Photo Credit: David Prater / Getty Images
Bette Nesmith had a good secretarial job in a Dallas bank when she ran across a problem that interested her. Her thought was, there must be a better way to correct typewriter errors. Having had some art experience, she knew that artists who worked in oils just painted over their errors. So she began to think that maybe that would work for her too. So she concocted a fluid to paint over her typing errors.
Before long, all the secretaries in her building were using what she then called “MistakeOut.” She attempted to sell the product idea to marketing agencies and various companies (including IBM), but they all turned her down.
However, secretaries continued to like her product, so Bette Nesmith’s kitchen became her first manufacturing facility and she started selling it on her own.
When she eventually sold the enterprise, the tiny white bottles were earning $3.5 million annually on sales of $38 million. The buyer was the Gillette Company and the sale price was $47.5 million.
Bette’s story helps us to remember some valuable life lessons in the pursuit of our personal and professional goals.
Keep Working at It
Part of achieving success is dealing with the delays and disappointments along the way. The best thing to do is keep working at it. Success comes not from giving up but from pushing through. It would have been easy for Bette Nesmith to give up after being turned down by so many companies, however, she knew she had a winning idea and product. For Bette, this meant working a little harder, putting in a few extra hours, and pursuing her goal in unconventional ways.
Thomas Edison, who suffered his fair share of set-backs in his efforts said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
Overcome Discouragement
When progress isn’t happening as quickly as one might like, it can be discouraging. When others around you are critical of what you’re doing, discouragement can set in. Overcoming the discouragement of a failed attempt, delayed efforts, critical voices, or someone simply saying no to your idea can help you get to where you want to be. Developing an attitude of, “sticking to it,” helped Thomas Edison overcome discouragement on his way to discovering the electric light. Not many people could have endured over 1,000 failed attempts, but Edison saw his failed attempts as steps toward success.
Scott Fitzgerald said, “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.”
Sometimes Mistakes Can Open Doors of Opportunity
At age 33, Charles Goodyear decided to become an inventor. His effort, or mistake as many would claim, helped make rubber a commodity. Prior to Goodyear, Thomas Hancock and Charles Macintosh used different solvents to shape and mold rubber. The problem was, in cold environments it became rigid and in hot environments it would melt. When Charles Goodyear accidentaly dropped some India rubber mixed with sulfur on a hot stove, he discovered the process of vulcanization, which is the chemical process by which the physical properties of natural or synthetic rubber are improved.
While many have been attributed to having said it, there is a quote, in various forms, which says, “I’m a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the luckier I get.” Keep working toward success. Mistakes and setbacks may occur, but in the end, dedication, commitment, hard work and a little luck will win the day.
Story of Bette Nesmith, Crossroads Issue, No. 7 pp. 3-4
