A few days ago, I was testing a new digital camera that my friend bought at the mall. We were able to take a few interesting macro shots and I decided to have some of them printed out.

We went to the nearest Kodak center and gave one of their digital print stations a try. I’ve been seeing these machines for quite some time now and I’ve always wondered how they actually work.

As I was being assisted by the staff on how to print my photos, I asked her more about the machine. I specifically inquired about its appeal to the mall shoppers, who their usual customers were and tried to find out if it was a viable business opportunity for people who wanted to put up their own digital printing station.

She said that this machine draws a lot of shoppers everyday, from students to parents, who usually print out a couple of photos from their mobile phones. But most of their regular sales come from those who bring their digital cameras and photos to have them printed through the dry lab.

She further explains that this digital print station is actually part of a business system by Kodak called APEX or Adaptive Picture Exchange. She hands me a brochure about it which contains a lot of interesting facts.

The Kodak APEX system uses thermal technology for printing. Not only is it environment friendly, but also cost effective because it eliminates the need to buy and maintain expensive chemicals traditionally used for developing photos. Here are some of the products which this system can produce:

Investing on the Kodak APEX system would cost around P500,000. Moreover, this business opportunity is scalable, which means you can start with a small system and expand out as the business grows. It’s also interesting to note that this system won in the 2008 Digital Imaging Marketing Association (DIMA) Innovative Digital Product Award.

This concludes today’s In Focus, a special category here in Ready To Be Rich where I will feature interesting and innovative products and business opportunities available in the market today.

If you need more information regarding the Kodak APEX system, you can send an email to Kodak’s Philippine distribution firm, Tech Trends Corporation, at kodakkiosk@techtrendscorp.com.

By the way, are you a photography enthusiast? Then you might be interested to read this article I wrote a few months back on how you can make money by selling your photos online.

Lastly, if you want to receive more news and information about the latest trends in Philippine business, please subscribe to Ready To Be Rich. Thanks.