For those of you that are new, welcome to Next Gen Ideas, the newsletter that provides the catalyst for entrepreneurs and innovators looking for a little creative spark. Each week, I will send 5 ideas that have randomly popped into my head as a regular everyday guy – I’m no billionaire, no business guru, just someone with an overactive imagination.
For everyone, enjoy this weeks’ ideas. We’re blending the tangible with the totally imaginative—some ideas you could start working on tomorrow, and others that might just be ahead of their time (but hey, that’s never stopped us before). As always, if you ever try to action one of these ideas or have actioned them in the past, please reach out and share your experience with me! I’d love to feature you on a newsletter.
- Chris
NEXT GEN IDEAS
Idea 1: Magnetic Grill Cleaner Robots
Let’s kick things off with a sizzling summertime special. Cleaning the grill is a hassle. Those stubborn black bits turn into cement, and nobody wants to be the guy scraping burnt sauce for 30 minutes before dinner. Enter: magnetic grill robots. Small, rechargeable bots (think Roomba meets BBQ brush) that attach to both sides of the grill grate and scrub using opposing magnets. You set them down, press start, and boom—clean grill in five minutes. Perfect for grill masters, tailgaters, or anyone trying to avoid food poisoning. Bonus points if they beep like R2-D2 when they’re done.
Idea 2: Small Scale Manufacturing Company
Starting a business has many challenges, and starting a business around an entirely new product (maybe even a Next Gen Idea) means you must jump the hurdle of early-stage manufacturing. Finding a manufacturer that can make what you’re trying to imagine is difficult enough, let alone the challenge of finding a manufacturer that will build you your product in small batches and made-to-order. There are plenty of engineering companies that will offer their services, which include a from scratch concept through large scale manufacturing and all steps in between. The good news is that small scale manufacturing for prototypes or early-stage companies is one of the steps they include. The bad news, is that it is only ONE step that they include, and you’re paying for all of them. We’re talking thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of dollars just to get a few prototypes or batches of a product in your proof-of-concept stage. The solution? With additive manufacturing (3D printing) and similar innovations in the industrial engineering world, there exists the potential to have a company that specializes in this small-scale level of manufacturing. Cut out the consulting steps, and just be the company that builds early entrepreneurs what they need – a few units of their new idea. This newsletter would surely support you salutes in Next Gen-ese.
Idea 3: Grocery Cart Traffic Software
This one is for the grocery store engineers of the world (if that’s a thing?). Have you ever walked through a store and had someone barrel into you with a cart like it’s bumper cars at the fair? Let’s fix that. Tons of research is done on traffic optimization, but the unpredictability of roadways makes it more difficult to implement software solutions. However, the grocery store offers a more controllable environment. Imagine if carts had sensors that fed their data to a server. That server uses AI to calculate optimal routes through the store based on an inputted grocery list by each user via an app as they walk into the store. It then, in real time, controls the path of every cart in the store to avoid collisions and the awkward “Oops, just going to squeeze on by…” as your cart is scraping against the aisle. Then a soft beep, or even Siri-like voice (let’s just say Australian) lets you know when you’re at each item. This will speed up grocery shopping and prevents the hungry eyes from wandering shelves and buying more than they planned. Suddenly, Trader Joe’s is less Mario Kart and more Zen Garden.
Idea 4: Virtual Dog Park Simulator
For our dog-loving, apartment-living folks out there—this is for you. Sometimes the weather stinks, your pup is too wound up, or the dog park is too far away. So, let’s bring the dog park to you. A small, VR-enabled projection system that fills a room with interactive moving projections of other dogs, frisbees, or squirrels. Paired with scent diffusers and mild noise simulations, your pup’s brain gets stimulated without you ever needing to leash up. Has your pupper made friends that he/she wants to see? Add friends and pair your experiences to enable camera feeds, so your dogs’ friends are seemingly right there in the “park” with them. Think of it like Netflix for your dog’s nervous system. Science meets fur baby entertainment.
Idea 5: Preloaded Life Skill USBs for Graduates
Tis the season of caps, gowns, and the never-ending chorus of “what now?” So here’s a graduation gift idea: a sleek USB key or digital download card packed with essential how-to guides—changing a tire, doing your taxes, basic cooking, cleaning hacks, relationship 101, apartment hunting checklists—you get the idea. You can brand them by school or personalize for each student. Include templates, quick videos from YouTube, or even voice memos from real adults giving their “if I could do it over” wisdom. Package these pearls of wisdom up into a standard package or offer customization options at a slightly higher price. Practical. Sentimental. Slightly hilarious. And 100% Next Gen.
Next Gen Ideas encourages the free and independent use of these ideas, and any monetary gains generated from these ideas is the sole property of the individual who took action on these ideas. Next Gen Ideas forgoes any right of ownership over these ideas.