1. His 1st product made people laugh…Now he’s a billionaire and you know his name.
Failure is a key part of success. If you ask any successful person, they’ll be able to tell you the things they failed at, that ultimately led to their success.
The story is no different for billionaire inventor, James Dyson.
Dyson has become a household name. You may be familiar with their vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, or fans, but Dyson’s original product was much different.
In 1974, James Dyson released the “Ballbarrow”. A plastic wheelbarrow with a ball instead of a wheel.
Dyson took it to retail shops, and was laughed at by the owners. They thought it was a joke and had no interest in putting it in their stores.
Dyson ended up selling a few Ballbarrow’s through newspaper ads, but never enough to make a profit.
While building the Ballbarrow, Dyson was trying to find a way to collect the extra dust that was being sprayed at the Ballbarrows to powder coat them. This led Dyson to build a cyclone, that would suck the excess powder, and wouldn’t get clogged.
This was the lightbulb moment where Dyson realized the same technology could be used in vacuums, so they never lose suction.
That discovering led to what is now the Dyson Vacuum, and has made James Dyson a billionaire.
Without the failed Ballbarrow, Dyson Vacuums may not exist today.
Thank you Ballbarrow.
2. The 80/20 rule to live by
20% of inputs create 80% of the results.
If you look at most things in life, 20% of actions, create 80% of results.
In large companies, 20% of the employees create 80% of the value.
You likely wear 20% of you clothes, 80% of the time.
20% of your choices, have led to 80% of the reasons you live or work somewhere.
So how do you use this?
Identify the 20% of you actions that lead to the results you want. Focus on these, and make sure they’re done right. The additional 80% will come, but make sure you know what 20% really matter.
3. Business idea of the Week: Employee Benefits Advice Service
Have you ever wondered if you’re taking advantage of all of the benefits your company offers?
For example, if your company offers to match your 401K contributions, you should be contributing up to their match.
Or maybe your health insurance reimburse’s you for your gym membership.
There are tons of benefits that you may be missing out on, and you’ll likely never know.
The Idea: A service that looks through all of you benefits paperwork, and advises on how to take full advantage of your benefits, or start using benefits you’re missing out on.
When you first join a company, you’re often given a bunch of paperwork that goes un-read. I would pay a service to go through all of my benefits, and tell me how to make the most of them.
How to get started: This can be started as a very small side consulting business. Learn all about how benefits work, and try to become an expert in benefits for specific companies. For example, become an expert in the benefits offered at Microsoft. You can then target Microsoft employees on LinkedIn, and reach out to them with your offer.
Once you build up a client list, you can leverage their testimonials to get other clients, and build this into a real consulting service.