How I Turned $2000 into $150,000… seriously!
By Charlie Crowell
These little buildings were added to our old ice cream store in our never ending effort to differentiate ourselves from the competition. This was just part of our overall plan but I’m pleased to say, it worked.
The buildings were constructed by a local carpenter in Cheshire, CT at a cost of $2000. I had drawn up the concept, giving our handyman a good idea of what I wanted – he took it from there.
He showed up one evening with the buildings on his flat bed trailer. It was a busy night and getting the structures inside was a bit of a challenge. The carpenter had built them separately so they would fit through a picture window opening once we removed the glass.
The houses were slid into position, bolted together and the washable paneling on the inside installed. With that, the carpenter’s work was done but even before he left, kids were already exploring the new habitat.
There was still more work to be done however. That night, after we closed, I primered the buildings. The next night I painted them, installed frosted windows and installed some lighting upstairs.
The buildings were an immediate and ongoing hit and I admit, I felt like Walt Disney, only on a minuscule scale. Kids never tired of the buildings, and they never stopped wondering who lived upstairs. Around this time of year, we had Christmas carols coming from the second story which further convinced little kids someone was up there.
Our ice cream store had originally been a Carvel franchise. One of the joys of breaking away from Carvel was that we could get as creative as we wanted.
And yes, I was subjected to criticism when I first announced the plan for these pint size houses. My own wife thought I was being an idiot. But that’s part of the fun. When people start ripping your ideas apart, you know you’re onto something.
In the end, the buildings cost $2000 to build but we estimate they brought in somewhere around $150,000 in revenues from the time we introduced them until we sold the business three years later.
Which brings us back to the title of this post – “Creativity – A Great Substitute for Cash!”
Most small businesses don’t have the financial strength to compete with the big guys, but creativity can level the playing field in a hurry. How’s your creativity doing?
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