The New York Times published a story that profiled small, entrepreneurial companies that are/have made changes to adapt to changing times and markets. One of these companies was the one and only Stern Pinball, read on…..
Take Gary Stern, a second-generation pinball entrepreneur.
In the early 1990s, about five companies in the United States sold roughly 100,000 pinball machines a year. Today, only 10,000 new machines are sold annually, all made by Stern Pinball in Chicago.
Mr. Stern, the founder, who started working in the industry as a teenager, said he defied a basic tenet of entrepreneurship to pursue his passion.
“They tell you in business school to be in love with business, not your business,” he said. “But we’re in love with our business.”
Mr. Stern has tweaked his business many times in pursuit of profits. He designs games based on popular movies to attract customers. He exports to Europe, and markets to men over the age of 45 who want a pinball machine at home.
Mr. Stern, 62, said he had no plans to shut down.
“We have a mission,” he said. “The world would exist without pinball, but we’d lose a little bit of the fabric of life.”
To find the complete article, “As Industries Wane, Entrepreneurs Reinvent” by Dalia Fahmy visit The New York Times website.
