Saturday, May 30, 2026
Jim Sinegal and Jeffrey Brotman started Costco because they were inspired by another store called Price Club. The beginning of Costco was a “mere” inspiration. 7 years after that inspiration (7 years!), they opened their first location in Seattle. Inspiration takes a while to incubate. Keep the grassroots in all your inspiring actions!
Sinegal and Brotman adopted a similar business model to Price Club because they were inspired by what was already here. That’s how it’s done. They copied a model and added a twist of lemon. This is how every great idea begins. You’re inspired by existence.
There’s no secret to success. Most of what you do will be copying, or aspiring, or being inspired. What you have to say will have already been said. What you have to build will have already been built. What you have to offer will already have been offered, except for one detail. Nobody does it better.
Nobody does it better than what? We expound. Can’t you see the waves of creativity, collectively? Music, art, poetry have all been stamped in time. Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, etc. all sound similar. Music from the 18th century could not have sounded like music 100 years later. Your idea is not “ahead of its time.” It’s merely expounding and evolving, and you’re part of the advancing world.
Expound the body of literature, the structures, the creativity. Expound and put your blessed touch on it! Just keep expounding – that’s the key – advancing through inspiration. Bring forth and shed your brand of light into something already here! New interpretations? New insights with a fresh perspective, a twist, or a nod towards style? A small spin maybe?
Homespun inspiration and nobody does it better. Why must it be the next, greatest “thing?” Cultivate your inspiration. It’s not stealing if there is a twist.