one man review - the method method

Guess who just reviewed method's brand spankin' new book, the method method? Oh, yeah, that would be moi! And you can read my review over on method's official people against dirty blog today! Right now! This very instant! What are you waiting for? (You know you wanna!) So go, go, Speed Racer!

the method method!

This baby is out tomorrow! Hitting your bookstore (and e-store!) shelves! Will you be picking up a copy?

chat with eric!

Wanna chat with a method co-founder? Sure you do! Well, today (Wednesday, July 7th!) is your lucky day! Head on over to Inc.com at 1 PM EST (10 AM PST) and join in on their live chat with Eric Ryan! As method says:

"go ahead, ask him anything: what inspired him? what's his favorite method product? where does he buys his skinny ties? tune in, and get live answers!"

Have fun!

no business like soap business... part four

Part four of four! The end!

no business like soap business... part three

Part three of four! A new segment each day!

no business like soap business... part one

Part one of four! A new segment each day!

famous founders

A quick bit that brings a tad more light into why the method vroom brand went bye-bye, from the article Seven famous founders share money mistakes, smart moves By Laura Petrecca, at USA Today:

"Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan, the Method co-founders (notice in the article, they get the names on the above photo confused. "Adam Lowry, left..." really, now? Is that my left, or your left?)

In 2000, two roommates had a brainstorm: eco-friendly cleaning products. They whipped up some samples in their bathtub and handed them out to friends. Method was born. The company in 2008 reached $100 million in sales and is sold in retail outlets such as Target.

+ Money mistake "As an entrepreneur, you just feel a desire to just grow, grow, grow and show top-line (increases)," Ryan says. "Sometimes it leads you astray."

After the founders expanded their brand into the car-cleaning marketplace with a product called Vroom, they realized they moved a bit too fast.

"We ultimately ended up selling the line (to another company), but it was a big distraction from our business at the time," Ryan says. "There are times that you need to preserve fuel and be careful about how many growth opportunities you pursue, because you burn capital."

+ Savvy move "Hiring a CEO as our first employee was one of the best money moves we made," Lowry says.

The more-experienced Alastair Dorward helped the founders make better management and financial decisions. Dorward had the acumen "to grow smart rather than just grow fast," Lowry says.

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I still say an auto line would rock, and sell well!

messy guys make millions

...and you can, too! Here's how! No wait, this isn't that kind of post. No self help get rich tips here. If only! But what I do have for you is this nifty Reader's Digest article on those two grand co-founders of a little company we like to obsess over... and over, and over, and over, and over, and over and...!

"Messy Guys Make Millions Selling Green Cleaning Products
- By Margaret Heffernan

Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry were having dinner with their new investors. The 27-year-old entrepreneurs had finally gotten a million dollars in venture capital to kick-start their company, but it came with stiff financial targets. It turned out this was the least of their problems that night. "We were passing our credit cards under the table to each other," Ryan recalls, "but none of them worked, because we had maxed them out. Eventually, we persuaded the restaurant owner we were good for the money."

In the eight years since that embarrassing moment, Ryan and Lowry have built Method into the world's largest eco-friendly cleaning brand. Their green products use natural ingredients like corn, coconut oil, and palm oil and are packed in attractive, recyclable containers. In the process, the two changed the perception of green home-care products—and the industry too.

Ryan and Lowry had been friends since high school, but it wasn't until after college that they hit on the idea of a home-care-products company. "We were shocked to learn how toxic cleaning products were," says Ryan. Why couldn't they create green products that would be just as stylish, fragrant, and environmentally pure as Aveda's skin- and hair-care lines?

When Ryan's mom heard about the plan, she stared at him blankly: "I've never even seen you clean your room!" Undeterred, Lowry, the chemical engineer, experimented with nontoxic ways to clean, while Ryan, the ad guy, focused on marketing. In February 2001, they mixed their first four cleaning sprays and convinced the managers of 20 independent grocers to try them. Once they had their approval, they tapped friends and family and pooled their savings to come up with $90,000 in seed money.

From the start, "Go big or go home" was their mantra. Their first financing—that $1 million—was due to be signed on September 11, 2001. By the time they got it, two months later, says Ryan, "we had $16 in the bank and personally owed $300,000."

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Head on over and read the rest!