We had a great experience today where we hosted a guest speaker who came to talk about her business and is a "real life entrepreneur". She operates a home-based business that has been seen on the Today Show, ABC's Shark Tank, and was featured in Donny Deutch's book "The BIG IDEA" and started it all from scratch. The business she "stumbled upon" came from an idea in her everyday life. For her friends and family, she had a signature gift where she would send an inflated ball with a message written on it, which was like a novelty present. These balls she would send would often be funny and would get a laugh by the recipient. One day, she was standing in line at the post office to send a ball for one of her friend's birthday. While she was in line, another person saw the ball she was holding and thought it was a pretty clever idea. This person asked her to send one of those balls for him/her (not sure which) and would pay her $5 for it. That's when she had the idea that she could make a business out of it. It's a completely innovative and simple idea within the greeting/holiday/birthday card business and has a fun twist in it because...well, it's a bouncy ball! It was a perfect niche in the market that she saw and seized that opportunity. She started off very small and has been growing it since then. She opened a website where people can order these balls from the click of a mouse. It's not a very big and profitable business, but that's not what she's been concerned with and prides her business on. She enjoys it because it brings joy to people who send and receive the balls. That's it. She has had a lot of publicity and has grown her business from appearing on the show Shark Tank on ABC. Here's the link to that show (It is shortened, so you don't have to see all the boring parts). It still remains a business that is run from within her own garage, without any fancy equipment or technology because she really enjoys owning her own "destiny" and the soul of her small business. It was a really great experience to meet a "TV star", so to speak, and actually gave me a sense of empowerment if I would decide to own my own business. So far, I have realized the value of finding your own "niche" within a market and the meaning of entrepreneurship. It's about offering a great service that is feasible as well as something you really love to do. You can't own a business without having a passion for it... Plain and simple. You have to be transparent, ethical, and willing to adapt to the consumer's needs. Because frankly, they're YOUR boss. You have to have an open attitude to change and be humbled by the fact that in this field (of entrepreneurship), you need adhere to the never-ending desires of the consumer.
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