When you think of building a successful business, you would think you need an original idea to start with. Most of the entrepreneurs believe in the groundbreaking out of the box idea that can solve a significant consumer problem and build a large scale enterprise around the idea. And this belief has truly worked out for some innovators. But there’s also a truth that you don’t necessarily need a truly original idea to build a highly successful business. Don’t believe?
Here are some examples of not so original ideas that became massive business successes.
Google is the and has been the dominant online search engine and which is why most mistakenly believe that it was also the first search engine on the internet. Search engines have been as old as the internet and some such as Ask.com were in operation years before Google even spawned.
Google succeeded because they made something that existed better by creating an architecture that provided the searchers with better and more relevant results maximizing the user experience.
Did you know about Six Degrees, a social network site that just lasted from 1997 to 2001? But you surely know about Facebook and may know about MySpace. The world’s first social media site is credited as having been Six Degrees and they were the originator of the idea of connecting people with the help of internet. But Six Degrees was launched before enough people had access to the internet or even had the interest to connect with others online.
Pepsi
Coke and Pepsi have been the two major soft drink names and most believe that Pepsi came around as a challenger to Coke. However, the fact is that both date back to the late 1800s and Coke came first selling millions of gallons per year before the invention of Pepsi. It was still a quality alternative which became the hundred billion dollars plus company it is presently.
Amazon
There were hundreds of online sellers like Boo.com, etoys.com, and eve.com before Amazon each specialized in one focused area of retail and back then it seemed like the best idea was to serve niche customers in one and only one area. Amazon though took things in a different route, capitalizing all of these existing ideas and creating an all in one shopping platform where the customers can buy anything they want.
