IDEAS FOR 2006

Here are some interesting thoughts which cross my mind while I complete the long & arduous drive from work to home and home to work everyday: Some great product ideas & other stuff

 

1. Traffic light Index for Hoardings- Is there are rationale to the price for advertising on various hoardings on the road or does it just depend on how well you can negotiate. Should’nt there be an Index/ Matrix for the same? One good way is to use the length of traffic light stop as an Index to price them. This ofcourse is aside from the usual other things that matter- Length/Width/Angle/distance & visibility. If there can be a Mcdonald Index for PPP, why not this?
2. Gillette – Have you ever noticed the amount of shelf space Gillette has in majority of the Grocery stores/ Super Markets? All credit to them for putting innovative products out but they are always overcharged because of the almost monopolistic market share Gillette has. I would love to have their shares (at par at that)! But the issue is: how come other FMCG companies fail to take note of this? Park Avenue & Old Spice make some very feeble efforts and relegated to the back shelves. Whatever happened to a good company called SUPER MAX. Also, did you know that COLGATE actually makes shaving foams too?
3. Diabetics- My father in law is a diabetic. It is a well known fact that Diabeties has reached epidemic proportions in Indian. We just have to look at our traditional medicinal remedies to counter these. A good product, which I used, but it is surprisingly not available in India- is “Karela Chai”- Tea bags made out normal tea and dried shreds of bitter gourd. A hit in the far east cultures? Perhaps “Himalayas” should launch this in India?
4. Women Safety products-  Bad Behavior in public with women and Sexual assault has been going up. Infact, one of our staff who was in a frontline job resigned recently because she could not take this abuse both physical & verbal in nature from passengers. While more and more women want to work and it necessitates dealing with all kinds of people, surprisingly noone wants to prepare to preempt these attacks. This is a great opportunity for products like the well-tested “RED PEPPER SPRAY” which women can use to thwart any such attempts. Marketers! Wake up!   
5. Eye care   - Noticed the number of Opticians stores which have come up with more people using computers and worse watching TV? They are doing great business but I just wish eyes were strained due to reading more books!  But should’nt they also be telling people about eye Care- There are products like eye Pillows which opticians should sell in order to add value to their clients.
6. Resorts Connectivity – If you look at the business resorts do over the year- they are full on weekends and completely empty on weekdays. One reason is ofcourse that they are not offering enough incentives to people to travel on weekdays by lowering their prices, but the other reason is that it is so difficult to reach the good ones. People spend more time driving to these resorts than at the resort itself. That should change. Resorts should get together to build helipads and gravel air-strips (3 to 5 years in the horizon..)
7. Fire Safety-  Salesmen for fire extinguishers manufactures must be doing a bad job- Book shops, Cloth stores etc. all do not feel a need to buy one. or may be it has to do with our culture of poor planning for safety.
8. Backpacking in India  Can backpacking catch on in India? After all, we are one of the youngest populations and will remain so for years to come. With low cost Airlines around, travel is already affordable but not so the accommodation. Right time for a Youth hostel Chain or Branded Home-stays?

 

Happy 2006! May more entrepreneurs be born this year!