Archives for 2005

I’m sharing some more of the ideas I randomly write down in my tablet PC which could possibly be big money makers. Feel free to comment on these!

1.) Drycleaning ATM. Picking up dry cleaning during regular business hours is a pain, and very frustrating when you need certain clothes. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a dry cleaning ATM? Drycleaners would LOVE this since it would eliminate the need for a person to attend the store for long hours. You could pick-up and drop off clothes at this ATM which would hold your account information on a current credit card or something of the sort. You could even type special cleaning instructions. The drawbacks to this system are: it would initially be expensive to install, the building where the dry cleaner is located would have to be specially outfitted with this system. If you could find a way to make an affordable and easy to use system like this, it would change the face of dry cleaning!

2.) Wind Energy. Wind farms are popping up everywhere. The only problem with wind farms are the price. Wind generated turbines are absolutely massive. The blades get larger than the span of a Boeing 747. Once set up in a good location these things generate killowatts of energy every year that you sell to the power company. Most power companies will give you a contract that buys 100% of the electricity you produce. These also qualify to get certain tax breaks, great for any large investment. An interesting note: In Austin they have a program where you can opt to buy only “green” electricity from the city. In just two years the demand for this clean energy has risen over 5-fold, meaning this type of clean energy is in high demand. Be warned, the small investor will have a hard time breaking into this market….BUT…an enterprising person with a small budget but lots of motivation can get funding from other investors easier than with other large products. This is because you can easily get a contract from an electric company to buy 100% of your product (electricity) for 10+ years.

3.) Tablet PC’s. This is more of a trend than business idea. I have a Toshiba Portege Tablet PC, and I LOVE it. It is basically a regular laptop, but the mouse can be controlled with a pen. You can also flip the screen around and write directly on the screen, and it feels exactly like writing on paper. Have no doubt, the tablet trend will continue. I generally use it in regular laptop mode, but I use the pen instead of the mouse pad because the pen is FAR superior and faster. If you can identify a need for tablet PC’s you can make a ton of money by getting in this budding market early. A family friend who sells wholesale computer equipment said, “I sell A LOT of tablet PC’s, especially to large institutions and government agencies.” The only idea I have to improve my tablet experience is the pen. You use it a lot, and it might be cool to have “customized tablet pens”. These are more sophisticated than a regular stylus, as the screen is not touch sensitive (like a PDA), but the pen is what senses the touch. Most people don’t realize this important difference. I’m sure if you play around with a Tablet enough you can find some other device that can make the experience more enjoyable. The most money in the tablet-improvement field will probably be in the software area, not hardware.

Every so often I like to list a few business ideas I write down. Some of these ideas can actually be pretty big money makers if properly carried through with. Feel free to comment. Enjoy!

1.) Color Changing Urinal. A urinal that changes color when it comes in contact with “liquid.” C’mon guys, how cool would it be to relieve yourself and draw a picture in the urinal at the same time! When you flush, the “drawing” would be erased. A fish tank urinal would also be pretty neat, and might even get some press coverage.

2.) Legal Street Racing. Around my house, people from all walks of life meet every weekend on an industrial road which is slightly longer than a 1/4 mile long. Some states have found that people will race no matter what, so they legalized it in certain areas. The racers only need a helmet to participate. This way the racers are happy and the authorities are happy they are away from street traffic. If you could legalize an operation like this in your area, you could easily sell all sorts of concession snacks and beverages every weekend. An easier idea would be to find the places racers meet, and sell chips, cokes etc. out of the back of a truck.

3.) Urinal TV Advertising. Once he is at a urinal, you have a mans’ absolute, undivided attention. When a patron approches the urinal, a 20-30 second TV advertisement can play right in front of his face. This is actually a really good idea. Don’t ask me why I have so many urinal ideas!

4.) Solar Power. In Austin they have started a program that allows residential homes to recieve up to a $5,000 check per year simply for having a solar system on your home (that generates a certain amount of power). You could offer free installation of solar panels on homes in exchange for these yearly checks. A lot of people would jump at the chance for “absolutely free” solar panels, especially in green-place like Austin. Outfitting a home with a solar panel system generally costs $15,000 – $20,000. For commerical buildings, the city writes checks of up to $100,000 per year. Looking out at my aparment complex, putting solar panels on each roof would be discreet and bring in 100 grand per year, plus save the complex tons of money. This was an idea I was pretty involved with for a while. The solar industry is becoming huge in the United States, take advantage of it!