Innovation That Matters

Sachet marketing Snap Pak

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Sendandsee Group
Beard Papa’s

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Blue Afro wigs + Segways in the office + young, enthusiastic employees with a taste for fun = junk? Surprisingly, the answer is yes, and this unique formula is helping 1-800-Got-Junk? turn trash into treasure. The image most consumers have of the garbage removal business is utilitarian and industrial at best. More often, the phrase ‘junk removal’ conjures visions of feral-looking dogs patrolling razor-wire fences while men in dirty jeans and stained t-shirts unload cast-offs from rusty trucks. Not a good visual to sell a valuable service: after all, at one time or another everybody has stuff the Salvation Army won’t take, but very few folks want stains across the carpet when they come to remove that old couch, or risk back-breaking adventures by doing it themselves. No longer: 1-800-Got-Junk has managed to transform junk removal from industrial and unappealing to convenient, friendly, and fun. Now billed as ‘North America’s Largest Junk Removal Company’, 1-800-Got-Junk got its start when CEO and Founder Brian Scudamore had a tough time getting a summer job in 1989. He bought a used pick-up truck and started a junk removal service he christened ‘Rubbish Boys’. By 1996, Rubbish Boys hit $1 million in annual revenue; in 1998 Scudamore changed the name to 1-800-Got-Junk, and the first franchise was opened in 1999. 1-800-Got-Junk combines a tech-savvy structure with aggressive grassroots marketing to bring reasonably-priced junk removal to the masses. Snappy blue service trucks are designed to double as moving billboards, and employees wearing trademark blue Afro wigs attend local fairs, ride Segways through the streets, and even stand by the side of the road and hand out discount coupons called ‘JunkBucks’. (more…)
Canadian 2 Magazine Lucky and Cargo

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The Spot,

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Ah, wine, that wondrous, versatile child of the simple grape. 2.52 billion cases of wine were consumed worldwide in 2003; that’s almost 5 bottles for every single human being on the planet. But only a very small percentage of wine drinkers have knowledge of vino that extends beyond “I’ll have a glass of your house red.” The sheer volume of wine facts can be daunting: over 5,000 varieties of grapes from dozens of regions worldwide are coaxed, coddled, blended, and aged into a staggering array of red, white, rose, still, sparkling, and fortified wines. With so many enthusiastic but under-informed wine lovers, The Traveling Vineyard and Berry Brothers & Rudd tasted and smelled an opportunity. The Traveling Vineyard is the home-based business arm of Geerlings & Wade, a US-based direct marketer of wine and wine accessories. Anyone interested in hosting a wine tasting party can call on the Traveling Vineyard rep in their area (called an Independent Personal Wine Consultant), who will work with the host to organize an at-home event for 10-20 friends. In short, Traveling Vineyard at-home wine tastings are like Tupperware parties for wine — their website bills the events as “a party in a box!”. The company began running events in April of 2002, and now boasts over 100 Personal Wine Consultants in 11 states in the US. On the other end of the spectrum is Berry Brothers & Rudd’s home wine service. Berry Brothers & Rudd (BBR) is Britain’s oldest wine and spirit merchant and one of the oldest in the world, trading from the same shop for over 300 years. Berry Brothers & Rudd offers at-home service that includes one’s very own private sommelier. Prices start at 250 British pounds ($440 USD) for advice and an introductory tasting (for a maximum of 15 guests) up to 1000 British pounds ($1750 USD) or more for a completely tutored evening. (more…)