Mighty Powerful Paving

Excuse the pun but .....  a bright spark has an idea to harvest energy from pedestrians footsteps. 

Inventor Laurence Kemball-Cook, from London, has come up with the idea of a paving stone placed in a busy street and when stepped on it stores the kinetic energy produced.  The patented “Pavegen System” could power lights, computers, automatic doors and ticket machines at tube stations. Five hours of footfall would be enough to power the lights on a bus stop all night. 

A green light mounted in the stone, glows brighter the more energy it has stored. Laurence patented his design shortly after graduating Loughborough University in June and spent three months developing a prototype capable of lasting for 10 years. Even the rubber used on the surface of the stone is environmentally sound - it is made from recycled lorry tyres.  Laurence is now in discussions with councils, transport authoriites and shops to sell the paving stones. He said: ‘I could see it being rolled out all over London.  Imagine how much energy could be stored from a single days shopping on Oxford Street” 

Go to www.pavegensystems.com for more information.

Nokia Money

Nokia is introducing a new service called "Nokia Money." It is new mobile service that allows users to send money to another person just by using the person's mobile phone number. You will also be able to pay merchants for goods and services, pay utility bills, or recharge a prepay SIM cards. Nokia is introducing a network of Nokia Money agents, where customers can deposit or withdraw cash from their accounts. The service is planned to be rolled out gradually this year.

Human Bed Warmers!

I don't think this is a wind up?

A hotel chain is employing human bed warmers in London to help guests get a good night's sleep.

The walking electric blankets are dressed in special all-in-one sleeper suits and are sent to warm the beds of guests staying at the Holiday Inn before they get under the covers.

Dr Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, (it exists - we checked!) said the idea could help people get off to sleep.

He said: "There's plenty of scientific evidence to show that sleep starts at the beginning of the night when body temperature starts to drop. The decline occurs partly because the blood vessels of the hands, face and feet open up and release heat.

"A warm bed - approximately 20 to 24 degrees Celsius - is a good way to start this process whereas a cold bed would inhibit sleep. Holiday Inn's new bed warmers service should help people achieve a good night's sleep especially as it's taking much longer for them to warm up when they come in from the snow."

The five minute free bed warming sessions are also being tried out in Manchester later this month.

Whatever next?

Good business idea - Virtual farmers market

The Virtual Farmer's Market is the brainchild of Marcus Carter who came up with the concept whilst working on his market stall at the Partridges Farmer's Market. He wanted to share the farmer's market experience with more people so they too could share his passion for exquisitely produced artisan food & drink.  Bringing the experience into peoples homes seemed the ideal way to do this as many people do not have the time, or the means, to visit their local farmer's market. The online Virtual Farmer's Market was born.  Seeing the face behind the food has never been more important, and the Virtual Farmer's Market allows shoppers to 'meet' the producer via video streams on the website.

The Virtual Farmer's Market acts as a hub where consumers and independent food manufacturers can trade on-line with national consolidated distribution. Visit the VFM site.

Funny Business Clip

As you will gather, from our site, Start Business we have a lot of time for Geoff Burch. This video clip illustrates his style.

As a postscript this is what Geoff has to say about this clip ..... “I'm really touched that people have found my video important enough to comment on but there is a misunderstanding. Firstly of course this is a joke but there is a point and it is not a failing of the employee but a failure of the boss (me!) to share the bigger picture with his people. What I was trying to say is that command and control no longer works - every manager or boss needs to sit down with all their people, exchange ideas and clearly explain the goals.”

Top Ten Business Ideas for 2010?

www.Springwise.com have listed their top ten start up ideas for 2010 - some curious ideas!

1. Small-scale food production using membership models

The past year or two saw a huge increase in innovative, upscale mobile food purveyors working from trucks and selling everything from premium ice-cream to Korean BBQ tacos. Requiring an even lower investment, the next wave could be small-scale culinary subscription services, which allow fledgling entrepreneurs to get a foothold in the food business, and create a steady income and a loyal client base for future business activities

2. Low impact advertising

Realising that green concerns are here to stay, British media agency Curb offers nothing but low-impact advertising. Its first service used rainwater to clean logos into grubby pavements, and was quickly followed by other techniques that use sand, sea water, grass, glow-in-the-dark funghi and more to broadcast their clients' messages in an earth-friendly manner.

3. Health tracking devices

From wireless headbands that track sleep patterns to wearable gadgets that track every move, an increasing number of options is available for people who want to track their own health-related behaviour. Recording and relaying detailed information that was previously only available through medical monitoring, most of these devices aren't yet available worldwide, which creates a host of opportunities for distributors and localized versions.

4. Sample stores, cafes & vending machines

Sophisticated sampling—dubbed tryvertising by trendwatching.com—isn't new. On the rise, however, are dedicated spaces that facilitate sampling by a variety of brands, attracting consumers through the irresistible offer of free goods. Following sampling stores in Spain, sampling cafes in Tokyo and sample vending machines in Belgium, we suspect this concept will spread even further in 2010.

5. Discreet rooftop solar panels and wind turbines

While most homeowners would in theory like to generate their own wind or solar power, many are put off not just by cost, but by the aesthetic impact of wind turbines and solar panels. Aiming to resolve that problem are smart engineers who are creating new options that blend in with their environment. Two promising examples: rooftop wind turbines that almost disappear along the apex of a sloping roof, and solar panels shaped like traditional clay roof tiles. Plenty of opportunities here over the next decade, both in distribution and in the development of similar products.


6. Rotating retail at airports and in malls

Pop-up, temporary retail is still going strong, but a new alternative has entered the game: rotating retail. Two spottings: opening soon in Glasgow Airport is Planeshop, a permanent store that brands will take over for a limited time, including changing the shop's exterior graphics to match their identity. And in the Netherlands, BrandNew Stores aims to turn those fleeting pop-up shops into a chain concept, creating fixed spaces where brands can temporarily present themselves in a regular retail environment.

7. Remote farming for consumers

According to Wikipedia, farm simulation game FarmVille has become the most popular game application on Facebook with 73.8 million active users in January 2010. Offering consumers a way to remotely control a patch of land that will actually provide them with an edible harvest is a new Italian start-up: Le Verdure Del Mio Orto, which lets anyone build an organic garden right from their web browser. As the produce grows, it's picked and delivered to the customer's door within 24 hours. Weekly deliveries are part of the package.

8. Connecting creative consumers with local fabricators

A partnership between New Zealand-based Ponoko and North Carolina-based ShopBot Tools, 100kGarages is a community of workshops distributed around the world that are equipped with the digital fabrication tools needed to precisely cut, machine, drill or sculpt the components of virtually any creative project. The network allows designers or consumers turn their ideas into physical products, and creates new business for small workshops.

9. Paying consumers to promote products they use and love

As our sister-site trendwatching.com pointed out in its sellsumers briefing, selling is the new saving: a recession-induced need for cash plus an ever-growing infrastructure are fueling concepts that help ordinary consumers make money instead of spending it. One of the easiest ways to do so is by taking on the role of marketeer for products they already use and love: from promoting concerts by their favourite bands, to helping small companies launch new products.

10. Single-use toilet bag turns human waste into fertilizer

While this is a numbered list, we love all of these ideas equally. So, last but not least, a potential solution to a problem that 2.6 billion people have to deal with: no access to a toilet. Designed for use sitting, squatting or standing, the single-use, biodegradable plastic Peepoo bag is lined with a urea-coated gauze layer that disinfects all waste. Used bags are odour-free for at least 24 hours and are safe for burial underground. Within two to four weeks after use, their contents are converted to high-quality fertiliser—something that's also rare in many areas and could become a source of income and further enrichment for individuals or villages.