and network with others through the site—joining groups, posting comments and of course uploading their own videos. Entrepreneurs looking to market to the Jewish community may want to check out advertising opportunities on the site—or even use it to launch targeted viral marketing campaigns. The broader opportunity? Be inspired to build similar web channels targeted to other demographics: social, cultural, political, GLBT, etc. Website: www.yideoz.com Spotted by: Bridgitte Raven
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Solvents used in traditional dry cleaning are toxic. Not good for the environment or for the workers that handle them. To avoid environmental and health risks, German Fred Butler uses a new technology that replaces solvents like perchloroethylene with carbon dioxide. Their method works by placing clothes or other textiles in a cleansing machine, removing the air and letting CO2 fill the vacuum. High pressure combined with bio-degradable cleansers ensures dirt particles are removed from fabric. The carbon dioxide used is a by-product of industrial processes and once a cycle has been completed, 98% of the carbon dioxide is filtered and reused. Fred Butler claims that clothes cleaned using this procedure are less likely to lose their colour and shape than if treated with conventional methods because the cleaning is done at very low temperatures, 5–15 degrees Celsius, and with gentle detergents. The patented process has been certified eco-safe by Nordic Swan, and costs to consumers are on a par with traditional dry cleaning. Since the equipment needed requires large investments, Fred Butler works with centralized regional plants and a network of franchisees operating dedicated stores, store-in-stores and service points in office buildings—currently 19 in Sweden, 13 in Germany, 11 in the Netherlands and 11 in Denmark—and is looking to expand rapidly by signing on new franchisees. The concept was developed by Linde AG, Europe’s second largest supplier of industrial and medical gases, which is making its first move to B2C through Fred Butler. If the environmental and health benefits are convincingly communicated to consumers, they could be on to something—while greenwashing is a no-no, green cleaning is a definite go. (Related: Laundry chic and EcoHangers.) Website: www.fredbutler.com Spotted by: Treehugger
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Commuters, students and others who rely heavily on mobile devices but may often find themselves with time on their hands can now tap into a free online source for stories, essays, jokes and other text files that can be downloaded to their mobiles, read at their convenience and then sent to others via SMS. Wattpad operates much like YouTube, with users supplying files to share with one another. To get started, all customers need are compatible devices and data plans, and they can download Wattpad directly through their mobile Internet browsers at no charge—the site is financed by advertising dollars. Community members can share just about any type of text files—short stories, news articles, study notes, movie reviews—anything, provided they have the appropriate copyrights. They can even upload shopping lists, driving directions or reminders (though they should bear in mind that these files are accessible to the entire Wattpad community!). Top 3 this week: an essay by Albert Einstein, a dialogue-only short story by science fiction writer Terry Bisson, and quotes from The Simpsons. Wattpad supports a large variety of languages and special characters, and users can log onto the website to post comments, browse categories and interact with other members. Those who are looking for something particular can even post requests to the community at large via a bulletin board on the site.As with any Web 2.0 venture, Wattpad's success relies largely upon its ability to build a rich community—with more than 13 million pages already delivered to mobile phones, they're off to quite a start! Could be a handy new venue for viral marketing, too. (Related: Novels for the very small screen.) Website: www.wattpad.com
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