Idea, Accident, or Solution to a Problem
Quite often, entrepreneurs become such out of frustration of finding a solution to a problem. Sometimes they launch a business that solves a problem they experienced in the past; take Kevin and Melissa Kiernan, a married couple from Waldwick, New Jersey, who became overnight entrepreneurs when they eventually got fed up with animals raiding their garbage cans through the night. Each morning Melissa would walk out the front door to find trash and debris scattered all over the front yard. Armed with frustration, turned motivation, Kevin headed off to the fabric store to concoct a solution to the animals’ free-for-all. Instead of covering their garbage can with a plastic lid, the Kiernans designed a cover made of waterproof polyester and elastic made to fit almost all garbage cans. Positive feedback from their idea and design led this couple, not at all looking to build a business, to seek financial support from the famous show (I know you know it) Shark Tank to scale their business. After a pretty scary retort and a few hearty laughs, Daymond John, Shark Tank entrepreneur and world-famous founder of FUBU brand, accepted a great offer, landing him and the Kiernans in a swift but successful business venture, selling thousands of units at the launch. I’d say this is one heck of a profitable solution!
When trauma plagues a family and income is lost, often cash conservation becomes paramount. This was the case with Lynsi O’Dell, when her husband suffered a debilitating brain hemorrhage. Seeking ways to save money with four kids and one on the way, O’Dell started to try different recipes for laundry detergent. After almost a year, Lynsi finally found the magic formula. Backed by the primary desire to produce a skin-sensitive product to address her children’s eczema, she found the magic bullet, which many of her friends begged to try. With that motivation, O’Dell sent an email to her friends and sold 15 gallons. Then she moved on to a craft show, selling another 75 gallons and with that, Coconut Rain was born. With five distributors across the state of Michigan and roughly 40 percent growth since joining an online marketplace, I said that’s a profit solution!
Now, not everyone has such a sweetheart story to tell. Some of us couple ideas with sheer tenacity to be successful and claw our way to business excellence. Others of us still take the one thing that we excel in, stop making some Fortune 500 company rich, and take the leap to do it better, faster, and with extreme innovation. This is my story! The one thing that I knew I did better than most leaders is teach, coach and motivate people to greatness through strategy, creative business development and extreme innovation. I could do it in my sleep. It gives me extreme pleasure to see people grow, and humbly stated, I’m quite good at it. From years as a trainer, to even more years as a sales director, it was in my DNA to help people reach their destiny. For years, I talked about it. For years, I gave it away for free (more in the next section). For years, I lacked the bravery to step into the wild, shielded by a full-time job and numerous excuses for why I couldn’t, shouldn’t or otherwise. Finally, I took the step; I took the leap and jumped and built a ladder on my way down. Now, I am not suggesting that you walk into your boss’s office and offer him your final farewell tomorrow. If you don’t have somewhat of a safety net, gleefully return tomorrow to your day job and consider it a blessing that will serve you well as you SERIOUSLY and finally build your enterprise to step out and give it 150 percent of your time and attention. Oh yes, and it will absolutely take that! Long nights, early mornings, sacrifices, did I say sacrifices? It will take living like most are not willing to, to have options and the freedom that many will NEVER be able to.
