Developed in, of all places, Ecuador, Radio Ambulance was actually invented by an advertising agency. Essentially, it is based on the fact that it is not always easy to hear an ambulance siren in heavy traffic, especially if you have the radio blaring. With Radio Ambulance, this isn't a problem as it hijacks car radios to announce the ambulance's approach. Apparently, it can interrupt both AM and FM stations up to a kilometre ahead with a message asking drivers to give way. Simple and clever, eh?

Here is one of those ideas that I wish I had thought of. Bussuu combines learning with social networking. After creating a profile on the site or app, users have access to exercises such as vocabulary drills and dialogues in 12 languages. They can interact via text or video so that they are not only a student they are a tutor for their own language. Believe it or not, it now has 35 million users, with 40,000 joining every day. For around £5 a month users can access extra features such as audio and video.

A Spanish start-up, Knok is changing the way the holiday industry operates. Basically, it allows members to swap homes and stay in each other's properties free of charge. An annual membership of around £100 includes unlimited swaps and covers all the insurance costs. So far Knok has signed up 20,000 registered users who have a choice of 159 different countries to visit. A brilliant, remarkably low-cost start-up.

Shutl makes it possible for companies to arrange same-day fulfilment. If you want to get a package out to a customer quickly, you go to the Shutl site and its algorithm matches orders with couriers, taking details such as location, cost and couriers' reviews into account, as well as when the customer wants the product to be delivered - either as soon as possible (with a record of just 15 minutes) or at a specific time. It is already being used by retailers such as Argos and Maplin.

Another clever idea! 3D Hubs connects 3D printer owners - or hubs - with local people who need something printed. Wired magazine described it as the Airbnb of 3D printing. There are now 100,000 3D printers in existence in the world and one imagines that 3D Hubs is hoping to sign up a substantial percentage of them. So far, they have only got 15 hubs and 400 printers spread over 100 cities. Nevertheless, it is growing dramatically.

Adzuna performs a simple function. It trawls thousands of websites to list items in a single vertical search and ties in with both Facebook and LinkedIn. Its purpose? To help you find a UK job, property or car. It saves you having to look at dozens of sites in order to see what is available. So far, it is getting 1.5 million monthly visitors.

Eruditor is a marketplace for private tutors. So far, some 100,000 private tutors have registered and there are about 400,000 customers. The result is that over $200 million of tutoring is being booked every year. Pretty clever, (and based in Russia). Eruditor is now opening itself up to other skilled professionals, such as doctors.

There is actually nothing new about Peecho, but what it does, it does well. The website connects other websites to a network of print facilities allowing digital publishers, museums and corporations that need bespoke printing across the world with short, high-quality print runs to gain access to hi-tech digital printing. In plain English, if you want to sell a book, poster, canvas print or whatever, you can do so via Peecho, which will handle all the production for you.

As I don't speak Turkish I am not completely sure how Vivense works but a friend assures me that it is basically an online furniture store. It allows customers to browse over 5,000 discounted items and provides design expertise from a network of interior designers. With no showrooms, it organises delivery from the manufacturer directly to the consumer. Jolly clever!

Tictail is a good-looking, intuitive service that lets anyone set up an online store quickly, easily and inexpensively. It is really doing well because in its first ten months 13,000 retailers have used it.

If you are looking for a lift somewhere, BlaBlaCar is the digital alternative to sticking your thumb in the air. Based in France, it is now responsible for moving more than 600,000 people across Europe every month. Indeed, by the end of 2013 it expects to be transporting more people than Eurostar. It's simplicity itself. Passengers use an online booking system to book their seat, with BlaBlaCar taking a commission. From the consumer's point of view a really clever and easy way to get about.

What I like about My Heritage is that it managed to gather together all sorts of free and inexpensive databases (such as newspapers, census records and government databases), repackage it and sell it to the public. Basically, it is a family-genealogy business. It has a billion profiles and uses advanced algorithms to find lost family members by comparing records that date right back to the 1700s. In fact, it can trace 27 million family trees in 40 languages from all over the world.

Over the last decade, British pubs have had an increasingly difficult time of it. It began, I suppose, with the smoking ban. Then the recession meant that more people were buying alcohol and taking it home, rather than going out to a bar or pub. Finally, there has been an overall change in consumers' drinking habits. When people do go out, they are as likely to go to a restaurant or nightclub as to a good, old-fashioned pub. As a result of this, beer sales have suffered... but not all beer sales. The brewers who produce artisanal beers are enjoying nothing but growth. What everyone wants is the beers produced by local, dedicated artisanal breweries.

What I'm wondering is whether we may not shortly see a development that has occurred in the United States. There, two businesses are slowly changing the way in which beer is sold. I even wonder whether the rather gauche names of these two companies might not catch on. One is called World of Beer and the other is called the Brass Tap. Both stock dozens and dozens of 'craft beer'. Both own and operate their own outlets and sell franchises. According to the American Brewers Association, the number of breweries has increased from 50 (in 1984) to 2,500 (in 2014). Beer is also massive business - worth some $100 billion a year.

Anyway, I think it is worth looking at the formula of World of Beer, as an example of an opportunity that could possibly be taken to other countries. Each World of Beer location has 30 rotating taps and more than 500 bottled brews. They sell simple food items as well as craft spirits but they are also, weirdly, not unhappy if people bring their own food in. Food is there to support the beer rather than as a source of revenue. World of Beer is an impressive operation with 44 locations in 14 states and I feel sure that it is an idea that may end up being exported.

I have mentioned before the idea of portable, digital photo booths. They have become very popular in America, especially at events such as weddings and parties. Now a company called Tap Snap is set to transform the market with the idea of connecting a touch screen, open-air booth to social media. The easily portable photo machine lets users write messages with their fingers, add digital props like hats or moustaches and take group shots. And for nostalgia's sake it will still spill out a classic photo strip as well. So far the company has sold 50 territories, but my guess is that it is going to sell a hell of a lot more. If you are looking for a concept to either copy and reinvent, trade or start yourself then this could well be it.

I was interested to read in a magazine called eMarketer that the fastest-growing sector of e-commerce spending is apparel. So, if people are buying clothing online, where are they buying it and what opportunities does it offer the rest of us? According to a friend who works for the design label Jonathan Saunders, the hot, up-and-coming apparel sites are:

Pivot Desk is a matchmaker for office space, helping fledgling companies find the right premises by connecting them with other businesses that are locked into long-term leases and have floor space to spare. Commercial real estate typically forces you into a long-term lease, but a start-up doesn't know how big it will be in three months, let alone three years. So, this concept makes brilliant sense. The service currently pairs office mates in New York, San Francisco and the Boulder/Denver area, but it is expanding quickly to Boston, Seattle and Portland. To my mind, there is no reason why it shouldn't also move overseas and, if it doesn't... what a brilliantly simple concept to launch.

The watch industry may be troubled - sales have fallen every year since 2006 - primarily because people are using their mobile phones to tell the time - but on Kickstarter, innovative watches rule, netting at least $15 million of sales in the last year alone. So, what is making watches sell on Kickstarter? Here are the factors that seem to make these timepieces online winners:

So if it is in your heart to develop a watch take heed.

I almost hate telling you about this site, because I depend on it so much for innovative new ideas. Anyway, if you are looking for products to make, buy, sell or copy, Springwise is a good place to look. Recently, I spotted the following products on the site and it gives you a good feel for what it is all about:

Apropos of absolutely nothing at all, but while I am on the subject of innovation, I really have to tell you about an application I have just discovered called Dark Sky. Basically, it predicts rainfall minute by minute. Anyway, it is really cool, though it has nothing to do with anything but I just remembered it and thought I would mention it.

Do you remember when video games first came out? I do. And the sad thing is I didn't buy them for myself: I was buying them for my young children. Anyway, 1980s-style arcade games are very much back in fashion and one company that is capitalising on this is Dream Arcades. Apparently, Dream Arcades is the largest manufacturer of non-coin-operated arcade machines in the world. It produces a console that can be customised with personalised artwork, lighted trackballs and joysticks and even unique games. The company is doing well but not so well, I suspect, that it wouldn't be interested in international trading possibilities.

Interested in trading a product connected to drink? Try Green Hat Distilled Gin, which is based in Washington, DC and produces an innovative spirit that is very beautifully packaged. Also take a look at Cork Circle, a product that is designed to ensure perfectly chilled wine every time. Basically, the product looks like an icicle that you freeze and then put into your wine bottle in order to make sure that the drink is suitably chilled.

Jim Storm - November 2013
  

  
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