Cold chains in India have many gaps.

It's not easy to store things at a constant temperature, given how erratic electric supply is in certain parts of the country.

Especially in places where infrastructure is still basic.

If it's ice cream, the worst that can happen is that a batch will melt and go bad.

For vaccines, the tolerance is far lower - and they are no longer effective if they have been kept out longer than the recommended period.

While ice and insulated packs have been the norm, an Indian company is building a robust solution.

It's based on phase changing materials and they absorb or release heat depending on the outside temperature.

This helps to keep vaccines at a constant recommended temperature all through the transportation phase without having to be hooked up to a power supply.

A box can keep the vaccines safe for as long as 4 days or 96 hours and tracked all through the journey.

And ensuring that the contents are safe at the point where they have to be administered - at a hospital, for example.

Pluss has been around since 1994. Thankfully they've scaled to meet demand.

In the nick of time.

A showroom in every customer's home

The outdoor furniture business in the US is worth over $18 billion.

But it's quite different from indoor furniture which is about style and atmosphere.

It's more to do with weathering the elements and being durable.

And the target is the upper middle class who have sprawling backyards for family time.

The best place to experience the product is in the right setting.

So, Outer came up with an idea that simply sold itself.

They converted the backyards of willing customers into retail showrooms.

When visitors to the website want to check the furniture in its natural environment, they can visit the nearest 'showroom' in the customer's backyard and see for themselves

It serves two purposes - talking to audiences who were most likely to convert

And providing them with a product experience as close to owning it.

Durability is established because the products retain their looks over time in the open, not air-conditioned showrooms.

It's a great example of growing a product category by getting customers to be your best salespeople.

Economising on showrooms while demonstrating the products.

Outer is now one of the fastest growing companies in outdoor furniture.

Doesn't seem so surprising now, does it?

How many 'lists' do you actually use?

Amazon has a wish list for books - or any product you'd like to buy.

I go back to them a few weeks or months later and don't even know why they're on the list.

Is it just me because it defies logic?

When we add products or books to lists, the implication is that we consider them valuable enough to buy.

When conditions change a few months later, the book or the product seem to drop off the radar altogether.

What's happening here?

There are hundreds of apps promising help to get things done.

First you forget to download them.

Later, they end up in the sinkhole of mobile apps on your phone.

I suspect the way these things are developed is that one person discovers what works for them.

They assume the whole world, or at least a large part of the market thinks the same way.

But our approach to problem solving or even list management is so random, that it is hard to put down as a formula for success.

We all save up on bookmarks and articles to 'read later'

How many of them do we go back to?

What's your logical method of madness?

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