A lot of people think that it takes a revolutionary idea to start a business and be a true entrepreneur. However, this is not the case, sometimes a unique twist on a common idea is what can lead to some of the most successful businesses. A great example of this is the company, Me and the Bees Lemonade, I mean who hasn’t had a lemonade stand? Though this lemonade is special in that it is specifically dedicated to saving the bee population.

The idea came to the owner, nine-year-old Mikaila, after her family encouraged her to come up with a product for their local Children’s Business Competition. As she was thinking of a product she got stung not once, but twice by a bee. After initially being annoyed by the bee sting something strange happened, she became fascinated by bees. She began researching about them and all the things that they did to help the ecosystem. After a while, she fell in love with these little critters and wanted to help revive their dwindling population. In order to do this, she combined her fascination with bees with another enjoyment of hers, her grandmother’s flaxseed lemonade which Mikaila modified by sweetening it with honey. She began selling this special lemonade at various youth entrepreneurial events allowing her to generate some revenue and donate a percentage of thatto various organizations that are fighting to save honey bees. After awhile of selling out in these venues she moved on to leading workshops and participating in social entrepreneurship panels to teach people about honey bees and how to help save them.

Mikaila’s story is an excellent example of how entrepreneurship can grow out of some of the, what seems to be, oddest combinations. Who would have thought that someone could combine a love of bees with selling lemonade? However, because of Mikaila’s passion for bees and her desire to help them by creating a successful company she did what it took to allow her company to succeed. Even today at thirteen years old, Mikaila’s passion for bees has led her to participate in a variety of organizations and panels that she would have never had the chance to attend without her dedication and a chance encounter with a bee. 

When we think about entrepreneurship we often think about someone inventing something revolutionary or world changing. That is not always the case however. Being an entrepreneur is about finding problems that need to be fixed or improved upon and some of these areas may not be super glamorous and that is exactly what Liam Berryman, a 21-year-old that made it onto the fortune 500 list, shows us with his story.

Liam Berryman was a very intelligent child growing up. He attended Rock Canyon High School and took summer courses at Stanford University. Later went on to study at UC Berkeley where he worked as a manager at a design and nanomanufacturing lab. There his job included designing and maintaining new experimental instruction. After this, he went on to become a researcher in a laboratory which developed nanomaterial that had hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties for condensation acceleration. All these experiences helped Liam develop himself as a scientist, but more importantly it helped develop his ability to build a lead teams, a tool that assists him heavily today.

All the above examples really show how impressive Liam is, but there is one thing I did not mention, he dropped out of school.  After working and studying at the school for a few years and developing a novel synthesis technique of polymer microspheres Liam left school and started his own company called Nelumbo. After reading about all the schooling and research he had done in engineering, most people would probably expect that Liam’s company would do something revolutionary and it is in its own way. The company specializes in creating advanced heat exchangers. These are components often found in any refrigeration system. What is special about these systems is that they have shown a 30% increase in energy efficiency compared to their standard counterparts. This efficiency has the potential to save up to 11 billion dollars a year in energy costs just due to refrigeration.

What I enjoy so much about Liam’s story is that it shows a different side of entrepreneurialism that does not often get recognized.  As mentioned above, people often assume that entrepreneurial ideas need to be these brand-new, ground-breaking ideas that change everyone’s lives. Liam shows that this is not always the case. Sometimes successful ideas come from improving systems that already exist with your own unique set of skills. In this case Liam saw that there was room to improve the efficiency of heat exchange systems, especially for refrigerators, so using his unique science/engineering background he used his skills to create such a product. This ended up being a very successful move for Liam, his business now employs 15 people and he has been listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Energy and he has had the opportunity to speak at numerous conferences such as the energy and impact symposium.

             Debt, it is a problem that most people know all too well, but no one wants to talk about it, and why would we? Debt is terrifying, and it can leave people with a sense of powerlessness. Debt is also complex, with it varying heavily between individuals. Some might have $5,000 dollars in credit card debt, while some professional may accumulate a quarter million dollars in student loans. The point is, a lot of people feel the pain that comes from owing large amount of money and many people do not know how to effectively pay it off or avoid getting into it in the first place.

              Kelly Peeler is someone that also saw this problem running rampant across the country, especially for young people and has since tried to help stop it. This was not her first business endeavor though, in facther first had nothing to do with debt. She started her first business at 11 years old by dumpster diving for furniture, which she would then refurbish and sell for up to $3,000. Kelly then went on to go to Harvard University and began working for JPMorgan financial institutions group. It was in this setting that Peeler did what all great entrepreneurs do, she started identifying problems around her. Peeler saw through her work that one of the greatest issues facing people in the U.S. was the enormous amounts of student loans that were building up on people. In fact, she felt so strongly about this issue that she claimed that it could become, “the next financial crises.” However, unlike most people, Kelly did not just identify a problem, she sought about solving it, which is why she created the company NextGenVest.

NextGenVest is a company that now serves tens of thousands of people with a focus on reaching what they call the, “snapchat generation.” They do this by creatively bridging the gap between financial advisors and young adults using text instead of the standard phone call or meeting and they offer their surface at any time. The company offers a wide array of financial services including free assistance to students for filing out financial aid forms or advising on accepting packages at schools that make the most financial sense.

When asked about her success Peeler credits two important teachings that she believes are very important lessons for any entrepreneurs. The first lesson she learned was to delegate her weaknesses. She told Business Insider that when she started her company, she quickly learned that she could not do everything well, so for the business to be successful, she had to delegate tasks to competent people. She also said that the biggest lesson she learned was that success follows passion. The largest reason she says her company has been as successful as it has been thus far is because of how passionate she is about what she does, that is what pushes the company forward. Peeler says that the people working in successful business needs to be, above all else, “”completely obsessed with your user and be empathetic.” This obsession along with caring about the customers needs will allow a business to become one of the best in the world for solving a problem.

Personally, I find a lot of value in Peeler’s story. Her focus and determination are to be admired and emulated. Individuals need to understand that to be great at anything, you must be passionate about it, especially if you want to become one of the best. It is only with this vital emotion that successful people are able to push themselves to limits that others may not of thought possible. Successful individuals do not settle for mediocrity and they do not compete with others, as Peeler has shown, they aspire to be the best and constantly compete with who they were yesterday to become greater.