For people who yearn to profit from their creativity but don’t want to start a business, licensing is a fantastic avenue. When a company licenses your idea, it takes on the heavy lifting of product development -- along with all of the associated risk. I’ve been...
Don’t Let Bumps in the Road or Others’ Skepticism Stop You From Success
It is the mid 1980s, and I am 27 years old. For the last six years, I’ve been selling my handmade soft sculptures on the street, at state fairs, and eventually, in a retail store. I’ve been learning how create products people want. But it’s still been a tough way to...
Everything Stephen Key Learned About Business He Learned By Selling On a Street Corner
That sounds terrible, right? I wasn’t selling anything illegal though. But for about six or so years, I hawked goods I had made on the street, at state fairs, county fairs, art fairs, and festivals up and down the state of California. It was the late ‘70s. I was 21...
Are You Ready to Quit Your Day Job?
I received a thoughtful, heartfelt email from a young gentleman aged 24 a few weeks ago. In his email, he listed the books about entrepreneurship he's read, the instructional videos he’s watched, and the inspirational events he’s attended. He had decided to quit his...
What It’s Like Seeing Your Idea On Store Shelves for the First Time
Your dream is realized! That’s it right there -- your idea, a product now, on store shelves. Something you can touch. Over and over again, you’ve been envisioning this moment. You’ve struggled to get here. Your friends and family thought you’d lost it. (Frankly, there...