Possible Billion Dollar Idea... Can it REALLY happen?

[blackhat]

I don't see the ROI.

How much does a fork cost? 30¢? Why spend more on "Find my Fork" technology?

I'd rather let someone walk out than confront them in front of customers and possibly cause a scene. I certainly wouldn't spend time tracking my lost forks. Are you going to take people to court over at most a couple bucks?

 

[Ninjakid]

magnets have been invented to help stop this loss.

 

[Kingmaker]

I've signed up for many a forum but never have I laughed as hard as when I read this thread. I would LOVE to this idea on Shark Tank, to see Kevin O'Leary's response.

It would go like this:

 

[pickeringmt]

Hey dude, you are not going to validate the idea here. You have to get with your potential customers on that.

All you will get here in the free zone is a handful of people discussing the idea and a bunch of wantrepreneurs tearing it down because somebody else isn't making millions with it already.

Imagine if I came on here and said "hey, i want to invent a small pokey thing to shove in the ends of my corn on the cob." If these weren't around yet, the majority of people in here would bombard you with all of the reasons that a product like that wouldn't work.

Everything is a stupid idea until somebody does it and crushes it - if you don't believe me, go check out the products that actually end up on shark tank (many of which get an investment from freaking BILLIONAIRES).

The key thing to remember is that it isn't necessarily the idea, it is the execution that counts the most.

 

[loop101]

I don't see the ROI.

How much does a fork cost? 30¢? Why spend more on "Find my Fork" technology?

I'd rather let someone walk out than confront them in front of customers and possibly cause a scene. I certainly wouldn't spend time tracking my lost forks. Are you going to take people to court over at most a couple bucks?

You don't have to track every fork, just enough that people expect to steal one that is tracked. A few public beheadings, and no one will risk it.

 

[loop101]

What about forks in the road?

 

[mikekob]

I think you're on to something here. Maybe attach a bluetooth device to each piece of silverware and create a custom interface tracking the whereabouts of the item. Or how about a silverware check out system once you enter the restaurant? BYOS?

 

[AndrewNC]

You could form a partnership with a repo agency to track down the lost goods.

Make a tv show about it.


Yes. TV shows have been build on worse ideas before.

 

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[Khalid Grant]

I've signed up for many a forum but never have I laughed as hard as when I read this thread. I would LOVE to this idea on Shark Tank, to see Kevin O'Leary's response.

 

[a k a]

Who spends time and money looking for their lost forks? Did you research this at all?

 

[OscarDeuce]

Hello, my name's Oscar...and I'm a fork thief...

 

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[Formless]

I may or may not have stolen four chopsticks from a Chinese buffet once.............

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Or... you can print signs and put up in every restaurant: "this restaurant uses technology to trace missing cutlery" - problem solved

Yes, signs!

For customers:

For employees:

 

[ddzc]

wow, the billion dollar idea is out, everyone jump!!

 

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[BigBrianC]

Jokes aside, its good thought process. You thought of a problem, and tried to find a solution. Just then need to add in business viability and how big of a problem it is. However, dont go after stuff thats hot or stuff that you think people like. IE saying "restaraunts like things that make noise" vs "how can i build a product a restaraunt will die to have"

 

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[Vigilante]

Please do not feed the trolls.

 

[Polarbeans]

 

[pickeringmt]

Very well said.

I too thought those pokey things were dumb until they made them with the little mini corn on the cob replicas things.

Now we somehow managed to have accumulated about 100 of them in one of our kitchen drawers, and we eat corn on the cob like
maybe twice a year, the 4th and Memorial Day.

MK

BUT THEY ARE ONLY A BUCK FOR A FEW OF THEM!!!!

and everyone in the world has like 3 in there drawers.....

and cant remember buying them....

 

[Maxjohan]

Think I've found a genius solution now. It's cheap to produce. And does the work. Without needing any advanced technology. Mind if I steal the market???? I be sure to throw you a bone if I get rich(millions of dollars). Because without this thread. It wouldn't happen. BOOOOOOOOM even better idea. Got damn...... I'm almost amazed at myself. Not to brag or anything. Hehe.

 

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[MKHB]

Hey dude, you are not going to validate the idea here. You have to get with your potential customers on that.

All you will get here in the free zone is a handful of people discussing the idea and a bunch of wantrepreneurs tearing it down because somebody else isn't making millions with it already.

Imagine if I came on here and said "hey, i want to invent a small pokey thing to shove in the ends of my corn on the cob." If these weren't around yet, the majority of people in here would bombard you with all of the reasons that a product like that wouldn't work.

Everything is a stupid idea until somebody does it and crushes it - if you don't believe me, go check out the products that actually end up on shark tank (many of which get an investment from freaking BILLIONAIRES).

The key thing to remember is that it isn't necessarily the idea, it is the execution that counts the most.

Very well said.

I too thought those pokey things were dumb until they made them with the little mini corn on the cob replicas things.

Now we somehow managed to have accumulated about 100 of them in one of our kitchen drawers, and we eat corn on the cob like
maybe twice a year, the 4th and Memorial Day.

MK

 

[jazb]

Think about how you can provide value for 1 restaurant. just one. save them them money/time, make it a no brainer for them.

then you can go from there.

 

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[wade1mil]

However; my friend $40 saved for one RESTAURANT over 1 year do the math
what is 40x12 what? around $480.00 in the year.Tell me other restaurants wouldn't think about investing in something like that.

Okay, so they save $480.

How much extra will they spend on the silver wear up front?
How long does the silver wear last in a commercial environment?
How long does it take to get their investment back?
How much do you have to sell it for in order for it to make sense to the restaurant?
How much do you have to manufacture it for in order for it to make sense for you?

You may be able to turn it into a monthly payment by basically financing the cost for the restaurant.
Then you need lots of capital.

 

[liquidglass]

While I admire your thought process it doesn't seem like a viable business for you or the restaurants. I could be wrong and for your sake I hope I am!

Option 1:
Create a trashcan that can detect when silverware is dropped in and beep, etc.

Problem: It would be costly R&D which means you'd have to charge more per trashcan. I'm assuming restaurants use multiple trashcans so the purchase wouldn't pay for itself until a few years in. Then it comes into question how often the technology would break and need to be serviced or replaced. Which might cut into the yearly savings by 50% and when we're talking $480 it wouldn't make sense.

- What would make sense is the restaurant charging $0.20 more per entree to replace the cost of lost silverware.


Option 2:
Create sensors that can detect silverware but can be installed on trashcans already in use.

Problem: Same costly R&D. However, you could charge less per unit because they are smaller and easier to produce and therefore restaurants would be more likely to adapt them. It's a much better choice than option 1, but you would still need to analyze the cost vs savings a restaurant would experience using your tech.

- You still have to get cheaper than the option of them charging a small amount more per entree to offset the loses.


Option 3:
Create and patent the tech behind detecting silverware and license it to companies that make trashcans with magnets (I have no idea if this actually happens).

- This is your best option but convincing the manufacturer to use this is a different story.

Option 4:
Create ware that is biodegradable over the period of the expected life expectancy of normal silverware and charge significantly less to buy in bulk.

Problem: R&D again plus beating the current wholesale price of silverware and being profitable.


My advice is to take this line of thinking and apply it to other issues that plague restaurants that could result in a much larger problem being solved. I believe if you peruse this you'll "make hundreds of dollars"

Good luck!

 

[Sovereign]

Considering the silverware in the trash, and the numbers in the link, I wonder:


Is $20 per trashcan an acceptable selling price?
And 1 cent per fork (knife, spoon, etc)?

Option 2 is viable, and R&D won’t be expensive ($200 in materials maybe?)

Those metallic stickers in the article gave me an idea on how to make this more ‘’eco’’.
By the description I presume the device in the article is active – i.e. it consumes power to work – I think it can be made passive, but the trick would be to make it sufficiently sensitive. How big are the trashcans?

Since the current device is active (presumably) it probably doesn’t pay off well as you get an additional electricity bill and need additional mains sockets for it.
It can be done to work passively or on a watch battery.


It’s easy to test if it would work, and materials don’t cost more than $20 for the first test.

But still it needs some problem solving for large scale use.

 

[Maxjohan]

I came up with another way to solve this problem. Without complicating it.

I got lots of ideas going with this method. But this is the simple version of it. This is more of a management thing. And I believe it's just as powerful and could get sold just as well as some metal detector in the trash. Because they still need to dig through that trash right?? After the metal detector starts to beep? Which would not seem like a lot of fun. And takes time too.

Why complicate things?? :/

Sell this as a management saver and benefit on lost silverware then.

 

[Maxjohan]

I agree this is a management/peoples ethics problem, but how will you motivate people or customers to sort things?

Not orginally what I thought about. But I believe the big problem is actually stealing and not going in to the trash. So that's a true thing. If you can track the knife and fork somehow. And the numbers are true... $500 million. And not just taken from cold air. Then I believe you are on to something. And can actually make it fastlane. But that was not my orginal ideas with this. I keep the extended version for myself for now.

There used to be a thing called Etiquette (social, business, etc) and a thing called duty, and a thing called working ethic…

But they all seem to be dead. Thus we have resorted to solving everything through technology.

This is just generalizations that you seem to have and believe in. To be honest. But generally. I think technology have done a lot of good things for mankind. If we can speed up things and make things more effective. Why not?

But sure. There is a time and place for technology and there is a time and place to not make something technology driven.

Think about recycling. It's common sense to sort your garbage, right?
Then why do municipalities have to enforce it through laws and consequential fines?

Because not all people have the same mindset about the environment and so on. It's just the way things are. Something you can't do much about.

 

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[Christian949]

I don't know but I think nobody would want to go through trash to find a fork. And then this someone will get tired of this and will not wash the hands after digging in the trash. I think I'll pass on this.

Seems like you work in the restaurant and have this issue with forks.

Anyway, great thinking!

 

[Dwight Schrute]

and everyone in the world has like 3 in there drawers.....

No. None in my drawers

 

[MKHB]

No. None in my drawers

Oh, I believe you - and even if I didn't - I would never check another man's drawers.

 

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[Dwight Schrute]

Oh, I believe you - and even if I didn't - I would never check another man's drawers.

"Oh dear I have no room for pokey things in my drawers because they are filled to the top with dirty magazines"

JK, pickeringmt actually made a good point.

I just saw the pokey stuff a few times at the store and
never bought them, because:

• I have no problem getting my hands dirty
• If it's too hot for my fingers, it's too hot for my mouth
• Toothpicks do the same trick

For me they are useless, but the 3 pokeys I haven't bought you'll
find in another persons kitchen, and the guy behind the pokey
couldn't care less about me