My six zeros

For some time now there has been a very unusual hotel in Tokyo that has no rooms, at least not in the usual meaning of this word. Instead there are capsules, placed next to one another, just like honeycombs in a beehive. Their size allows for comfortable accommodation of only one person, and even if you have a big suitcase with you – it will have to stay outside.
The hotel is divided into two zones – public, where you can read magazines, have a cup of coffee or surf the Internet, and private, where you can take a shower, change and get into your own capsule to rest. The private zone in also divided into male and female "areas".

Hotel capsules

The hotel positions itself as a provider of convenient service for business people who were late for the last subway train, or those visiting the city for a day or two for business purpose.
The hotel is proud to offer a TV set an audio system, climate-control adjustment in every capsule, storage room for luggage and footwear, as well as the unchangeable $30 a night all year round. The first beehive hotel opened in Tokyo, the second – in London, and in both cities they have become extremely popular.

Dan Golden is an average American, but the way he makes his living is quite unusual; that is his story:
Once Dan was invited to a birthday party of an acquaintance. While choosing a gift at the store Dan came across a stall with humorous postcards of which he chose a bunch. As he was about to enter his house, he looked down and noticed the rug with "Welcome" inscription at the door; in fact, his neighbors had the exact same rug and so did his other neighbors living upstairs and downstairs. And it dawned on Dennis…

Rug as a joke
However, it took some time for this idea to be realized: "Everyone was looking at me as if I were an idiot" – says Dan – "and everyone with whom I shared this idea would tell me that rugs are not postcards, people would never buy them because of humorous inscriptions. Well, I proved them all wrong!" And frankly speaking, matters are going swimmingly for Dan right now.

Once a 18-year old Sean Nelson was watching TV lying in bed and thinking about a more comfortable alternative – like a huge sack stuffed with soft filling material. Having decided to embody that fantasy he got 13 meters of vinyl, cut it as if he was going to make a giant volleyball and started to stuff it with everything soft he could find. In 3 weeks the first bin bag was ready. His friends estimated the invention at its true value – whoever saw the bin bag were willing to sit in it, and those who dared to do so didn`t feel like getting up.


Bin bag
When the neighbors started to order bin bags from Sean he announced starting his own company as a joke. With the help of his friends he sewed armchairs in his parents` basement. Everything suddenly changed when he got a call on his cell phone from a representative of To Inc. company and was offered to make 12000 bin bags for a quarter million dollars, to which Sean agreed with a great enthusiasm. Without losing his head he took a $50 000 bank loan to start a manufacture. "This work exhausted me – says Nelson – we worked for 19 hours a day, my hands were covered in blisters and were bleeding. We did fill that order but were absolutely gutted".
Having recovered from the exhausting marathon Nelson came up with another great idea – to organize a chain of stores that would sell such armchairs; that was a very thoroughly planned chain. As a result he got 55 stores, with half of them working on franchise. In 2006 Nelson made $30 million.
"You have to be sure about your abilities to find a solution – says Nelson – and you will."