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CHAPTER 3 THE MILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS IDEA

A Singapore company, Trek 2000, saw the inconvenience of
lugging around an external data storage device, so they took
the external hard disk and minified it into the ‘thumb drive,’
which has become a worldwide phenomenon as well. Years
before, Sony took the Radio Cassette Player (called a
‘boombox’) and minified it into the ‘walkman’ we know today.

See how you can magnify or minify any part of your business
idea to create your competitive advantage?

2) Adapt to a Different Context

Adapting to a different context involves taking an existing
product/service and adapting it to be used in a different
situation. Think of the history of entrepreneurs who took the
‘bicycle’ and adapted it for different uses as a mountain bike,
racing bike, training bike and so on. Or the innovators who
took the ‘watch’ and adapted it to be used underwater (i.e.
‘diving watch’).

The University of Phoenix recognized that many adults wanted
to pursue higher education but lacked the time to attend classes
after work. So, they took the traditional campus and classroom
and adapted it to the online world. Offering people the chance
to learn and earn their degrees through online learning, they

SECRETS OF BUILDING MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BUSINESSES 93