Editor’s note: This article was first published in September 2012; its figures are as of 2012, including Life is Good revenue of just over 100 million dollars in 2011, Firehouse Subs with more than 500 franchised restaurants, Spanx in more than 70 countries and Pillow Pets sales of over 300 million dollars.
In a previous article we looked at some absurd business ideas (or overly simple ones) that ended up bringing in more than 100 million dollars.
Today we bring you a few more stories of entrepreneurs who one day stepped into the ring and, for one reason or another, achieved the American dream. The business ideas are simple, but they all share a personal, original and innovative touch.
Four business ideas worth millions
1. Life is Good
A message of optimism printed on a T-shirt was enough for Bert and John to become millionaires. The idea was as simple as making T-shirts with phrases like “Life is good”, “Enjoy life” and “Live life”…
They say that at first they sold the T-shirts at university and in their own neighbourhood, until they made the big leap and were stocked in shops across 25 US states. In 2010 they started putting the same message on bath towels, backpacks, coffee mugs and more. In 2011 they had revenue of just over 100 million dollars, and the business is still booming. Yes indeed, life is good.
2. Firehouse Subs
Chris and Robin Sorensen are brothers and the third generation of firefighters in their family. One day they came up with the idea of opening a sandwich shop whose premises perfectly reflected their job, so the decor recreates a fire station.
They started the business in 1994, running the shop part-time, and today they have more than 500 franchised restaurants. In 2001 their revenue exceeded 280 million dollars.
See also: Early ways to make money with Google+: savvy entrepreneurs
The secret to success in business (or at least in their business), according to these entrepreneurs, lies in the menu.
3. Spanx shapewear
One night, Sara Blakely, for whatever reason (call it boredom), decided to cut the feet off her tights. She tried them on, found them comfortable and decided to patent the idea. That’s how Spanx was born. She started with 5,000 dollars from her credit card and looked for investors to get her idea off the ground. They all told her it was an absurd idea and that she wouldn’t sell a single pair.
Whether through irony, a twist of fate or persistence (we’ll go with the third), Sara Blakely joined the Forbes rich list thanks to her crazy idea. Her products are sold in more than 70 countries around the world.
4. The plush pillow
Children love sleeping with their stuffed animals, but some of them aren’t comfortable to use as a pillow. That’s how Jennifer Telfer came up with Pillow Pets, the first stuffed animals that can be used as a pillow, or the first pillows that are stuffed animals.
They started out selling them in shopping centres only at Christmas time, and the business has since reached sales of more than 300 million dollars.
As we can see, sometimes the most profitable businesses come from the simplest ideas. Given all this, maybe one day you’ll come up with the underpants-sock… why not? 🙂
Featured image: Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
