Look Outside of Your Industry to Find Innovation and Bring it Back

I enjoyed my first big financial success by looking at what type of business-to-business services were available in the “real” world and then adapting them to the martial arts business. At that time, very little information existed on how to run a karate school as a profitable business. So I combined a little multilevel- marketing philosophy with the boom in personal development to create a boxed package of sales, marketing, motivational, and training materials specific to martial arts school owners. The boxes were shipped out monthly and automatically billed to customers’ credit cards. This was nothing particularly original, but no one had taken the concepts that were working in the rest of the business world and customized them to the martial arts world. Later, when working with the PGA, I did the very same thing. I took all the information I had gathered on how to run a martial arts business and applied it to the golf business.

Look Beyond Your Industry

Ninety-five percent of your competitors in any city or industry will be manufacturing, selling, and marketing in precisely the same way as you are. That’s why it’s so important to look beyond your locale and your industry for ideas and opportunities. Since almost every business online or off runs on the same basic principles, you will often find new and…