Editor’s note: This article was first published in December 2012, and describes the startups as they stood then, including funding amounts, product prices and company stages. Their current status may differ.
Not everything has been invented yet (even if it seems that way), and we’re not going to reinvent the wheel; we’re just going to decorate it to make it more attractive.
Creativity and innovation are what the following business ideas show. They were created recently and are already turning into big profits.
These ideas are as simple as they are brilliant, as crazy as they are profitable, and these entrepreneurs have known how to target the product at the people who need it. Although some are a bit more complex, the truth is that most of them could have occurred to any of us.
And if you’re looking for profitable businesses to start, don’t miss our in-depth article with all kinds of ideas for you.
Four business ideas that look simple but are brilliant
1. Damn Heels: foldable shoes for women
Many women will understand why this business idea has been a success. Say you have a night out, a wedding, and so on. Personally I’ve never worn heels, but they say that after a few hours they end up destroying your feet.
The entrepreneur Hailey Coleman designed Damn Heels, spare shoes for exactly these situations. They take up hardly any room in your handbag, and they come in their own pouch that looks like a little bag. They’re also elegant and, most importantly, very comfortable.
Many new entrepreneurs have tried to innovate with footwear, but very few have raised €30,000 in funding to get started and more than €100,000 to expand into other markets. For now, these shoes are selling like hotcakes in the United States.
2. Gocycle: an electric folding bike
Electric bikes already exist, and so do folding bikes, but Gocycle is probably the first electric folding bike. That makes it ideal for workers who have to get from one side of the city to the other: once they reach the office, they don’t need to leave the bike outside, because it takes up little space in the office itself.
It has a range of more than 25 km and recharges in just 3 hours (it also has pedals). Gocycle is a company that has been around for two years and is already a big success in the United Kingdom. It is now looking to meet demand in the United States, so it is searching for distributors in other countries.
3. Recompute: the cardboard computer
Worried about the use of oil-based plastics? Recompute has the solution: it is the first cardboard computer. There’s a basic version and a deluxe version, with prices ranging from $200 to $1,000.
Do you know the funniest part? They sell. The company’s success is due to going viral on social networks, backed by a strong presence on Amazon. Not everyone likes this invention: several tech outlets suggest it would increase the risk of fire, since it’s made of cardboard.
This computer doesn’t do anything others can’t, but it must be very “cool” to say you have a cardboard computer. That would explain its sales success.
4. Storage: storage like in the cloud, but on the ground
Another example of entrepreneurs who have managed to apply the internet business model to offline businesses. On the internet we can store files in the cloud, so they don’t take up space on our hard drive and we can access them from any place or device.
That is exactly the idea behind Storage, a company that rents you physical storage for your belongings, whether furniture, clothes, documents, books and so on. If you’re thinking of moving, or you move house very often, it’s a way to avoid lugging all your “stuff” around.
Whenever you need your nostalgic objects, Storage sends them to you wherever you are. The idea is excellent, although carrying it out must be complicated: I imagine it’s hard enough to sort one person’s “things” into books, clothes and so on, let alone keep the belongings of thousands of people organized.
Further reading
Featured image: Dontworry, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
