London July 31, 2009 (NEWSWIRE.NET) — Words from a stranger were the inspiration for CopperBottle.com, a new Web site and online social experiment on altruism. With CopperBottle.com, 24-year-old entrepreneur Niaomi Nitisha is set to discover what these words have made her ask ever since: How many strangers would help her move ahead in life if she asked them for minimal assistance, say a penny or two?
“It’s up to each individual to decide whether or not to support Copperbottle.com. Some might love the idea or the feeling of making a difference. Others may resist giving without clear signs of reward. I’m eager to see what happens,” Nitisha says.
Though Nitisha has a diploma in fashion retail, the global economic downturn found her selling assorted items on eBay to get by. One day, while standing in a supermarket queue with only three items, the woman in line behind her suggested Nitisha ask to move ahead of the people in front of her, all of whom had full shopping carts. At first, Nitisha demurred, but it turned out that everyone were not only willing to let her go ahead, but a few actually insisted she move to the front of the queue. As Nitisha paid for her items and left, the woman called out the words that ignited the idea for the Web site: “If you don’t ask, you won’t get.”
Nitisha taught herself HTML five years ago when she started her first Web project. Curious and passionate by nature, Nitisha has many entrepreneurial ideas she is eager to get off the ground. In addition to her diploma in fashion retail, Nitisha has also completed studies in fashion design and visual merchandising. If the social experiment is as successful as she hopes, she plans to use the donations to finance future projects such as an online fashion store geared toward footwear.
The Web site’s name is a term Nitisha used in childhood to describe the collection of pennies — also known as coppers in Britain — in a bottle. Site visitors donate pennies via PayPal. Nitisha plans to post regular updates on the site’s blog and also spread the word about her endeavor through social media tools, such as Twitter and Facebook, and by other means. She also hopes that visitors will talk about her site on their own social pages.
Nitisha created CopperBottle.com for reasons other than donations, however. “Copperbottle.com’s purpose is to address the idea of giving minimum amounts rather than just asking for donations,” Nitisha says. Small amounts of money from one person can make a world of difference when the effort is made by many. Nitisha likens the idea of giving minimum amounts to the example of donation cases on the counters at McDonald’s restaurants. “Whenever I receive change, I always add my coppers to the cases even though I only have vague ideas about where my money is going or what it will be used on. I donate coppers because I like to give, and I don’t feel as if I’ve lost anything. It’s a win-win situation.”
To learn more about Niaomi Nitisha or her new online venture CopperBottle.com, visit http://copperbottle.com.