Some success stories are about ideas for products or services that landed unexpectedly in people's laps or, in this case, in their driveway.
Here's a story that turned what originally felt like a disaster into a business opportunity.
A friend in a remote area emailed me to say that a hurricane caused a hickory tree that was more than 400 years old to fall across her driveway.
She was upset about the tree which had shaded generations of her family and even more upset that she was trapped on her property.
She could climb out over the tree but her car couldn't.
Her job was far away and not a commute that anyone around her made.
There was no public transportation.
The bids to remove the huge old tree were in the thousands of dollars - money that she just didn't have.
It only took a minute to figure out the business angle for this problem.
400 year old hickory is hard to come by.
It's a desirable wood for many purposes from gun stocks to golf clubs to furniture and cabinets.
After a quick conversation, she was on the phone with the nearest lumber mill.
Instead of paying thousands to have the tree removed, she was able to sell it for thousands and have the mill carefully cut and remove the tree.
She negotiated enough milled lumber to redo her kitchen and they strapped it under her mobile home for her to store until she had the time for the project.
When the next hurricane hit, neighbors mobile homes were knocked off the foundations but hers was weighed down by her beautiful hickory lumber and stayed put.
The branches that were too small for the mill to want made fine firewood for neighbors who were happy to pay a fair price for the firewood.
We discussed the additional value of the chips from the cutting.
It was a simple and affordable matter for her to make up some muslin bags and sell the chips for use in barbecues.
She added the hickory chips to her existing website.
It only took a step back to look at the problem in a different way and see opportunity.
It happens more often than you might think.
Ruth Stafford Peale is credited with the quote, "Find a Need and Fill It".
Sometimes the product presents itself and the need is immediately evident.
Keep your eyes open and consider the possibilities around you instead of trying to convince people to buy something they just don't want.
Learn to love problems for the opportunities they unearth.
Conclusion: If you can see the value and know that there's a market for the product or service you only need to use clear, concise communication to get your message across.
People already know what they want and need.
They'll hear a relevant message and you'll make sales.