Lesson #4: Know Your Opportunities - and Your Limits
Lesson #4: Know Your Opportunities - and Your Limits
Hines' dream was a simple one: "to introduce travelers to the refinements of good living, while seeing America." But with the success of his first book, numerous opportunities began to present themselves to the relatively inexperienced Hines. What set him apart from the rest was his ability to seek out the great opportunities, and leave the rest behind.
In 1951, Hines' wife pleaded with him to hire her half-brother, Bob Wright. Finally agreeing to hire him on a short-term basis, Hines started to think about where Wright's talents could best be used. It was a pivotal time for the company, with Hines' books flying off the shelves, and seemingly endless opportunities in front of them.
Hines settled on placing Wright in charge of managing the relationship between Hines and the restaurants he recommended to readers. This meant, Hines decided, creating and renting signs that would read "Recommended by Duncan Hines," which restaurants could hang in their windows.
After realizing that many restaurants had taken it upon themselves to create hand-made signs for their own window displays, promoting the fact that they had been featured in one of Duncan Hines' directories, Hines jumped on the opportunity to capitalize on that by producing recognizable and distinct signs of his own. Now, a restaurant that was featured in his directories was not good enough; it had to have the sign produced by Hines himself in their windows if passersby were going to stop in.
In the end, the move proved a wise one for Hines, who quickly began to make more money from renting those signs than he did from his books. In fact, Wright estimates that most of Hines' money came from his sign rental business. Over 1,500 establishments took advantage of Hines' new signs, translating into an annual profit of roughly $38,000 a year. Compared to the average American income in 1951 of $3,000, Hines was making a significant amount of money.
But not every idea that Hines came up with was a winner. Before WWII, Hines had run a modest country ham business. By 1951, Hines would only take special orders for special friends, but the business itself was essentially nonexistent. In the summer of 1951, however, Hines began to think about reviving his ham business and placing Wright in charge of operations. It would have been a major distraction from the company that was focused on providing restaurant reviews, and in the end, Hines decided against the idea.
Indeed, selling hams was just one of the many ideas that Hines dreamt up but shot down before they got off the ground. He might not have had much experience as an entrepreneur, but Hines knew which opportunities had to be grabbed, and which had to be left alone.
Lesson 4 Know Your Opportunities and Your Limits
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Entrepreneurship begins with a dream, and it means having the courage to follow through on that dream. But the danger that lurks for ambitious entrepreneurs is in not knowing how far to take that dream, and when it is time to call it quits.
Hines' dream was a simple one: "to introduce travelers to the refinements of good living, while seeing America." But with the success of his first book, numerous opportunities began to present themselves to the relatively inexperienced Hines. What set him apart from the rest was his ability to seek out the great opportunities, and leave the rest behind.
In 1951, Hines' wife pleaded with him to hire her half-brother, Bob Wright. Finally agreeing to hire him on a short-term basis, Hines started to think about where Wright's talents could best be used. It was a pivotal time for the company, with Hines' books flying off the shelves, and seemingly endless opportunities in front of them.
Hines settled on placing Wright in charge of managing the relationship between Hines and the restaurants he recommended to readers. This meant, Hines decided, creating and renting signs that would read "Recommended by Duncan Hines," which restaurants could hang in their windows.
After realizing that many restaurants had taken it upon themselves to create hand-made signs for their own window displays, promoting the fact that they had been featured in one of Duncan Hines' directories, Hines jumped on the opportunity to capitalize on that by producing recognizable and distinct signs of his own. Now, a restaurant that was featured in his directories was not good enough; it had to have the sign produced by Hines himself in their windows if passersby were going to stop in.
In the end, the move proved a wise one for Hines, who quickly began to make more money from renting those signs than he did from his books. In fact, Wright estimates that most of Hines' money came from his sign rental business. Over 1,500 establishments took advantage of Hines' new signs, translating into an annual profit of roughly $38,000 a year. Compared to the average American income in 1951 of $3,000, Hines was making a significant amount of money.
But not every idea that Hines came up with was a winner. Before WWII, Hines had run a modest country ham business. By 1951, Hines would only take special orders for special friends, but the business itself was essentially nonexistent. In the summer of 1951, however, Hines began to think about reviving his ham business and placing Wright in charge of operations. It would have been a major distraction from the company that was focused on providing restaurant reviews, and in the end, Hines decided against the idea.
Indeed, selling hams was just one of the many ideas that Hines dreamt up but shot down before they got off the ground. He might not have had much experience as an entrepreneur, but Hines knew which opportunities had to be grabbed, and which had to be left alone.
Lesson 4 Know Your Opportunities and Your Limits
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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