Pet a Rock

Way back in 1975, Gary Dahl, a freelance copywriter, kept hearing his friends complain about their pets and how much caretaking they needed.
That’s when he decided to solve this problem by inventing a new kind of pet- a rock.
It was sold in a cardboard box which had holes (for breathing purposes) and came along with a ‘Training Manual’.
Apparently, it was because of this manual that the product went viral.
It was nothing but a booklet full of humor and puns about what the rock could and could not do.
Essentially, people were buying into the humor and not really the rock.
The fad peaked during Christmas season and within few months, Dahl became a millionaire.
On certain days, he was selling over 10,000 items. Just imagine- people were shelling out money for inanimate objects that were already lying in their backyards!
However, the dust had settled within half a year and the product became yet another footnote in history.
No one knew that this seemingly idiotic idea would lead to million dollar revenues.

Learning from the story
1. Every small or big idea has business hidden in it.
2. Bigger the need your idea solves, bigger the bussiness can become and vice versa.
3. Every idea has its expiry date. Businesses can stay relevant till the time your idea keeps serving the need.

Questions to ask ourselves
1. what are the needs people have and not being served at the moment.?
2. How big and imp is the need?
3. How long can we serve this need?

If you really want to build a big and long lasting business around your idea consider this as a personal invitation to our seminar Put your Business On Autopilot.