Business Ideas 101

**Blurock** · 10-Oct-12, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by Ouman

Here is a business idea free of charge. I just do not have the facilities to make it productively.

Spinning Exercise equipment that generates electricity.

Many years ago when we first got TV a friend of mine built a prototype of this and connected it via a car battery and inverter to power his TV. The law in his house became: "No power in battery no watchee TV"

Many modern urban people spend hours at exercise Running, Cycling, Walking, Rowing. With equipment such as this their physical effort can be put to use.

Ouman, are you not watching too many TV ads?

**vieome** · 11-Oct-12, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by adrianh

Interesting, ok, so how are you going to turn the idea into real money?

Originally Posted by Ouman

Here is a business idea free of charge. I just do not have the facilities to make it

I think there are many ways to turn the idea into money. With so many Gyms around one could sell products to them, they could use their members to power the lights with men, and save on electricity.

**adrianh** · 10-Oct-12, 12:55 PM

Many modern urban people spend hours at exercise Running, Cycling, Walking, Rowing.

On what planet?

Many urban people spend hours in traffic, drinking, shopping and watching TV

**Justloadit** · 11-Oct-12, 06:18 AM

An average human who is not fit, can generate about 60watts of electricity an hour through exercise, so it seems that you need about 150w to power your TV and Mnet decoder, so it seems no TV for you.

If you are super fit, you may generate 150watts for a couple of hours, so you can watch TV

**Ouman** · 11-Oct-12, 09:11 AM

I try to avoid watching TV ads by recording most of the shows I am really interested in and using the fast forward to Zap the Ads. As a retired marketing man I find the ads today horrible. But then I am not part of the mass market so who am I to comment?

IRO adrianh's comment: With Virgin Active able to run more than 100 branches and Makro selling lots of Excercise equipment and cycles. And if you drive a bit on a Sunday morning early you will see many cyclists, many of those costing around R30k. If you watch the start of the Comrades, the Two Oceans etc. I am sure you will also agree that just as we have many urban drunken couch potatoes we also have many who try to become and remain fit. The former is not the target market, the latter is.

IRO Justloadit's comment: So a family of 4 who are reasonably fit can generate about 800Whrs - enough to run the TV and the PVR for an evening!

The point of the idea is to combine the addiction to Exercise Pheromones with Relaxation.

**Blurock** · 12-Oct-12, 10:29 PM

Opportunity:

In South Africa and the rest of Africa there are still millions of people without sanitation. No toilets or running water. Because lack of sanitation is a health risk, this is a priority project. The problem with water borne sewerage is the lack of water in most parts of Africa. Finding a cost effective and sustainable solution will get you funding from the AU, EU, USA, UNESCO and many other bodies.

**adrianh** · 11-Oct-12, 09:36 AM

Interesting, ok, so how are you going to turn the idea into real money?

**adrianh** · 11-Oct-12, 04:53 PM

@vieome - There is a difference between a good idea and a sound business plan.

You must must must watch all the episodes of Dragons Den on Youtube. it is a BBC2 show where entreprenuers have 5 minutes to get funding from 5 millionares. The millionares invest their own cash so they don't mess around. Start at season 1 episode 1. It is absolutely brilliant and it opens one's eyes to the ways investors think.

**vieome** · 12-Oct-12, 08:02 AM

Originally Posted by adrianh

@vieome - There is a difference between a good idea and a sound business plan.

You must must must watch all the episodes of Dragons Den on Youtube. it is a BBC2 show where entreprenuers have 5 minutes to get funding from 5 millionares. The millionares invest their own cash so they don't mess around. Start at season 1 episode 1. It is absolutely brilliant and it opens one's eyes to the ways investors think.

How does a sound business plan come into the making. One first has to have ideas and then slowly from there, hack away at the idea and see how one can make it work. One has to retain a sense positivity in order for the universal of energy to respond I am sure you believe in that.

I do watch dragons den on BBC Knowledge, and the money men are not always right. How many start ups approached people like bill gates and he brushed off their ideas, that is why MS got into the search game late. I like to believe in the impossible, I often think 6 impossible things before breakfast. Dragons Den opens ones eyes to the way Greedy investors think, have a read of some of Paul Grahams work, he is an angel investor(and creator of first online shopping software) and invest in many ideas that people think will never work. So I think it is better for ones brain to see an idea and see how to make it work, then simply just brush it off.

**ians** · 28-Jun-13, 07:19 AM

There is big money in water treatment plants, trust me I did it for many years, just not prepared to pay the fees which come with keeping everyone happy, this could be something I need to look at in the future, paying more bribes to survive. If you cant beat them join them. Look at all the big companies construction companies, paying massive fines for all their skulduggery.

I was chatting to someone the other day and he was telling how much money they loose in paying benefits, finders fees what ever you want to call it.