I often come across successful small businesses and wonder how on earth they came up with their ideas. Some of these small businesses start from the most unusual circumstances. Take this article, written by Justin Petruccelli on Entrepreneur.com, for instance, “They’ve Got Baggage“. This article is written about Doyle Evans who in 1970 started selling contents of unclaimed baggage in Scottsboro, Alabama. The business quickly grew into a 40,000 square foot building which currently attracts more than a million tourists to the small town yearly.
Is any business idea too crazy? I think this success story reminds us that even an idea that seems unlikely, is possible. We shouldn’t limit our thinking to just black and white. What about all the fancy colors in between that make life fun and interesting? Using imagination and creativity could create a lasting business that benefits your local community for years to come like Mr Evans’.
Precisely. It requires a lot of creativity for someone to put up a business. If you just copy somebody’s idea or from existing businesses-you’ll have the hardest time to compete especially when your competitor’s name is very well established.
Who would ever guess that people would pack such valuable jewelry or goods in suitcases and never claim them. If I had thousands of dollars worth of jewelry in my case and it got misplaced, I wouldn’t rest until someone found it. Kudos to Doyle for realizing he had a goldmine on his hands. Very smart indeed. Not only is his family business successful but it’s also fun. His family must have blast looking thru cases. It’s like a treasure hunt, you never know what you’ll find. Good for them.
I enjoyed your post. However as much as possessing a great idea is not a bad thing, in and of themselves, great ideas do not guarantee success. I have found that ideas don’t equal solutions, and that ideas are also not to be confused with innovation. You might be interested in reading my thoughts on this subject which can be found here: http://www.n2growth.com/blog/turning-ideas-into-solutions
I’m always amazed by people who take a simple idea and run with it instead of thinking it to death.
Another entrepreneur that took something simple and ran with it, 37 years ago mind you, is the Australian company Bellview Corporation. They’ve manufactured hosiery and socks for 3+ decades and there seems to be no end in sight. Their website url is simple too, socks.com.
When was the last time you even thought about your…socks?! It just goes to show you, it doesn’t have to be the latest techno-whiz to succeed in business. It just takes a bit of elbow grease, an idea that’s simple for customers to understand and the determination to run with it.
Great post.
Ideas without actions are dead. So to really get started in business and aim for success-we have to lay down the course of action for our ideas to be applied and used in our small business venture.
Wow! I’d love to go root around that place for a while! I’ve heard of it before but didn’t realize that it was a single man’s vision . . .
Great inspiration for my future development of my start-up business idea of a new type of meeting place. Think “third place” for small business owners, business minded individuals, organizations, etc.