Jerry Andrews was a typical soccer dad: hauling kids to games, bringing snacks, and cheering on the sidelines. One day he volunteered to bring coffee to an early morning game. Later he realized that it wasn't going to be easy getting a dozen cups of hot coffee to the game, especially for Andrews, who was a polio victim since childhood. That night Andrews and his friends talked about the problem of carrying the hot coffee. The idea of a disposable thermos bag came up, and led to a major entrepreneurial idea. Why not call the bag Joe-to-Go? (Joe is a slang term for coffee.) Fortunately, special challenges call for creative solutions and creative solutions are what entrepreneurship is all about. Entrepreneurship has many pitfalls and roadblocks. You have to be passionate and realistic to overcome such barriers.

You may have a good idea, but is it marketable? Where will you get the money to start? To be a successful entrepreneur it helps to be selfdirected, action-oriented, and highly energetic.

You have to be your own cheerleader. You also have to be tolerant of uncertainty since there are no guarantees in entrepreneurship. On the other hand, it is rewarding to work for yourself and to be your own boss. With the right amount of planning, including a good business plan, you just might succeed.

Andrews knew intuitively who his customers were. Still he needed to find help in turning this idea into a viable product. Outside design and production people helped Andrews find just the right product. He also sought advice from accountants, lawyers, marketing researchers, insurance agents, and small-business advisors. Retailers who could reach those customers and tell them about the benefits of a bag that would keep coffee hot were vital. Luckily, his only investor was a salesperson who was eager to find businesses that would promote the Joe-to-Go bags in their stores.

Andrews learned one way to reach coffee retailers was to go to coffee shows where Joe-to-Go samples were displayed prominently. Everyone loved them, but nobody was buying them. Although sales were slow, retailers agreed this was a great product. One company that saw the potential of Joe-to-Go was Dunkin' Donuts. The company saw the potential of selling more coffee to go and felt customers may even buy a few extra donuts to go too.

Other companies soon followed Dunkin' Donuts' lead. Andrews decided to license his product. Therefore, he gets so much a box for every box sold-box after box after box. Companies are free to label the box anything they like. Some call it Joe-to-Go, others add their own name. Dunkin' Donuts, for example, calls it Box of Joe. A major victory for Andrews was getting Starbucks to carry the product. When Andrews would go to a Starbucks that didn't have the product, he would haul one out and show it to them. They would be impressed and orders would pour in.

It took a great deal of patience and persistence to make Joe-to-Go pay off. There's freedom in owning your own business, but little security. Thankfully, there are always new opportunities and new challenges. Being an entrepreneur makes it exciting to get up each morning to see what the day will bring. And that by itself is a kind of success.

A password is required to view the video listed below. Refer to page 355 in your textbook and use the first word appearing in the main text column as both 'username' and 'password' (case-sensitive).

It's in the Bag - Joe-to-Go

The free RealPlayer plug-in is required to view the videos and is downloadable by clicking here.

1			Have you or anyone you know thought of aninnovative solution to a problem that could beturned into a successful product like Joe-to-Go? Did it make it to market? If so, what kindof help was needed to move the solution fromthe idea stage to reality? If it did not make itto market, why not? What could have beendone differently to make it a success?
2			Do you have what it takes to become anentrepreneur? Why do you think this?
3			Often people with disabilities have challengesthat are not readily apparent to others. Whatopportunities does that present for newentrepreneurs?
4			Does Jerry Andrews’ success make you moreinterested in becoming an entrepreneur? Whatare the advantages of working for yourselfrather than for someone else?