After this event, DeLazzer set his mind to creating a more enjoyable and effortless way to rent movies. He was certainly greeted with doubts, though, as most people believed he was in over his head. “Everyone we talked to thought we were crazy and wouldn’t be able to compete with the market. I’m a dreamer, but I’m one who saw something everyone else didn’t. Even a small parasite can kill an elephant.” Among many other sets of hopefuls, DeLazzer and his team worked for eight weeks attempting to create a design for the Redbox machine that would function properly. Despite his efforts, however, things did not appear to be working in his favor: the machine did not function at all. “We
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were showing the President of Redbox our machine and they basically said ‘you know, we appreciate your efforts, but see you later,’ but at that point I told them they were going to give me 24 hours and I would have every problem fixed.” DeLazzer and his team worked straight through the night and had endless nights of hard work already behind them, but they still weren’t quite prepared when presenting their design for the second time. After a little stalling and a lot of impatience from the clients, though, the machine miraculously started working. All of his diligence finally paid off. “They realized if they didn’t pick us they’d probably be out of business. And I reminded them of that.” Mike DeLazzer left us with this thought: “If there’s something you don’t like, other people are probably not liking it either.” Finding a successful niche to start a business in is one of the easy steps, and steady competition is always going to be a factor. The key is to be one of those people who take the idea, let it burrow into their head, and never get rid of it.