Who are you rooting for? The National Football League Super Bowl is here (literally here in Detroit) and it’s time to choose sides. Steelers or Seahawks? Vintage franchise from the 1930’s with four Super Bowl titles already in hand or "upstart" pacific northwest team on their virgin Super Bowl run?
Well, I don’t care about who wins. I grew up in Cleveland and we are taught to hate all things Pittsburgh from infant baptism. But I also fashion myself a traditionalist and a team that played in a dome for two decades and didn’t even exist in the 1960’s hardly counts in my book. (Are you getting the feeling that I’m a bitter Browns fan who would give John Elway’s right arm to get to the Super Bowl. I was in the stadium for "The Drive" when Elway secured his place in history and Canton, Ohio’s NFL Hall of Fame? I’ll never get over it.)
But what I really find fascinating is the way that entrepreneurs rise to the occasion of an event like the Super Bowl and literally birth unique business opportunities. Sure there are the merchandise vendors and ticket scalpers and parking opportunists, but have you ever noticed how creative entrepreneurs get?. We all notice the big companies with the million dollar ad budgets and eagerly anticipate the television commercials and halftime wardrobe malfunctions, but I live in Detroit so this year I’m noticing the small business startups that are creatively riding the wave of entrepreneurial opportunity.
I LOVE it and I’m proud of the American entrepreneurial spirit. Got a home you want to rent out for the week to a football fan who can’t find a hotel room? How about this unique business opportunity that also plays on the hometown spirit emotional angle? At the VisitDetroit.com website you can find collector’s editions of a glossy Super Bowl issue. Who created this? A small business web design firm with offices right next to Ford Field, the home of next week’s Super Bowl.
No, the Super Bowl doesn’t come to your town every year – heck it doesn’t come to ANY town every year. But there are always unique events happening that catch the attention of a local or even national consumer. So, while you’re enjoying the game next Sunday, or as you hurry back to the living room to make sure you don’t miss a commercial, take a step back and ask yourself how you can creatively take advantage of a high profile event. It may be just the motivation you need to come up with that extra income idea or even start your own small business!
