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Turning Problems Into Profits
One of the easiest ways to start or
expand a business is by identifying a problem and finding a way to
solve it.
It's a technique I've mentioned
several times before, but since it's a reoccurring theme in many
success stories I read, it's a concept worth repeating. Instead of
looking for the "latest and greatest", the "last
frontier", or the "ground floor opportunity", look to
the problems in your industry or an area of interest and find a way
to profit by finding a solution. It may be easier than you think.
Let me give you a few examples:
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Julia Valdes loves flowers. After
becoming a floral designer and working at a Las Vegas resort for
several years, she felt that she had outgrown her job title and
decided to open her own floral shop in 1996. With limited capital,
she started "Flowers2U" out of her garage with a sink,
refrigerator, table and phone. From order-taking to arranging to
delivering the finished product, Julia was a one-woman show. Her
business grew quickly and flourished, and her phone rang of the hook
literally 24-hours a day.
Instead of being annoyed at the
persistent calls, she saw an opportunity. In the desert city that
never sleeps, she could deliver flowers 24 hours a day, if she wanted
to. She did want to. So did her clients. The commercial accounts and
event planners loved her, and her "Flowers2U" logo was
changed to include the words "anytime, anywhere". She added
a web site, www.flowers2u.com
in 1997, and moved to a 4,000 sq. foot facility where she has a
full-service staff that now does most of the work.
Today, Julia is busy expanding her
empire through "Flowers2U" franchises, which are popping up
everywhere from California to Canada. Not a bad 5 years, all in
all...and all because she took a chance to do something no one else
was doing.
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James Smith was an MIT dropout,
operating a small typesetting business in Manhattan when he ordered a
transcript of a "MacNeil-Lehrer Report" and had to wait
three weeks to get it. Annoyed with the delay, he decided to
embarrass the show's producers by proving that even his rinky-dink
company could do a better job of delivering a transcript that their
high-powered network. So he taped that night's
"MacNeil-Lehrer" show, stayed up all night transcribing and
typesetting it, and hand-delivered the finished product to the show's
producers the next day.
So what did his little
demonstration get him? An exclusive contract to produce all the
show's transcripts and fulfill the audience requests! It turns out
that transcript requests were one of the biggest nuisances in the
talk show industry, and a task most shows were eager to outsource.
And so, "Journal Graphics"
was born. Smith quickly secured the rights to most major talk shows
and about one-third of all CNN's programming. Here's how it works: In
exchange for flashing the "Journal Graphics" ordering
information at the end of a show, Smith's company transcribes and
fulfills requests for any transcript requests.
If a particular episode has a large
number of requests, the talk show will share in some of the
transcript royalties. While most shows may only have a dozen or so
requests, there is the occasional blockbuster-like Phil Donahue's
April 1993 "Recipe Detective" (featuring at-home recipes
for Reese's peanut butter cups, KFC, and more), which sold 100,000
copies, and Bill Moyer's PBS interviews with Joseph Campbell about
myths, which garnered an impressive 20,000 requests.
It all works out to more than $3
million a year-with an advertising budget of $0-all because James
Smith got mad and wanted to prove that he could do something better
than the "big boys". You can see what they're doing now at www.journalgraphics.com .
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Tommy Hilfiger is a major fashion
force now, but his fashion empire started because he was trying to
solve a problem. As a teenager growing up in Elmira, New York in the
late 1960's, he fell in love with the rock-and-roll bands of the
time. Mick Jagger and Jimi Hendricks were his idols, and like any
teenager tends to do, he wanted to dress like his idols. The problem?
He couldn't find bell-bottom pants ANYWHERE in Elmira, NY. Neither
could his friends.
So not long after graduating from
high school, Hilfiger took a train to New York City, bought a bunch
of bell-bottoms wholesale, and sold them to his friends in Elmira.
Word spread quickly, and before long, Hilfiger's first store,
"People's Place", was born. Selling "cool clothes to
cool people", Tommy's store did brisk business with little
competition. He soon began drawing sketches, which he showed to his
suppliers. His fashion empire grew from there.
Today, Tommy Hilfiger does close to
$5 billion a year n sales. Remaining true to his love of music, he
designs clothes for many of today's biggest bands, and has a huge
following among rap stars and their devoted fans. In all, not a bad
ending to the story of the teenager who couldn't find bell-bottoms.
You can visit him online at www.Tommy.com .
Need to put your hands on products
that you can't find locally, like Tommy Hilfiger? Take a look at
"Wholesale Sources 2001" for thousands of vendors who sell,
drop ship, and supply just about anything under the sun,
http://www.niftybusinessideas.com/resources/wholesale/index.html
So what problem do you have? What
annoys you about your job, your industry, or your latest passion?
Don't gripe about it...grab the opportunity to do it better! Your
fortune could be closer than you think.
Good luck! |
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