Method : Stinky Apartment Experiments → $100M Eco-Friendly Empire

Read time: 4.5 minutes

Hello Rebels

Fun one-liner 🏖️

Why do entrepreneurs make great magicians? They turn invisible things into visible things.

Onto Today’s story….

Imagine turning a stinky apartment and $16 in the bank into a $100 million empire.

Sounds impossible, right?

Well, buckle up, my entrepreneur friend , because you're about to dive into a sudsy saga that'll make you question everything you thought you knew about business, cleaning products, and the power of a really cool-looking soap bottle.

It's a story of two friends who looked at the world of cleaning products and thought, "This stinks. Literally."

What follows is a rollercoaster ride of audacious ideas, near-bankruptcies, and a revolution in how we think about keeping our homes clean.

Let us see how they turned $16 in the bank into a $100 million empire.

The Unlikely Duo 👥

Let's rewind to suburban Detroit in the 1980s.

Two kids, Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan, growing up in the same neighborhood.

Adam was the tall, brainy one – the kind of kid who probably had a periodic table poster in his bedroom.

Eric, on the other hand, was the creative dynamo, always dreaming up the next big thing.

They became friends in high school, bonding over their shared ambition and slightly offbeat view of the world.

But as often happens, life took them in different directions after graduation.

Adam headed off to college, where he dove headfirst into the world of climate science.

Meanwhile, Eric worked in the world of branding and advertising.

Fast forward a few years, and our dynamic duo found themselves reunited in San Francisco.

Adam, the environmentalist with a head full of science, and Eric, the brand guru with an eye for what makes people tick.

They were crashing in a tiny apartment with five other roommates, all of them trying to figure out their next move in life.

Little did they know, the answer was right under their noses – or more accurately, under their sinks.

The Stink of Opportunity 💡🦨

Picture this: Adam and Eric, surrounded by dirty laundry and questionable food containers, having an epiphany.

"You know what bugs me?" Adam said, wrinkling his nose.

"We're supposed to be these eco-conscious millennials, but have you seen the cleaning products we're using? They're as toxic as our roommate's week-old socks!"

Eric, always quick with a quip, replied, "Yeah, and they're about as appealing as our landlord's fashion sense. Who decided cleaning products should look like they belong in a nuclear waste facility?"

And just like that, a lightbulb moment flickered to life in their cluttered minds.

What if they could create cleaning products that were not only effective and eco-friendly but also looked good enough to leave out on the counter?

From Bathtub to Business 🛁💼

With a mere $90,000 scraped together from savings and the generosity (or perhaps misplaced faith) of friends and family, Adam and Eric embarked on their sudsy adventure.

Their apartment, once a testament to young adult squalor, transformed into a makeshift laboratory.

The bathtub became their mixing bowl, the kitchen sink their testing ground.

Beer pitchers, hastily labeled with "DO NOT DRINK" warnings, held their experimental concoctions.

One can only imagine the looks on their roommates' faces as they stumbled upon this scene of domestic mad science.

Their first creations were four cleaning sprays, each scented with fragrances that wouldn't be out of place in a high-end spa.

Cucumber, lavender, and mandarin orange replaced the harsh, chemical smells of traditional cleaners.

It was a breath of fresh air... literally.

But their ambitions weren't limited to just creating eco-friendly products.

Adam and Eric had a grander vision: they wanted to create the "Aveda for the home" - an eco-chic approach to home care that would revolutionize how people thought about cleaning products.

Knocking on Doors (And Crossing Fingers) 🚪🤞

Armed with their eco-chic cleaning sprays and more enthusiasm than business sense, Adam and Eric hit the streets.

They became door-to-door salesmen, pitching their products to anyone who would listen.

Picture them, two young guys in wrinkled shirts, standing on doorsteps with spray bottles in hand.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Eric would say, flashing his most charming smile. "Would you like to make your home smell like a cucumber spa while saving the planet?"

Surprisingly, people didn't slam doors in their faces.

In fact, their quirky approach and genuinely innovative products started to gain traction.

They sweet-talked their way into local grocery stores, befriending managers and doing live demos.

"Watch this," Adam would say, deliberately spilling something sticky on a store counter. "Our cleaner doesn't just clean, it annihilates dirt while smelling like a tropical vacation!"

Their persistence paid off.

Soon, many local grocery stores were carrying Method products.

Adam and Eric were elated.

They were changing the world, one sparkly surface at a time!

The $16 Dilemma 💸😰

But success, as our intrepid entrepreneurs were about to learn, comes with its own set of challenges.

As orders poured in, so did the bills.

Manufacturing costs, shipping expenses, and the ever-present need to develop new products quickly drained their resources.

One fateful day, Adam and Eric found themselves staring at their bank balance in disbelief.

Sixteen dollars.

That's all that stood between them and complete financial ruin.

Oh, and let's not forget the $300,000 in credit card debt looming over their heads like a cartoon anvil.

"Well," Eric said, attempting to lighten the mood, "at least we can afford a couple of lattes. You know, to drown our sorrows."

Adam, ever the pragmatist, shook his head. "Forget lattes. We need to figure out how to turn these sixteen bucks into a business miracle."

In a move that can only be described as ballsy, they decided to appeal to the "inner entrepreneur" of each of their vendors, whom they owed money.

It was a long shot, but what did they have to lose? (Apart from their last sixteen dollars, of course.)

"Listen," Eric would say during these nail-biting phone calls, "we're onto something big here. We just need a little more time. Stick with us, and you'll be part of a cleaning revolution!"

The vendors surprisingly agreed.

The Million-Dollar Lifeline 💰🆘

Just when it seemed like their eco-friendly bubble was about to burst, fate threw them a lifeline.

They got $1 million from private investors.

With their newfound funds, they made a bold move.

They reached out to famed industrial designer Karim Rashid, cold-emailing him with a crazy proposition: reinvent the humble dish soap bottle.

To their amazement, Karim agreed.

The result? A dish soap bottle that looked more like a piece of modern art than a cleaning product.

It was sleek, it was stylish, and it looked nothing like the boring, utilitarian bottles gathering dust under sinks across America.

The bowling pin-shaped dish soap bottle wasn't just a pretty face - it was a statement.

In a world where everyone hid their cleaning products under the sink, Method dared to create something you'd want to leave out on the counter.

It was the first time a cleaning product could be considered a design piece, blurring the lines between function and art.

This distinctive design became their golden ticket, opening doors to retailers who were intrigued by the idea of cleaning products as statement pieces.

Target in Sight 🎯

With their eye-catching products in hand, Adam and Eric set their sights on the holy grail of retail: Target.

Getting into Target would be like winning the Super Bowl of capitalism, especially for a fledgling company run by two guys who, not long ago, couldn't afford dinner.

At this point, Method was still a small operation, with annual revenues hovering around $1 million.

It was impressive for a startup, but a far cry from the big leagues they were aiming for.

Target agreed to a test run in Chicago and Northern California.

It was a nail-biting time.

Would their products sink or swim in the big leagues?

Initially, things didn't look great.

They failed to meet Target's metrics.

But then, something unexpected happened.

Sales started to pick up.

Target noticed that Method was driving growth in the cleaning product category overall.

People were actually excited about cleaning products! Who would have thought?

In a twist of fate that had Adam and Eric pinching themselves, Target decided to roll out Method products nationally.

They had done it.

Three people working out of a one-room office had cracked the big time.

This national rollout was a game-changer.

Within a year of hitting Target's shelves nationwide, Method's revenue skyrocketed to around $30 million.

They were no longer just a quirky startup – they were a serious contender in the cleaning products industry.

Leaks and Lessons 💧📚

But success, as our heroes were learning, often comes with a side of chaos.

Remember that beautiful, artsy dish soap bottle? Well, it had one tiny flaw: it leaked onto store shelves when consumers pulled off a seal to smell the product.

Adam and Eric, along with their friends, dashed from one Target store to another, frantically mopping up puddles of dish soap with paper towels.

It was like a sitcom come to life, but with much higher stakes.

"I still have nightmares about it," Eric would later confess, a haunted look in his eyes.

But they didn't give up.

They went back to the drawing board, redesigned the bottle, and fixed the problem.

It was a messy lesson, but an important one: sometimes, you have to clean up your own spills before you can help others clean theirs.

The Laundry Revolution 🧺🚀

Not content with just reinventing dish soap, Adam and Eric set their sights on the biggest, toughest category in cleaning products: laundry detergent.

This was a $5 billion industry in the U.S. alone, dominated by giants with decades of experience and mountains of cash.

But our dynamic duo had an ace up their sleeve: the willingness to think differently.

While everyone else was selling detergent in giant, unwieldy jugs, Method came up with a crazy idea: what if they made the detergent three times more concentrated?

The result was their triple concentrate detergent.

It was in a smaller packaging, more efficient, and way cooler looking than anything else on the market.

It was a game-changer.

But they didn't stop there.

Oh no.

They pushed the envelope even further with their patented 8x concentrated detergent.

This wasn't just a product; it was a revolution in a bottle.

The laundry detergent gambit paid off handsomely.

By the time they introduced their 8x concentrated detergent, Method's annual revenue had climbed to an impressive $75 million.

They were now playing in the big leagues, competing directly with industry giants.

The Price of Success 💼💪

As Method grew, so did the challenges.

They were no longer the scrappy underdogs; they were becoming a force to be reckoned with.

And the big players in the industry? They weren't too happy about it.

Clorox, feeling threatened by Method's success, sent them a cease-and-desist letter.

The issue? Method's use of a daisy in their marketing, which Clorox claimed as their trademark.

Now, most small companies would have backed down.

But not our heroes.

Instead, they launched a cheeky marketing campaign, asking people to vote on who "owned" the daisy: Clorox, Method, or Mother Nature.

Spoiler alert: Mother Nature won.

And Method? They haven't heard from Clorox since.

As Method continued to grow, crossing the $100 million revenue mark and expanding internationally, Adam and Eric learned perhaps the most important lesson of all: timing is everything.

"Business is really about timing and how to pace yourself," Eric reflected. "Going too fast can kill you and going too slow can kill you. It's really about riding the wave."

For those who are hesitant to get into the water and start their dream business. Ryan believes living in regret is much more frightening than the risk of failure.

The Method to Success 🧠🏆

As we look back on Adam and Eric's journey from a stinky apartment to a $100 million empire, a few key lessons emerge. Let's break them down:

1. Find the gap: Adam and Eric spotted two major trends the cleaning industry had missed: the "lifestyling" of the home and the growing health and wellness movement. What dusty corner of the market are you itching to sweep clean?

2. Embrace constraints: With limited resources, they had to get creative, testing products in their bathtub and selling door-to-door. What MacGyver-like solutions could your tight budget inspire?

3. Challenge the status quo: They dared to compete with industry giants by offering something radically different. What industry "rules" are you ready to scrub away?

Your Turn to Clean Up 🧹🚀

So, my entrepreneur friend, what's your take-away from this sudsy saga?

Perhaps it's the realization that world-changing ideas can spring from life's daily annoyances.

Or maybe it's the importance of finding a co-founder whose skills complement your own.

As you embark on your own entrepreneurial journey, keep in mind that perfection isn't the goal - progress is.

"Our philosophy is about progress, not perfection," Adam once said. "It's about moving that ball down the field."

Remember, Adam and Eric didn't set out to become millionaires.

They simply wanted to solve a problem that bugged them: why did cleaning products have to be so ugly and toxic?

In solving that problem for themselves, they ended up creating a solution for millions.

So, as you face your own challenges and setbacks, remember the Method guys.

Remember how they turned a stinky apartment into a multi-million dollar business.

Remember how they dared to make cleaning products sexy.

And most importantly, remember that with the right mixture of creativity, tenacity, and a willingness to challenge the status quo, you too can find your own method to success.

So go ahead.

Identify that problem that's been bugging you.

Team up with someone who challenges and complements you.

Be willing to get your hands dirty (perhaps literally).

And remember, in the world of entrepreneurship, sometimes the biggest messes lead to the greatest successes.

Now go out there and make your own mess - challenge the status quo!

Keep Zoooming! 🍧

Yours “Making you Win” Vijay Peduru