Go back a generation or so and your options for a U.K wedding venue were limited to church or registry office. Changes in legislation opened up the market to hotels, castles, stately homes and other venues, but we’ve a long way to go to catch up with the United States.

‘The Tiny Chapel’ is a mobile wedding venue for those who prefer affordable intimacy and romance to an expensive ‘do’.  The 100 square-foot Tiny Chapel was built and decorated by retired minister Bill Malbon, who now performs non-denominational weddings full time from his mobile wedding chapel. The chapel can seat up to 25 guests and includes a small area for the bride’s pre-ceremony preparations.

The chapel can be hired for  as little as $100, which buys an off-peak wedding package including a 30 minute time slot for the ceremony and photos at the chapel’s permanent location in Richmond, Virginia. Alternatively you  can splash out and pay $500 for a peak one hour time slot at a location of your choice within one hour of Richmond.

I don’t think a mobile venue would get a licence here in the UK, but there are a couple of thoughts to come from this:

1. Are there other innovative ways to bring down the high cost of a wedding?

2. What other normally static services might be ripe for conversion to a mobile version?

www.tinychapelweddings.com

When people are new to financial trading…and indeed when they’re quite experienced…they are often hungry to hear tips and advice from others. ‘Goinstavest’ provides a platform for traders to share what they’re doing with the world, and perhaps make a commission by  allowing others to copy what they’re doing.

Investors create an account and post their stock market investments on the site, detailing the company,  the amount invested and rationale behind the investment. Potential investors can then browse the full list of investments on the site and choose trades to copy. They can mimic the trader entirely through Instavest, which will automatically copy the actions of the original investor when they sell or buy more stocks in the company. Users are encouraged to give the original trader a portion of their profits – approximately 5 percent. Instavest takes 20 percent of that 5 percent.

I’m not sure how confident I would be copying the trades of “some guy on the internet”, but it’s an interesting idea. And if you’re “some guy on the internet” with a knowledge of trading, this could be an opportunity to build a profitable following.

https://goinstavest.com/

It’s a problem I’m sure (!) every self respecting surfer has faced. You’ve had a hard day in the office, want to go surfing after work, but just don’t have time to change. Fortunately there’s now a solution.

The True Wetsuit from Quicksilver is a stylish suit, complete with shirt and tie, that is made from fast drying, 2mm thick neoprene, so you can go straight from office to surf without ever having to change. The True Wetsuit comes in three styles and costs 300,000 Japanese Yen – approximately £1,700.

Either the Japanese are stranger than I thought, or this is a publicity grabbing  novelty to show off what can be achieved with modern materials. Is there some way you could develop an interesting novelty version of your product or service that could generate free publicity around the world in the same way?

Regular readers will know that we like rental businesses here. Basically, you are able to sell something…but then get it back! The criteria for a successful rental product is pretty clear – it’s something which is expensive but used rarely or infrequently. And that’s why I’d like to suggest power tools.

Cheap power tools are abundant, but they’re also pretty useless. Small builders and DIY enthusiasts often need professional quality tools to carry out a specific job, but don’t want to invest money in something that will be standing idle for much of the time. There’s a solid business to be had in any populated area by buying in a stock of these tools and then renting them out on a daily basis.

Obviously this is something that requires some up front investment, but once you have the ball rolling, repeat custom should ensure that you have a profitable long term business.