Are You the Icon of Your Industry?

Dealing with domestic appliances this morning (i.e. ironing my shirt) I started to think about name brands and, going beyond this, icons within an industry.  Take for example Hoover who so dominated the vacuum cleaner market their name has become synonymous with it in England.  Or, more recently, Dyson.  Then I thought, ‘who is the ‘Dyson of ironing boards’?  My answer was – no one!  And then I thought there must be a business opportunity for someone here.

If you need a new business idea, consider what areas of your chosen industry have become so unnoticed – so routine – that someone could come in and change everything.  Then think, ‘how could I radically change things to such an extent that I (and my product) become an icon in this area?’  There are numerous ways to do this.  Think about the following:

·       What could I combine with something else?

·       What could I rearrange?

·       What could I eliminate?

·       What could I make smaller?

·       What could I make bigger?

There are a dozen other ways to change what is now not seen as a valuable area into something better.  Have a go and let me know how you get on.