In 1899, the Director of the U.S. Patent Office declared, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” At around the same time, Milton Bradley said similarly, “Every game that can be invented and played is already out there.” In 1999, Anna Quindlen said at a Holyoke College commencement, “Every story has already been told. There is no reason to ever write another book.”
While these opinions might seem naïve in the light of the incredible inventions, games, and stories we have seen ever since and keep seeing every day, Quindlen followed her statement with an insightful comment: “Except that each writer (inventor, artist, game developer, creator brings to the table something unique that no one else in the history of time ever has.”
Image Source: wired.com
There is always something new to create; something better, faster or more entertaining. So many of the most successful corporations of all time began with one single product or service. Every successful business began as a niche and grew by expanding its target audience geographically or even expanding its range of products or services. With the advent of the Internet, it’s all that much easier. Companies like Google and Yahoo began as simple search engines and now offer incredibly versatile methods of communication, social media and physical products. Even real estate has joined the tech market with the creation of US vacation rental site VRBO and Airbnb, which matches people looking for accommodation with individuals offering it and today has more than 1,500,000 listings in 190 countries.
Image Source: stocktraque.com
The World Wide Web has taken many small mom and pop stores to global domination. Here’s just a few of our favorites:
Bigger, Badder, Birdier
In 2009, Rovio was a small Finnish gaming company, short on financing and desperate to make a big break into the mobile gaming industry. At that point, one developer, Jaakko Iisalo, randomly came up with what might have been considered a ridiculously silly game about fat colorful birds with large beaks, bushy eyebrows and no legs to speak of. Somehow these birds were hurled quickly from a slingshot to attack a castle. Sounded simple, right?
Image Source: youtube.com
Two years later, Angry Birds had been downloaded over 50 million times. By 2012, Angry Birds games had been downloaded over 1 billion times, with 200 million people played monthly and 30 million daily. Three hours after the release of another game in the series, 2012’s Bad Piggies, it topped the iOS paid download charts. Rovio certainly didn’t quit while they were ahead.
To capitalize on the huge success of the mobile apps and online video games, Rovio chose to expand their niche and target audience. They added cartoons and commercials to their products. Merchandise was developed and soon over 35% of children in America had Angry Birds stuffed toys, bed sheets, key chains and other trinkets. And everyone is eagerly awaiting the 2016 release of The Angry Birds Movie. Those birds never quit – neither do the smart people at Rovio.
Everything is a Gamble
In the year 2000, just before the Internet Boom, a new poker website was launched. PokerStars went live in September of 2011, offering play-money games to poker aficionados. In December of that year, the platform went real-money live and began to take off. They offered seven tournaments in Hold ‘Em, Seven Card Stud and Omaha High-Low Eight of Better. PokerStars made an online presence by offering some unique features, as we recommend, such as cool avatars or letting you use your own photo in your player profile.
Image Source: somuchpoker.com
In 2002, PokerStars launched the World Championship of Online Poker with nine events and $730,000 in prize money. Today, the site boasts over 50 million registered customers with thousands playing online at any given moment. They became the largest online poker room in the world. Did they quit there? Not at all.
In 2014, the brand announced the addition of other casino games and sports betting to their online venues, beginning in Europe. By 2015, they had gone global and included games such as blackjack, craps, slots and roulette among others. Once they were established in the niche world of poker, the company took the next step to expand, reaching a wider demographic.
PokerStars also attracted a multitude of celebrities and sports figures, such as Cristiano Ronaldo to represent as ambassadors to poker. All the while, the brand keeps up with technological trends in order to secure and expand its audience. In addition to releasing a live casino option, which makes use of live streaming tech, they are now looking to break into the casual gaming market with new gaming apps. That looks like a smart move, as casual gaming represents 10% of the gaming industry’s revenue according to the CEO of Big Fish games.
Think Different
It would be impossible to discuss small companies that went huge by expanding their market without featuring Apple. It began in 1975 in the form of three young guys in a garage making the first inexpensive “personal computer,” which was a typewriter-like gadget that you hooked up to your television. Hard to believe, but it was nearly impossible to get financing, and only 200 units of the initial Apple I were produced.
Image Source: vectrnicsappleworld.com
The Apple II added color graphics and the Apple III the one-button mouse. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had a goldmine in their creative hands. The Lisa and the MacIntosh allowed for a more developed graphical interface. The list of computer upgrades and innovations introduced by Apple would take days to describe. However, as we all know, Apple didn’t stop at computers.
Image Source: 2015masterworld.blogspot.com
Apple is one of the world largest designers and distributors of desktop and laptop computers. They created iPods for music, games and apps, and not just iPods but Minis and Shuffles and Apple Watches. There are more than 6 generations of iPhones with everyone on the planet familiar with Siri, the virtual assistant. There are iPads and Time Capsules and Apple TV. The Apple App Store hosts 1.5 million applications and games for iOS devices. There are apps to play games, to make grocery lists, to sell your home and to organize your life.
According to a recent press release, 2015 was the tech company’s most successful year ever, with a 28% increase in revenue, which amounted to “nearly $234 billion” in sales. “Expand, expand, expand!” seems to be Apple’s real motto, and this strategy has certainly served the company well.
Just Do It
A little over 50 years ago, another pair of fellas started another kind of business in a garage with sales out of the trunk of a car. In 1959, Phil Knight was a middle distance runner at the University of Oregon. His coach was Bill Bowerman, who was always on the lookout to make lighter, more durable running shoes for his track team members. During his quest for his MBA, Knight learned the value of outsourcing from Japan and came up with a plan. Together with Bowerman, they formed Blue Ribbon Sports, which imported Onitsuke Tiger running shoes from Japan. They did pretty well for the times selling $8,000 in shoes their first year.
Image Source: youtube.com
Cut to 1970, when Bowerman is tired of importing and want to improve the design and manufacture their own line of uniquely threaded running shoes. Incidentally, he got the idea from pouring rubber into his wife’s waffle maker. The two paid $35 for a new logo, and Nike was born. By the late 70s, their revenues had grown from $10 million to $270 million. Time to expand, right? They also began their first clothing lines in 1979.
Over the next 10 years, the renowned shoe line expanded from running shoes to tennis shoes to golf shoes to basketball shoes and more. In 1982, they signed rookie basketball player Michael Jordan to endorse their new line. By 1986, Nike’s revenues surpassed $1 billion dollars. They were not finished yet. Now they are opening their own dedicated Nike stores all over the world.
Image Source: gapersblock.com
In 1994, Nike acquired Canstar Sports, Inc and expanded into skates and hockey equipment. By 1999, Nike was selling everything; shoes, sports equipment, clothing lines and more via their own website. They were one of the leading makers of professional sports teams’ uniforms.
Today, Nike has its own apps for running and other fitness programs. They also have teamed up with Apple to create wearable fitness technology. Looks like Nike will continue to say, “Just do it” for a long, long time.
Home is the Most Important Place in the World
Way, way, way back, in the early 1930s, a 5 year-old Swedish boy discovered that if he buys matches in bulk, he can sell them cheaply to neighbors and still make a profit. From matches, he expanded to flower seeds, greeting cards, Christmas decorations and eventually pencils and pens. At the age of 17, the same boy, entrepreneur Ingvar Kamprad began developing IKEA into what was to become the largest worldwide retailer of furniture in 2008. It’s hard to believe it started as a mail order company for pens, pencils, postcards and other assorted small merchandise. He finally added furniture to the brand’s range in 1948.
Image Source: usg-events.com
Kamprad decided that eco-friendly and self-assembly was the way to go, and he was right. He began to publish catalogues in 1951 and showrooms in 1953 to display his inventions for the home. In 1958, he opened his first store in Sweden. He discovered his match theory held true. If he ordered his flat pack do-it-yourself furniture in bulk from manufacturers, he could offer lower priced furniture to the customer and still make a hefty profit. After 10 plus years of difficulties with competitors and suppliers, IKEA finally took off and never stopped.
Image Source: theodysseyonline.com
IKEA now owns and operates 381 stores in 47 countries. In 2015, they generated revenues in excess of $32 billion. They design indoor furniture and outdoor furniture, decorations and dinnerware, textiles and storage containers and much, much more. More copies of the IKEA catalogue are printed each year than the Bible; more than twice as many. And yes, they do also have an app now to make ordering everything easier.
What is the idea we are trying to get across? Never give up. Develop your product. Find your niche. Create a marketing strategy and continue to expand. Use technology and social media (Facebook is another great example of a small start up gone global). It is there to benefit you and it will continue to advance. So should you. So think different and just do it. Find the star in you.
Leave a Reply