In all my years in the toy industry, I never knew about the following story and the role of Monopoly in helping Prisoners of War escape in World War 2. It is a fantastic tale and exemplifies Entrepreneurial thinking at its best. Entrepreneurship is a way of thinking, not a particular type of person. In this case there was Need: Find a way to help captured airmen escape. Knowledge: The key Knowledge factor was discovering that the International Red Cross Care Packages for POW’s could include games and pastimes. The Opportunity : To supply the POW’s with special Monopoly sets as set forth in this story which I’ve verified is true from multiple sources. Read more »
U.S. Embassies: An Out-of-the-Box Entity to Help a Small Business
The United States has an embassy in almost every country in the world. You can go to the State Department website www.state.gov for a list of all the countries and the contacts there. The Embassy is an out-of-the-box entity for a Small Business source. My personal story in utilizing a U.S. Embassy was when I had my watch company and acquired a license for an Elvis Pressley watch. I had noticed earlier that many retailers sold musical Mickey Mouse watches, and my research showed that these watches were made by Seiko, which owned a patent on the musical part of it. Seiko was a Japanese based company. Read more »
Cash Free Ideas to Beat Competition
Competition for customers in most industries is extremely intense. This is exacerbated if the customer is a large one and your product is not particularly unique or patent protected. Your customers are also in a high pitched battle with their competitors. This can be seen in your everyday life. Look at the competition in cars, retail stores, food stores, homes, computers, music, etc., for your dollar. This extends into the industrial sector and personal services. Here are some non-cash ideas to help your small business better compete. Read more »