I used to believe that entrepreneurs had two paths to success: inventing something new that doesn't exist or making an existing product better.
However, I've recently discovered a third category - taking things that already exist but aren't marketed well and turning them into a brand. My prime example?
Pickles.
I love pickles, and almost everyone I know feels the same way.
Yet, when I ask people to name three pickle companies, they struggle to come up with more than one brand. In contrast, most people can easily rattle off multiple brands of toilet paper, shoes, or gum.
This realization led me to believe that there’s a massive opportunity for someone to create a strong pickle brand through clever marketing.
With this in mind, I set out to start my own pickle company. We came up with the name "Hoyayaya Pickles" and secured the social media handles.
To my surprise, people began submitting jingles for the brand before we even had a product. This organic, user-generated content made me realize that we had stumbled upon a unique, grassroots marketing approach.
We had a name and a campaign - now all we needed were the pickles themselves. In a sense, we reverse-engineered the process.
Instead of starting with the product and then figuring out how to market it, we began with a strong brand identity and then searched for the perfect pickle to match it.
This experience taught me that entrepreneurship isn't just about inventing something new or improving upon an existing product.
Sometimes, the biggest opportunities lie in taking something that everyone knows and loves but hasn't been effectively branded and marketed.
By tapping into this potential, we can create a loyal customer base and establish a strong presence in an otherwise overlooked market.
So, when you're searching for your next business venture, take a closer look at the everyday products around you. You might just discover an untapped opportunity waiting to be pickled.
