Digital Lifestyle Outfitters

Recognition of an opportunity that generates a successful business essentially is the path taken by entrepreneurs. Circumstances that are favorable in the creation of a new product or service are classified as opportunity. It is this concept that we view the creation of Digital Lifestyle Outfitter as an opportunity that was seized by its founder Jeff Grady and turned into a lucrative venture.

Digital Lifestyle Outfitters headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina was founded in 2001 and has approximately 75 employees. It produces consumer electronic products and accessories.

In 2001 a divorced and unemployed Jeff Grady found this opportunity while searching for a protective cover for his iPod; a prized possession that he cherished. He had spent $399 on this new gadget. He loved the gadget and wanted to protect at all cost. He sought to acquire a protective case only to find out that his search did not yield anything that would meet his demand. He therefore made his own, the prototype that would be the inception of Digital Lifestyle Outfitters.

Jeff Grady the founder of Digital Lifestyle Outfitters started a company that sold licensed and logoed college athletic wear to total Sports, where he worked. At 28 he expected to be successful only to have his dream dashed at 30 as he became a casualty dot-com. During this period of unemployment, he had an MP3 player that he utilized as he worked out in the gym, as he sought employment. With little money left, he decided to invest in the latest gadget the iPod. He purchased one of the first iPods ever produced. He wanted to protect it from any damage. He went out to acquire something that would protect it. He did not find anything.

He decided to design his personal protective case. ...

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...thout engaging in deliberate or prolonged search. He became very creative in pursuing a case for himself and then the possibility of producing it for others also. All of these attributes that Jeff possessed culminated in how he saw the opportunity, seized it, and turned it into a sustainable and profitable business that has been very useful to consumers. It made his life lot easier and I am quite sure based on the initial reception of his proposal with Apple accessories producers and the initial orders from other consumers that the product was very timely and convenient. It could not have come at a better time.

Works Cited

Barringer, Bruce R. (2010) Entrepreneurship: successfully launching new ventures 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice Hall

http://news.techwhack.com/5589-digital-lifestyle-outfitters

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20060901/hidi-grady.html