Want to get rich? Then learn to pay attention.
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“One had to immerse oneself in one’s surroundings and intensely study nature or one’s subject to understand how to recreate it.” ”
George Ballas found that keeping the edges of his lawn neat and tidy was tedious and time-consuming.
He wondered if there was a better way to get the job done?
One day in 1971, he drove his car to the local car wash.
As he sat there watching the nylon bristles scrub against the paintwork an idea started to form in his mind.
Was it possible to adapt the brush filaments to use in a machine to keep his grass neatly trimmed?
On his return home, he threaded some nylon threads through an old tin can and attached it to the rotating head of a power tool.
The prototype worked and Ballas began to pitch it to companies he thought would be interested.
Frustratingly, not one of them took his idea seriously.
Undaunted, the inventor set up his own company to manufacture this new gardening wonder tool which he named ‘The Weed Eater.’
Much to the surprise of the companies he had approached, it was a huge hit and just five years later his business achieved more than $40 million in annual revenue.
In 1977, he sold it to Emerson Electric Co. for an undisclosed amount.
Like all creative people, George was an expert at noticing the things that others don’t.
He took the time to observe the world around him and looked for the ‘interesting’ in everything.
He knew that at some point, it could spark an idea that could be developed into a new product.
And it made it him a wealthy man.
