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Another week, another selection of interesting new business ideas from around the world: German kitchens for manly men (by Porsche), a British web tool that uses images to let tenants request repairs, vending machines for kosher food in the United States, and more. Our next edition is due on 24 October 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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Few possessions are closer to married consumers' hearts than their wedding rings, but purchase decisions have traditionally been limited to figuring out whether to buy one ready-made or to ask a jeweller to make a custom one. Now New York Wedding Ring is offering consumers a third possibility: make it themselves. Consumers are well-acquainted with the "make or buy" decision from many aspects of their lives, but rarely has jewellery been one of them because of the skill and equipment required. New York Wedding Ring, however, is changing that with private, full-day workshops in which couples can design and craft their engagement or wedding rings. A professional jeweller guides them at each stage of the process as they work with platinum, gold, palladium, or mokume gane; by the end of the day, they will have crafted professional-quality rings through an experience they'll always remember. Pricing begins at USD 1,075 for a set of two simple palladium wedding rings crafted in a one-day workshop; more elaborate designs tend to require a second day, and cost an additional USD 850. New York Wedding Ring operates studios in both New York and San Francisco. Kids already have Build-A-Bear Workshops and Ridemakerz—now there's an opportunity for grownups with wedding funds at the ready. It's the Experience Economy at work, and the concept dovetails nicely with the customization and crafts trends. What else might consumers be eager to make themselves…? Website: www.newyorkweddingring.com Spotted by: Susanna Haynie
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Jointly designed by German furniture company Poggenpohl Möbelwerke and Porsche Design Group, the new kitchen P’7340 features purist styling, innovative materials and a modular design based on lots of aluminium, glass and brushed wood. A special highlight of the kitchen is a handle-free design in which a gentle touch of the finger causes pull-out elements and drawers to open as if by magic; a light push, meanwhile, makes them withdraw and retreat automatically to their original position. Miele & Cie. KG is the exclusive supplier of all appliances, from ovens to steam cookers to dishwashers, with styling to match the rest of the kitchen. Appliance operation is via sensor keys instead of buttons, with user-friendly dialogue displays. Did we mention the high tech audio-video system, without which no male-oriented product would be complete? The one in the Porsche kitchen sports an anodised aluminium frame with ultra-glossy surfaces in back-painted glass. All electronics in the built-in LCD module are installed behind glass for protection, and they require no ventilation system. A diminutive plug-and-play sound system offers both analogue and digital connections. Elmar Duffner, managing director of Poggenpohl, explains: “In recent years, kitchens have turned into event and representation areas frequently equipped with audio systems. Our cooperation with Porsche Design enabled us to design a kitchen whose sleek and functional design language specifically addresses male customers.” The new kitchen will be on display as a show kitchen and sold in Poggenpohl studios around the world as of spring 2008. US availability will begin in the summer. The lesson here? There are few things that can't be upgraded, segmented or otherwise refined, and kitchens are no exception—if they can reflect a little personal style, all the better. Next, how about some men-only cooking lessons...? Website: www.poggenpohl.de Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen
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Consumers who eat only certified kosher food have had limited on-the-go options, creating a gap in the market that Kosher Vending Industries is happy to fill with their new Hot Nosh 24/6 vending machines. (Although the machines run 24/7, Orthodox Jews don't use electric devices during Sabbath.) According to KVI, Hot Nosh 24/6 is the first vending machine to serve hot food that's certified kosher. Hot Nosh 24/6 currently offers two configurations: a hot dog machine serves up three types of hot dogs/sausages, with a built-in condiment dispenser. A second machine offers a range of hot snacks, including deep dish cheese pizza, mozzarella sticks, veggie cutlets, potato knish and onion rings. Earlier this year, KVI attracted a large investment from Ruby Azrak, former Phat Farm executive and partner to hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, and the company is now seeking vending operators around the US to expand nationwide. Hot Nosh 24/6 machines will be installed at hospitals, malls, airports and colleges. One to partner with and distribute in other parts of the world? Or find your own niche—how about vegan or halal? (Related: Halal baby food — Vending goes organic.) Website: www.koshervendingindustries.com Spotted by: Michael Mandel
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Managers of buildings and housing communities know that collecting and coordinating repair requests on their properties can be a complicated and time-consuming task, particularly when tenants are multicultural and language barriers exist. Housecall simplifies and automates much of the process with a web-based service that relies primarily on pictures. Created by UK-based M3 Housing, Housecall presents tenants with a step-by-step online guide to reporting a problem. They begin by specifying what broad category their problem falls into—plumbing, heat/electric, or roofs/drains, for example—aided by a pictorial representation of each. The graphics-based process continues from there by helping residents zero in on the precise nature of the problem, with pop-up diagnostic prompts when they mouse over relevant images, such as a heater or sink. Finally, before finishing the process with an e-mailed report to the community manager, users have the option of typing in comments. In addition to basing the system on pictures, M3 recently rolled out support for instructions in six additional languages—Gujarati, Punjabi, French, Welsh, Urdu and Arabic—as an added measure of insurance that the reporting process will be accurate. There is also a text-only version for accessibility to visually impaired users and those using mobile browsers. Housecall is an entirely web-based service that runs on M3's server, so it does not require that users or housing managers install software. The system can be configured to match the design of a client's own website, and pricing begins at GBP 700 per year for a community with up to 250 units of housing in management, plus an initial setup fee of GBP 850 in the first year. We've covered several examples of online repair-tagging systems in use by governments, and bringing the technology to the private sector seems like an inevitable next step, since it saves managers time and money by being able to send the appropriate staff and parts to a tenant's home on a first call. Housecall only operates in the UK. One to partner with and roll out in other countries? Website: www.housecall.co.uk Spotted by: Junaid Kazi
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Anyone who's ever taken on the tedious task of tallying up the office lunch order or asking around to get consensus on which restaurant to go to or order from is bound to love the simplicity and convenience of Crazymenu—a new online venture that provides tools to help friends, colleagues and officemates efficiently and easily get their lunch plans in order so they can spend the bulk of their lunch hours actually eating lunch! As with many other dining websites out there, customers can log on to search for restaurants in their area or browse menus, coupons or reviews. But Crazymenu distinguishes itself by featuring a couple of hot new tools to ease the dining or takeout experience. With Pick-A-Place, a member can send out restaurant suggestions to a group of people, who then vote right from their computers, streamlining the democratic process. The Group Order function lets everyone enter their customizable orders and then compiles them to be faxed, emailed or phoned in to the restaurant. Both functions work via email and with major instant messenger applications. What's more, restaurant owners and operators can get in on the action, too, uploading and editing menus as needed, and replying personally to member reviews. Crazymenu claims it can boost business orders by as much as 400 percent. Currently in beta, the site is supported by Google ads, with obvious potential for restaurateurs, travel agencies and the like to buy ad space as well. Crazymenu serves more than a dozen major cities in the United States, Canada and Europe, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Toronto, London and Paris. While the concept was designed with lunches in mind, customers can take advantage of these tools to coordinate any meal or restaurant outing. It's an idea that's likely to be at hit in any city where hungry officemates are scrambling to make lunch or happy hour plans. Website: www.crazymenu.com Spotted by: Susanna Haynie
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Launched earlier this month, Green Thing is an online community that aims to inspire people to 'do the green thing'. Each month, members are given a new task: something straightforward that will help combat climate change. October's Green Thing is 'walk'. Registered users list the number of times they've done this month's thing, when they've done it and how, and Green Thing estimates how many kilograms of CO2 have been saved. At the end of each month, Green Thing announces the total reduction in CO2 realized by the entire community. To make the whole process more entertaining and less doom-and-gloomy, Green Thing has enlisted the help of professional and amateur writers, musicians, designers, directors and artists. In line with this month's Green Thing, for example, users can download walkcasts: podcasts to make their walks more enjoyable, created by contributors like musician/producer Howie B and author Tracy Chevalier. Videos about the current Green Thing are added regularly, and users are encouraged to upload their own content. Founded by Andy Hobsbawm and Naresh Ramchandani, two respected online marketers, the not-for-profit community's target audience isn't your typical crunchy-granola treesitter. In their own words: "We all want to live greener lives these days but often find it too hard, too confusing or too futile to make a habit of it. Green Thing is for those of us—and there's a lot of us—who don't get turned on by the tree-hugging thing, the guilt thing, the scientific thing or the world-is-at-an-end thing. Green Thing is an easy thing, a fun thing, a creative thing and a community thing. It's for anyone who wants to be a bit greener but hasn't found a way." On a larger scale, Green Thing's mission is to create a massive online community of people around the world who are willing to actively help prevent global warming, and to use their collective clout to convince governments and businesses to do the Green Thing, too. One to partner with? Or at least sign up and start making your own lifestyle more sustainable ;-) Website: www.dothegreenthing.com
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When it comes to meeting new people, children tend to have the right idea: just start playing, and everything will be fine. Turns out that premise can work with grownups too, as Play Date Atlanta can attest. Launched two years ago, Play Date Atlanta has created an alternative to the typical club scene by offering Atlanta-area singles and couples a chance to meet one another in a casual atmosphere focused on playing games. No high pressure, no awkward introductions; rather, participants in Play Date Atlanta's monthly events just roll up their sleeves and enter into a little friendly competition. The games available span the spectrum from Monopoly and Yahtzee to Hungry Hungry Hippos and Musical Chairs. The setting is a function room in a local Crowne Plaza hotel, and food and drinks complete the picture. Participants pay a USD 10 entrance fee, which includes free parking. The concept was created by Atlanta-based Green Light Entertainment, which hopes to bring the Play Date movement to other cities, too. Time to start facilitating grown-up play dates in your own neck of the woods? Let the games begin! (Related: Group dating.) Website: www.playdateatl.com Spotted by: Debbie Magley
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Only the most fastidious are likely to look up the health inspection records of restaurants before deciding on a place to dine. And even if they are curious enough to look, actually finding those records could be a chore, since they’re often buried deep within a government agency website. CleanScores provides a hassle-free alternative for hygiene conscious diners in San Francisco. Look up the name of a restaurant on CleanScores’s website and the first thing you’ll see is the score awarded to the eatery during its most recent health inspection. In addition to listing health code violations (ranging from major to minor), there’s even a graph comparing scores during its three most recent inspections, along with a form for visitor comments. Although CleanScores didn’t want to share how or if they intend to make money, a revenue model based on advertising seems like an obvious choice. The cut-to-the-chase rating service is one more example of what our sister site trendwatching.com has labelled transparency tyranny. Companies, governments, thought leaders and others now routinely have their actions scrutinized and evaluated by anyone able to post their opinions online. And public records add a valuable extra layer of information. Millions of visitors regularly check out online reviews of the products or services they’re considering consuming. Which leaves no place to hide for the incompetent, but ad revenues for those willing to publish rants, raves and inspection records. Website: www.cleanscores.com Spotted by: Bill McMahon
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German Bordbar sells original airplane trolleys. Not new ones, but trolleys that have travelled the skies in faithful service to hungry and thirsty travellers, and are now ready to be reintroduced as compact rolling cabinets in homes and offices. Dents and scratches aren’t removed—after all, they’re proof of authenticity—but the trolleys are cleaned up and revamped with one of Bordbar’s graphic designs, printed on laminated foil. Customers can pick a pattern or solid colour, or can have a trolley embellished with their own design or corporate colours. Further customization takes place when ordering: customers add shelves, plastic drawers and aluminium boxes, each of which can be slotted into the trolley’s 27 tracks, making for highly flexible storage units. A built-in pullout shelf, a standard feature, makes the trolleys suitable for use as a makeshift desk or—in line with their heritage—for serving drinks. The basic price for a Bordbar starts at EUR 899, and drawers and shelves are charged separately. Business opportunity for this one? There’s no end to articles that can be reused and repurposed. If done well, you’ll both fill your pockets and help keep landfills from overflowing. Find your niche product, create a good back story and offer customization for customers who want a product that’s even more unique. Website: www.bordbar.de
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For many consumers, personal financial management is an exercise in frustration, particularly if they're trying to coordinate multiple bank relationships or get desktop software to do it for them. Mint, which just made its debut, aims to change all that with its free, fully automatic online service. To begin, users register anonymously with just a valid e-mail; then they enter their log-ins for online bank, credit union and credit card accounts. No need to input data or synchronize accounts—Mint does all that for them—and personal identity always remain hidden. Mint has relationships with more than 3,500 banks, credit unions and credit card providers, and each night it securely downloads transaction data to give users a unified view of all account activity in a single, easy-to-understand interface. Transactions are categorized and organized to show users how much they spend on gas, groceries, parking, rent, restaurants, DVD rentals, etc., while an alert system proactively notifies them about unusual activity, low balances, unwanted fees and charges, and upcoming bills. Mint's revenue model is based on lead generation. The system keeps tabs on the latest offers from hundreds of providers and recommends ways users can save money on interest rates and other expenses. During its beta period, for example, Mint found an average of USD 1,000 in savings opportunities for each user within minutes of setup. Those recommendations are objective and determined by a patent-pending proprietary algorithm, founder and CEO Aaron Patzer says, but if someone chooses to switch to a company that's among Mint’s partners, Mint earns a referral fee. Mint is available 24/7 by web or mobile phone, but currently only to US consumers, of which more than 30,000 have already signed up (plans are in the works for international expansion). Its biggest challenge may be a reluctance on the part of some consumers to hand over that much sensitive information, even if it is anonymously. But the site's outlook is promising: Mint just won the TechCrunch40 Top Company Award, and it has attracted investment from both the venture and angel communities. It's also a good model for the transition from desktop applications to online services. Mint, anyone? (Related: Online receipt organizer thinks inside the box.) Website: www.mint.com Spotted by: Frank Marquardt
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