The Business Herald

As I was getting my daily TechCrunch fix, I found this interesting and exciting post. Congratulations and good luck to Brian Wilson, a former Army Officer.  This Military Veteran was able to launch Zolve.com, a promising looking web application for realtors… while deployed to Baghdad, Iraq.

Sidenote: For those who are thinking to yourselves, "They have this much time on their hands?!" 

I commend this gentlemen for taking the little time he did have to himself to use it in a productive manner rather than sitting alone in corner in a deep depression.  Each person out there has their own way of making it through the days.  This is definitely a great way!  I only wish we had this good of an internet setup when I was out there.

I just received the November issue of Business 2.0 Magazine and started my traditional routine of skimming through and flipping the corners of any article that immediately catches my interest(more on this tip later).

One article, in particular that caught my attention, titled "When Crocs Attack", was all about the almost accidental success of those oddly designed shoes known around the world as Crocs. You’ve heard of these, right? Soft… squooshy… lots of holes in them..? Well, if not, you’re one of a small percentage that has yet to catch on to this fad.

Diane Anderson, the contributor for this article, writes this company went from $1 million in revenue in 2003 to a projected $322 million this year. That’s not all; here are a few additional interesting tidbits of information from the article:

• IPO in February was the richest in footwear history
• Crocs, Inc. has a market cap of +$1 billion
• Crocs is expected to move 20 million pair this year, triple from 2005 sales
• Crocs currently operates manufacturing plants in China, Italy, Mexico and Romania
• 1 in 6 people in Israel owns a pair of Crocs
• Revenue for first half of 2006 was up 255 percent from 2005
• 30 percent of Crocs sales are made up of foreign sales
• Crocs are now sold in over 40 countries
• Crocs expects to sell over 20 million pair during 2006
• Special branded Crocs for Disney, Google, Tyco, L.A. Lakers and other brands coming soon
• Currently over 20 Crocs models available and growing
• Recently acquired Jibbitz for a reported $10 million in cash and additional $10 million in earnings(Amazing success story, as well).

Crocs Lovers: After doing a little searching on the internet, I soon realized that Crocs wearers do love their Crocs. So much that there’s even a website dedicated completely to Crocs wearers. The website is called CrocFans and what originally began as a small blog for one Crocs lover has now exploded into a full blown Crocs lover community. CrocFans are proud to show their love for these shoes and it’s evident in the photos and posts at CrocFans.

And just when you think you’ve seen it all…

Crocs Haters: Of course, what would you expect? You can’t please everyone and judging from this site called IHateCrocs, these people definitely hate Crocs. It’s either that or these people are just really bored. Take a look for yourself and you be the judge. Personally, I think it’s a little bit of both.

Although this company is publicly traded, there’s so much you can learn from their story. Once you read through the entire article, you’ll learn how this company was able to bring the material, manufacturing and distribution process under one umbrella, enabling them to have complete strategic control of their product from start to finish and everything in between.

Ron Snyder, former Flextronics executive who helped "light Crocs’s fuse", had one inspiring thing to say in this article, "Think bigger than you are". Wow! Well said Mr. Snyder… well said. With that being said…

I have a question for you: What are some ways thinking bigger than you are can make/has made a difference in your Entrepreneurial ventures?