Rory Sutherland Rory Sutherland

Business is the only area of human activity where you get paid to change your mind

issue 14 September 2019

In 1891, a 29-year-old man moved from Philadelphia to Chicago intending to start a business. With $32 to his name, he began by selling scouring soap. Hoping to boost sales, he gave away small packets of baking powder with every purchase. Soon he found that the baking powder was more popular than his soap, so he quit the soap market and started selling baking powder instead.

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