There seems to be a blueprint for female fashion models that is rarely broken – very tall, very skinny, very bland.  What makes this rather strange, in my view, is that only a very tiny minority of the people who the fashions are aimed at, conform to the same blueprint.  I think the market is crying out for something a bit more realistic and representative, which is where London based Anti -Agency comes in. 

The agency actively selects models who defy the industry standard, preferring individualism and personality over the supposed perfect shape.  The founders claim they employ people who are “too cool to be models”.  Many of the models represented by the agency are young students and artists who are looking to break into the creative industries.  By using models that better represent consumers the agency has secured work from well-known brands such as Uniqlo, ASOS, Urban Outfitters, Toni & Guy and Liberty of London.

There are two things here: 

1. Could there be a second career for you as a model? Anti -Agency isn’t the only one to realise that the market is becoming increasingly interested in seeing the ‘real’ people in clothes they’re being invited to buy. 

2.  There’s a message here for other industries.  Following the accepted route is just one road to success.  There are usually opportunities to be successful doing something completely different from the crowd.

Stinky Boyz

Stinky Boyz is a personal hygiene product company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Back in the mid 1990’s , the founder Marie Gelin noticed the battle her sister was having to get her son to shower and wash. As a mother of daughters, the difference was stark. Gelin decided to do something about it and created a sports based range of soaps and cleansing products. The business was a success and went from strength to strength. 

There are two things to take from this I think. Firstly, successful businesses are often based on personal problems or experiences. So give some thought to yours. And secondly, contrary to what the politically correct might tell you, it’s worth giving some thought to the big differences between the sexes. Men and woman…boys and girls…are not the same. They have vastly different needs, wants and pre-dispositions, and there are often successful businesses to be had within these differences.

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL FAST FOOD DAY!

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What’s the first thing you need for a wedding… a bride and groom, right?  Not if you’re Japanese company Cerca Travel who have started organising solo weddings for women who want the experience but not the commitment.

The companies Solo Wedding is a two-day excursion where clients spend the night in a hotel as they go in for dress fittings, bouquet design, hair and make-up and even a full photo shoot.  Each of these services is handled by a professional in the industry and done with the same level of quality and attention to detail as a real wedding ceremony.

When she’s ready, the ‘bride’ is taken to a beautiful location for a commemorative photo shoot.  There’s even the option to have a decorative man between the ages of 20 and 70 to pose alongside you.

I don’t know what to make of this and have no idea whether British women might buy into this kind of service – but stranger things have worked!

Genetic Dating…

We’ve covered myriad dating concepts over the past couple of years and I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone turned to science.

Singled out is a San Diego-based company that has devised an algorithm that matches single people based partly on DNA compatibility and partly on the results from a psychological questionnaire.  The company claim they can determine chemistry between two people based on their genes.  Singled out works with Instant Chemistry, a Toronto-based lab services company that administers the DNA testing and determines the basic genetic profiles of members.

Subscriptions cost $149 for three months and £199 for six months, but the company have wider plans. They are investigating the possibility of companies using genetic profiling for everything from putting together work teams to creating the office seating chart.

I’ve no idea how successful this is likely to be for the end user, but it’s an angle. And in a crowded market that’s what you need.  There’s certainly a lot of interest in DNA and genetic profiling so any service that uses them should certainly get attention.

Who will be the first to bring it to the UK?

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL BLACK CAT DAY!

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At its most basic, arbitrage means little more than buying at one price in one market and then selling at a higher price in another. Sometimes that shift in market can be geographic, and at others – as is the case here – it can be a shift over time.

I just read an article about a guy called Bob Peterson in the United States who figured out that the market for college textbooks was unlikely to be stable. He did an analysis of online selling prices and found, sure enough, that prices swung widely through the year in line with the academic calendar. Prices were at their lowest in the summer and then went through the roof once the college year started. This was a discovery that enabled him to double his money each term by buying in summer.

Two things to take from this I think:

1.  Why not copy this simple arbitrage system in the UK?

2.  What other products display a similar demand cycle?

Maybe there’s a clue in the very last word I just typed!

It’s Been A Good Month For…

Publishers, with the news that Bloomsbury has reported that — thanks to lockdown and people have more time to read — it has had its best half-year profits since 2008. Earnings rose by 60% to £4m between February and August as book sales soared.

Kim Kardashian, who won $6.1m from her bodyguard and his company after she accused him of failing to protect her during and armed robbery in Paris where part of her extensive jewellery collection was stolen.

IT’S BEEN A BAD MONTH FOR …

James Dyson, who lost $11m on selling his property in Singapore. The arch Brexiteer announced his company’s headquarter’s move to the city shortly after Brexit. It is said to be Singapore’s largest apartment.

Gareth Gates, the pop singer, who reported that he trades currencies and once lost £250,000 investing with a shady “expert”

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL HAPPY HOUR DAY!

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Pension savers could be paying tens of thousands of pounds in unnecessary charges over the course of a lifetime. Life insurers, who have traditionally dominated the market for private pension plans, charge over the odds. A 38-year-old saver with a £100,000 pension plan today and investing £10,000 a year for the next 30 years could lose almost £100,000 owing to excess charges.

The data is based on the charges levied by pension providers for access to the same funds. Traditional life insurers fare very badly in such comparisons as they tend to have percentage-based administration fees, and as the savers’ funds appreciate, these become very costly. Flat fees, by contrast, are often much more affordable.

Broadly, criticism of the life insurers that account for a large part of the pension-fund market is accurate. Percentage-based fees do penalise savers with larger funds and several insurers charge uncompetitive percentages.

Money Statistics

$45 — the price of a single ounce of the world’s most precious brand of prime beefsteak: Japanese Ozaki.

One million — the number of shares Apple boss Tim Cook could receive in the business by 2025 if the tech titan continues to perform strongly. It would be his second stock grant, mirroring the one million shares he received on taking over from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011. The award is worth between $76m and $114m depending on Apple’s share price performance.

£7m — the price of a James Bond-like speedboat that can dive underwater. It is being developed for the British special forces.The Victa submersible is to undergo sea trials in early 2021.

£25.3m — how much the worlds’ youngest top birdwatcher (she has spotted half of the world’s 10,738 species), Mya-Rose Craig, 18, has sold the rights to her memoir for, following an auction involving 14 publishers.

€134,000 — the price for a tiny 6.51sm apartment at the top of a block of flats in Paris’ sought-after fourth arrondissement.

$383m — the amount Presidential candidate Joe Biden raised in September, breaking the $364.5m monthly record he set in August. It October his campaign said it had a $432m war chest at its disposal.

€500m — the value of benefit Italy receives from immigrants. In 2018, they paid €26.6bn in taxes, and received €26.1bn in state benefits.

£1.2bn — the annual earnings US rapper Dr Dre takes from his company.

$5.7bn — how much the eight films (plus spin offs) the petrol-fulled Fast & Furious franchise has made. There are plans for three more films before the old car is disassembled.

£1.2trn — the total value of assets so far that financial services firms operating in Britain have moved to the EU ahead of the end of the transition period on the 31st of December. That’s up from £1trn at the end of 2019.

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL SUNDAE DAY!

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What do you do with the ashes when a loved one or favourite pet dies? Well some people keep them in an urn, others scatter them in a place of significance, but a Missouri painter offers a different solution. Adam Brown offers clients one-of-a kind artwork made from the remains of their relatives or pets. 

He produces the art using cremated remnants sent in by relatives and mixing them with paint pigment to create a “lasting memory” composition. “Having ashes in an urn on a mantle somewhere is a good way to constantly remind yourself that person died, but when you use them in an artwork it’s a good way to remember someone lived, “Brown says. 

I don’t know anything about the process, but this seems like a nice way to use the remains to create a lasting memorial. If you’re an artist, perhaps this is an opportunity to investigate further.

Trapping A Customer 

One of the hassles of travelling is packing and transporting everything you need for the trip. For business travellers, this is even more of a problem. They travel more frequently and often find themselves hauling their luggage backwards and forwards to the same destination. The Grand Hyatt hotel in Melbourne, Australia decided to do something about it, and gave themselves a competitive advantage at the same time. 

The Grand Hyatt now offers storage facilities for regular travellers complete with full laundry facilities. The hotel effectively becomes a home from home and once you have your stuff there well, where else are you going to stay next time you’re in Melbourne?

There are obviously advantages for the guest, but also advantages for the hotel. So is this an idea you could adopt or adapt? Is there some way you could ethically ‘trap’ your customers? Perhaps there’s something you could ‘store’ for them, meaning they will have to return. This will mean different things to different businesses, but something to think about.

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL MEN MAKE DINNER DAY!

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Home brewing equipment can take up a lot of space. Not much good when you live in a tiny flat or apartment.  It was this fact that led New York based, The Brooklyn Brewery Shop to develop a range of miniature brewing kits which fit the needs of it’s main apartment-based client base.

I’m not suggesting you copy the idea but rather, that you consider the thinking behind it. Is there some way you could provide a smaller version of your product (or even someone else’s product), which would open it up to a whole new market of space-challenged consumers? 

It’s this sort of thinking that probably led to the development of Endless Pools, in which you swim against a current and don’t actually travel anywhere.  There have to be scores of other products which would benefit from a bit of positive downsizing.

Jeans Rental

I love the idea of rental businesses for a very simple reason people pay you to use something, but you get to keep it. It’s like selling the same thing over and over again but only having to buy it once. How far can you go with the rental model? Well how about renting jeans?

I just heard about a company in The Netherlands, Mud Jeans, which for around 6 Euro a month will rent you a pair of high end jeans for a year. At the end of the rental period the customer can then either return the jeans, buy them outright or replace them with a new pair.

To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure why you’d want to do this, but I’m the sort of person who thinks you should be able to buy a decent pair of jeans outright for less than £50. The market isn’t for old folk like me, that’s for sure.

I’m telling you about this because it opens up all sorts of possibilities. If you can make money renting like jeans, what other seemingly ‘un-rentable’ products could form the basis of a business?

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL SAXOPHONE DAY!

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Cluttons offer advice on selling your property. ‘Listen to your agent about pricing – there have been enough recent transactions for market experts to have a clear understanding of what price is achievable for your property. There is a fine line between what price will generate interest and what won’t, it’s all about footfall, price your property too high and you will not generate the necessary viewings to sell your property.’

‘Look forward to your onward purchase – this is an opportune market for upgrading and your priority should be to focus on your onward purchase, establish what it is going to cost you and then price your current property accordingly. Hopefully, this will mean you can market your property competitively which will speed up the chain.’

‘Treat every viewing as a second viewing – in this market you can’t afford to be complacent, ensure you have done everything to present your property in the best light possible e.g. replace or clean the carpets, touch up the paint work, re-grout the tiling, jet spray the patio. It’s these superficial improvements which can make the difference between selling your property right now and not.’

‘Outside space – lockdown has placed even more importance on outside space, so if you have a garden or roof terrace get a gardener/landscaper in and make a real feature of it. A well landscaped garden, which has been cleverly designed to feel like an extension of your home, can add 10 per cent to a property price in London and in some areas more.’

‘Get your property on the market ASAP and consider renting – if you are thinking of selling then you should do so rather than later since Cluttons predict that going into 2021 there is going to be more supply and sadly, from some, an increased urgency to sell, which is going to have a detrimental effect on capital values. If you are fortunate enough to secure a buyer at a price you are happy with, but have not found somewhere to buy yourself, then consider renting to keep the chain in place.’

‘Have all paperwork ready – instruct a good conveyancing solicitor, it’s often worth taking a referral from your agent. Ask the solicitor to prepare the contract and if there is a managing agent make sure they have the Seller’s Leasehold Information Pack ready, so everything is in place when you find a buyer.’ Food for thought.

The Transparent Fridge

I’m always getting an ear bashing for staring into the fridge several times an evening, looking for something unhealthy to eat. Maybe I’d get less flak if I had the fridge recently created by S home. It has a transparent door so you don’t need to open it, and let the cold out, to see what’s inside. Makes you wonder why nobody thought of it before.

I’m sure you don’t want to go into fridge manufacture, but it raises an interesting question – what other products would benefit from some transparency treatment? I own watches with display backs and I’ve had cars with transparent engine covers. So what else would people like to see working, or alternatively, what else would they like to be able to see the contents of without opening a lid, cover or door? Is there anything in the market or markets you know about?

Today’s National Day

CELEBRATING BONFIRE NIGHT!

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