What to do when your ‘unique’ business idea is already taken

What to do when your ‘unique’ business idea is already taken

June 11th, 2008 1 Comment

Let’s pretend that you started the new and exciting business of making scarves for people’s pets. Eventually, your neighbor Ron decides to do that for himself. And so does your (former) best friend, Hermione. Suddenly, Pivot Drive’s pets are dizzy from the choices.

You business idea will get stolen. It can be re-hashed and repackaged and there will be no credit to you. You may never find the culprit who did the filching, either.

A speech by J.K. Rowling to a bunch of Harvard students gave a startling impression. She spoke of a power that many refuse to cultivate. In a world full of cutthroat villains, you’ll need the inventor’s staple: Imagination.

With this, J.K. Rowling rose from a humble, coffee-shop writer to somebody who now speaks to Harvard students with authority.

If you are selling scarves, your first point of departure is unique marketing ideas.

Develop a niche market. Ron and Hermione may be catering to all kinds of pet owners, but you may want to build your scarf market on what Pivot Drive really needs. You never know, there might actually be a bigger need for owl scarves than anything else.

Improve on that website you’re putting up. Do you blog about your latest scarves and how well they fit your cat? Do you have pictures? Find ways to keep people on your site longer, such as a “Prettiest Pet” contest.

Do business with a business near you. Tie up with the local pet store and give them a commission from the sales. On your site, you can advertise their store. They can do the same for you when a customer walks into their doors looking for a new owl.

Never least, learn from the entire experience. Record all your ideas, both the good and bad ones. Sometimes, bad ideas can lead up to good ones when concocted a different way, just like a magic brew.

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