Start a Power Nap Center
By Steve Gillman
The idea of a power-nap center is not new. In fact, if you
look in the resource section below you'll find a website of a
company which operates them in several countries. But it is new
enough to be unproven and to be in the money-making-ideas section
of this site.
A power nap, in case you didn't know, is a short period of
sleep. This used to be called a catnap. The new term was apparently
coined by Cornell University social psychologist James Maas,
for any short nap specifically designed to refresh you. "Designed"
is the right word, because not just any sleep will work. Although
the research shows that napping benefits heart function, hormonal
maintenance and cell repair, to get the refreshing aspect you
need to keep it short--generally under 25 to 30 minutes. Longer
than that and you will feel groggy for up to an hour or more
afterwards.
Some research shows that power naps can boost productivity,
lower stress, and improve learning and mood. Researchers at the
Salk Institute for Biological Studies, by looking at the MRIs
of nappers, found that with a nap brain activity stays high throughout
the day, but when people skip the nap, and brain activity declines
in the afternoon. I have read that in In Iraq, U.S. Marines are
instructed to take a power nap before going on patrol.
A short nap is a great idea then, but hard to get in a busy
office. A power nap center solves this problem. One charges $14
for a short session (fifteen minutes). Somewhere around 15 to
20 minutes seems to be ideal for the refreshing effect without
the grogginess. And what if a quiet place with a comfortable
reclining chair doesn't do the job? You offer brainwave entrainment
recordings. I have meditation CDs that will put me to sleep in
less than ten minutes every time I listen to them, for example.
There are a number of these products out there.
How Much Can You Make?
There is little data available as to the revenue of the existing
power nap services. The fact that at least one has operations
in several countries suggests that they have had some success
though. In major cities You might get as much as $18 or so for
a twenty-minute power nap using brainwave entrainment recordings
(after all, they get $6 for a few minutes in those massage chairs
at some airports), or you might offer the service for less and
then sell upgrades or extras.
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You could sell the CDs (they go for as much as $36 for single
CDs online, and up to $1,000 for sets) that have the brainwave
entrainment recordings, although this could discourage repeat
visits if customers pops on headphones in a corner of their offices
or other workplaces and do their own power nap routine using
the technology.
There is a power routine I have read about, based on research
done at the Loughborough University in the UK, which uses coffee.
You drink a cup of coffee and then immediately lay down for a
fifteen-minute nap. The idea is that your body takes time to
process the caffeine, so you get your "micro-sleep"
in and the caffeine hits just as you wake up. Researchers used
sleep deprived subjects, who reported feeling very refreshed
following this routine, but anyone is likely to feel the same.
With the research in the marketing materials or on the "menu"
and coffee with brainwave entrainment technology, the perceived
value of the service should be high.
Qualifications / Requirements
This isn't likely to work as a shoestring business, so you'll
need a fair amount of startup capital.
First Steps
Read up on the latest brainwave entrainment research and start
doing market research to see if there is enough demand where
you are for a power nap center.
Resources
http://www.metronaps.com
- MetroNaps is a "provider of power napping solutions"
with offices in the Australia, the United States, Germany, Denmark
and the United Kingdom.
The Meditation Program - My favorite brainwave
entrainment product for meditation or power naps.
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