New Business Ideas/Opportunities Featured In This Issue:
MOBILE
Mobile Phone Ads
Cellular phone carriers like Verizon, Sprint and Cingular, now the new AT&T, are beginning to test and roll out advertising on mobile phone screens and their subscribers will enjoy improved mobile Internet services and content provided free or at reduced prices.
SMS Your Wine
After encountering a great wine in a restaurant or at a friend's house, instead of vowing to remember the name and vintage, Dutch consumers can now dash off an sms to BuyYourWine.com. The online wine seller will then get back to them with a price and delivery details.
RETAIL
Social Retailing
The Social Retailing technology uses an in-store three-paneled "magic mirror" that can send photos or videos of shoppers in outfit options to their MySpace page or to friend's emails and mobiles for instant opinions.
TOURISM
Teen Concierge
Four Seasons hotels hire teen concierges who specialize in providing tips on cool hangouts, stores and activities. Other hotels feature teen-focused spa treatments, such as makeup lessons and facials for acne-prone skin. And some, such as Loews Coronado, are setting aside space and events just for adolescents.
CULTURE & MUSIC
Social Networking for Kids
Thankfully, there are several sites that a 9-year-old can explore without alarming their parents, including Whyville.net, ClubPenguin.com and even National Geographic, which has a My Page for kids. Disney, is jumping into the social-networking and pledges will be safe for children.
TECHNOLOGY
Bone Wedding Ring
"With this bone, I thee wed." Five U.K. couples recently sealed their vows by exchanging rings made from their own bone tissue, grown in the lab from sample cells. Scientists harvested the cells from tiny slivers extracted from the couples' jawbones.
HOMES & LIVING
Sexy Homes
Just ask brothers and business partners Michael and Ronald Lipka, who launched SexyFurnishings.com in April 2001 - and kissed their decidedly un-sexy backgrounds in accounting and engineering goodbye. The secret, they found, was being able to sell sexy at an affordable price.
Omopping
Cleaning products had never exactly excited us until we discovered method. You may be tempted to cheat on your Swiffer with their new ergonomically correct omop that comes with a washable microfiber mop pad.
FOOD & BEVERAGES
Chicken on the Go
In December, Bumble Bee began selling packaged, cooked, skinless and boneless chicken breasts that are intended as entrees and can be heated in ovens or microwaves. The chicken is available in three seasoned varieties: garlic and herb, southwest seasonings and barbecue sauce.
Create Your Own Fizzy Drink
Soda-Club machines let consumers control the flavor and fizz levels of their seltzers and soda pops by making them right at home. Carbonated soft drink consumption is down, but a product that emphasizes control, personalization, value and reduction of bottle waste stands a chance of revitalizing the category once again.
Meals and Wheels
Victor and Elvia Galindo first started selling chips and sodas to keep tire-shop customers out of the way. In 2004, Elvia turned that into a full-time restaurant. Now Victor’s Tires is more than a tire shop. It’s a place where neighbors gather to socialize and catch up. A surefire way to build customer loyalty: Serve them good food.
HEALTH & BEAUTY
Instant Dentistry
Instant messaging. Video-on-demand. And now, instant crowns. D4D, a digital dental system that makes and fits new teeth in a single visit, is in clinical field trials awaiting final FDA approval. Dentists capture an image of the tooth site with a handheld scanner and feed it into a software program to model the design.
Cupid Scent
New research in the emerging science of aromachology has shown that a woman’s sense of smell is the gateway to increased desire and sexual well-being. Recently introduced to North America, the Scentuelle patch consists of a complex combination of scent molecules that stimulate the libido by targeting the brain’s smell receptors.
DESIGN
Clinic Dining
The Clinic resembles an organized maze with pill shaped rooms interlocking into one another for easy access. The Clinic has two floors. The first fulfills your entertainment requirements, with a number of bars, a dance club, and merchandise store. The entire floor is clinic inspired, that is to say 'hospital chic' adorned.
Portable Bar
This portable bar allows you a quick bar set up, anytime anywhere, and has everything you need at your fingertips. The bar includes ice well, a full size bus bin with additional inserts for another eight juice containers, bottles, and other extra supplies.
ONLINE & SOCIAL NETWORKS
STUART
Created by famed art collector Charles Saatchi, STUART (“Student Art”) aims to connect collectors that are unable to physically attend every gallery and view new works for themselves with the students that need help finding an audience for their talents. Students create profiles and upload their art, and can then chat online, giving each other feedback and of course, networking with important collectors.
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CoolBusinessIdeas Newsletter Issue 25
