I have been blogging for the last week or so about our new StropBoxTM system for maintaining the shave-ready condition of your razors and for putting the smoothest edge on your knives. Perhaps because our products are so new and unlike others on the market, some folks have been reluctant to put a toe in the water and try this new product. It’s as if everyone is waiting for someone else to go first, before they are willing to take a chance.
There is a rare breed of people known as “early adopters.” These are the men and women from every class and every part of the world who seem to be the first on their block to try something new. While they risk being disappointed with what they find, they do seem to be just a little happier and a little more interesting than other folks.
“We live”, as old Chinese curse says, “in interesting times.” Many of us are reluctant to take chances due to the bad economy, high unemployment, terrorism, global warming – the list goes on, but I’m sure you get the point. There are those who, through their crafty use of statistics, rhetoric and threats, seek to keep us afraid and off of the frontiers that will lead us to success and independence.
But there are people out there, people like me and perhaps like you that are willing to take chances…to try something different even at the risk of failure. It is a trait that has usually been ascribed to Americans – such legends as Thomas Edison, Bill Gates and Amelia Earhart; but I believe that this quality is a part of every culture and every walk of life all over the world. I bet that you personally have some great ideas rattling around in your brain dying for attention.
I made the choice to invest my time, considerable money and some ego at a time when I was low on all three, to take an idea and bring it to life. What to you looks like a newfangled idea for maintaining your razor is, for me, a chance to bring something new into the world. To build a business; to put people back to work; and to prove that innovation and guts are alive, not just in America and not just among those wealthy few with research labs – but on the kitchen tables and in the basements of average homes.
When you buy a StropBoxTM or any of our Little StropperTM products, you are supporting innovation in a nervous world. I love being a part of that and I invite you to join me.
I recently learned about a unique enterprise called Kiva.org. You may have heard of it, as it was featured on Oprah Winfrey’s List of Favorite Things of 2010. Kiva provides funds to institutions that make “micro-loans” (small loans) to some of the poorest people around the world who are trying to lift themselves up out of poverty through entrepreneurship. $125 may not seem like a lot to you and me, but in countries like the Philippines, Haiti or The Congo, that money can go a long way towards helping an entrepreneur start or build a business. It can employ people who are starving, and allow them to provide food for their families and dignity for themselves. Many of the business that receive these small loans fail, but others succeed - providing jobs and hope for entire communities in places where hope is all but dead.
So I issue you a challenge: Buy any Little StropperTM product from The Vintage Shaving Shoppe, LLC. between now and December 31st and I will take 10% of the price you pay for the product – NOT 10% of the profit, 10% of the price YOU PAY for ALL Little StropperTM products, pool it together with that of other “early adopters” like yourself and use that money to make micro-loans to businesses through kiva.org. I will even keep you posted on our blog, tracking the total amount collected and the total amount invested. Any monies that we loan that are repaid, will be re-invested in other businesses. Not one dime will go into my pocket. You and your fellow “early adopters” can be part of something big, by buying something small. To get the ball rolling, I have invested $25 of my own money in a loan to a young man in Colombia who is trying to expand his manufacturing business. Should this loan be repaid, the money will become part of the pool which will be built up by your purchases of our products.
Currently, Little StropperTM products, especially the Magnetic StropBoxTM and StropTopsTM can be purchased on eBay by clicking here. We should have our dedicated website up and running shortly, at which point we will transition to selling there.
Be a part of something bold. Buy one of our Little StropperTM products today!
