Necessity is the mother of invention as you know and Fabio Peretti has created a gift to the world. What’s he selling?Why, it’s peace of mind.
I met Fabio Peretti through a very good friend of mine and have been in discussions with him about his 2013 innovation ‘Just in Case’ or JiC cards. The cards are an easy and cost effective way of ensuring that emergency first response contacts are easily and quickly located in the event of an unplanned disaster.
The idea came to him when his Father from abroad came to visit. Fabio’s Father suffers from early onset dementia and also speaks very little English. Whilst the family was out in a busy shopping centre Fabio’s Father became separated from the rest of the family and panic set in for all parties involved. Fortunately, they were reunited with Grandpa Peretti after a short while, he had been approached by some helpful members of our society who recognised that he was in a spot of bother and came to his aid. However, with his lack of command of the English language, it was difficult for them to offer much assistance.
They had tried looking through his wallet which of course had his identification, but an address in Italy and some credit cards did precious little to shed any light on where this man rightfully belonged. Thankfully Fabio managed to find the group and was then able to unite with his AWOL Father. It was not a long period of time that had passed but it had been traumatising in any case and once safely home Fabio issued Grandpa Peretti with a note to carry on him at all times with the family’s name and contacted details, just in case it happened again.
LIGHTBULB!
Like any innovation it started with a concept and was refined until we now have the finished product, let me tell you about how it works.
- JiC Cards are a plastic, credit card sized item with an alphanumerical code and a mobile number.
- The carrier goes on-line to register their details and their contact that they wish to be notified in the case of a crisis
- If a crisis occurs and the person is unconscious, incoherent and/or terribly drunk, anyone can text the alphanumerical code to the mobile number on the JiC card and the emergency contact will be notified through the JiC website.
Sounds pretty straight forward right? Basically it makes good common sense to have one of these babies and the clever thing is that there is NO personal information on the card itself making it safe in this age of identity theft. This also saves a great deal of time for the valuable resource of emergency service professionals. For instance, if someone has been injured in a car accident and knocked unconscious and taken to hospital, it can in some cases take police hours to track down a next of kin and inform them of the scenario. JiC cards eliminate this issue.
JiC cards are also highly advisable for young people who are heading out for a night on the town or to a music festival. It’s unfortunately fairly common these days for the unexpected to occur in what is supposed to be a fun evening. This way we can reduce the level of worry that plagues Mum and Dad as they sit up awaiting their teenager or young adults return from a nights festivities.
In fact, believe it or not, I myself have a tendency to get a little carried away at times when a few wines are involved and I am pleased to say that I have registered my own JiC card, just in case. It’s something that I no longer have to think about and it gives me added peace of mind to know that if something unfortunate should come my way, my family won’t be the last to know.
In terms of scale and reach, the target market is primarily the more vulnerable members of our community. The elderly, the youngsters, the mentally handicapped and of course, the ‘adventurous drinkers’ but really it makes good sense for everyone to carry one. You never know what may befall you and $9.95 is a worthwhile investment just in case you ever find yourself in a negative predicament.
Next steps?
Fabio is looking to take this to the next level and in order to do so needs two things. Financial investment and hands on knowledge of how to crack the retail market. Fabio is looking for an individual who has the ability to formulate a plan to get these cards out to those who need them. Although they are currently available direct from the site, the reach needs to be exponentially grown into the retail market.
There are no real competitors in the market place, there are of course SOS bracelets but these are specifically targeted to those with chronic allergies and are around five times the price. JiC cards will also soon be releasing a bracelet alternative to the card for those of you who have no pockets, stay tuned.
So can you help?? Do you have the know-how to get these out to the masses??
We reach out to you constant reader and implore you to make contact with Fabio if you have some ideas.
Check out the site at http://www.jiccards.com.au/
