Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2010. The statement that staged kidnappings are not yet offered in Spanish-speaking countries reflects 2010.
Don’t worry: however bad things get, we’re not going to suggest a business based on real kidnappings… although… why not, if the family of the person being kidnapped paid us for it? Obviously, we’re not talking about a real kidnapping. Today we bring you the business idea of an American company that offers some very exclusive services to a select clientele.
Perhaps this business idea was inspired by the film The Game, starring Michael Douglas, in which a multimillionaire goes through a week-long ordeal where he loses everything (money, house, wife, companies) and only then has to appreciate everything he had never valued. Of course, none of it is real.
Well, this company specializes in elaborate practical jokes and kidnappings. It’s typically a gift that hundreds of Americans give their children or loved ones. Think of it as a way of putting them through a tough situation that, in the end, has a happy ending, surrounded by the people who love them.
It’s not yet offered in Spanish-speaking countries. And although the idea behind this kind of company seems simple, it isn’t. You need staff with a flair for acting and clients who can afford it, because the setting for each prank or kidnapping is not easy to put together and takes time to prepare.
The company makes sure its future “kidnapped client” doesn’t have a serious heart condition and, on the other hand, isn’t a decorated military veteran, since the prank could end badly for the organizers.
One way to fund the business and earn extra income is to film the prank or kidnapping and later sell the footage to a TV show; these programs pay large sums for such tapes.
If they’re going to stage the prank or kidnapping in the middle of the street to make it more realistic, they contact the local police and tell them where in the city it will happen. That way they make sure the police won’t step in if a passer-by calls them.
Their services go well beyond kidnappings, though. They can arrange a fake mistress followed by a staged separation, your dismissal from your company for something you didn’t do, or a visit from an alien at your home. When it comes to pranks, this company’s imagination knows no limits.
No matter how many American business ideas I look at, I still don’t understand how they manage to turn any idea into a multimillion-dollar business. Would you dare to start a company like this in your country?
Further reading
- How to overcome the fear of starting a business
- The entrepreneur’s mindset
- The advantages of starting a business in a crisis
- The only truths about how to get rich
Featured image: psyberartist, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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