I usually say there are no inherently bad business ideas, but every once in a while there is an exception
You may have heard me say that there are no bad business ideas; that the business idea doesn’t really matter and good ideas can fail while bad ideas can be famously successful. So, I usually don’t opine on the business ideas themselves.
Every once in a while, there is an exception to this rule. Today’s exception is a product called the Comfort Wipe, the “first improvement to toilet paper since the 1880s” as claimed by their fantastic infomercial. Its description is a bit misleading, as it doesn’t really do anything to improve toilet paper. What it does is basically hold the toilet paper while it “extends your reach up to 18 inches”. Use your imagination here.
I can’t personally imagine anyone’s behind being so large that they need to extend their “reach” by a foot and a half when using the bathroom, but if there are people with this issue, I imagine the niche is pretty small. Not to mention the sanitary issues or lack of portability (thank god- can you imagine the pocket-sized Comfort Wipe for when you are on-the-go… pun intended) inherent in this product.
That being said, it may make a ton of money, because it would really make an ideal gag gift. And when they do become the next “Snuggie”, I will promise to use the Comfort Wipe case study as another illustration of how execution (including marketing and press, even bad press) can make a bad idea successful. If they don’t , I will just point out that every rule (even the no bad ideas rule) has a few exceptions.
Visit the Comfort Wipe website at: http://www.comfortwipe.com/
