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5 Unlikely Business Success Stories

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 19:59:38 +0000

Being an entrepreneur has as much to do with being lucky as it does with having a good idea, but sometimes, the most unlikely ideas can be the most successful. That being said, even if your plan seems water-tight, you should always be careful and do your homework at BusinessInsurance.org for information on insurance and other business tips.

Ben and Jerry's is a well-known and popular brand of ice cream due to its unique flavors, such as Chunky Monkey, Chubby Hubby, and Dublin Mudslide. This idea was conceived by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield after they attended an ice cream making class together. After learning that Burlington, Vermont was one of few college towns not to have an ice cream shop, they bought an unused gas station and began selling ice cream. Their company now brings in over $237 million dollars per year.

Another unlikely business success story is that of the plastic wish bone. Designed by Ken Ahroni, the plastic wishbone is for people unhappy about only two people being to break the lucky wishbone of the Thanksgiving turkey every year. The company he founded is called LuckyBreak, and it now produces around thirty-thousand wishbones every day in multiple colors with custom options as well. The company now sells over $2.5 million per year in merchandise.

In the United Kingdom, Fraser Doherty, at the age of fourteen, decided he would start selling jams made from his grandmother's recipe. Starting out in his family's kitchen in Scotland, he founded his business, which he named SuperJam. His company sells around five-hundred thousand jars of jam every year, and this makes up approximately ten percent of the jam market in the United Kingdom, making his company worth around $1.5 million.

The Pet Loo is an idea that came out of Australia, co-designed and developed by Simone Skovron in 2003. It is a portable sort of litter mat for dogs and other animals, and it is constructed from a square of artificial grass that drains into a waste-containment system. It was designed with apartment owners and the elderly in mind to make it easier to take care of their pets without having to go outside as often. The company released the Pet Loo for worldwide sale in 2006.

Finally, there is the Bed Bug Barrier. Many people have a sort of fear directed towards insects, and that is whence the idea for the Bed Bug Barrier came. Hotel rooms are not always the cleanest places, and they can often be hosts to infestations of creatures, such as the bed bug. The Bed Bug Barrier is an attachment that is placed on the legs of beds, and it traps the bed bugs, preventing them from scaling the bed a biting the sleepers. This idea has made its designer, Tony Abrams, millions of dollars.

How to get your heart into it

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:58:15 +0000

"Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it."

-Hardy D. Jackson

I read this quote on a friends Facebook page just now and it rang my bell. It reminded me of something one of my mentors, Rick Thorpe, said to me almost 20 years ago and I wanted to share it with you.

"Do something you love every day of your life and you will never work a day in your life."

I have used his words as a compass ever since and I like this new take on it from Hardy. I really do believe that one of the secrets to success is to align yourself with something that you can fall in love with. When you love what you are doing you're going to do what it takes to be great at it.

Not to say that everything that you do you're going to love. We all have to do a lot of things that we don't love. Think pareto principle or the 80-20 rule. Just make sure that the love component is on the 80 side of that principle.

So what if you're not doing something you love? What can you do about it? My recommendation is to start asking yourself some questions...

When have you been most happy? What was it about that time that you enjoyed most?

What if you could do anything? What would you do? What is it about those things that you love?

What do you love about what you do now? Where could that make up 80% of your time?

If you could change anything about your life now what would that be?

Those questions are the beginning of creating something fresh in your life.

But what then....well come on back and visit us because helping you get the most out of you is what I love.

"...it's them, not you"

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Bill Hicks, considered to be the 4th all time greatest comedian according to UK's Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups, stared his career performing comedy routines to the other Sunday school children. His parents were concerned with his behaviour and took him to see a psychoanalyst. After one session the psychoanalyst said "...it's them, not you"

This story made me chuckle and it was Hicks ability to express a truth that made him a great comic. People may think you're strange in the head for doing what you love to do. But what does that say about them?

Do what lights you up. The critics serve a purpose by having you think and evolve but be wary of their seeds of thought growing into weeds in your garden of creativity. Surround yourself with people that will blow wind into your sails and keep on moving. Hicks may not have made it to a stage let alone the list of UK's 100 Greatest Comics had he adopted his parents view of what is "normal behaviour". Instead he used his parents "view of the world" to fuel his comedy.

Hicks passed away in 1994 at the age of 32 due to side effects caused by the treatment of his pancreatic cancer. His comedic legacy and message lives on and is still as funny and relevant almost 20 years later. He went from being rated #6 in 2007 to #4 in 2010. I think it's because of the truth he was able to reveal in his comedy. Perhaps a truth is timeless? One of the underlying themes in his comedy is about being true to yourself. One of his famous bits was "Life is just a ride..." Worth a watch and a great message about fearless living.

"Life is just a ride. We can change it any time we like. It's only a choice. No effort. No work. No job. No savings or money required. A choice. Right now." - Bill Hicks

A shout out to Bill for the laughs I enjoyed watching his material and to the "ride" we're all on.

Keeping on Wiggling

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

This story of the Wiggles is a great argument for what can happen when you choose to do what lights you up and persist at it.

Only when you stop completely is there no longer an opportunity to succeed. If things go sideways look at what has worked and how that can be expanded on. Ask for input from others but remember that feedback from others is an opinion and not fact. If people relied only on feedback our world would be a very flat place and the Wiggles would not be wiggling. Conversely, when things go well understand the key elements that worked and look for opportunities to strengthen your position. Blend the feedback with what your gut is saying and course correct. Keep moving, taking actions and remind yourself of why you started in the first place.

Action Leads to Belief

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 04:06:17 +0000

I had a question asked recently about belief.

"Michael, I have plans that I make that I use and yield results, then others I make that I don't use and therefore no results! I find the difference is how much belief I have in my ability to succeed. I have lots of things I use to build belief, but there are those stubborn ones that nothing seems to shift. One is in the area of building my business. Any coaching around that?"

It is a great question because belief is critical in taking the actions to achieve our goals.

Video Response to Entrepreneurial Questions

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:44:53 +0000

I applied to be part of a documentary on entrepreneurs and the second stage of the application called for a 2-3 minute video answering some questions about myself and my take on being and entrepreneur. I'd love to hear your answers to these questions so email me or post on the blog or do a follow up video. Michael

Step 2 - Be great at producing results

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:40:31 +0000

If you completed Step 1 of “Be Great at Producing Results” you now know how much stuff in your life is currently undone. If you didn’t complete the exercise and you really do want to break your pattern of procrastination then I invite you to directly sign up for the Productivity Transformed course. During the 8 week course we coach you on how to break your patterns of procrastination and produce the results you want on time. There is no time like the present so go back and complete Step 1. Research shows that if you break down goals into small steps and set multiple deadlines your rate of success increases and so does the quality of work.

Video Follow up to Be Great a Producing Results

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:07:33 +0000

I want to draw your attention to the blog post "Be Great at Producing Results". This post and the next several posts will be a introducing the Productivity Transformed system to double your productivity. Follow along and be great a producing results. We are running another 8 week online program starting September 20th. Space is limited however we will be running more courses in the future. I look forward to interacting with you online. Michael

Be great at producing results

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 07:08:24 +0000

Do you realized there is probably a lot of things screaming at you right now?

Take a look around you right now. See any sticky notes? A couple? Okay. What about coloured ones? Uh - Oh, It might be worse than I thought...

Let our own light shine

Wed, 12 May 2010 01:53:54 +0000

This quote was sent to me recently from an inspirational friend and it moved me emotionally. I have seen recently in my own life where I have allowed fear to stop me from being courageous in many situations in life. I have seen what this has cost me and more importantly the impact it has had on the people who have passed through my life. I have been lucky...better said...blessed to have amazing people in my life who saw beyond my fear and supported me through the most difficult times and let me shine in the very best times of my life. What is precious to me now is that I can clearly see beyond my own fear and pay back the costs I incurred and give back to those who are in need of what I needed.