Business Opportunities Weblog

What if you had an exciting new business idea that applied disruptive new technology to a fast-growing consumer food market?

What if you branded, packaged and tested your new product with a sampling of highly-influential customers in your target market, and the response was passionately enthusiastic?

Nine out of ten entrepreneurs would run with an opportunity like that, right? But at Balassanian Enterprises – we’re a venture lab developing multiple new consumer businesses that combine the digital and physical worlds in unique ways – we decided to say no.

Recoil, a plastic device similar to a fishing reel for wires, provides an easy solution to tidy up offices, entertainment centers or the ear buds in your pocket. Alden’s Recoil is a simple plastic case that wires hook and wind into, keeping them neatly tucked inside the case.

Alden’s idea came from a typical frustration as he was moving into his new home in Park City just more than a year ago. Despite meticulously building a home for his family that reflected their personal style and accommodated the furniture and art, he couldn’t stop focusing on the chaos of wires strung throughout the house.

“I remember being mad that I hadn’t designed in a place to hide all these wires and cables,” Alden said. “Who likes to look at all these wires hanging everywhere?”

He ran to a nearby store to pick up a fishing reel. When he realized it would work, he started to think big.
“It was cool, but it wasn’t very practical,” Alden said. “A $300 fishing reel didn’t seem like the best way to store a 50-cent cord, so right then I realized it was a matter of winding the cords up effectively.”

In hindsight, it can be easy to spot “fad” franchises that enjoy a mere flash-in-the-pan popularity. Some once-hot concepts — think eBay drop-off stores, cereal cafes or video-dating franchises — fall victim to ever-evolving consumer tastes; others are usurped by technology.

But then again, other ideas that might not have screamed “long-term future” have thrived. For instance, “when junk-removal franchises first came out, people thought nobody would pay to have their garbage removed,” says Todd Bingham, vice president of operations at FranNet, a franchise consultancy in Louisville, Ky. “But it’s turned out to be a fantastic business.” And remember the mall-based makeover and photo studio Glamour Shots? It’s alive and kicking, and judging by its more than 120,000 Facebook “likes,” just as popular today as it was in the ‘80s.

The new mountaintop Starbucks at 2,400 metres allows customers to grab a coffee without taking off their skis or snowboard.

“We worked closely with the design team at Starbucks to create a one-of-a-kind experience that we know our guests will truly enjoy,” said Andy Wirth, Squaw Valley’s president and CEO. “Nowhere else in the world can skiers and riders enjoy a delicious Starbucks coffee without missing a beat on the slopes.”