How to prioritise?
I was talking to Mike this weekend about a way of starting to sell bog. I’ve done a lot of research about the component parts of the system. And I suppose there would be nothing to stop people from putting together a ’self build’ of the product. I could even set up an online shop to sell the component parts.
I had been thinking about putting together an online shop to sell some of the fantastic components I’ve come across while researching bog, but it would make sense if the site was set up at 500yearvision.com - which isn’t really doing much at the moment. What I would need to do to make this happen is to arrange with suppliers who can ‘drop ship’ the items ordered on the site. Of course this means organising my web content for bog & 500 year vision in general… which can only be a good thing.
Other items I was thinking about having specially commissioned to sell from the site, such as a bag cover for cycling in a flourescent waterproof colour that says why people should cycle to work. Or simply, the cycling equivalent of bumper stickers. Later… have found a birmingham based manufacturer of high visibility clothing stratford workwear ltd. I need to contact them and ask for a quote for production of the item. Alternatively, the woman at positive branding was very helpful and is going to give me a call back with a price. They do minimum runs of 25 - which is small enough to test particular slogans to see how in demand they are. Now I need to think up some back pack cover slogans… Any ideas please feel free to add them as comments below.
- GIVE ME SPACE!!!
- Cycling is good for you
- Get Fit Now
- Stuck in traffic?
- Property of Birmingham Heartlands Hospital (!!!)
Another item I wanted to produce was a sticker for cars which use biodiesel - a sticker with an nice image - which could be purchased at suppliers of biodiesel. I’ve checked out available biodiesel stickers and they’re not great - well, not particularly aesthetic. I’ve also requested a quote from a screen printer for a test run of such an item.
I had an idea about an award for the person in Birmingham who best promotes cycling within their local community or workplace. On your bike are thinking about sponsoring an actual award, and I’ve talked to the city council cycling officer about it. It would probably have most impact if it were to be taken on by the city council… my sister’s regular appearance on page 2 of Birmingham Voice attests to the fact that they’re good at getting PR. I need to ask efx - the people who own futurenergy if they would be prepared to sponsor the award by actually making it for us.
Finally, I am designing an online learning resource. Once the short questionnaire is successfully completed, the user can download a signed certificate which they can print out and keep (to show their grand children they made personal efforts to have an environmentally positive impact!!!). Mike is working on this at the moment.
There was more in the news this weekend about climate change, as well as the many benefits (including environmental) of cycling to work. Maybe bog as a cycle shed as well as bathroom for wheelchair users may be a really interesting primary target market for the product. I think I may need to rethink the naming of the product if this is the case. It’s so frustrating not having the resources to build the first one though! I need a business angel. And, as before, my lovely temp job has not yet finished, however it eats up all of my day time - and on only a little more than the minimum wage to boot! It’s frustrating, but I have debts to pay off. I have so much to do!!! If only I could find a way of wringing more hours out of the day.
One thing I have been guilty of in the last 3 weeks is slobbing in front of the TV when I get home from work. I think this has been because the cycling has been knackering - I’m exausted when I get home - but I am getting fitter so this should become better. I need to have a TV ban on myself - it’s not as if there’s a fantastic choice of programmes or anything.
Recently I’ve also been thinking a lot about maths. Most women know about calories, and how much energy is used during various tasks. Is there a formula for converting KC into approximate amounts of electricity which could be generated. I think that the market for home based generators is going to increase significantly, especially considering climate change and predicted black outs. I wonder how the bloke in Manchester did with fixing a converter to his exercise bike? I need to do the maths, but other ’small’ forms of generation could be equally effective - such as putting micro generators on down pipes on building - so that you can create electricity from rainfall.
Which reminds me - I still need to find someone who can check my maths on rainfall figures - converting it into litres of water. I wonder if anyone from Severn Trent could help?
Okay - so I have found the details on how to build an exercise bike electiricity generator. The Futurenergy guys didn’t have the details of their customer who was doing that. Apparently you can comfortable produce about 60 watts on an exercise bike. I will carry on searching to see if I can find such an item available commercially - I really don’t fancy building it myself - but will if I have to. It’s exactly the kind of item I’d like to sell.