Innovation Idea, Small Cheap Precise 3D Printer
Make 3D fabricators from old floppy drives, CDROM drives DVD drives.
Use radial coordinates to convert the points of your 3D print to locations on the platter.
All the circuitry, software, and hardware is there for moving the print head and turning on the print nozzle. Only need to add mechanism for vertical motion. Raising and lowering the platter on the spindle would be easiest.
Resources are anything. Japanese solution to pirates
This Japanese solution for stopping pirates from boarding ships is an excellent example of using readily available resources to innovate.
Pirates make money by capturing people or property then either hold it for ransom or attempt to sell it. Either way they need to get on board the ship to achieve their goal. Sinking the ship or killing the passengers isn’t profitable so pirates avoid that.
Water is definitely a readily available resource to a ship. Ships also have pumps used for fighting fires, cleaning the decks, and removing unwanted water.
The Anti-Piracy Water Curtain uses what already exists on a ship including what the crew knows how to do. It also doesn’t require many people operate so existing crew can turn on the water curtain and still do their normal job.
Resources are 1 of the 7 Elements of an Outcome. Combining the 7 Elements with 15 Alternatives reveals 105 types of innovation for any Outcome. Learn the entire Predictive Innovation method.
Food Stamp Friday Party, Innovative Business Strategy
“Po’ need 2 pahty 2”
The absurdity aside, a Food Stamp Friday Party could be an innovative business strategy.
The obvious way to look at it is as a charitable gesture. Truly needy people certainly do need some cheering up and they don’t have the money to go out clubbing. But the indirect alternative could point out hidden markets.
It’s likely the majority of SNAP card holders are women. Discounts for ladies brings in more women and that in turn brings in more men who spend money on drinks for themselves and the ladies.
This may also bring in groups of women who would otherwise not attend. Women tend to prefer going out in groups. If members of their group feel they can’t afford to go out, the whole group may stay at home. By eliminating that objection the party promoter can bring in other women who will spend money.
Don’t forget the party promoter created national attention for his local party. That alone is highly valuable to a promoter since on it’s face the product is a commodity.
So when thinking about potential markets for your products look beyond the obvious customers. Predictive Innovation describes 90 types of business models. Most industries never look at more than 13% of the idea space. That means there could be 78 better business models you overlooked.
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