Smart Ideas 05/06 Thrill-seeking adventures, rockin' music classes and more

Adventure Venture
What: Gift certificates redeemable for a variety ofmemorable experiences
Who: Gavin Bishop, Michelle Geib and Robb Young of XperienceDays
Where: Hoboken, New Jersey
When: Started in January 2005

Though the multimillion-dollar gift-giving market will nevercease to exist, gift-giving patterns change as often as the latestfashion trends. In recent years, research shows consumers arelooking for gifts that are unique--not your run-of-the-milldepartment-store gift cards. As one of the first companies to catchon to this trend, Xperience Days lets customers give an opportunityof a lifetime as a gift.

According to co-founder Gavin Bishop, Xperience Days offers awide range of life-enhancing experiences "that people dreamand talk of doing, but rarely get around to doing." Theaverage cost of the gift certificates is $275 to $300--prices rangefrom $65 for a trapeze lesson to $110,000 for a privatezero-gravity flight.

The concept of giving experiences, which is common in the UnitedKingdom, was an idea that UK native Bishop, 37, and hisco-founders, Michelle Geib, 29, and Robb Young, 34, knew would be ahit in the States. They were right-since the company's launch,at least three competitors have entered the market. "People inthe U.S. generally have an adventurous streak and are willing totry things," says Bishop, who met his co-founders whileattending business school in South Africa. "Plus, they'revery good gift-givers."

Though the company targets anyone "with an adventurousspirit," the founders focused on the San Francisco Bay and NewYork tri-state markets when they launched in January 2005. Aspopularity increased and they realized there were plenty ofadventurous activities available nation-wide, the trio addedexperiences throughout the country, such as Formula One racing inLas Vegas and white-water rafting in Pennsylvania.

Although sales figures are difficult to calculate because thecompany sells gift certificates, which are a deferred income,Bishop projects 2006 sales of about $2 million--drastically morethan the $100,000 it took the three entrepreneurs to finance thestartup. They knew investing in such a project--with no assetbacking or constant cash flow--would incur serious risks. Nothingquite as risky, though, as jumping out of a plane.

- Lindsay Holloway

All Decked Out
What: A deck of cards featuring exercise routines
Who: Phil Black, creator and founder of FitDeck Inc.
Where: San Diego
When: Started in April 2004

In a huge leap of faith, Phil Black quit a lucrative career as amoney manager at Goldman Sachs in San Francisco and moved hisfamily, including his twin baby boys, to San Diego to pursue hisentrepreneurial dream. When Black started a business less than ayear later, his dream became a reality.

With $20,000 in personal savings and a passion for fitness,Black, 36, a former Navy SEAL instructor and a Harvard BusinessSchool graduate, launched FitDeck Inc. in April 2004. "Wedesign, manufacture and sell fitness products that make exercisesimple, convenient and fun," says Black.

Black credits his inspiration for FitDeck to PUG, a fitness gamehe and his buddies played in the dorms between study sessions whenhe was an undergrad at Yale University. An acronym for Push-UpGame, PUG revolved around a deck of cards and caught on quickly asa popular pas-time among his peers.

FitDeck iscomposed of upper-, middle- and lower-body exercises, as well assome that incorporate the entire body. On each card, players find astep-by-step explanation of the exercise, along with anillustration and the suggested number of repetitions for beginning,intermediate and advanced workouts. The main idea is for players toshuffle the deck and deal themselves as many cards as they like,depending on how long they want to exercise. A 10-card workout, forexample, lasts about 15 minutes.

Priced at $18.95, or $24.95 with an instructional DVD, FitDeckearned 2005 sales of $4.7 million, with projected sales of $8million to $10 million in 2006. Rather than advertising, Blackrelies on PR efforts to pump up sales of the cards, which are soldthrough the company's website and various online affiliates,as well as through catalogs and other distributors.

With success comes growth. The newest addition to the FitDeckfamily of products is FitDeck Jr., which is geared toward children.Black says he has several other FitDeck products in the works thatare specific to certain sports or geared toward women.

- Bethan-Rose Rodriguez

Music to Kids' Ears
What: Rockin' interactive music classes and CDs for kidsand their parents
Who: David Weinstone of Music for Aardvarks and OtherMammals
Where: New York City
When: Started in 1998
Wow much: $400

One-time punk rocker David Weinstone wanted to immerse hischildren in music, but after searching New York City and findingonly dull programs, he felt the need to create something fresh.

A classically trained musician, Weinstone, 46, set out to createsome rockin' kids' music. With $400 worth of instruments,six home-recorded songs and cheap rental space in the basement ofan East Village restaurant, Weinstone started an interactive musicclass called Music for Aardvarks and Other Mammals. Within a month,families who wanted to attend were lining up around the block, andmedia and record companies were banging down the door.

After recording the songs used in his classes to sell onwww.musicforaardvarks.com, Weinstone noticed his popularity reachedfar beyond New York City, so he started licensing his program. Henow has more than 10 licensees, some as far away as England andJapan, with more on the way. With his success, Weinstone'sincome has struck a high note--he went from making $30,000 per yearas a bartender in 1998 to about $250,000 in 2005. After 12 CDreleases, the father of three now has a contract withNickelodeon/Noggin to make music videos of his songs, and he plansto venture into writing children's books.

Says Weinstone, "I just want to be able to lie down on mydeathbed and say to myself, 'I spent my life doing something Ireally care about.'"

- Amanda Pennington