Paperless File Cabinets

We all know that there is a major shift happening with record keeping.  It's all going electronic.  Almost all bills can be received via email and paid online.  Medical records are going electronic too. 

A few weeks ago we checked out at the Apple Store and the sales person asked, "Do you want a receipt or should I just email it to you?"

On top of that  people are beginning to accumulate photos and videos on there computers, but don't have a consistent backup of those files.

What if someone would come to your house and set up an electronic filing cabinet?   Here's what you'd get:

1. Scanning of all the files currently in your file cabinet saved to electronic folders instead
2. Electronic billing setup for all your bills
3. Filters and rules set up in your email inbox to make sure they are all filed consistently
4. A server set up to back up all of your files each day
5. Instruction  on how to stay organized
6. Instruction on how to label all of the people in your photos so that they are easily searchable

What do you think?  Could you charge enough to pay for the time?  Would it be hard to get people to trust the company with personal information?

Home Energy Consulting

Test homes for energy efficiency and sell them on improvements.  Reseal windows instead of replacing them, suggest solar panels, replace heating filters, fill attics and crawl spaces with more insulation, etc.

Concession Trailer

I'm not talking about buying an old truck that plays terrible jingles at ridiculously high volumes. I'm talking about rethinking the ice cream truck concept altogether.

It wouldn't be very hard to compete with any ice cream truck I've seen in the last 5 years.  All you really have to do is accept a credit card. 

Here's what I'm picturing.  

• Shops pulled behind Hummers
• Glass all the way around the shop so that people can see in easily
• 4 workers with 4 credit card machines to keep the lines moving quickly
• Full coffee bar functionality
• Fresh baked cookies
• Stereo system with Jack Johnson playing
• A second truck nearby dedicated to selling alcohol

It's almost summer and pretty soon there will be a lot of parks full of hungry people watching a softball or soccer game.  There is a business opportunity here. 

Honor System Vending Machines

It's a small refridgerator stocked with drinks, and a coffee cup beside it.  Prices are clearly marked so people know it isn't free. Even better if it has food, candy and gum for as well.  

It's critical to have an office environment or a common break area at a workplace for this.  Wouldn't want to try it at a mall or anything.

Another key here is using $0.25 incriments on prices.  It just needs to be easy for people to make change.

So I've actually tried this one and it's working right now on a small scale.   I actually stole this basic idea from a book, and then I modified it for my work situation.  The idea I read about was somebody who delivered bagels to a whole bunch of offices in California every day with a box for people to leave money.

I have been doing this for 6 months, and it's consistently bringing in revenue.  Cans of soda, chips, and muffins are the staples. 

Could this be done on a large scale?  Could I be the honor-system-vending-machine-guy for my entire city?

The Relaxing Tourist Shop

I know, it's hard to imagine.  But what if you were on vacation and you found a little shop?  You've been walking around with your camera paying for overpriced items left and right.  Then you walk into a store that has souvenirs at reasonable prices.  It has a places to sit and relaxing music in the background.  

The big advantage is that you find a bunch of things that are just helpful for your trip.  It could have very simple activity plans for people with directions to everything for $2.  It could have coupon books for different area attractions that they can purchase for $5, but will save them much more.  I think there are lots of products that it could stock actually if given a bit of thought.

It just might make some money.

Prepackaged School Supplies

What if you could go into a single store, or go online, answer short list of questions about each of your kids, and have school supplies shipped to your house the week before classes?

Would you pay $40-50 per child to know that they had everything they need for chemistry class, art, math, and history and that you wouldn't have to spend your entire Saturday driving around?

You might have to do some serious research on the different schools and teachers, but you could also start with one school.  A single school with 1,000 kids is still profitable.  If  you managed to get 10% of the school to use your service, that's $4,000 gross revenue.  If half of that is profit, you just made $2,000 for packaging school supplies for 100 people. 

I give this idea a 6 out of 10 so far.  It has room to improve still.   It's missing something I think, but it's a start.

Home Grocery Delivery

This business would actively keep track of the best sales on meat, fresh produce, cereal, milk, and all the main essentials.   Then it would send sales people through neighborhoods on a Saturday morning at 9:00.  Essentially the sales person would say, "Hey I'm going to the grocery store, do you need me to pick something up for you?"

They would develop relationships with the neighborhood to gain their trust, and they would deliver the groceries later that afternoon.  Delivery fee would be 5% of the total order.   Pick up $5,000 worth of groceries each week to deliver to 25 people, make $250.  Sales rep gets $200 for a day's work, company keeps $50.