Are today’s consumers too busy? One might certainly think so. It’s no secret that consumers in today’s high-speed environment spend a lot of time being busy — busy with work, errands, email, driving, shopping and countless other activities.

But no matter how busy you are, you still have to eat and drink to survive.

Smart entrepreneurs around the world have come up with unique solutions for busy consumers who want to spend as little time as possible on food and beverages, leaving them with more time for their other activities:

• Australian drive-thru coffee chain Muzz Buzz ^[1] (pictured above) knows that people want their coffee to be quick, convenient and satisfying. Their successful sales strategy is centered on designing drive-thru coffee outlets that offer reasonably-priced quality coffee at highly-trafficked locations. The result? Rapid expansion of the Muzz Buzz franchise.

• New York City-based mobile text service Go Mobo ^[2] — short for “mobile order” — lets you order and pay for food in advance. All you have to do is to use your cellphone and text an order to your favourite restaurant (participating food outlets include Subway, Quiznos and a few salad and sushi joints) and pay with a linked credit card. The restaurant will text you back when your order is ready.

• Also in New York, restaurant booking service PrimeTime Tables ^[3] is very helpful when you’re craving to dine at a particular restaurant which is already fully booked weeks in advance. Specializing in “impossible reservations,” PrimeTime Tables can procure members short-notice reservations at the hottest restaurants in New York, Miami, Colorado and The Hamptons. Saves you the time spent on making futile reservations.

• Looking for coffee-flavoured ice cream with chocolate chips and walnut mixed in? Just give MooBella ^[4] 45 seconds. This high-tech vending machine uses flash freezing instead of the standard slow churning method. That’s why MooBella can produce ice cream on demand from room temperature ingredients. It has a touch-screen display showing a menu of flavours and mix-ins, allowing customers to create any combination they like. Quick and easy multi-flavoured ice cream.

Can you come up with a new business idea for food to help busy consumers save on their precious seconds?

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This New Business Ideas Report is compiled specially for Small Business Trends from the editors of CoolBusinessIdeas.com ^[5].