Some People See Ugly Fruit. Others See a Business.

Every once in a while, I see a business that makes me wish I’d thought of it. The Ugly Company was one of those.

The name caught my attention. But what stayed with me was the opportunity someone saw.

The company turns imperfect fruit that might otherwise go to waste into dried fruit snacks. Here was something being overlooked because of how it looked. Someone asked what else it could become, then built a business around it.

That kind of thinking has always interested me.

I’ll see an empty building, a business with unused capacity or a product being sold to one type of customer, and start wondering about the possibilities.

Who else could use this? What else could we do with it? Could this be worth more in a different form?

Most of those thoughts won’t become businesses. Some don’t hold up once you look closer. Others might be good ideas that simply aren’t worth pursuing.

But occasionally, there’s something there.

To me, that’s where entrepreneurship begins. Seeing a possibility, then doing the work to find out whether it can become good business.

You have to figure out who would buy it, why they would want it and whether you can deliver it at a profit. Then develop something you can put in front of people.

That can happen in a new company. It can also happen inside a business that’s been around for years.

An existing business may already have the equipment, relationships, experience or reputation it needs to do something new. Sometimes we get so used to what we have that we stop seeing what else we could do with it.

That’s what I liked about the ugly fruit story. It makes me wonder what else we’re walking past.

Something we’ve dismissed. Something we’re underusing. Something we’ve always sold the same way.

Sometimes the opportunity starts with a simple question:

What could we do with what we already have?

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I help business owners bring in new business—working alongside them to find, develop and pursue promising opportunities. If this sparks an idea for your business, I’d enjoy hearing from you.