Little Ideas can mean BIG MONEY

You've seen them. All the stupid little gadgets that sell for a few bucks or less. Sure, some people will buy them but there appeal can't be big enough to make any real money. Or could it?  There on the infomercials, in the stores, in all those little specialty or novelty catalogs you receive.  You think, I could have thought of that or maybe even "Hey, that was my idea." But it was such a silly little niche item you didn't do anything with it. Well, these people did.

The Koosh Ball


You probably don't know who Scott Stillinger is but you probably have one of his inventions – the Koosh ball, which made millions of dollars. He came up with the idea when he tied rubber bands together to create a smaller, easier-to-catch ball for his young children in 1987.  The Koosh ball was born. He founded OddzOn Products Inc. to distribute the small, simple toy, and within just 12 months it was flying off of store shelves as that year's hottest Christmas gift.

The company expanded, and in 1994 Stillinger sold OddzOn to toy manufacturer Russ Berrie and Company Inc., which in turn was bought by toy behemoth Hasbro in 1997 for more $100 million

And it all happened a mere 10 years after the first ball was created.


Lucky Break Wishbones


Are you still a little bitter that, at last year's Thanksgiving dinner, you lost out to your cousin Ned in the annual fight over the lone turkey wishbone? Well, thanks to Ken Ahroni, those days are long over. In 1999, he had something of an epiphany at his family's Thanksgiving dinner table: a family with multiple people would like multiple wishbones. He shuttered his previous consulting business and launched Lucky Break Wishbone Corp. in 2004, in order to sell his one-of-a-kind breakable plastic wishbones. Within two years, the company was generating nearly $1 million in sales through distributors in more than 40 states nationwide.


Antenna Balls

You've seen them; maybe you even sport one on your car. Those ubiquitous, yellow smiley-faced balls perched atop antennas in parking lots nationwide have made Jason Wall a very wealthy man. Inspired in 1997 by a commercial for the fast food chain Jack in the Box, Wall created some antenna ball designs and began selling them locally through auto stores in California in 1998. Within a year, he had earned more than $1.15 million in sales and quickly won major accounts to sell his product through national chains, including Wal-Mart. In 2009, the multimillionaire is president and CEO of In-Concept Inc.

 
You don't have to be a genius or an engineer to have a million dollar idea.  If it is something you would use, then chances are so would a few hundred thousand others.  I always have a pen and paper with me some I can make notes when I have an idea or when I see someone else's idea I like.  Chances are, if you don't develop your idea. Then you will one day see it on the store shelf or on TV or maybe in your favorite catalog with someone else's name on it.  Keep reading and one day you may read the story on my Blog.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp--
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well..

I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?
God must've made a mistake.

'And why is everyone so quiet,
So somber - give me a clue.'
'Hush, child,' He said, 'they're all in shock.
No one thought they'd be seeing you.'

.

MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Okay my friends, the new year is here. I know some of you are facing some real challenges in your lives. Many are unemployed or have had your income greatly reduced. Some are facing physical Challenges or family crisis. Many things can derail us from reaching our goals.

I just want you to know that you have a choice. You can use these challenges as excuses for not achieving your goals or you can turn them into the motivation for achieving even more. For everyone of the very real challenges I mentioned above, I know of someone who, facing those same challenges, turned them into their "why" for pursuing their goals even harder.

I know of a guy who was living in his car with a busted out window in Canada in the winter, with 2 children and selling pizza door to door to survive. He now owns a very successful business because he used his problems as motivation.

I had two friends a few years back We'll call them Ron & Steve. Both had lost their legs to a land mine in Vietnam. Both the same year. Both had the same injuries, the same surgeries and both ended up in wheel chairs. I met them 20 years later. Steve was defeated. His lack of legs kept him from enjoying many of the things he loved. He could no longer play football, run or r ride his Harley. He had gained weight due to his lack of running and physical exertion. He was unkempt because it was very difficult to dress himself and get in and out of a shower or bathtub. He always complained because there weren't enough handicap parking spaces or someone parked in the handicapped spot or over the line making it hard for him to get his wheel chair out of the car. He was broke because his disability limited the jobs available to him. After an hour of being around him I would feel depressed, sorry for him, even angry that we had allowed such things to happen in such an unnecessary war.

Then there was Ron. Ron was living life. Ron could no longer play football, so he started a wheel chair basketball team. He could no longer go running so he worked out in the gym with his upper body. Ron always looked perfectly groomed and professional. If the handicapped spot was filled or someone parked over the line, he found a spot and dealt with it or waited for a spot to open up.He had a good job. On the side he taught veterans and others how to live life in a wheelchair, coached a wheelchair basketball team and raised a daughter. Being around Ron was renewing. Not because it was inspiring that he overcame his lack of legs,(although it was) but because he was such a force of positive energy. You didn't even notice the wheelchair(unless he was popping wheelies). Being around Ron made you want to be more, help more and live more. He went out of his way to make others feel better. If you wanted something done, just bet Ron a guy in a wheelchair couldn't do it.

Remember, life isn't easy, it isn't fair and there is no such thing as spare time.

In 2011, you can make excuses or you can make it happen. It's up to you.