EE 77 - Idea Lab #12 - The Flight to Nowhere
Qantas - Flight to Nowhere
Would you pay $575 to fly nowhere? To take off from an airport and land back there 7 hours later having never touched down anywhere?
Last week, 154 people in Australia did just that. Qantas launched their wildly successful flight to nowhere which sold out in 10 minutes. Tickets cost between $575 and $2,765.
While it may not get Qantas back in profit, it resulted in news stories and PR coverage all across the globe.
It begs the question, what excess capacity do you have in your business that you could use to generate profit or get media coverage?
The business of Vending Machines
One of my favourite publications, The Hustle wrote a fantastic analysis of the business of vending machines.
We delve into full detail on the pod but the outline figures are pretty interesting. The study was based on operators in America, hence the dollar symbols.
Rough cost of a machine $1500
Gross income of a machine per month $400
Average margin on a product 40%-80%
Commission paid to the location of vending machine 10%-25%
A business making a gross profit of €$k per month will usually net $2k profit.
My Week
Listening
I’ve been trying to get into meditation. Pat Divilly is doing a great series of podcasts where you can follow him through a guided meditation. As someone who’s struggled in the past to try meditation, they have been great.
Watching
Being a massive nerd, I’m fascinated by gaming streamers. This week I’ve been watching The Beard Guys as they stream PUBG.
Reading
Flights to Nowhere - the psychology behind why they are popular by Fortune. I feel down the aviation rabbit hole after reading about the Qantas story. The psychology behind it is fascinating.
Quote of the Week
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I’ll spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Abraham Lincoln