Lessons From Renegade Entrepreneurs

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you may know that I can get obsessed about all things entrepreneurial. First the 4 Hour Workweek, and now this show The Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch!

I rarely watch TV, but every weeknight at 7:00 I get the kids into their room, turn off all distractions and intensely watch this show. If I was tired before the show, I’m pumped up beyond belief afterward and usually end up staying up way too late having big ideas- it’s great!

Last night the topic was Renegade Entrepreneurs. Among those featured were the creator of Paul Mitchel Products and the creator of Spanx undergarments.

From Living In a Car on $3 a Day to Billionaire With a Simple, Overlooked Marketing Strategy

The creator of Paul Mitchell hair products used to live in his car, run with motorcycle gangs, and was told by a teacher that he’d never be successful at anything. But then made billions with a smart marketing concept. At the time, all hair care products were sold on the drugstore shelves.

His idea was to create great product and then ONLY sell it through salons, encouraging those who had their hands in hair all the time and who people trusted with their hair to recommend the product. He promised them that they would never, every sell them out and market to the drugstore shelves. The rest is history.

How can you give a powerful group of referrers exclusive rights to sell your product?

A Woman Who Takes Extreme Measures to Get Her Product Noticed Ends Up on Oprah

Sara Blakely, the creator of Spanx slimming undergarments: Sara knew she had a great idea. She called up the buyer for Nordroms and said, “if I fly out to meet with you, will you give me 10 minutes to show you my product?” When she got there, she took the buyer into the bathroom with her to show her OWN before and after transformation with Spanx.

The buyer loved it and agreed to stock the product.

However, Nordstrom only gave the product a tiny spot in a sleepy corner of the store. Renegade entrepreneur Sara knew she had to get the product in front of more people. So she went to Target and bought some clear display props, snuck around Nordstrom and put the display cases on the counters, her plan was to make the supervisor working ASSUME that this positioning had been approved by the last supervisor on duty!

She then took it a step further; she bought another clear display case at Target, filled it with Spanx and had her brother drive her to Nordstoms. She ran in, taped the display case up where it would be visible to customers on the escalator, and ran out. Wow!

It worked. One of Oprah’s buyers saw the product and bought it, Oprah loved it and featured it on the show, and the rest is history.

Lesson: Have fun, go against the grain, don’t take yourself too seriously, and don’t be afraid to color outside the lines! It’s the renegade thinkers that refuse to settle for average that make it to the big time!