The Business Successes You Never Hear About

Because I'm known for writing on virtually any subject, over the years I have gotten some writing assignments that really opened my eyes. You always hear about the whiz kid that made a bajillion dollars in Silicon Valley, or the construction company that got the contract for the tallest building in the world. But you never hear about some of the folks that I did unless you happened to pick up the trade publications I was writing for. 

A remarkable example is the guy who managed to practically corner the market in anti-rattle sleeves. 

Okay, so what the heck is an anti-rattle sleeve, you ask? Perhaps a specialized sleeve for a blouse that makes it possible for someone with loose and flabby skin on their arm not to bounce about within it? 

Because I'm slightly weird, that would have been my guess—but no. An anti-rattle sleeve is a a hollow cylindrical foam tube mounted on the inside of a car door panel, through which run various cables. When vibration occurs within the vehicle, the anti-rattle sleeve dampens any noise that would otherwise result from the cables vibrating against the inside of the door and against each other. The sleeve also protects the cables. 

All right, so what? Well as it turns out, auto manufacturers source these things from outside manufacturers—and they are made to extremely exact specifications because of the tight fit within door the panel. They have an inside diameter of 6.1 millimeters, with a margin for error of only plus or minus .7mm (yes, that ís point seven millimeters). If the sleeves are off only slightly, it can mean the shutting down of an auto plant's entire manufacturing line until the right size is obtained. 

A Canadian company had taken on the provision of these sleeves to auto manufacturers in North America, but the president of that company had gone through serious nightmares, ulcers and hair loss because he himself didn't manufacture them but only acted as the middleman. He could find no manufacturer that would consistently provide sleeves to these exact specifications every time. Additionally when a new size was required for a new car model, it would take 6 weeks to get the new sleeve fabricated so the auto makers could try it out. 

A gentleman in Canada named Jan Alac just happened to hear about these problems. He saw an opportunity, quickly figured out how he could solve these issues, and stepped right up to the plate. Alac was the president of a company called Alcot Plastics. He promised the president of the company providing the sleeves that he could manufacture to exact specs every time--and he did. Not only that, he reduced the lead time for new sleeves from 6 weeks to 2. He held to his promise and came through, every time. 

Word spread of this new source, and the president of the providing company began hearing from not only North American manufacturers, but manufacturers in Mexico and as far away as China. Turns out they couldn't get these dang sleeves, either. 

Inspired, I wrote a great article on Jan Alac and his achievement, which was very well received by both my PR company client and Alcot Plastics. 

But I learned another valuable lesson: opportunity is all over the place out there. Sometimes you just have to look for it.