Business Idea

Owning a business is an aspiration that many Americans would like to do at some point but coming up with a profitable idea/service, business model and the capital to get it off the ground is an insurmountable feat most of the time. I'm not trying to be a pessimist but it has to be true because if it wasn't more people would own businesses. I happen to own a refrigerant recovery franchise but I'm always coming up with ideas for other businesses because it's just something I like to think about. Since I can't pursue any of these ideas I thought I'd share them on this blog from time to time and if anyone finds one of them interesting they can feel free to take it.

A lot of the most successful businesses over the last decade have been based on the internet. Facebook and Google are two that come to mind. The main reasons that these businesses are so successful is because they stay so user friendly and organized. Other reasons are that they network people and pitch services in a more personal manner because they can tell you "Hey your friend John used this service, you should use it too." People are a whole lot more likely to use something if they know a friend of theirs used it and was pleased. So far this has worked wonders for internet based companies. Many other companies have benefited greatly by using the viral marketing that Facebook offers. Other than the marketing, I have yet to see some of these ideas cross over into other industries. Technology is also becoming more and more affordable as time goes by.

The business idea that all of this led me to was to model a restaurant after Facebook. It could be called anything but my first thought was Pizzabook or something similar. My thought was that the inside could be painted in a Facebook theme with walls that people could write on with erasable marker. There could be sections of walls to put pictures of customers. Other sections, where customers could leave fliers for their businesses or interests, (ex. local real estate agent, upcoming concerts, etc). The restaurant would be clean, simple and small. I'm not really a design kind of guy, but you get the idea. I think it would fit in perfect in a college town. I actually had the idea when I was at Otto's pizza in Tempe, which is right next to ASU. I imagine a place that is a free wireless hotspot that makes it a great off campus place to study or hang out. It would be a coffee shop as well as a simple restaurant with a small menu and good food. I think people would find it new and fun to eat somewhere where you can write on the walls and leave your pictures up.

Technology integration would also need to be a key factor in a restaurant themed after FB. I envision a computer monitor at each table so that people could access the restaurants FB page which is where they would peruse the menu and order. The photo album could have a picture of each item on the menu so that people could see what it looks like when it comes out of the kitchen before ordering. I know this isn't a new idea but I don't see very many restaurants with pictures of everything they serve on their menu.  This would also allow customers to "like" dishes that they order and when friends of theirs come into the restaurant they would be able to see which items their friends have ordered and liked. Customers could also write on the restaurants wall and be more interactive than with a traditional restaurant. Servers could either IM w/ the tables to take orders or even do a video call w/ the tables to take orders. This would allow a server to handle more tables at one time and would cut down on a lot of wait time by eliminating walking back and forth between tables and the kitchen to place orders. Once a server takes orders they can have bussers deliver food and keep drinks full. There could also be flatscreen tv's on the wall that have slideshow's playing of whatever customers might find interesting.

Anyway, I think this would be a new idea that would take successful aspects of online industry and apply them to things in real life that people do on a daily basis. I think people would find it creative and very enjoyable as long as the food and service is good.