It’s been years since starting the business that had such an impact on my life and others.

Sometimes I have to stand back and look at what it was that made it so successful.

I’m asked the question many times and relate parts of the formula to audiences of various types.

From a sales perspective starting For Eyes was like coming to earth from a different planet. And maybe that’s the way you have to view your sales profession.

Be innovative! Don’t be afraid to be different, just use your common sense. Stand back and look at what’s going on in your industry. And try to figure out what you would do to improve it. You don’t always have to invent a new product. Sometimes just having a new or different type of delivery system can do it.

For instance, IKEA, Home Depot, Staples, Kinko’s, and, of course the internet are all perfect examples of innovative delivery systems. We now incorporate these systems into our lives without a second thought.

Who would have believed that we would think nothing of buying furniture, carting it home from the store and assembling it later. Or that so many of us would go to a retail service outlet, open in most cases twenty four hours a day, for all the things that we would have had to buy office equipment for. Or turn on our computers and be able to purchase just about anything, from anywhere, by entering our credit card numbers and clicking away. New products? Absolutely not! New systems? Absolutely!

The same concept was used in the formation of For Eyes. Eyeglasses were already invented. There were plenty of opticians. And there wasn’t anything I could do about changing the way people’s eyes were examined. However there was something that I recognized in the way eyewear was being sold and delivered. Over priced, over complicated, over formalized, under marketed and not much fun.

Those observations alone were enough to guide me into developing a new delivery system. And the rest, as we all say, is history.

It’s amazing how you can learn what sales niches exist just by taking the time to stop, look and listen to the market.

Were there plenty of hardware stores, office supply stores and accountants before Home Depot, Staples and H&R Block? Sure. But were any of them as proficient at delivery systems that captured large percentages of the market. Well, let’s just say not many. And that’s without needing to know anything about cyberspace!

The internet affords us new and exciting business opportunities in ever evolving ways. However, the vehicle itself can only be as innovative as the people behind it.

Since the internet is like most businesses, it will mature. There will be many more followers than leaders. It’s already happening. It’s always easier to imitate than it is to innovate. However who gets the lion’s share of the market? Usually the innovator (with good business sense) comes out on top.

Sit back and think.

If you’re a florist, maybe you want to offer fragrances that match the smell of the flowers you’re selling. A little bottle with every bouquet! Both delivered right to the recipient’s door. One gets put in a vase the other on the bureau. Each reminds the person of the other and the gift giver! And increases your ticket price and business!

Or if you sell baby furniture or infant clothing, perhaps you should think about contacting your nearby hospital, birthing center, or healthcare system and working out a deal that would include each new baby (and their parents) receiving a welcome to the world package with some special goods, certificates or samples with your and the hospital’s, healthcare system’s, etc. logo boldly printed on the package. And if you can figure it out, maybe even the newborn’s name! This should increase your business and build you a sizable data base. Sort of a new delivery system for the oldest delivery system known to mankind!

Think, innovate, market. Take calculated risks.The rewards could send sales through the roof. I know, believe me.