Opportunity in the Opposites

Where do great business ideas come from?

Most often, you’ll find they fall into two main categories

1. Solving a problem 
2. Creating value (saving people time, creating convenience or making their lives easier)

But there is also opportunity by doing the complete opposite of what is already being done.

For example, every year, we rent a cute little cottage for an annual family getaway.  And last year we purchased a jetski to take the kids tubing and have a bunch of fun on the water.  It instantly became a core family experience that everyone looks forward to.

Fast forward to this year.  We got everything packed for the cottage, jetski is full of gas and we were pumped to get out on the water.  The only problem was, once I put the jetski in the water, it wouldn’t run properly.  It wouldn’t go past 10km/hr and it definitely didn’t have any power to pull a tube.

All the excitement quickly fizzled.  My heart sank when I saw the the kid’s faces when I explained that there wouldn’t be any tubing.

My wife and I immediately went into problem solving mode.  This was late Friday afternoon.  We still had the whole weekend.  All we needed to do was find someone who could help fix it and we could salvage a day (maybe two?).

We immediately went to Google and found a long list of marinas that were within an hour drive.  But it was 4:50pm and most were closing at 5pm that day.

“No problem.  We’ll call first thing in the morning”, my wife suggested.

So 9am the next day, we started calling. 

“No sorry, we don’t service on the weekend”.

“Unfortunately we don’t have any technicians on the weekend”

“None of my guys are in until Monday.”

No joke, I called roughly 15 different places.  They all said the same thing.

AND THAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY.

When everyone is zigging, you zag.

When everyone is closed on the weekend, you be the business that remains open.  Heck, you even shout it from the rooftops and make it your entire marketing hook.

After all, do jetskis only break down Monday through Friday?

Of course not!

And when will most people want to use them?

On the weekend!

There is opportunity in the opposites.

When every other restaurant offers a crappy (and limited) kids menu, provide a big menu of healthy options.

When other dog groomers shy away from poodles and doodles because their fur is too difficult, be the groomer that specializes in these breeds.

When every barber requires you to drive to them, be the “traveling barber” that comes to you (this is real - I experienced it in Hawaii… the guy was crushing his competition and had a fraction of the overhead).

There is opportunity in the opposites.

And you know what else this does?

It also gives you the chance to charge a premium… because people are more than willing to pay for it because they can’t get what you’re offering anywhere else.

I would have gladly dropped a pretty penny just for the chance to get back on the water with the kids.

There is always opportunity in doing the complete opposite of everyone else.