What they do:
Car rentals.
Inspiration:
When Ford dealer Warren Avis saw businesses begin flying sales reps to distant cities, he opened a rental car business at Detroit's Willow Run airport.
About the business:
Warren Avis sold the company 8 years later for $8 million. For 60 years Avis has remained a leader in the rental industry.
In the latest episode of the Why Didn’t I Think of That? ® Podcast, Bob Smith and Greg Anastos sit down with thinkofthat.net blogger Benjamin Christopher and discuss the first of their Axioms For Entrepreneurs, “Re-think Your Industry.”
The Why Guys explore how companies like Netflix, Apple, Xerox, and General Motors were able to look at their industries, and their companies, in a new light.
It’s no secret that businesses and corporations are always looking forward. The next big product, the next big innovation, the next quarterly report. And yet, many businesses have histories as rich and fascinating as anything you’d find in a history book. Is there any money to be made in preserving your company’s legacy?
Sure, it only takes one company or product to revolutionize an industry, but selling people something they’ve never seen before isn’t easy. The general public tends to shy away from cutting edge technologies and trends, waiting for them to become more commonplace before adapting them. Your job is to change their minds. But how? Luckily, many before us have made bold, world-changing moves that have dramatically shifted the courses of industries, and made the people behind the companies filthy rich. One such example is Apple Computers.
Harry Coover, the man who invented Super Glue, has passed away at the age of 94. His discovery actually came about by accident…
This entrepreneur invented a way to help his distressed customers — and start a new industry — at the same time. Hear the story of auto mechanic Ernest Holmes and the invention of the Tow Truck.