Since the dawn of the modern age, it has always been the belief of the masses that the economy of a country benefits only the wealthy, and the government should do something about this. Karl Marx embraced this idea in his teachings, and the people believed in these persistent ideas that power and wealth should be taken from the rich and given to the poor. We have seen how ineffective this ideology is. The Soviet Union is no more, China and Vietnam are opening their doors to capitalism, and the world is heading into a new era of innovative products and marketing methods.
Reading and studying about how the richest people in the world gained their wealth will reveal to us that only a fraction of these wealthy individuals and families got their riches through inheritance. Some had the advantage of education or influence but most started out from scratch and worked their way up to fortune. What was unique about these individuals was how they turned everyday experiences into innovative fortune-generating opportunities.
Mark Hughes devoted his life in the development of weight loss products. What spurned him on was the death of his mother, JoAnn Hughes who died through her disastrous experimentations to lose weight. Finding the right ideas and products, Mark founded Herbalife in 1980 and started selling weight loss and nutrition products right out of the trunk of his car. Now, the company he started has become a global entity growing exponentially every year with millions of satisfied customers worldwide.
In a similar manner, Richard DeVos and Jay van Andel started Amway in their basements after failures running a drive-in restaurant. Now, the influence of these billionaires has reached several countries worldwide through these innovative products. It would be a rarity indeed, if you do not know Bill Gates, a Harvard dropout who went on to co-find Microsoft Corporation. He earned billions developing products and technologies, some of which may be found right there in the personal computers of people reading this article.
These successes are not isolated to individuals but to remarkable families as well. In 1950, the Walton family lost a lease on a local dime store. This did not stop them from pursuing their dreams and establishing the multi-billion Wal-Mart chains. The Mars family where in financial trouble and was close to bankruptcy when they developed the recipe for the Milky Way chocolate bar. The rest is history (pardon the pause, as I take a bite out of my Milk… Ooops! Wife’s coming! Gotta hide these…..! )
Stories like these come to life because of the drive and creativity of these individuals in turning ideas into wonderful moneymaking innovations. Their success was based on serving the consumers and in finding solutions to problems of the community that existing products and services cannot provide.
How can we, as ordinary people, generate the same kind of ideas that these successful people had?
The key element is to learn how to listen and observe your surroundings. If you have transformed your psyche from a mindless drifter to an idea-hunting entrepreneurial mindset, tons of ideas can come your way – and some of this might be the next multi-billion dollar thing. Reading books and magazines on and off the net can take you places and feed your imagination. Browse through websites, news and forums and learn what the current needs of the community are. There are a lot of examples in the web that you can discover. Just like this website for swimming pools that I just came across. They call themselves Shasta Pools and Spas.
Everyone is going “GREEN” just like the Incredible Hulk. Kidding aside, people are looking for products and services that are more environmentally sensitive. Aside from their really cool designs I never imagined pools could have, Shasta Pools are also going green and has started use of the most energy efficient pool equipments for those who are environmentally conscious. Such innovations are a proactive response to the needs, and trends, the people want.
On my next article, I will discuss more regarding how to use insights, intelligent hunches, intuition and what-have-you in looking for that next big hit. So stay tuned!
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Live well and prosper!
© 2008
Peter Allan Mariano
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