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CHAPTER 3 THE MILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS IDEA
combining the telephone with the photocopy machine. Nokia
established itself as a market leader by combining the organizer
and a camera with the mobile phone (i.e. the Nokia
communicator). Rollerblades created the world’s first inline
skates by combining the blade or the ice skate with the wheels
of the roller skate.
Besides being a mega-store, Borders Books’ unique competitive
advantage is built around being the first bookstore to combine
books with a café!
Can you use the power of combination to create your
competitive advantage? Think of the benefits you can give
your customers and think how you can also meet their unmet
needs. Brainstorm how you can combine two or more of them
in your business idea.
4) Elimination
Elimination in the MACES creative strategy involves eliminating
a part of an existing product/ process to make it more effective
or efficient to the consumer. Examples of products that have
emerged as a result of elimination include the cordless phone
and the wireless microphone.
Linksys (a division of Cisco Systems) recognized that customers
SECRETS OF BUILDING MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BUSINESSES 95
