Archive for Great Ideas – Page 19

Zollipops: Problem Solved

Nine-year-old Alina has heard her parents say more than once, “Sugar is bad for your teeth.” To her, it seemed like a constant problem she and many other kids were facing, especially in this growing health conscious world. Alina’s father understood this as well, but had a different parental perspective on this sugary subject. As the parent he was frustrated with the ingredients in candy that is frequently around children and understood the dilemma parents faced in giving their children sweets. The problem had finally peaked in Alina’s family after she was offered a lollipop from the teller at a bank and her father told her she could not have it. She turned to her father and suggested the idea that Zollipops would be created on; orally health conscious candy.

As an inventor, who has put many new products on the market, Alina’s father coupled with Alina’s idea to make a successful product. Together, they created a lollipop with all natural ingredients that lowers pH in the mouth leading to better oral health. An acidic pH will result in the decomposition of teeth. Zollipops is the perfect solution.

At such a young age Alina could recognize a problem and create a viable solution. Because of this, she is making money and making a difference through her health conscious product. Just last year she had over $70,000 in sales and was featured on the kid’s edition of Shark Tank. Truly this little entrepreneur has achieved something great with Zollipops.

http://zollipops.com/

Entrepreneurship has no Age

As I began to research entrepreneurs, it came to my attention that there are no requirements to having a creative mind. Anyone is capable of being an entrepreneur and long as you are capable of defining a problem and then establishing a valuable solution. This concept became very clear to me when I stumbled upon an article about a young boy named Hart Main.

Hart is only 14 years old but that is plenty old enough to understand that there was a problem. The problem he was determined to address was that there were no manly scented candles. Originally he was simply teasing his sister about selling girly scented candles for a fundraiser, but then he realized she was selling feminine scents because those were the only scents that existed.

All Hart did was put in an initial investment of $100 and his parents chipped in $200 and then the three of them worked together to make the idea a reality. Today, the company is called ManCans and these candles come in many different scents, of which include: campfire, sawdust, bacon, fresh cut grass, and grandpa’s pipe. These candles are being sold in over 60 stores across the country and have sold over 9,000 units so far.

Reading about Hart Main really made me think. There is no reason why someone cannot be an entrepreneur; all you have to do is set your mind to it and be willing to ask for help when needed. If Hart can do it at age 14, I can do it at age 20.

 

 

Reinventing the Wheel – Literally!

Bicycles are great solutions to get you where you need to go, with the benefits of being environmentally friendly and faster than walking.  However, there’s one major drawback – pedaling a bicycle can be hard work, especially for long distances or routes with lots of hills (basically anywhere in western Pennsylvania!).  So that’s where the Copenhagen Wheel comes in.

The Copenhagen Wheel was developed by a team of robotics engineers and designers from MIT specifically for Copenhagen, Denmark – a city known for its bicycle culture.  This innovative team wanted to take some of the work out of bicycling by turning a regular bike into a smart electric hybrid.  Many of the team members have had previous experience with popular startup tech companies.  Add this experience to a visionary marketing team and some venture capital investors, and you get the startup Superpedestrian.

The Copenhagen Wheel

The Copenhagen Wheel works by replacing the back wheel of your bike with the Copenhagen Wheel, which is then connected to an app on your smartphone.  A small servo motor and control system is hidden in the wheel’s sleek red casing.  This system captures your energy as you brake or go down the hill and then lets you use this energy pedal with 3-10 times the normal power of a bike!  This allows you to go up hills easier and go further, faster.  Even cooler is the fact that the Copenhagen Wheel learns how you pedal and can keep track of your fitness, while riding just like a normal bike.  If you don’t believe me, check out this video to learn more about the Copenhagen Wheel.

Clearly the old wheel has met its match!  Superpedestrian is busy getting the Copenhagen Wheel ready for market and it should be widely available within the next year.

United by Blue

Founded in 2010, United by Blue is a Philadelphia based company that produces responsible & durable goods with a mission to keep the beautiful outdoors clean and ready for life’s next adventure.

“We believe that every living creature is united by the blue of our world’s oceans and waterways and we all have the responsibility to protect them.”

UBB uses only sustainable materials to make each product while donating their time to environmental action with each purchase.  “For every product sold, UBB removes one pound of trash from oceans and waterways through company organized and hosted cleanups.”

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Located in Old City, Philadelphia, they “use re-purposed materials…creat[ing] a space that mixes [their] complete line of apparel and accessories with a full-fledged coffeehouse serving up some of the city’s finest organic coffee and food.”

Their brand mainly focuses on producing outdoor apparel that will withstand continuous adventure. “We’re inspired by the go-getters, the landscape around the waters we clean, and a really good cup of pour over coffee.”

In the everyday clutter, for-profit businesses must stand above the competition.  United by Blue captured the essence of putting a twist on the common retailer.  I’m inspired by their mission to make the world a better place through sustainable materials.  The millennial generation loves supporting causes and identifying with products, companies, organizations, etc. who contribute more than the banality of the everyday.  These young entrepreneurs desire to not only share their passion for sustainable goods, but also give back to our community and earth.    With countless other one-for-one businesses, UBB promises to support not just monetarily, but by giving their time as well.

To learn more about their company please visit http://unitedbyblue.com/pages/about-us.

#bluemovement

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College Hunks Hauling Junk

“Let Tomorrow’s Leaders Haul Your Junk Today”

The business idea is simple: capitalize on the extra energy and muscle of college students by hiring them to haul away things people don’t want – things that can be recycled, burned as fuel, or donated to charitable organizations. This three-fold aspect College Hunks Hauling Junk is one of the big reasons this business idea was selected by the Leigh Rothschild Business Plan Contest in 2004. Omar Soliman was the winner of $10,000 in this competition, and he used the money to get his business off the ground.

It was started even before Soliman and his partner Nick Friedman graduated from the University of Miami. But after graduation, they decided to take their idea and make it into something massive. Moving to D.C., they turned their small concept into a large-scale operation. But this wasn’t enough. In 2008, they moved again, this time to Tampa, FL to convert their company into a franchised firm. Since then, College Hunks Hauling Junk has made several “fastest growing companies” lists and in 2013 won the Franchise 500 Award.

The especially noteworthy trait of Omar Soliman and Nick Frieman is that these young men dreamed big. The idea they had designed was a good one, one that would have made a fantastic single firm in D.C. However, they realized that this business concept was one that could be even bigger than that. Today, they have 3 main locations and 47 franchises. That is success on a massive scale.

artifact uprising.

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In Maya Angelou’s autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she writes, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story.”

Jenna and Matthew Walker, co-founders of Artifact Uprising, would agree.  Born from their desire to cultivate tangible story-telling, Artifact Uprising (a “design-your-own” photo book and photo goods business) required a great deal of perseverance, creativity, and a dash of serendipity.

In 2004, after pondering her recent desire to learn the art of photography, Jenna happened upon a discarded, yet intact, camera and lenses.  After recovering from her complete astonishment, she took the blessed opportunity and soon fell in love with photography.

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“We worked as professional photographers for 8 years–making permanence of experiences that move minds and hearts. As one click of the shutter turned to another turned to hundreds of thousands of photos, we realized our documented lives were sitting on our phones and computers with no true place to live on. It’s something we kept coming back to–‘What are we leaving behind?’”

The Walkers wanted to create an authentic business design that would allow each customer to share his/her life in a unique and sustainable fashion.

“Somehow – with a kind of serendipity much like finding that first camera – doors opened where there might have otherwise been dead ends. Sometimes the world whispers ‘Stay the course.’ And that we did.”

Like many entrepreneurs preceding them, Jenna and Matthew had to persevere in the face of failure, pivot, create, and redesign.  They added products, features, and employees which has culminated into their own beautiful story.

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From basement to business, Artifact Uprising is a poster child for the entrepreneurial mind.

If you would like to read the full story and or browse their wonderfully crafted products, please visit their website: https://www.artifactuprising.com

Creativity. Community. Authenticity.

Dream Closet?

Now ladies, how many times have you seen a dress watching the VMA’s, Red Carpet Awards, Counrty Music Awards, or any other awards show that you wish you could just wear it for one night?  Are you jealous of the guys being able to rent their tuxes for one night and returning it the next day while you have to buy a dress that you probably won’t even wear again?  Would you love the idea of getting expensive dresses for cheap by only renting them for a night?  Well Jennifer Hyman was thinking the exact same thing and thought of a way to fix that.  She created Rent the Runway.  On the website it says:

“Rent the Runway is a fashion company with a technology soul. Powered by a transformative business model, proprietary technology, a unique reverse-logistics operation and some of the smartest people on earth, we’re in a position to challenge old systems and rewrite new rules. By giving people access to remarkable luxury experiences, we’re changing the meaning of ownership — and revolutionizing retail in the process.”

Hyman compares her business to one of your best friends, only with a much bigger closet.  I don’t know about you but I always love borrowing my friends clothes.  Once you get online the overall all process is really simple.  You can start by setting up the date for which you need the dress, accessories if you would like too, then look through their collection for your rental day.  Next narrow it down by designer, price, length, or whatever you like to find the perfect outfit.  After that you book the outfit for a 4 or 8 day rental period and it should come in 1 or 2 days before your event.  For that one night you can feel like a princess and return it the next day in their pre-paid envelope they already provided you with.  You don’t even have to dry clean it or anything because they will take care of that for you.  The only thing Rent the Runway asks you to do is to upload a photo online and review the dress on their website so others can see how fabulous the dress was.

When Hyman first suggested her idea of Rent the Runway to a boardroom full of partners at a big-time Boston venture capital firm, one of the of the men interrupted her and said, “You are just too cute. You get this big closet and get to play with all these dresses and can wear whatever you want. This must be so much fun!”  Thinking that comment would stop her from making Rent the Runway, this only made her want to pursue the idea even more and I’m glad she did.  Rent the Runway is such a creative and innovative idea because no one has done this before.  I have always been interested in the idea of clothing and fashion for starting my own business so it is an inspiration for myself that even though she was shut down at first, she kept going and created something amazing.  I will for sure be using Rent the Runway for different special occasions in the up coming future and suggesting it to all the girls I know.  Thanks for reading and happy blogging!

ManCan

Hart Main is a 14-year old that came up with the idea of manly scented candles when he was teasing his sister about the girly scented ones she was selling for a school fundraiser. Although she didn’t expect him to fully pursue the manly scented candles idea himself, he did, and the idea has turned into a nationwide success. Main put in an initial investment of $100, his parents put in $200, and they all worked together to develop the candles as a group. The available scents include: Campfire, Bacon, Sawdust, Fresh Cut Grass, Grandpa’s Pipe and more. Today, ManCans candles are in over 60 stores across the country and have sold about 9,000 units. Main will stick with selling ManCans’ inventory until he has to shift his focus back into school in the fall. I mean, he is only 14 after all. I think this is a cute and inspiring story of a young entrepreneur. It just goes to show that you can never be too young to begin a business on your own. Also this story is an example of the random moments that life changing ideas can pop into your head. Go ManCan!

 

The Forager

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(V.) to wander in search of.  Growing up as an architect’s daughter, I gained an early appreciation and love for aesthetically pleasing composition, form, etc – a simple joy in beautifully crafted design.   In a recent conversation with Grove City College past student Delaney Kochan, I was made aware of a new publication venture, with which she is currently working, The Forager. Officially launching this fall, The Forager is a self-proclaimed “lifestyle brand dedicated to creativity, art, & design.  Based upon the concept of foraging & rooted in communal creativity.”

Upon further research, I discovered that The Forager is an online publication looking to future print endeavors.   With its minimalist, elegant, and clean branding, it offers a beautiful viewing space with thought provoking content.

forager2Daniel Pink, in his book A Whole New Mind, addresses the importance of good design stating, “Cultivating a design sensibility can make our small planet a better place for us all.”  The Forager not only grasps this concept but puts great effort into effectively communicating it to its readers.

The publication world is littered with countless periodicals; many of them not worth a second glace.  The Forager, however, seems to combat the clutter by appealing to our design sense and society’s need for substantial subject matter.  It also understands the technological age and is publishing first via the internet before moving into print form.

The publication’s focus on “communal creativity” is another innovative aspect as it understands the millennial generation’s need for community and participation.   Our individualistic society is becoming more and more integrated as people realize the benefit of collaboration; or as Steven Johnson writes, “high-density liquid networks makes it easier for innovation to happen.”

The Forager, and those working to ensure its success, inspire me as I look toward future career options.  It combines multiple communicative forms in one beautifully crafted package- appealing to my interests and passions.  In a world where left brained professions often garner the most profit, I find it hard to justify my dreams.  But when individuals like those who work for The Forager break through those barriers, my hope is renewed.

I am sincerely looking forward to the first publication and I hope you spend a moment discovering The Forager as well!

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http://www.theforagr.com/

http://instagram.com/theforagr

 

Sweaters Anonymous

This is a really cool story about a young entrepreneur that I wanted to share with everybody. Sarah Gehman, a good friend who I grew up knowing in high school, and ALSO my roommate’s sister, began this business in 2012. Sarah is a missionary with the world’s biggest Christian mission organization, YWAM. Her job title is “Social media/marketing manager and photographer for the Ekballo Project. She is currently based out of the YWAM base is Kona, Hawaii. Sarah raises all her own money and one of the biggest things that she did to do this was through Sweaters Anonymous. It all began with her love of shopping at thrift stores. One day she realized that that she should try to turn this small obsession into something practical and decided that this could be a way to raise money for her YWAM trips. How this business works is that Sarah travels to various thrift stores and purchases used and sometimes new sweaters. Instead of regularly pricing the sweaters, she lists them on her website; http://sweatersanonymous.com/ and instead of pricing each sweater individually, she asks for a donation, so whatever a person is willing to give she will take. It is definitely a unique way to run a business. Sarah has been extremely successful, and she gives all of the credit to the Lord. Sarah quotes: “God is such a good God, and he doesn’t call us to do something that he won’t provide for”. To give an example of Sarah’s success, she has sold over 100 sweaters and has made 3,000 thousand dollars. Sarah has her own personal website, as well as a facebook page that she advertises these sweaters on. Check out Sarah’s Sweaters!