Edison, Gutenberg, BLACKSOCKS and Co.

Europe is celebrating Inventors' Day

Zurich, 3 November 2010. All good inventions change the world. Without the courage of innovative people, we wouldn't have either the light bulb or the wheel today. The focus will be on these creative thinkers on 9 November 2010 - Inventors' Day. Among those celebrated will be Samy Liechti, founder and owner of BLACKSOCKS and inventor of the online sockscription.

The 1990s saw the dawn of the age of the internet, which turned the world upside down. Samy Liechti used this period of technological revolution to come up with an unusual business idea. In 1999, Samy Liechti launched his original invention, the sockscription, through his internet company BLACKSOCKS.COM. The idea was first dismissed as hare-brained, but has developed into an enormous success story over the last 12 years. Subscribing to socks over the internet and thus resolving all sock problems proved a popular idea from the very outset. The company now has 50,000 customers in 75 countries – a real global success story. But sockscription pioneer Samy Liechti explains that "you can't be successful with an idea alone, what is even more important is how you put it into practice". So what is the secret of his success? Samy Liechti believes that "the idea represents maybe 5% of your success. Then there is around 10% strategy and the rest is down to clever, creative implementation".

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In order to turn an idea into a successful business, you need to think like an inventor, but you also need a healthy portion of entrepreneurship. This entrepreneurial spirit also explains why BLACKSOCKS has been successful in the market despite numerous competitors and imitators.

If somebody is successful, everybody wants a piece of the action. Over the years, various people have tried to copy the business idea. But nobody has had the same success as BLACKSOCKS, which remains the clear market leader with its original sockscription.

Success as a pioneer

Samy Liechti has succeeded in giving new glamour to an everyday product. He is not only the undisputed sockscription pioneer, he is also one of the few internet pioneers in Switzerland who recognised and capitalised on the potential of the world wide web at an early stage. "When I made the decision to launch the sockscription exclusively through the internet in November 1998, only 11 % of the Swiss population used the internet on a regular basis. Today, the internet and online shopping are mass phenomena."

We have all got used to the everyday luxury of having our daily newspaper delivered to us. Taking out a season railway ticket and thus having the luxury of not having to buy tickets every day has been an option for over 100 years and is now the default for commuters. In a similar vein, BLACKSOCKS offers the option of no longer having to worry about an everyday item. The sockscription does away with the chore of trawling round the shops to buy socks, which saves time and makes everyday life easier. It's a luxury which, once you've discovered it, you'll never want to live without. But BLACKSOCKS is not standing still, it is constantly developing. It is a long time since the range contained just black socks for men. New products are constantly being added, with the latest trends included in the collections. The list of products available for subscription is constantly increasing, making BLACKSOCKS a pioneer in terms not only of the internet, but also subscriptions.

More and more chapters are being added to the success story, which is just what the inventor wants.

Inventors’ Day

Inventors’ Day on 9 November aims to celebrate the innovative and creative thinkers of the past and present whose ideas have changed the world in both major and minor ways. The date is dedicated to the birthday of Hollywood diva Hedy Lamarr who invented a patented radio control system in 1942 which still plays an important role in mobile phone technology today. More info about the Inventors' Day can be found at: www.inventors-day.com

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