How does a small enterprise come to the forefront of the world to become a top contender, be a recognized brand, an apex in the social standings of the global market? I’m thinking of corporations, businesses that make hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in revenues. Often I think of it as empire building because in essense they have enough capital to be a small country in itself. I often ponder how these enterprises come about. How do the people dream up these ideas and implement them to generate brands. How do they bring nothing to life. Are the people that dream up these ventures special in nature? Do they have the foresight to see what is coming and to make things happen at the right time? Is it the product or the man that drives the revenues up, up and up?

No one can dispute that these people are special. When thinking of big business, wrestling would never come to mind for most people. Vince Machon created the World Wrestling Entertainment a billion dollar industry. Why does it generate so much in revenue? Is it the product, the brand, or the man? Well Vince Machon if you remember tried to create and brand the XFL. If you remember this venture was a big flop. It had the backings of huge capital unlike when he built the first wrestling brand and yet it was dead in less that a month. Why?

XFL had everything. First and foremost it had the backing of huge capital and the so called entertainment value of sex appeal. So then what went wrong? Vince knew how to manage a big company so it couldn’t have been the management skills. I think once Vince was associated with the XFL it became so called “fake sport”. I think people watch sports for the competition not to mention to place bets on the outcome of the score. If people had the feeling the XFL was “rigged” then they could not place bet in confidence. I think the ability to place bets whether among friends or big sports betting in Vegas is what drives many of these sports.

As I do more analysis of how these businesses thrive, I have come to the conclusion that product is the most important element in the industry. Marketing plays a role because this is where people view and perceive to try a new product. If the XFL was not perceived to be a fake sport with having Vince Machon or WWE correlated with the sport then maybe it would have had a different ending. Oprah Winfrey commands a huge marketing ability. Get on her show just once and you’ll be seeing huge jump in profits. So, marketing still plays a huge roll. Still, I believe product is key because while cool marketing scheme may bring in potential new clients, only how well the product performs is what keeps the customers coming back.

As for the people that build these empires. Well, they are special. What they have is an absolute passion for what the love to do. There is no stronger resolve than these people to make things happen. Even against all odds or ridicule they will keep trying. A good example is Dana White and the MMA. It’s now considered bigger than boxing and has a huge marketing potential. Yet in the initial stages the MMA brand was 34 million in debt and about to go bust before the final push to stardom. I’m not sure if these people see a great potential in the product, only that they believe in it and have the passion to sell to others what they believe.