"In Japan, you can hire a handsome man to show up at your place, watch a sad video with you until you cry, then wipe your tears for you." What is your unique business opportunity?
"The film The Shawshank Redemption remains one of the most valuable assets in Warner Brothers catalog (which has several multi-billion dollar movie franchises) and Bob Gunton (the warden) still makes six figures a year from it." Create a product with long-term value.
"In a University of Illinois study, older air traffic controllers excelled at their cognitively taxing jobs, despite some losses in short-term memory and visual spatial processing. Older controllers proved to be experts at navigating, juggling multiple aircraft simultaneously and avoiding collisions." Older means better.
"The older we get, the area in the brain responsible for filtering noises in the background and make us concentrate gets weaker. That's why elderly people have trouble driving. They focus too much on the background of moving objects, and not enough on the actual moving objects in the foreground." Can you focus?
"Warren Buffett plans on giving only a small fraction of his wealth to his children when he dies, stating "you should leave your children enough so they can do anything, but not enough so they can do nothing." He instead will donate nearly all of his wealth to charitable foundations." What will be your legacy?
"According to NASA researchers, an optimal nap will last between 20-30 minutes and a perfect nap will last exactly 26 minutes." How much sleep do you get? Rest is very important to hit your goals.
"There’s a pasta dish so rare that for the past 200 years only a single Sardinian family has known how to make it." Is your product rare?
"Italy spent $50 million bailing out the Parmesan cheese industry." How much is your industry worth?
"Dr. Donald Hopkins. He helped eradicate Smallpox, and is on the verge of killing another disease. He's taken Guinea Worm Disease down from 3.5 million cases a year to just 28 cases last year." Are you making the world a better place.
"As late as the 1950s, Doctors were endorsing tobacco manufactures, even claiming that they had positive health benefits, such as "removing dangerous irritants that cause throat irritation and coughing"." Can you think of other false ideas that were accepted as truths in the past?
"Before Listerine was marketed as a mouthwash, it was sold as a surgical antiseptic, a floor cleaner, a foot scrub, and as cures for gonorrhoea and dandruff." Does your product have other uses?
" In 1991, the little plastic ball in cans of Guinness won the Queens Award for Technological Advancement, beating the Internet and Email." Sometimes, recognition can come late.
"A 17-year-old Kenny Loggins wasn't going to be able to record his song "House at Pooh Corner" because Disney was enforcing their copyright to Winnie the Pooh. Upset, he mentioned this to his girlfriend, only to find out her dad was the president of Disney– he soon got permission." Know your connections.
"Filet-O-Fish was created because McDonalds lost money during Lent. It came out of a bet with fried pineapple based Hula Burgers, where whichever sold more one Friday would be added to the menu hands down. 300 fish burgers were sold. Now, 1/4 of Filet-o-Fish sales take place during Lent." Some products sell well during certain periods. When is your product's best selling time?
"There is no link between sudden changes in temperatures and catching a cold. Even though indirect results of cold weather, such as low humidity, can increase your chances of getting a cold, walking out into the cold with wet hair does not seem to have any effect on this likelihood." Check the things you believe in, they might be untrue.
"IQ can decrease by an average of 13% when people are more stressed." Stay away from stress.
"Jackie Coogan, the silent film child actor who was famously exploited by his parents for his earnings, found renewed screen success later in life playing Uncle Fester on the Addams Family." It's never too late.
"Tyler Perry’s films are so profitable because he uses his own studios, which occupy two former Delta Air Lines affiliated buildings including over 200,000 sq ft. of sets and office space. The Walking Dead also utilizes Tyler Perry Studios to film scenes in The Kingdom." What can you do to maximize your income?
"Ai Hin, a captive giant panda, faked pregnancy for extra treats and nicer accommodation." What would you do for nicer things?
"Mars, Inc. refused to let Universal use its M&M products for the 1982 movie "E.T." because they found the E.T. character to be terrifying and ugly. Hershey agree to have Reese’s Pieces be used in the film, which boosted company profits by an incredible 65% during the film's release." Don't miss amazing opportunities because of misleading first impressions.
"It's a misconception that white teeth means healthy teeth. While white teeth may look cleaner and be more desired, the color of your teeth isn't a clear indicator of dental health. Off color teeth can actually be healthier in some cases." What other misconceptions have you accepted as truths?
"At 24 years old, Isaac Newton was sent home from school to avoid the bubonic plague. During this time, he invented calculus." What have you achieved with your spare time?
"J.M. Barrie, Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, P. G. Wodehouse, G. K. Chesterton, A. A. Milne, and other notable literary figures played on the same cricket team. And they were terrible." Stick to what you're good at.
"Doune Castle in Scotland, where Monty Python filmed the "Holy Grail" movie, rents coconut shells to tourists." You can find creative ways to make money.
"After the band Chumbawamba was paid $100,000 by General Motors for the use of their song "Pass it Along" in an ad, they then donated 100% of the proceeds to activist groups for the purpose of beginning information and environmental campaigns against GM." What's your cause?
