BBF174: How to build a business selling nothing but air with Troy Paquette

It sounds like pure makebelieve, but this week we hear from a guy who has made his fortune by selling fresh air! Troy Paquette is the co-founder and COO of Vanity Air, a company born out of Troy’s desire for the world to breathe the same fresh air as he could in his native Banff in Canada.

From humble beginnings selling zip-lock bags full of air on eBay, Troy has built up Vanity Air to become a global phenomenon. Troy shared some interesting insight about what you need to take an unusual product to market, and how you should approach partnership in business.

 

Read on for Troy’s top tips:

** If you have a truly unique product, your presence can multiply quickly if the right media gets hold of it.

**  Be careful if your business grows organically. Without a business plan from the beginning, you may hit the wall.

** Do what you can to self fund. Doing so keeps a tight discipline on the finances when you’re starting out.

**  Don’t be afraid of working in partnership with a friend. If you both complement each other’s skills then it can work great.

**  Choose your investors wisely. Be careful of investors who will clip your wings.

**  Passion is the absolute key to being a great entrepreneur. Although luck is always a factor, without passion, you will not make your own luck.

**  Don’t worry about the haters and naysayers. If you have a groundbreaking product there will always be negativity. Keep the faith and ride it out!

**  The people who make it are the people who push hard when they’re at rock bottom.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  How Troy took a leap of faith and started out

**  What motivates an entrepreneur

**  The secrets of a successful global business

**  How Troy courted international investors

**  The importance of intellectual property

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Work wih one of our business Excellerators: http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au

**  Troy’s website: http://www.vitalityair.com

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

 

Call to action:

Let’s end this with some sage advice from Ben. If you’re struggling to keep the faith with a unique product, consider this: “…we wouldn’t have flight if it wasn’t for the Wright Brothers!”

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot/ of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
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