The Good Innovation
This is the story of an incredible business opportunity that didn’t seem like one.
A long time ago, during the rise of the great retail brands of our era, an old businessman was searching for ways to sell more shoes with his brand and his seasoned sales team.
His home market was fully saturated, with no room for further growth. In neighboring countries, it was even worse due to the presence of well-established local shoemakers, familiar with the market.
While searching for avenues to expand his shoe sales, he received reports about some distant Pacific islands, inhabited by an isolated population untouched by capitalism.
He sent a young salesperson from his commercial team there. The journey was going to be long and tedious, but the young man eagerly accepted the assignment, seeking an opportunity to grow within the company.
Weeks passed, and finally, the young salesman sent a message:
“Sorry for the delay, boss. It took me a long time to get here and explore the islands. And I have bad news: people here don’t wear shoes; there’s no market; it’s a waste of time. I’m coming back.”
The businessman pondered the message for a moment. Then, he called his most veteran sales representative. He explained the situation and asked him to go there and verify the young man’s work. The veteran salesman set off for the islands the next morning.
Within a few days, he sent an urgent message to the boss:
“People here don’t wear shoes. There’s a huge market for us. I’ve already made the first deals with the tribes. We’re going to make a fortune.”
You never know where you’ll end up when you venture into an unknown market. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn't take that journey.
If you embark on an unknown path with the experience you already have and reach the end of that path with the right attitude, you can find great opportunities.
Just like the veteran shoe salesman did.
Real world example
This week, I read a story that relates to this: It’s about Thomas Straker, a young English chef whose life changed radically when, during the pandemic, he started creating videos about homemade butter recipes: The young chef became a social media celebrity in the UK. Today, millions of followers keep up with him on Instagram and TikTok, and he’s known as the “butter king.”
But what exactly has Thomas innovated on?
Has he discovered a new secret butter recipe? NO. Not at all. It’s believed that butter started being used at the dawn of livestock farming, 10,000 years ago. In fact, its “recipe” has been found written on Sumerian tablets from 2500 B.C. And it's the same butter recipe we use today.
What Thomas has done is share his passion for butter and create some spectacular videos. Your mouth will water when you see them. In a super-saturated and declining sales market, he found the opportunity. He brought the passion for butter to new generations, through TikTok and Instagram.
And later he partnered with Toby Hopkinson, on the business side, to create this marvelous online store:
They have secured over half a million pounds in funding and are building a very trendy brand for the new generations in England. The first hundred thousand blocks of butter sold out in a couple of months, and now they are completely “sold out” to generate even more FOMO.
Remember the shoemaker story?
🧐 Boss, here in the UK, nobody from Gen Z eats butter. There’s no market. It’s a waste of time.
😱 Boss, here in the UK, nobody from Gen Z eats butter. There’s a huge opportunity!
Takeaways
It’s a creator economy case that I loved.
First, because it shows that by creating good content, you can get the necessary attention to successfully launch a new brand into the market. It doesn’t matter if the market is saturated.
And second, because I love butter, and my mouth is watering as I write this and review Thomas’s videos. I’m off for a snack… 😆