Growing up we learn to think of failure as a bad thing, but what happens when failure unknowingly turns into success? We get such multi-million dollar products as Play-Doh. Play-Doh was not invented by someone passionate about the goings on in the children’s play industry, Play-Doh was originally invented as a substance used to clean the soot off of wallpaper in the 1930’s. The wallpaper cleaner soon became obsolete though after many households switched from coal, to oil and gas to heat their homes. Rather than accept bankruptcy, an employee at the Kutol company, Joseph McVicker, discovered through his sister that the putty substance was actually a big hit with children and decided to re-market the product geared towards them. So Play-Doh was born, they soon began selling in an array of colours, and is now one of the most famous toy brands in the world.

To be an entrepreneur is takes more than a good idea. A person has to be driven and be able to adapt to ever changing surroundings and problems. Had Joseph McVicker given up on this putty substance and accepted its fate, he never would made a multi-million dollar brand, and Play-Doh would not exist today.

(Terry O’Reily. Accidental Brands. Under the Influence. Published March 17, 2012. http://www.cbc.ca/undertheinfluence/season-1/2012/03/17/accidental-brands-1/)