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Ideas

Various product and other ideas that have stuck in my mind over time.

Many are personal "itches" I want to scratch, some are observations about what might help others.

List of ideas

Clothing rental

Many of us have items of clothing that we only use periodically and otherwise don't need.

For example, many men need a suit for more formal occasions such as weddings, parties, funerals and job interviews. But these occasions might only happen a few times a year.

These items may be bulky, take up wardrobe space, be expensive to replace/buy and not durable. They're an particular hassle for minimalists and backpackers, who want to keep a very light footprint and not carry all this expensive bulky clothing with them on every trip, but stil need it to be avaialble, sometimes at short notice (e.g. attending a wedding overseas or interstate).

Wouldn't it be nice if clothing items (of appropriate size) could just be rented at short notice?

Similar to home rentals (AirBnB) and car rentals (Uber Carshare), there should be a clothing rental service, with pick-up and drop-off (e.g. lockers) or delivery options, in every major urban center.

Inflation-linked savings account

Many people, especially younger people, want to increase their savings. They want to save to buy a home, pay for a home loan deposit, pay for future investments, etc. The problem is that these savings don't keep up with inflation, especially over the long-term.

Wouldn't it be nice if people could get an inflation-linked saving account? This account would maintain the purchasing power of the savings by paying the inflation-rate as interest.

Even better: specialised accounts could be available to track different inflation items, depending on the goal of the saver.

  • Housing inflation-linked account - for people saving for a home deposit or future rent payments.
  • Travel inflation-linked account - for people saving for future holidays.
  • General inflation-linked account - for people saving for general living costs.

Based on their individual financial situation and cost of living, each saver could customise their mix of accounts to best target their goals.

© 2024 Jonathan Conway