Exercise videos - definitely not a new concept. However, what happens after you buy one and use it a few times? Usually you get bored with it and it sits there gathering dust. Why do you get bored? Because it is the same thing over and over.
DVDs allow for the video to be segmented - where you can jump right to a specific part of the DVD, right? What if someone used that idea in an exercise dvd - it would make millions!
The DVD would consist of, say, 10 warm up segments, 10 cool down segments, 10 cardio routines, 10 arm exercises, 10 ab routines - you get the point. The startup screen would allow you to choose a length (15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes?) and a focus (cardio, arms, abs, etc). The DVD would then have the intelligence to randomly choose a few segments to build your workout to the request you specified. Think about it - you could have hundreds of different routines all on one DVD!
The segments could be taped in a way that you don't notice the jumping around transitions (i.e. all begin and end with you in the same position). If done correctly, it could seem like you have a new DVD every time you run it.
You could also add a functionality to increase/decrease in realtime. If your arms aren't feeling it you could hit "more" on the screen and get another arm exercise or vice versa. You could also pick your soundtrack on the start screen.
The biggest hurdle is building a decision making mechanism into DVDs. I have no doubt it can be done, I just don't know where to start.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Breath Freshening Water Idea
I love my dogs. They are my children and treated as such. And I often lean in to give them the kisses they so obviously deserve. And I often lean out just as fast when I get a whiff of the dead-fish-put-in-a-blender-with-used-gym-socks-and-feces smell that wafts out of Oliver's mouth. He has the worst breath I have ever dealt with! I used to work in a vets office, and trust me when I say Oliver takes the cake for smelliest dog breath.
I started trying to brush his teeth. If you have ever tried to get a 65 pound dog to sit still while putting something that tastes like liver in his mouth but not letting him eat it, you will know it is impossible. He just kept trying to eat the tooth brush! So then I read on the Internet somewhere about soaking a tug-o-war rope in chicken broth and drying it - so it acts as dental floss when they chew on it. Can't say it did much of anything. I know there are mints out there but realistically Oliver would go through 4 packs a day if I wanted him to have fresh breath always. I buy so many of those "long-lasting" dental bones and chewies only to find them gone within 3 minutes.
So then I was thinking - what is something dogs do all of the time that could have a mouth-cleaning agent put into it? Drink water!
What if there was a mouthwash for dogs? Completely safe to drink. Maybe comes in a packet you empty into their water bowl every morning, maybe comes pre-mixed in bottles (hey - don't knock it, I just heard the first bottled water for dogs has hit the shelves this month). Of course they wouldn't swish it around like we do so it wouldn't be as effective, but what if each time they lapped up some water there were germ-fighting things in the water that killed off smelly bacteria? It would take a few days to get to a point you would notice a difference, but I think after a while it could significantly improve the dog's breath. It could improve their mouth health as well, maybe have a plaque-fighting agent in there (so I never have to try to brush his teeth again).
And while we are at it, why not make a similar product for people? Everyone hears twice a year how they don't brush enough from their dentist. There is such a huge push for people to drink more water anyways, Why not combine the two? Imagine if you never had to pretend someone didn't have horrible breath again. Chomping on gum has the same affect but is frowned upon in professional situations. Mints only last so long. But if you are sipping on water throughout the day that is slowly killing off bacteria, then before you know it you can be confident of fresh smelling breath.
I started trying to brush his teeth. If you have ever tried to get a 65 pound dog to sit still while putting something that tastes like liver in his mouth but not letting him eat it, you will know it is impossible. He just kept trying to eat the tooth brush! So then I read on the Internet somewhere about soaking a tug-o-war rope in chicken broth and drying it - so it acts as dental floss when they chew on it. Can't say it did much of anything. I know there are mints out there but realistically Oliver would go through 4 packs a day if I wanted him to have fresh breath always. I buy so many of those "long-lasting" dental bones and chewies only to find them gone within 3 minutes.
So then I was thinking - what is something dogs do all of the time that could have a mouth-cleaning agent put into it? Drink water!
What if there was a mouthwash for dogs? Completely safe to drink. Maybe comes in a packet you empty into their water bowl every morning, maybe comes pre-mixed in bottles (hey - don't knock it, I just heard the first bottled water for dogs has hit the shelves this month). Of course they wouldn't swish it around like we do so it wouldn't be as effective, but what if each time they lapped up some water there were germ-fighting things in the water that killed off smelly bacteria? It would take a few days to get to a point you would notice a difference, but I think after a while it could significantly improve the dog's breath. It could improve their mouth health as well, maybe have a plaque-fighting agent in there (so I never have to try to brush his teeth again).
And while we are at it, why not make a similar product for people? Everyone hears twice a year how they don't brush enough from their dentist. There is such a huge push for people to drink more water anyways, Why not combine the two? Imagine if you never had to pretend someone didn't have horrible breath again. Chomping on gum has the same affect but is frowned upon in professional situations. Mints only last so long. But if you are sipping on water throughout the day that is slowly killing off bacteria, then before you know it you can be confident of fresh smelling breath.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Exercise Machine Idea
I was watching tv the other day and there was a commercial where someone was looking for something they lost, which turned out to be a big glob of fat. I am sure I didn't do the commercial justice by that description, but that was essentially the point. It was supposed to depict how easy it is to "lose" weight by just doing little things - like taking the stairs, parking farther from the office, etc. While the commercial severely disturbed me (you try to go to sleep after seeing a huge glob of jello-y fat sitting down by the river), the idea is a good one and it got me thinking.
Most people who don't exercise claim it is because of lack of time. Yet so much of our lives is spent waiting. What if that waiting time could be turned into exercise time? I am not talking full sweaty workouts, I just mean something to keep the body moving instead of sitting in a chair.
Picture you are at the airport. Your flight just got delayed another 20 minutes - not long enough to justify lugging all of your baggage away from the gate to find something to do, so you plop down for another wait. What if there was exercise equipment - a treadmill, a stationary bike, etc - right there at the gate. You could just move a few feet from your chair and get moving while still reading your magazine and leaving your bags where they are. Or if you're settling in for a long night at the local laundromat. Or stuck in a hospital waiting room for days on end - not wanting to leave in case the doctors need you but needing to do something to get feeling back in your extremities. Or anywhere else we waste our time waiting.
Equipment requires upkeep and investment costs - true. That is where the "invention" part of this idea comes in. What if you took the piece of exercise equipment and married it with the business plan of a vending machine. The equipment was rigged with a coin/bill/credit card collector and the user paid, say, $1 per half hour to use it. The venues wouldn't really own the equipment, just lease the space to the owner of the equipment. The owner would be the one collecting money, maintaining machines, negotiating new venues, etc.
These could even get built into their own "gyms" - just some rented space where people paid by the half hour to work out instead of blowing $50/month to only end up going a few times.
I guess to me, I am tired of hearing how fat and lazy Americans are. So let's make it as convenient as possible for people to shape up and maybe they will.
Most people who don't exercise claim it is because of lack of time. Yet so much of our lives is spent waiting. What if that waiting time could be turned into exercise time? I am not talking full sweaty workouts, I just mean something to keep the body moving instead of sitting in a chair.
Picture you are at the airport. Your flight just got delayed another 20 minutes - not long enough to justify lugging all of your baggage away from the gate to find something to do, so you plop down for another wait. What if there was exercise equipment - a treadmill, a stationary bike, etc - right there at the gate. You could just move a few feet from your chair and get moving while still reading your magazine and leaving your bags where they are. Or if you're settling in for a long night at the local laundromat. Or stuck in a hospital waiting room for days on end - not wanting to leave in case the doctors need you but needing to do something to get feeling back in your extremities. Or anywhere else we waste our time waiting.
Equipment requires upkeep and investment costs - true. That is where the "invention" part of this idea comes in. What if you took the piece of exercise equipment and married it with the business plan of a vending machine. The equipment was rigged with a coin/bill/credit card collector and the user paid, say, $1 per half hour to use it. The venues wouldn't really own the equipment, just lease the space to the owner of the equipment. The owner would be the one collecting money, maintaining machines, negotiating new venues, etc.
These could even get built into their own "gyms" - just some rented space where people paid by the half hour to work out instead of blowing $50/month to only end up going a few times.
I guess to me, I am tired of hearing how fat and lazy Americans are. So let's make it as convenient as possible for people to shape up and maybe they will.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Grocery Store Idea
I am by no means a saint, but I try to be environmentally conscious - I turn off lights, unplug my not-in-use chargers, limit my shower time, etc. But one thing I cannot seem to get a handle on is my garbage. It seems like whenever I turn around I am throwing away a perfectly good - but empty - shampoo bottle, juice jug, or cereal box. Yeah, it should prompt me to recycle more than I do, but instead it got me thinking about packaging in general. Think about everything in your house that comes in a package you just toss out (basically everything). The amount of waste is staggering.
What if there was a new type of grocery store that was more of a refill station? You bring in a shampoo bottle and just refill it from a big vat, or scoop out more potato chips into your reusable potato chip bag, or count out how ever many aspirin you want. Think of how much money we would all save when the packaging costs were cut out and how much less waste we would contribute to the world.
Sure, there might be an initial investment in some reusable containers. And there would be a lot of logistics to figure out - like how do you tag things to know what people have in their containers and do you price by weight/amount/volume/kitty cats (making sure you were still awake)? How do you ensure freshness when there aren't sealed bags? Do you force the customer to use the store's approved reusable containers or their own? Maybe the customer brings back their old containers and picked up new ones each time so they were clean (then the store would clean yours and give them to someone else)?
And of course the store wouldn't be the only one with a new concept - the product manufacturers themselves would have to get onboard with this to provide goods sans packaging. The store would return the bins that held the product to the manufacturer for their own refills.
Also, customers would have to be ok with the limited brand choices - it wouldn't be efficient to have 35 different types of toothpaste to choose from. But Costco has long lived by the 1 brand name/1 private label product choices and people are still flocking there.
What do you guys think? Would you go to a store that required a bit more work (bringing your own containers) to save a lot of money and help the environment at the same time?
What if there was a new type of grocery store that was more of a refill station? You bring in a shampoo bottle and just refill it from a big vat, or scoop out more potato chips into your reusable potato chip bag, or count out how ever many aspirin you want. Think of how much money we would all save when the packaging costs were cut out and how much less waste we would contribute to the world.
Sure, there might be an initial investment in some reusable containers. And there would be a lot of logistics to figure out - like how do you tag things to know what people have in their containers and do you price by weight/amount/volume/kitty cats (making sure you were still awake)? How do you ensure freshness when there aren't sealed bags? Do you force the customer to use the store's approved reusable containers or their own? Maybe the customer brings back their old containers and picked up new ones each time so they were clean (then the store would clean yours and give them to someone else)?
And of course the store wouldn't be the only one with a new concept - the product manufacturers themselves would have to get onboard with this to provide goods sans packaging. The store would return the bins that held the product to the manufacturer for their own refills.
Also, customers would have to be ok with the limited brand choices - it wouldn't be efficient to have 35 different types of toothpaste to choose from. But Costco has long lived by the 1 brand name/1 private label product choices and people are still flocking there.
What do you guys think? Would you go to a store that required a bit more work (bringing your own containers) to save a lot of money and help the environment at the same time?
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Why am I qualified to write about business ideas?
Since this is my first blog, let me get a little background out of the way. Since I have been born I have been inventing things. Some of you may know my semi-famous "paper-cut-sling" in which an entire beach towel was used to ensure nothing touched my horrendously painful paper-cut when I was 4. Later on I graduated to experiments which made my parents look carefully before eating anything out of the refrigerator. More recently I have been linked to the million-dollar-in-the-making inventions such as LBC and Nexeccories (both to be detailed in later posts).
What does this have to do with anything? It is simply supporting evidence that I have always loved ideas and brainstorming new things. I never really thought about that becoming a career option, so instead I went on to get a Computer Science degree and proceeded to illicit jokes about taped glasses and pocket protectors.
However, on the side my passion has remained to build something new - an invention, a business, a concept - whatever. Although I am currently taking MBA classes, before this I had no business background whatsoever. So my life has been one real-world learning experience after another - each idea getting further than the next. From learning about DBAs/sole proprietorships (for my own jewelry business) to writing provisional patents (since the real things are too expensive for my blood) to tax laws by state (for my eCommerce business) to China export laws - I am soaking it up like a sponge.
By now you are asking yourself why I am not in Forbes Top Ten yet, right? Me too. It seems like so many of the ideas I have are not feasible for me to take on. They are additions to existing industries which I know nothing about. Or they would be simple for someone who already manufactures a similar product but notsomuch for no-manufacturing-hookups-at-all Jenn.
Finally, we get to the point of the blog! I want to share my ideas with the world. Maybe I can't pull them off, but maybe you can. Own a grocery store? I got a million dollar idea for you. What about a mouthwash company? I can make you rich - trust me.
"But people don't just GIVE away their ideas" you shriek. Well, I am. If you have a company or product you want me to brainstorm on in a future blog, just email me or leave a comment. I love doing it - coming up with new ideas or how something can break into a new market. Maybe at some point someone will want to hire me to brainstorm just for them (minus the whole "giving it away to the world" aspect). Until then, let's hope this saves my friends from having to listen to yet another of my new ideas - lol.
What does this have to do with anything? It is simply supporting evidence that I have always loved ideas and brainstorming new things. I never really thought about that becoming a career option, so instead I went on to get a Computer Science degree and proceeded to illicit jokes about taped glasses and pocket protectors.
However, on the side my passion has remained to build something new - an invention, a business, a concept - whatever. Although I am currently taking MBA classes, before this I had no business background whatsoever. So my life has been one real-world learning experience after another - each idea getting further than the next. From learning about DBAs/sole proprietorships (for my own jewelry business) to writing provisional patents (since the real things are too expensive for my blood) to tax laws by state (for my eCommerce business) to China export laws - I am soaking it up like a sponge.
By now you are asking yourself why I am not in Forbes Top Ten yet, right? Me too. It seems like so many of the ideas I have are not feasible for me to take on. They are additions to existing industries which I know nothing about. Or they would be simple for someone who already manufactures a similar product but notsomuch for no-manufacturing-hookups-at-all Jenn.
Finally, we get to the point of the blog! I want to share my ideas with the world. Maybe I can't pull them off, but maybe you can. Own a grocery store? I got a million dollar idea for you. What about a mouthwash company? I can make you rich - trust me.
"But people don't just GIVE away their ideas" you shriek. Well, I am. If you have a company or product you want me to brainstorm on in a future blog, just email me or leave a comment. I love doing it - coming up with new ideas or how something can break into a new market. Maybe at some point someone will want to hire me to brainstorm just for them (minus the whole "giving it away to the world" aspect). Until then, let's hope this saves my friends from having to listen to yet another of my new ideas - lol.
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