And Then? These little piggybackers went aftermarket . . . and reaped the benefits of a built-in consumer base.
By Geoff Williams •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
What if, tomorrow, we decided not to own cars? The whole world,all at once, just gave them up? What if, say, instead, we decidedto ride ostriches to work and school? That would mean two things:The Twilight Zone isn't just black-and-whitereruns-it's real life, and we've just enteredit-and Lee Schoenfeld would no longer have a business.
All right, maybe thousands, or even millions, of entrepreneursand employees around the world would be affected. But let'stalk about Schoenfeld, a businessman whose store, AutoFun Inc.,doesn't sell cars; it sells car accessories. If you go intoSchoenfeld's store, located in the heart of Coon Rapids, asuburb of Minneapolis, you won't find a Plymouth or a Probe,but you will see car stereos and car stickers, CD decks and fuzzydice. AutoFun even sells 8-tracks if you want them. You'll see32-inch subwoofers and satellite navigation systems. Or Schoenfeldmay lead you to a curling iron, a blender or a coffee maker thatplugs in to your cigarette lighter. He has child safety seats andfloor mats, too, all of which would be completely useless on anostrich. Except, maybe, for the fuzzy dice. You could tie themaround the animal's neck. Where there's a will, there'sa way, right?
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