First pre-paid phones, now pre-paid water?
- Posted by Dan on September 15th, 2007 filed in Energy, Environment, Homes and housing, Services
Opportunity: Prepaid meters and cards for rented spaces and beyond
Rented places often produce some misunderstandings regarding the consumption of energy, water and gas. The landlord and the tenant often argue about how much was consumed and how much should be paid.
Prepaid meters offer both the tenant and the landlord the security that there will never be this type of argument again. Prepaid meters are basically normal meters that give water, gas and electricity for a certain amount of time/quantity that is validated through the prepaid card. Getting energy, water and gas based on prepaid cards is already happening in South Africa and parts of China where there already are quite a few manufacturers and things seem to grow exponentially.
For the tenant, apart from saving you the psychological stress of having an argument, this will also raise awareness regarding daily consumption and save you a trip to the office or ATM to pay your bill. For the owner, there is the security that all the commodities are paid for. Apart from rentals, this equipment can also prove useful for families that want to track consumption and for the supplying companies that can collect the money easier, through selling the cards.
The idea seems to be around in Romania since 2003 (Sorry, it’s only in Romanian), yet I have to see the first meter running and prepaid cards available around every corner.
The installing and selling of cards will be a very profitable business, since people will always consume and need more cards to have their utilities up and running. This could even be transfered to an online business or bundle the cards like: 1 electricity card + 1 water card + 1 gas card = 80% of the price paid if they were bought separately.
Sounds like a good business, what do you think?
Written by Dan
October 15th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
[...] Metering and Pre-Paid services Energy Audit Services and [...]
November 1st, 2007 at 11:58 am
[...] Metering and Pre-Paid services Energy Audit Services and Renewable Energy projects and available funds At the risk of repeated ourselves… the environment and all business activity related to protecting it can be the opportunity of the next decade. The seriousness in which previously reluctant players have embraced the importance of energy supplies, climate change, and other environmental issues cannot be overstated. I worked back in 1993 for one of the first “socially responsible” financial brokerage where we advised people to select investments based on social and environment criteria in addition to the potential financial performance of the stock, bond or mutual fund. Companies that were either indifferent or considered mortal enemies of the Socially Responsible Investment movement have now whole-heartedly adopted the need to adopt their business models to protecting the environment(”SRI” was the pre-cursor to the investment aspects of “Sustainable Development”) . When GE, DuPont, Goldman Sachs, Citibank and their like see good business in green (and not just the color of the dollar)…it is time to take note. Even big oil companies now see their role as delivering energy to consumers, not just delivering oil - an important shift in mentalities. Two very influential groups that include top political and business leaders, the World Economic Forum and the Council on Foreign Relations, are discussing these issues with urgency placing climate change and the environment as a prominent and continuous point of discussion. Add to that… an Oscar award winning movie and a Nobel Peace Prize for the guy whose Earth in the Balance book in 1992 was viewed then as a political liability. From a business perspective, this should not be underestimated. A true green revolution has started - supported by devoted environmentalists, powerful business persons, and governments (at the nation, state and local level). I have heard more than a few people tell me this will not happen in Romania anytime soon. I have also heard, however, from many more people interested in doing something and only hesitating because they think they are the only one thinking of it. [...]