Post all of your ideas and random problems you’ll never execute on...

[MitchC]

Ice baths

I’ve just turned a chest freezer into an ice bath for well under $1000, took a bit of time and it’s not the most stylish result, but it works amazingly

People are selling barrels and other stupid things for over $1000, and you have to buy ice and fill it up every time you want to use it??? Like wtf it doesn’t even have a cooling function it’s literally just an empty barrel for $1000

Others are selling proper ice baths that keep the water cold for $5-10k

Why is there not something that’s based on a freezer design for under $2k

Seems like a massive discrepancy

Very doable, this would be a really good business, it would just take a lot of cash

 

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[svekk1]

You know the ID badges that are needed to enter offices in the corporate world? Those that are used to open doors, etc. Those usually have plastic holders, so you can append it on things.

Those are made of plastic, as everything. I believe plastic waste is one of the biggest ESG problems that we face. So the idea is to make those out of wood. They would be more expensive and less durable of course, but I believe there are big corporations that would bite as part of their ESG goals. Last time I checked there is not really anything similar. Maybe for a reason.....

Main problems with the idea:
- I've seen badges that are made in a way that no plastic case is needed.
- With home office there is a chance that this is a shrinking pie
- With technology advancement there is chance that in the future these will be replaced by smartphones/fingerprint readers
- once you design it and start making money a lot of competition will jump on as it has low entry barrier

 

[Zerosub]

My idea is a range of lids you can buy and fit onto old tin cans to give them a new function. Saves you throwing the tin cans away. Some initial ideas were a desk tidy, toothbrush holder, tea/ coffee named lids, money box.

Not sure if people would be interested or not but I think the range of tin sizes / functionalities could grow quite large.

 

[DavidePaco00]

yoga mat covers like towels that slip over the mat, cool patterns, washable, grippy. I think I’ve started seeing these now but still an idea.

this is a good one! yoga mats tend to not move and sometimes you have to put you head on the pavement

 

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[Anastasia Kam]

I think we need a random off topic chat thread where we just dump all of our half fleshed out ideas that we will never do anything with and discuss them, things that are not worthy of an INE or their own thread.

Why? Maybe someone from the forum will solve your problem for you. Maybe you’ll find a half baked idea you can develop into something.

I’ll start with mine:
- Uber for freight, there’s a massive shortage of freight drivers right now, how about someone with a Ute/truck can just do bulk local b2b deliveries for warehouses like an Uber.
- people with Crohn’s disease sometimes have to do these strict diets where they only eat these shakes, they do this for months and they only have 3 flavours. I think this is the case anyway I don’t have crohns but I remember a workmate doing it years ago and complaining there was only 3 flavours, how to spot an idea 101.
- a phone charger cable that’s some kind of folding circuit board that folds up shaped like a credit card. Definitely doable with the new thin connectors and the usb that are just the flat board part of it.
- a print on demand 3D printing business that prints peoples custom in game characters from games like RuneScape, this is probably the best of these ideas, it would make a huge business if it was done well
- when houses are auctioned people have to get a house inspection before they bid because they can’t do it after they bid, this can get really expensive if you lose a bunch of auctions and is so inefficient. Set up a business that inspects every house being auctioned and just resells the same inspection to anyone interested. Even better if you just pay a share to someone who’s had an inspection done there already and gives it to you to resell to recoup some money.
- yoga mat covers like towels that slip over the mat, cool patterns, washable, grippy. I think I’ve started seeing these now but still an idea.

That’s all I’ve got, hopefully some others a willing to share theirs.

It doesn’t matter how terrible they are just share them here it’s what it’s for.

The first thing that comes to mind is an app that organizes photos into categories as soon as you take them. You decide how many categories you'll have (ex family, friends, work, documents) and as soon as you 'click' a pop up shows with these categories and you just tap the one you want the photo you took to file itself into. Think how many people would use it since now they can have an album ex. family to go directly and print them. The last photo albums each of us have (90% at least) are before smartphone-era.

 

[Kevin88660]

There are many investment subscription services online. Bloomberg news, Reuters, and all various form of etf scanner, historical price data service provider..

I wonder if there is a broker who can provide a bundling services.

That I pay for everything that is available and get a massive discount.

Sharing feature as a premium available but no more than three ip address allowed per account, solving the netflix acc sharing issue.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

Airborne taxis. I mean drones. Unmanned. Remote controlled. Navigating in cities. Hopefully removing traffic jam. Capable of operating in the higher stories only.

 

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[shayfer]

Great thread and great ideas!

-Well water meter
Living in the country millions of people have wells. Never know the levels, especially if you are wanting to run your sprinklers, fill up a pool,etc.
The only methods that are accurate, besides commercial equipment that is expensive, is dropping ice down the casing and counting the drop time or steel measuring tape and looking where it's wet.
I was thinking something basic that had magnets on either side to hold onto the casing with maybe a sonar sensor that hits the bottom and uses wifi to an app on your phone with levels. (There is already electrical at the case or battery powered) With alerts?

-Uber but for mechanics. There are millions of shade tree mechanics that would love an opportunity to do some side work. Mainly be able to pick and choose. Have you been to a dealership or car repair place? It's insane. As a car guy let me give you an example. My 2017 F350 diesel 6.7 was notorious for oil pan leaks. upper mainly. the cheapest place I could find quoted me at $4700. I went on youtube and researched it thoroughly and after buying some tools and OEM brand Motorcraft parts did it for $200. I have the tools and if there was an app like that I would be interested in seeing if there is any other Ford's I could do the same. (I mean I don't but would rather create the app)

Warning on the next statement that I do not endorse the site as whole but there is some good subs for ideas.

-reddit
I like the woodworking/construction/hvac/electrical/plumbing/justrolledintotheshop subs.
While there is load stuff you would have to sift through on those subs, professionals in their industries, that "create or make" a tool that doesn't exist to help them get a task done. (I suspect this might run into some patent issues that maybe no one ever acted on but you would be surprised at how often it comes up) Example is another car one since I just saw it on justrolledintotheshop sub was oil pan drain plug that has a lever on it instead of having to screw it off. I mean there is only 2 competitors in this market. Fumoto $30+ EZ $25. I mean everyone has a vehicle and gas engines will be around for awhile. Isn't there room for another competitor? Maybe not the best example but quite a few tool ideas on all the subs.

 

[AppMan]

-Well water meter

How much do you pay for the such device ?

 

[Beijing]

A $400 machine that squeezes juice out of a pod. It'll be the Keurig of juice.

 

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[BlackRabbit3PL]

An ice hockey skate sharpener that sharpens automatically without human input. My buddy took the idea and actually did something with it.

 

[Bekit]

Great thread!

-motivational mug store for entreprenuers "never give up" etc. mugs (these are harder than I expected to find online, I cant find any good design)

Have you looked at the Startup Vitamins mug collection? I have a couple of their items and overall I like their merch. They always seem to have good sayings that are motivational for entrepreneurs.

An app that you put all of your friends / family birthdays into. It integrates with amazon to tell you what they might want / need based on their amazon cart or shopping history, and it orders gifts for you in time enough for them to be there.

I love this idea. I was thinking about making a gift-giving app that could help you discover unique, cool, or unusual gift ideas based on parameters you enter. For example, you enter your desired price range and the person's age bracket and interests, and the app gives you cool ideas that you hadn't thought of.

As an example, let's say I want to get a gift for my dad. Let's say he loves fishing and I have NO CLUE what kind of item would surprise and delight a fisherman. So I put in the app "Adult male, Interest: fishing, Price range: Under $100" and the app spits out cool and unique gift ideas that I would not have figured out on my own. I give him the gift and he thinks it's really cool and thoughtful. Win win win!

You could monetize it by collecting a commission on each product sale.

It could be a way for smaller creators and etsy sellers who have unique items to get discovered. And it could be a way to figure out what to get for that person who has everything and you're drawing a blank on what to get them, but you want them to feel like you care.

You could start by populating the app with a bunch of products like the ones in the Sky Mall catalogs that used to come in airplane seat pockets and then expand from there.

And then if you paired it with reminders of all the birthdays of the people you care about, that would be super handy!

 

[BizyDad]

Uber but for mechanics. There are millions of shade tree mechanics that would love an opportunity to do some side work. Mainly be able to pick and choose. Have you been to a dealership or car repair place? It's insane. As a car guy let me give you an example. My 2017 F350 diesel 6.7 was notorious for oil pan leaks. upper mainly. the cheapest place I could find quoted me at $4700. I went on youtube and researched it thoroughly and after buying some tools and OEM brand Motorcraft parts did it for $200. I have the tools and if there was an app like that I would be interested in seeing if there is any other Ford's I could do the same. (I mean I don't but would rather create the app)

Google "mobile mechanics".

There is also a company called your mechanic, or maybe it's your mobile mechanic, and if they operate in your town, they'll just send a guy out to you.

My understanding is, setting yourself up as a company like this to take advantage of your mechanics network also is not difficult...

 

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[The Sandman]

 

[shayfer]

Google "mobile mechanics".

There is also a company called your mechanic, or maybe it's your mobile mechanic, and if they operate in your town, they'll just send a guy out to you.

My understanding is, setting yourself up as a company like this to take advantage of your mechanics network also is not difficult...

I did see a few when I google'd it before I posted. (I should've titled my post ideas I had 15+ years ago and never moved forward on) Specifically, the yourmechanic one. Might be room for better execution on that one. They do have 2K cities it looks like.

You are right that it might not be too difficult to take advantage of a mechanics network to setup. I think secondary cities and smaller might make more sense vs the huge ones. Could even do car/truck repairs and farm equipment as well.

 

[shayfer]

How much do you pay for the such device ?

How much would I charge if I had something like this available? I think most people would pay in the $50 to $100 range. Most of the ones on Amazon are drop sensors but they are on a long string/line. My well for example was 600ft+ so a sensor would be a better idea I believe. I am not sure if we can post links to other sites but there was an "instructable" that had exactly this created in 2015 I saw when I was recently googling this. It wasn't cost effect but still the right idea.
Might add it to the check out and move on it list.

 

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[Ing]

Parts for cars, which are originally made of steel and corroded at nearly every car and no more available. Than made of different materials like fiberglas or any suitable.

 

[Walter Hay]

-Uber but for mechanics. There are millions of shade tree mechanics that would love an opportunity to do some side work. Mainly be able to pick and choose. Have you been to a dealership or car repair place? It's insane. As a car guy let me give you an example. My 2017 F350 diesel 6.7 was notorious for oil pan leaks. upper mainly. the cheapest place I could find quoted me at $4700. I went on youtube and researched it thoroughly and after buying some tools and OEM brand Motorcraft parts did it for $200. I have the tools and if there was an app like that I would be interested in seeing if there is any other Ford's I could do the same. (I mean I don't but would rather create the app)

If you produce an app you have to sell it and once sold you have to find more mechanics who will buy it. See my answer to BizyDad below

There is also a company called your mechanic, or maybe it's your mobile mechanic, and if they operate in your town, they'll just send a guy out to you.

My understanding is, setting yourself up as a company like this to take advantage of your mechanics network also is not difficult...

YourMechanic operates in "2000 cities" and employ mechanics who are casuals who can choose where, when, and can "Work evenings, weekends, or full-time -- you decide!" The company doesn't reveal how they make profit from employing those mechanics.

I think a franchise network would be much more profitable and easy to manage.

Walter

 

[BizyDad]

If you produce an app iyou have to sell it and once sold you have to find more mechanics who will buy it. See my answer to BizyDad below

YourMechanic operates in "2000 cities" and employ mechanics who are casuals who can choose where, when, and can "Work evenings, weekends, or full-time -- you decide!" The company doesn't reveal how they make profit from employing those mechanics.

I think a franchise network would be much more profitable and easy to manage.

Walter

Disagree on ease of management. It is simply a different set of problems for each. Theoretically, a well designed app would lead to greater efficiency as evidence by the lower time and money spent on hr activities compared to a franchise network.

Your mechanic is essentially a lead gen website, with quoting and revenue capture in most of those cities, with actual employees in a handful of locations.

Franchise network could work. I have pushed a friend to do this for years and he refuses.

The chief issue is the balance of finding quality, reliable labor when you compete against shops for the labor pool.

It really depends on the goals of the entrepreneur. But this is a space prime for disruption. YM has been gobbling up anyone who threatens their business model. They began with the goal of being an industry disruptor, but they are missing the mark.

The issue any app start up will have is getting the proper raw data to set up the quoting system. It can be done, if you know where to look. And then being able to "get the word out" to both halves of the equation... Users and mechanics.

Like most apps, or even franchising, you should limit the launch to one city and go from there.

 

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[ggekko]

Software that either removes or replaces the cell phone in peoples hands during photos.

like a camera! jk

 

[Saad Khan]

An influencer personal services platform where normal people can pay the influencers on the platform to record birthday wishes for them and whatever personal favors like that they may need. One of my whatsapp contacts uploaded a video of a cricketer wishing him on his birthday. Don't know if that was a paid favor but I reckon its worth testing it.

 

[BizyDad]

An influencer personal services platform where normal people can pay the influencers on the platform to record birthday wishes for them and whatever personal favors like that they may need. One of my whatsapp contacts uploaded a video of a cricketer wishing him on his birthday. Don't know if that was a paid favor but I reckon its worth testing it.

This exists.

 

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[Saad Khan]

This exists.

Name?

 

[shayfer]

Name?

cameo.com is the first one I thought of.

 

[Walter Hay]

When leaving hospital after hip replacement treatment I was given what is generally called a "Reacher Grabber". It has a handle or trigger that when you squeeze closes the grip (grabber) end enabling a person to pick up items without bending. My wife has one also.

Being garden lovers we would like to have such a tool that is modified to enable us to pull weeds out of the garden without leaving the roots behind. The grips need to be wider than those on the market, not slippery silicone like most, but not prone to cutting the weed stalk.

My suggestion to any inventive types is to incorporate a rachet on the handle to enable a person with arthritic hands to ensure sufficient pressure is deployed at the grabber end.

Walter

P.S. The idea is free to use.

 

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[JAJT]

cameo.com is the first one I thought of.

Yup.

Don't know if we used this one specifically but my wife and I have purchased videos from folks like Jan Arden and some gold medal winning Olympic hockey player for friends/family. We've done a few others but I honestly forget who.

It makes for a seriously thoughtful. personalized gift for people who have a favorite 'personality' they obsess over.

I'd never, ever use it myself because I have zero interest in celebrities / personalities but every video we've purchased for others have gone over EXTREMELY well. And they are usually affordable - $50 - 100 most of the time for a 1-3 minute video.

 

[Anon3x156]

dating app for ugly people, ban any attractive people that go there

people would use this to see if they get banned or not

 

[Saad Khan]

people would use this to see if they get banned or not

You can make a business around that . Selling validation isn't a far-fetched idea after all.

 

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[Saad Khan]

cameo.com is the first one I thought of.

Hmm, since I'm not from the US, there is potential for such a platform in my country Pakistan.

So yeah, a cameo.com lookalike, but in other countries. The need is psychological and not cultural. Seems like a good business idea to execute on.

I remember when I was preparing the pitch deck, the idea kept refining and refining. So creative folks can do something really good with it.

 

[MitchC]

Hmm, since I'm not from the US, there is potential for such a platform in my country Pakistan.

So yeah, a cameo.com lookalike, but in other countries. The need is psychological and not cultural. Seems like a good business idea to execute on.

I remember when I was preparing the pitch deck, the idea kept refining and refining. So creative folks can do something really good with it.

Taking anything successful and copying it in Pakistan is going to be a good idea.

There’s a company in I think it’s Germany that just copied eBay, Airbnb and Craigslist etc in German and is worth 8 figures