Chargebar is a small Sydney-based operation that provides phone battery charging stations for public use.

In this video, their co-founder Cameron Tanner explains how venues are charged to have a Chargebar on site, with the hope of driving more visitors to their location and increasing their dwell time. There is also an iPhone app to help customers find the venues.

It sounds like a great idea. After all, who’s not been caught short with a smartphone that has run out of juice?

But it also requires a lot of upfront sales and logistics; to distribute the equipment, maintain it, and update it — for instance, when Apple changes the iPhone connector.

Can Chargebar really grow and achieve the economies of scale to build a successful ongoing business?

First published on ZDNet