Posted by:
Trenton Flock @ 11:02 AM
There’s nothing quite like unbridled destruction to chase the blues away. That’s the philosophy behind Sarah’s Smash Shack, a business in San Diego which provides customers with breakables, such as dishware and glass frames, along with a safe environment to obliterate them. Owner Sarah Lavely first conceived the Smash Shack during her divorce, when she frequently felt compelled to smash things. As quoted in a recent
CNN Money article, Lavely says:
"I broke a lot of stuff on my driveway...I wished there was someplace I could go and just [break things], just go nuts. I was sure other people felt like that at times, and I thought I should open a shop where you could do that."
Who knew that being psychotic could lead to pioneering a new service industry? Usually, it just leads to a career in politics.
People have more than marital woes to be angry about these days, and as gas prices rise and markets tumble, the shop has been seeing a steady increase in business. As a service, the Smash Shack seems superfluous—some might say ‘wasteful’, ‘decadent’ and ‘childish’—but maintaining one’s sanity is priceless. Some people are too timid to go to a firing range to blow off steam, but not too timid to lob a few saucers against a stainless steel wall. And besides, if groceries become much more expensive, people won’t need plates, so why not smash them?
Of course, you needn’t bring your own flatware; Lavely has selected only the finest cheap ceramics to deliver the most crack for your buck:
“Ceramic white dinner plates are Lavely's biggest seller, because they require a strong toss and break violently against the wall. Patrons order from a menu that includes items like The House Special (15 plates in 15 minutes for $45), the Six Shooter (six rapid-fire wine glasses for $12) or the Juggernaut (two large jugs for $12.) Value seekers can opt for the Mystery Box: 10 assorted smashables for $25. If you'd like to smash a person, Lavely allows the next best thing - a photo inserted into a very breakable glass frame.”
If they add a Precious Moments Hummel Pummel to their menu, I’m totally there.
Customers can even write messages on the plates before tossing them. This, however, is a tad unsettling because the shards are donated to local schools and art programs, and I dare say that some of those messages will not be appropriate for young eyes. Let’s hope that no more than three letters can fit on most of the remnants.
The Smash Shack is a novel idea, one that may in fact fill a much needed niche, and there is more innovation to be had. After all, maybe some people just want a safe environment to trash their own things (an ex’s record collection, for example, or a mother-in-law’s favorite teapot). Perhaps the management can offer to project the faces of one’s ex or a political figure on the wall. One might even be able to charge one’s HMO for the cost, categorizing it as a form of therapy.
There’s certainly room to expand, and though Lavely isn’t exactly shattering her business goals just yet, the catharsis industry may be a new territory suited for fed-up investors looking to break their own molds. I can’t wait for someone to open an Effigies R’ Us, where you can design your own burnt offerings in the shape of a nemesis and even choose the aromatic wood to be used, be it a Hickory Clinton, a Burning Bush, or even a Balsamic Bin Laden. You just know they’d do gangbusters during barbecue season. In short, when it comes to a new business in your town, rage could be all the rage.
Labels: san diego, small business, smash shack
Posted by:
Charles Sipe @ 3:28 PM
Investment Riches is part real estate brokerage, part social networking company that offers a free one-on-one consultation on real estate investing. The consultant can help you find the right market to invest in, find the right property or just build your portfolio. They also offer a social networking feature so like-minded investors can join together and, with the help of Investment Riches, get price discounts through bulk negotiation. All services are free for individual investors. There are 6,000 active members, many of whom participate in the forums and blogs. The free membership also grants members access to a real estate database and opportunities listings. Full members get the first look at new opportunities three days before the listing is made available to the general public. In order to gain full member status, you must be approved by the Investment Riches staff based on certain investment criteria.
Investment Riches has done a great job at using the Web to differentiate themselves from traditional real estate brokerages. They have built a community around their business by offering people unique value for free. Investors can utilize their database of statistics, seek advice from other investors in the forums and talk one on one with a consultant at an unbeatable price. One potential drawback is that full membership is limited to qualified investors. To gain access to all the site’s tools, you must apply for admission and wait until someone approves your application. However, casual investors and beginners can still get access as a limited member, which allows use of the forums, access to listings and profiles on the featured cities.
Website: www.investmentriches.com
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Type of Business: Real Estate Brokerage
Value for Investors: Free Consultation, Active Community Forums, Assistance in Bulk Negotiation, Social Networking
Labels: bulk negotiation, free real estate consulting, social networking
Posted by:
Charles Sipe @ 2:33 PM
Catch a Piece of Maine is a new company with a brilliant idea that allows anyone to make an investment in the lobster industry. For $2,995, you can lease a specific lobster trap off the coast of Maine for one year. A fisherman will harvest the lobsters that are caught in your trap during the 32-week season and FedEx them to you, relatives, customers or anyone you choose. Each package includes fresh mussels and clams, a home-baked dessert, bibs and cooking instructions. You are guaranteed a minimum of 40 lobsters of 1.5 pounds each, which comes to approximately $75 per lobster; this would drop to $60 a lobster if the trap catches 50, which the founders believe is a realistic goal. The idea is similar to a farming co-op where an individual can make a deposit to the farm owner in return for a share of the harvest.
What makes this investment unique is the interactive experience. You can select your own fisherman by viewing their personal profile online and even check the statistics of your trap. It's actually similar to playing fantasy football. The company provides video updates of the fishermen and you can learn how your personal fisherman is faring and hear their thoughts and observations on lobstering. You can even take a trip to Maine and experience a day in the life of your chosen Maine fisherman.
Basically, you own a piece of the business, but unlike stock in Microsoft, you get an immediate return. If you buy stock in General Electric, you won’t be able to spend a day with an engineer. Catch a Piece of Maine takes fractional ownership of a business and adds an experiential element to it, making it much more personal and fun. It is a great business model that could be applied to other businesses to achieve a similar effect. Wouldn’t it be interesting if you could own a table at a restaurant? Your investment would provide the business owner with guaranteed cash flow and in return you would receive all the revenues of people who sit at that table.
Labels: fractional ownership
Posted by:
Charles Sipe @ 1:20 PM
An increased level environmental awareness and a flood of foreclosures are just some of the factors that may be shifting Americans' attitudes about home ownership. Particularly, consumer demand for bigger homes may be shrinking and shifting instead to smaller economical and eco-friendly homes. Who wants to pay for air conditioning or heating for a 2,500 square foot home? One interesting byproduct of this shift is the growing market for “tiny homes,” the term used to describe homes less than 750 square feet, though tiny homes can be less than 100 square feet.
Several companies will manufacture tiny homes, which are being used as primary residences, vacation homes and even portable homes that owners haul around the country with a truck. For about $45K (not including shipping) Tumbleweed Houses will build you a 102 square foot home in about three months. They also offer do-it-yourself instructions for between $695 and 995. Alchemy Architects offers the ultra modern weestudio, a 364 square foot home with a base price of $69,500.
If you take a look around, you will see a tiny culture emerging all around us. Tiny cars such as the Smart Car have overwhelmed projections with 14,000 sold in the U.S. and a year-long waiting list, according to Business Week. You can get a laptop that fits in an envelope and a dog that fits in a purse. Small is trendy. As author Seth Godin said, “Small is the new big.” With sales of small cars greatly outnumbering sales of larger cars, this shift in consumer demand could easily carry over to Americans becoming more likely to buy small or tiny homes to minimize their housing costs and environmental impact. There is an untapped market, which presents a great opportunity for investors in tiny real estate or the next Smart Car for the housing market.
Labels: tiny home, tiny houses, tiny real estate
Posted by:
Charles Sipe @ 10:33 AM
Garbage has suddenly become a hot commodity. Just as record oil prices have made it profitable to squeeze oil out of the sand in Canada, it has become profitable to scavenge the landfills for valuable pieces of metal and plastic. According to Roben Farzad's BusinessWeek article "Cash for Trash,", 8 percent of global oil production is used to make plastic each year and it requires 80 percent less energy to produce recycled plastic. A manager of a recycling facility in Auburn, Mass. is getting $900 per bale for aluminum and $300 for No.2 clear plastic. Farzad also interviewed a homeless person who was being offered 7 cents for bottles (up from the traditional 5 cents) and an e-waste plant manager who revealed that a 16 square foot box of memory sticks contains $15,000 in precious metals.
With high global demand for commodities and increased public support for the green movement, the recycling industry looks promising. One of the problems in the past was low commodity prices in the mid '80s and early '90s that made recycling programs unprofitable. Now, with most analysts predicting that the prices of commodities such as oil will continue to rise, this shouldn't be a problem. There is tremendous opportunity for growth in a lot of communities that don't even have a recycling program at all. The recycling plants can't get enough garbage and governments can't find enough places to put their garbage. "Balance the equation, and recycling could grow by orders of magnitude," Farzad wrote. One of the obstacles is the fragmentation of the policies and practices of garbage collection which is often regulated by local governments and varies across the U.S. For instance, my hometown doesn't have a formal recycling program, yet in a nearby city, individuals who are caught with significant recyclables in their garbage can be slapped with fines.
If you are ready to jump on the bandwagon, there are several emerging recycling companies you can look into. TechTurn is an e-recycler that booked $40 million in sales last year and is rushing to open new plants all over the country. Coskata is a startup that attracted venture capitalists with technology that promises to derive $1-a-gallon ethanol from trash. Strategic Materials is the largest pure-play glass recycler and is on pace for $200 million in sales this year. Analyst Eric Prouty's six-stock Buy list of recyclers has returned 180 percent since its inception in 2006, according to BusinessWeek. Investing in "waste and recycling" reached a record $622 milllion in 2007, up from $20 million in 2001. Who would have thought that the stuff we throw away was worth so much? It certainly gives a whole new meaning to the saying "one person's trash is another person's treasure."
Labels: green investing, invest in garbage, invest in recycling, recycling
Posted by:
Charles Sipe @ 8:27 AM
Advancements in photovoltaic cells, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, have greatly decreased the once prohibitive cost of solar panels. Additionally, historic highs for the costs of energy that are likely to continue to ascend suggest that an investment in solar panels for your home may provide you with healthy returns.
One company that is lowering the barrier of entry into owning solar panels is SolarCity Inc. in California. They offer a 15-year lease for solar panels that includes installation, free repairs and free removal at the end of the lease. They also guarantee that you receive the power production promised, which they can monitor remotely, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company has plans to expand to Oregon and eventually the East coast.
Even in cloudy regions like Seattle or New York, there is still a good opportunity in solar power. Solar panels work surprisingly well in less than sunny conditions. Findsolar.com gives Seattle and New York a good rating for sun power availability. Germany produced over half the world’s solar energy in 2006 despite having half as many sunny days as Portugal, according to the Washington Post.
Leasing a 16-panel system for $85 per month would generate 3.2 kilowatts of electricity and reduce a $200 electric bill to an estimated $75, according to SolarCity’s site. Therefore, solar panel lessees would save an estimated $40 per month in the first month. However, payments increase 3.5% each year, so the electric rates would have to increase at this rate or higher to maintain this savings. Another disadvantage is that at the end of the lease you do not own the system and would either have to buy it, upgrade or have it removed. A more sensible option may be to secure financing a system with a solar panel retailer.
If energy prices continue to rise, you can turn a good profit by producing your own electricity and even possibly selling it back to the energy company. Some states, such as California, offer tax incentives to offset some of the initial cost for the system. Washington state will buy solar generation at 15 cents per kWh until 2014. The flip side is that technology will likely advance considerably over the next decade and you may be stuck with an obsolete model that is much less efficient than future models. The current solar technology only captures a small portion of the sun’s energy and billions of dollars are being invested into research and development to produce more efficient solar cells. The improvement in this technology could follow a similar path as computers, in which efficiency could double every two years and result in your system being as worthless in 15 years as a 1993 computer is today.
Labels: solar energy, solar investing, solar panels, solar power
Posted by:
Charles Sipe @ 7:53 AM
Guy Spier, one of the investors who helped pay the $650,100 winning eBay bid to have lunch with Warren Buffet, shared some of the lessons he learned from the greatest investor in the world in a recent Time article. While you may not be able to afford to pay more than $3,600 a minute for advice from the Sage of Omaha, you can still learn vicariously by reading some of Buffet’s enduring lessons on investing and on life.
Do the Right Thing Even if it’s Hard
Buffet has become one of the richest men in the world while never sacrificing the highest ethical standards. “People will always try to stop you doing the right thing if it is unconventional,” said Buffet.
Listen to Yourself, Not the Crowd
Buffet learned at an early age from his father that it is important to listen to yourself rather than seek the affirmation of others. Although he was heavily criticized for not investing with the crowd in technology and Internet stocks in the late '90s, he stuck to what he believed and turned out to be right. During the lunch he asked his guests, “Would you rather be considered the best lover in the world and know privately that you're the worst — or would you prefer to know privately that you're the best lover in the world, but be considered the worst?"
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Buffet said that he limits contact with the managers of businesses that he invests in, choosing rather to examine the company’s financial records. By relying on the numbers he is able to focus on neutral information and prevent outside noise from affecting his decisions.
Stick to Your Knitting
Buffett shared was that he only focuses on his “circle of competence” when considering investments. As a result, when he finally makes an investment, he has no doubt that he is right.
Enjoy Life
Buffet wrote in Berkshire’s annual report that he “tap dances to work.” It is evident that he loves what he does and does everything with great passion and excitement. By the way, according to Spier, Buffet doesn’t say no to dessert.
Be Generous
Buffet’s greatest legacy may be his generosity. He has committed to giving the great majority of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and the proceeds from his annual lunch go to the Glide foundation to help the poor. I believe that Buffet’s affinity for contributing to the greater good is a major key to his success.
Guy Spier wrote that his time with Buffet “was worth every dime,” and it turns out he may have underpaid. The winning bid by Zhao Danyang for next year’s lunch was $2.1 million.
Image Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
