Adman
August 16, 2009, 08:27 PM
Most of you folks here would not remember the "Recession of 1974". It was a minor recession and the country started to recover BUT..."da People" decided that a "Democrat Congress AND a Democrat Pres (Jimmy, the Peanut Farmer, Wonder) was voted in and the country fell apart (Reminds me of NOW) and "The Peanit Farmer has spent the rest of his life "conning" people into how "Great" he was (Noble Peace Prize, showed WHO the Judges are) however, this topic reminds me of something I helped a friend with when he lost his job as a "Concrete Contractor".
He came to me, because he knew I had started a Burglar Alarm Co from scratch (Securitronics Corp) and now had a VERY successful biz. He wanted to see if I knew of a way he could make some bucks.
So...knowing he was "Industrious"....I came up with an idea that litereally, "Saved His Life".....because when he and I talked, he was at his wits end...about to lose his house....and his wife (MOST women can't take the financial STRESS of "HAVING BILL COLLECTORS HOUNDING AND NO MONEY TO PAY THEM!")
I told him 3 FACTS;
1) He KNEW the "Concrete" biz
2) People DIE every day
3) Family of those who die would LIKE to "Honor" their loved ones who pass on. This is usually in the form of a "Nice Casket" a "Nice Funeral" AND... a "Nice Grave Marker"
Well....people like "me" who have trained our minds to "Look INTO, AROUND, UNDER, FRONT and BACK" of a "situation"....CAN...come up with a WAY or an IDEA!
So....after talking with my friend for about 1/2 hour...something popped into my Cranium;
"MAKE CONCRETE HEADSTONES!"
In a Recession...why should people have NO CHOICE other than the "Expensive Choice" of a Marble Headstone?
Why couldn't the Grave Marker be of CONCRETE?...which could be colored to look like Marble AND....be a fraction of the cost?
So....when I made a drawing of a Headstone on a napkin and slid it over to my friend....he almost LEAPED OUT OF HIS CHAIR!
He became (as my granddaughters say) UNGLUED....and jumped up and grabbed me and hugged me and said,...."Donny! That's IT! You just saved my life!"
Well....he still had a Lot of work to do. Designs, Forms, Samples, and...how to market them?
So...I had him make up a few samples....I took a few photos and made up a Presentation Folio and proceeded to take him around to some....Independent Funeral Homes.
We showed our sample photos...showed our prices and HOW MUCH the Funeral Home would make on each sale and WHALA....we got Agreements with MANY....and the guy got so busy making "Concrete Headstones' ha had to hire people and built his biz into a Million dollar operation....all from a Cockamamie Idea.
So...anyone here in the viewing audience want to work with Concrete?
Don Alm.....aging Idea Guy
He came to me, because he knew I had started a Burglar Alarm Co from scratch (Securitronics Corp) and now had a VERY successful biz. He wanted to see if I knew of a way he could make some bucks.
So...knowing he was "Industrious"....I came up with an idea that litereally, "Saved His Life".....because when he and I talked, he was at his wits end...about to lose his house....and his wife (MOST women can't take the financial STRESS of "HAVING BILL COLLECTORS HOUNDING AND NO MONEY TO PAY THEM!")
I told him 3 FACTS;
1) He KNEW the "Concrete" biz
2) People DIE every day
3) Family of those who die would LIKE to "Honor" their loved ones who pass on. This is usually in the form of a "Nice Casket" a "Nice Funeral" AND... a "Nice Grave Marker"
Well....people like "me" who have trained our minds to "Look INTO, AROUND, UNDER, FRONT and BACK" of a "situation"....CAN...come up with a WAY or an IDEA!
So....after talking with my friend for about 1/2 hour...something popped into my Cranium;
"MAKE CONCRETE HEADSTONES!"
In a Recession...why should people have NO CHOICE other than the "Expensive Choice" of a Marble Headstone?
Why couldn't the Grave Marker be of CONCRETE?...which could be colored to look like Marble AND....be a fraction of the cost?
So....when I made a drawing of a Headstone on a napkin and slid it over to my friend....he almost LEAPED OUT OF HIS CHAIR!
He became (as my granddaughters say) UNGLUED....and jumped up and grabbed me and hugged me and said,...."Donny! That's IT! You just saved my life!"
Well....he still had a Lot of work to do. Designs, Forms, Samples, and...how to market them?
So...I had him make up a few samples....I took a few photos and made up a Presentation Folio and proceeded to take him around to some....Independent Funeral Homes.
We showed our sample photos...showed our prices and HOW MUCH the Funeral Home would make on each sale and WHALA....we got Agreements with MANY....and the guy got so busy making "Concrete Headstones' ha had to hire people and built his biz into a Million dollar operation....all from a Cockamamie Idea.
So...anyone here in the viewing audience want to work with Concrete?
Don Alm.....aging Idea Guy
