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Opportunity Thinking
Opportunity thinking means looking beyond the obvious, looking for unusual products and novel marketing methods. It also means searching for ways to capitalise on shortcomings of other people, such as people with money and land, access to products, even intelligence and ideas, but who are unable to package their assets into a marketable commodity.
Ray Kroc's story is one of truly outstanding opportunity thinking. Kroc was running around, trying to make ends meet, when he came upon two brothers operating a fast food line in hamburgers and milkshakes. Business was booming and the brothers literally had more business than they could handle. Kroc asked why they hadn't opened more restaurants to cope with demand to which the brothers, talented at running their own small concern, stated their ambitions did not extend to larger, more profitable things.
But they allowed Kroc to fulfil his ambition of franchising outlets of the brothers' business in other parts of the USA in exchange for a share of the takings, then 0.5%. From this, McDonald's was born in 1954 and in 1960 the McDonald's name was purchased by Kroc who just ten years later had franchised hundreds of branches all over the world.
Opportunity thinking is the subject of a wonderful book authored by a man who has made and lost many huge fortunes over the years, R. H. Morrison. 'Promoter's Gold' is his story and reveals exactly where fortunes lie waiting for opportunity thinkers. Here's what it says in the preface to his book: "The promoter is the person with an eye out for the main chance, with the smarts and the guts to grab it when he sees it. He isn't a crook or a boob in a checkered suit with a big cigar; he's an opportunist, an exploiter, a creator of new concepts that create fortunes.
You've heard of promoters all through history, but they don't call themselves promoters. They use other names, such as financiers, industrialists, entrepreneurs, tycoons, and so forth. J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and John D. Rockefeller were all promoters. Leland Standford and Averell Harriman, railroad tycoons; Henry Lucer, founder of Time magazine; William Paley, founder of Columbia Broadcasting; Ray Kroc founder of McDonald's; William Sarnoff, founder of RCA; and men called Goldwyn, Mayer and Warner, who saw their main chance in the movie business, were all promoters. All of them developed new industries based on concepts that were unique at the time.
The promoter is a creator who takes an idea and organises it, finances it on other people's money, and starts a business that can last from one day to a hundred years. The promoter does the planning and the organising, others do the work. As an example, the Ford Motor Company was started on $28,000 of other people's money raised on Henry Ford's behalf by a Detroit coal dealer. Hugh Hefner promoted the money to promote 'Playboy' on a $600 bankroll he used to make up a dummy copy. Barren Marcel Bich, the owner of Bic pens, started out after World War II with $1,000 and an idea that a 10c pen would make money. It made him over $40 million. Julius Rosenwald was a pants salesman who found himself in competition with a mail order operation called Sears & Roebuck. These people were sending out circulars, flyers and catalogs in the areas where Rosenwald was trying to sell pants and doing land office business. Rosenwald became curious about this operation and he want to Chicago to visit the company. He found that Sears was a wide-eyed promoter who had his business scattered in lots of offices and factories all over the city, and was totally disorganised, but the money was coming in by the barrel full. So Julius Rosenwald bought in because he recognised a good deal when he saw it, and bought all that chaos together into an organised business and developed what we now know as Sears & Rosebuck, or Sears. The stock he holds in the company is worth over $2 billion." Looking at what is happening in the world around you is the only way to capitalise from opportunity thinking. Finding out what people need is the way to start the money ball rolling.
In his book, Morrison talks about 'instant gratification' - the 'I want it now' principle - which lies at the heart of many fast fortunes. Speed is a major concern for many consumers who want quick meals, fast fortunes, rushed shoe repairs, speedy cash flow. Barter, where individuals can instantly get things they need in exchange for things they don't want, is an excellent example of instant gratification which you'll notice worked very well in the recent recession when few people could afford luxuries. Barter shops - swap shops - earn fortunes for forward-thinking entrepreneurs during recessionary times. Instant gratification also lies at the heart of business empires such as McDonald's whose originator Ray Kroc promised Americans: "You are going to have the best hamburger of your life without having to queue or wait."
Opportunity Thinking Means:
Start with a new, totally different product, and market it. Cabbage Patch Dolls and Pet Rocks were good and spectacularly profitable examples.
Look for someone with a good idea or a small business but without the resources to market it properly, meaning you can move in and take over the business. This is an extremely popular and profitable concept in the property and commercial sector.
Do something that closely resembles an already successful business but make yours better. This is copycatting and can apply, for instance, where you spot a small publisher selling some new title but without financial backing to cover the market before competitors steal the action. With muscle, and other people's money, you could develop a clone of the product (be careful not to breach copyright) or take over distribution of the product itself in return for a royalty deal with the manufacturer.
Choose a well-established marketing concept, such a mail order, direct mail, selling through agents or multi-level marketing, and look for a unique product to market. This way you know the marketing part works, you only have to finalise the product details.
Do something really unique, such as designing and marketing a craze like Rubik's Cube, a new board game like Trivial Pursuits, or choose an odd, almost silly product such as Cabbage Patch Dolls and the Pet Rock.
Straight From the Horse's Mouth
Marketing guru Morrison describes the promoting (opportunity thinking) process as: "The ability to spot an idea that has potential, develop a plan to market it, raise the capital, and put the show on the road." And he says anyone can do it: "Any person who has the ability to find a job, to get a date, and was able, as a kid, to con their parents out of a nickel for a candy bar, has all the basic skills to be a successful promoter."
Of himself, Morrison says: "I am a promoter and a damn good one, but I have no college education, no important connections, no special skills. I like ideas. I like taking them to market, and I've got the guts to go for broke when I make my move.
I have hit it big many times and lost my fanny many times. I know how to promote new ideas and how to get control of business or property without money, and how to use this skill to build a fortune anywhere, anytime.
Some years back, I had just gone bust, gone through bankruptcy, had very little left, and I spotted an idea concept. It was to put daily horoscopes on tape and attach them to an automatic telephone answering device which people could call up to get their daily horoscope and to sell this as an advertising program to small businesses. Thus, the small business could have people calling this number every day and getting a commercial about their business and hearing their daily horoscope. I put the project together. I called it Dial-A-Horoscope, and I sold over $300,000 worth of franchises in 90 days. And I sold the company for a million dollars worth of stock 6 months later.
The stock I received for the sale of this company was on another company that went into receivership 4 months after I got it, so I was broke again. And because I thought I was a millionaire, I was now $35,000 in debt and had $100 in my pocket. So, I began again. First, I promoted a house, and then I convinced a banker that I had some ideas that would make money. Within one year, my net worth was again over a million dollars. I had a $300,000 annual cash income, and I promoted it all from that $100 I had in my pocket. I had acquired a half dozen businesses, including a cattle ranch, and finally, a 110-foot yacht that was listed in a boating magazine as one of the ten most luxurious yachts in the world. All it took was guts and some ideas!"
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