Wire frames are in!!!

I now have in hand the first round of wire frames. And according to our agreed upon schedule, Micstura, is right on schedule. The goal of our website and registration process was to make it as simple as possible. This week we are focusing on the questions needed to support our VER application to the CDM. By collecting the data during the application process we can provide that data as backup to our claims of carbon reductions. Wire frames are by no means the "look of our website" its more the framework, hence the word "frame."

IPhone app:

Our developers are mapping out the IA for the new IPhone app we will launch on the heals of our new website launch. Together with our "paperless" application system for our sales partners and our introduction of LO.R.A. our resrvation system. We believe that Grow Verde apps will become industry standards.

LO.R.A.:

I would love to talk more about LO.R.A. to you but I am told I have to save it for a later date. But what little I can say is this...LO.R.A. loves to play with GPS functions and she can locate our entire fleet at the touch of a button! Check back for more info on LO.R.A.

Paperless application system:

Paper work! Paper work! Paper work! This one aspect of business eats into profit as much as labor does. It was a part of our mission from the start to have a paperless application system for all members. Our sales partners are good at one thing, and that one thing is, finding good customers based on a set of criteria we provide. But the one main issue during the sales process has always been "paper work", when done correctly the process is seamless but time consuming. When done incorrectly, it becomes a nightmare for all involved and most of all for the potential customer who usually goes without service, or without the services they signed up for.

At Grow Verde, we had our developers focus on creating an application that our sales partners could use that would allow the "Feet on the Street" sales reps to enter customer info directly into our data base. This would allow the rep to review any mistakes with the customer in "real time" and make changes as needed. This would also eliminate the need for "Data" entry clerks, a major drain on profits. By having the reps enter all the info for each user into the system complete with business billing info and personal billing info. We eliminate the additional opportunity for "human error", not to say it can't happen during the sign up process! But we have taken steps to reduce these "error" issues during the process.

With this small steps forward we have provided the sales rep with a digital sales tool that allows them to carry less over all weight in the field, concentrate more on "customer needs" and combined several sales tools into one device. Paperless applications also streamline the billing process on the back end and helps to identify payment issues in real time, versus the post auditing method favored by most industries. Keep your browsers pointed in our direction for more updates and notes on how this process is coming along.

Website update schedule

I am so glad we now have a schedule in place for our new website and when it will be up and running. Micstura has generously placed a realistic schedule of deliverable in our hands for the stronger, faster, and more capable website! For example by the end of the 12 (this week)all of our content analysis will be done along with the registration process and the information architecture will begin.

We spent over 4 hours with our Web partners talking through the process from the end user POV. Over the next 13 weeks they will be completing stages that will bring us closer to our COMPA pilot with the city of...(sorry can't say it just yet).

Here are some of the exciting benchmarks we look forward to over the next 13 weeks:

Phase 1: Content and Information Architecture (IA)
Phase 2: IA final wire frames, etc..
Phase 3: Design Phase approval from us on the "new" look of the website...
Phase 4: Design phase continues..
Phase 5: Design phase final
Phase 6: Website testing and functionality testing
Phase 7: Public Launch and start of COMPA pilot...(with a city we can't disclose yet)

We are very excited about the options members will have, something I will discuss in other blogs. Until then all of our members who are part of the member program now will have their fees waived until the new site is up and running.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at

Info@GrowVerde.com

Q Fortune
CEO/Founder
http://www.growverde.com/

R&D goes very well for Grow Verde this week!

I just got this exciting video from our GPS partners at Horizon Tech. in AZ. The video shows how the RFID reader installed in our Vespa can act as the key to the vehicle. This will allow us to monitor usage, automate billing for each member no matter how many members we have (the system is being built to handle 1,000,000 unique member access cards). This will allow us to focus our efforts on building out our green zones and increasing usage, key factors in our growth for 09'.

Give us feedback during the R&D stage that we may not have seen or thought of. History has proven that many minds are better than a few. Post your suggestions at this blog or email them directly to me at Q@Growverde.com and I will read and respond.

without further delay here is the update video from our GPS partners:

Testers needed for Eco-alternative transport system called Vespa sharing...

Grow Verde and local city officials have struck a tentative verbal agreement to pilot a Eco-Alternative transport program called Vespa sharing. Testers will be required to submit a drivers license and agree to a driving background check. once qualified testers will be required to pay a $35 activation fee for personal accounts, $45 for business accounts (up to 15 employees). The monthly fee is waived for the early adopters and a credit card will be required for usage rates that are 20-35% lower than the normal rates once launched. testers will be responsible for giving the city and Grow Verde feedback on the reservation system and ease of use. During the pilot testers will also provide feedback on services and or locations that should be added once the system goes live.
Grow Verde is a local company that has transitioned from scooter rentals to tourist. They now are providing municipalities with a scalable addition to a transit infrastructure at little or no cost to the city. Started in 2006 Grow Verde grew from a small rental company catering to the 4-5 star hotel properties into a carbon reducing leader. Each Vespa saves 3.00925 TONS of CO2 each hour it is used. This opens the door to a Carbon credit program that can benefit the city and it's locals. The over all goal is to create enough carbon credits from the usage that the already low monthly fee is reduced to ZERO! and members only pay for what they use!
If you would like to be considered as a tester please submit your info to Info@GrowVerde.com and in the subject line put "I WANNA BE A TESTER!"
You can read more about the journey to D-Day on Grow Verde's daily blog at: http://growverde.blogspot.com/

Live Search Maps

If your concept is great, it does not matter as much as your experience!

I was in a meeting today with a city official who is in love with the concept of Vespa sharing. As I walked him through our presentation my VP's of Operations noticed that I was loosing him. So he interjected and said "You are preaching to the Choir! We see the value of a service like this and we understand the concept. I am more interested in you, your back ground and experience."

I was happy to hear he was on board but understood his desire to get to know who I was as a person and as a leader. So I walked him through a brief history of my "Local boy makes good and goes off to college", shared with him some of my college stories and we bonded because we shared a common thread, the college experience. The grandeur of a high level collegiate program and all the hype that surrounds it. We both have had a chance to travel and in the end he cut to the chase and offered an olive branch.

Normally big cities are not that easy to crack open and most of the time things that are good for the city take a long time to get to the public. With some luck and good old fashioned elbow grease. This program will have a great jump start and be the model for cities around the country.

Crude closes at $136.68 a barrel!

There has been talk of crude climbing to $150 a barrel in future trading on or near July 4th weekend. The official start of family vacations.

With crude trading at record highs (these record highs are being set every day) EVERY DAY. Its no wonder that most families are being squeezed weekly out of the crucial $ that fuel their current lifestyles.

What was affectionally called "sunday cars" that found there way to everyday use are now being retired to Sunday use only. This of course never stops the new money millionaire who buy every thing that fancies them, just on a whim. But this is not about those types of people.

This is more a focus on the forced changes we make when faced with diminished resources. How many families did not take the boat out on the lake this weekend because a tank of fuel is now X2 the amount it was last year or even last week! Ok so not X2 as much as last week but it took $60 to put only 14 gallons into the company truck we use for special deliveries (the truck will be gone soon enough as we switch it out for a Prius). Luckily we only fill up once every 2 weeks.

Which brings me back to my main point $150 a barrel will translate into a $5-$7 per gallon range. So what does this mean for Verde members in the near future? Nothing!

We built into the back end economics a price point for gas of $10 a gallon. We use premium gas and when regular gas climbs to $5 a gallon. Premium will climb to $10 a gallon. So from day 1 we will budget at $10 a gallon. As prices stay below our projected high we will take the surplus and plan infrastructure with it. Our own gas storage facility (future) in each region. This will allow us to control our cost when we reach 1 million members. These savings can be transferred to our members in the form of reduced hourly cost. Our goal is to get the hourly charges down to sub $5's.

By developing our business to evolve to a lower usage charge and building the infrastructure for gas distribution on a regional and local level. We leverage the cost of the infrastructure with the long term savings and cost reductions/savings. These savings translate to our members and provide us with the resources to add additional value to our growing list of services.

Where else do you see we could benefit by building an infrastructure?

Q CEO

The taxman is short sighted once again!

It looks like the concept of Vespa sharing is going to gain ground in urban areas like Pitts burg and Seattle.

According to an article written by Sarah Nassuer in the WSJ titled "If your Zipcar is costing more, the Tax man may be to blame" in the Thursday June 19th, 2008 edition the tax man is coming after Car sharing organization full force.

It seems there are a number of taxes and fees that car rental companies pay, before some of the new laws were passed against car sharing did not have to pay. Some of these "taxes" come in the form of:

$2 per day even if the car is rented for "ANY part of the day" (in Allegheny county)

5% rental car taxes on car rentals in NY but it seems car sharing companies have been quietly paying it. It translates to .50 cents per hour on average.

$5 per rental "Domestic Security Fee" in New Jersey

2% state rental car tax + a $2 per rental state tax and the city's 2% per rental car tax all this from Philadelphia!

"Zipcar is frustrated by car-rental agencies' objections to their exemption efforts" as reported by Sarah N.

What does this mean for car-sharing's future? Nothing in the long run as far as I am concerned. Car-rental companies did not take the lead 10 years ago when they had the resources and logistics to change the transportation landscape. Now that Mr. Griffiths Zipcar has posted $100,000.00 in revenue! Now car-rental companies want to object and stonewall?

The future of car-sharing and Vespa-sharing is very bright. Brighter even for Vespa-sharing since we are not a traditional scooter rental service (membership based vs off the street retail locations). Don't get me wrong I know the tax man will come knocking sooner or later. Our fingers are crossed that its later, much later!

Q CEO

Wind energy acceptance shifts

Just finish rereading the WSJ's article by Robert Tomsho on the shifting winds in the energy debate "Winds shift in energy debate" and I wonder why we have no adopted a stronger offshore wind bill that would power over 50% of our demands, we have the Real Estate?

But I guess with anything it will take us going to the brink of destruction before the general public gets the moxie to demand change.

Why don't we put the money into educating the masses about the benefits and the advances in offshore turbines and wave based turbines is well within range of a cities infrastructures budget with some assistance from the feds.

Bottom line...if this planet was covered in wind turbines we would be spending more time fighting to preserve other resources rather then bitching about what a barrel of oil cost.

But until that happens we are creating a business that creates carbon credits that others can use to offset their own carbon pollution

Q CEO

Top 3 smart phones and what that means?

With the IPhones popularity soaring and Blackberries dominance. Its no wonder todays business need a mobile solution that allows its customers full access. This society is increasingly becoming mobile and its not just the "geeks" that are the early adopters anymore.....

As a service business that promises convenience. We need to provide a way for members to make reservations as quick as possible.

Example: You are at work in downtown miami and the parking garage you park at has limited spots in the first place and you really don't want to waste the gas or move your car. You don't have access to the internet because you are not physically in your office. Now imagine you take out your IPhone tap on the Verde logo on your main screen and up pops a Google map with a pin that represents where you are. You tap "locate" at the bottom of the screen and withing 10-15 seconds the map is populated with Verde pick up/drop off locations within 3 blocks of your present location. You tap the location closest to you and find 3 Vespa's are available. You tap reserve ( a default 1-hr usage) and the reservation system sends a signal to the location, that you are on your way to pick up a Vespa. Once your reservation is confirmed your off to the location. Once there you swipe you key chain fob and the Vespa is activated! Hop on push go! And you are off to run errands. Once you are done running your errands park the Vespa at the location you got it from and swipe your key chain fob in front of the Vespa and the system knows you are done. The system will bill you for the hour you used it and the best part, you gas was paid for by the service!

This is an example of mobile solutions that here at Grow Verde we feel are mandatory to our success.

We have similar mobile reservation systems in the works for other platforms.

Let us know what you think and how you think we could improve this process before we finish writting code for this application.

Q CEO

Iphone reservations system added...

We have just added an Iphone reservation system. Our web partners Micstura (www.my.icstura.com) has just confirmed they will be able to provide a IPhone version of the online reservation system using apples Developer Kit. We will share details after we map out the details.

If you are a wiz when it comes to mapping and reservation systems please reach out to us, let's talk. There may be questions we have not asked or issues we will need to address as we get closer to Beta testing the Iphone reservation system.

Q CEO

Online reservation system

So now that we are clear on automating our service. Its time to seek out partners to build our reservation system. After a few minutes online I managed to get the name of the company that built Flexcars (http://flexcar.com) website, OHO. I proceeded to contact OHO through their website. After a little back and forth for a few weeks I was able to set up a conf call with a team from OHO.

OHO outlined based on a prior conversation was the map we followed in a hour long conference call. We asked questions about expertise, availability, and time tables.

After about a week on OHO's part we received an email (not a phone call) that OHO would not be able to build our website.

I could speculate on the reasons why they declined but we don't have time to dwell on those issues because we have a national business to build.

Q CEO

Phase 1 the manual stage.

We started this service as a manual service to prove it could work as we searched for hardware/software that would allow us to automate the process. This will include reservations, tracking, and billing. So far we have been able to gather from usage by our few members that the service works as envisioned! Now as we narrow our search with hardware/software partners. The business will need to move on to the next phase the web phase.

Q CEO
Q@Growverde.com

Great news about power issues with GPS

We have been testing out our GPS system from Horizon Tech. One of the most pressing issues has been the battery drain. We have been haunted by mysterious battery issues for months now and after some great detective work by the Tech team over at Horizon. They were able to figure out the solution.

It seems the GPS is configured to work off of a car/truck/ semi truck but not configured for the Vespa but.... With some software reprograming Horizon Tech was able reduce the power needs of the unit to 1/3 its previous power consumption.

This would have been a real problem had we rolled out the GPS units to all our Vespas.

Now we have to figure out how to make the RF readers talk to our data base via the GPS cellular/satalite lines!

Anyone got that figured out? Contact me directly via email so we can talk about what solutions you think we should use.

Q CEO of Grow Verde

Mobile blogging

Send me my link

Welcome to our family business.

Welcome to an ambitious project if not "you must be crazy" social experiment called Vespa sharing! What is Vespa sharing you ask? Vespa sharing is based on the concept of car sharing by companies like Flexcar, Zipcar, and I-Go. These companies have seen growth over the last 10 years and are now at the stage of merging, Zipcar buying out Flexcar to merge into a national program. But our real inspiration comes from helping people lower their Carbon Footprint also know as Co2 emissions. Wish us luck pass this to friends who you think will have great feedback for us and join us. Some times this will be funny, some times it will be technical, other times we will be venting, but at all times we will be honest (without giving away trade secretes) and transparent.

Our website is not "up to par" right now but that will change in the next 60 days (more on that later). For right now we will keep what we have up as an information site. Check it out tell us what you think of the layout and feel and we will take that feedback back to our design team.

p.s. There will always be at least 4 people involved in writing this blog so if you see the style of writing change don't be alarmed. With many minds we will accomplish much!

Members of our Team:

Q CEO you can always reach him at Q@GrowVerde.com
Geri President you can always reach her at Geri@GrowVerde.com
Joseph VP of Fleet management you can reach him at info@GrowVerde.com


thanks for joining us
Grow Verde Team...