Bob Page worked as an auditor and hated it. As a hobby, he started visiting flea markets and collecting china. Friends asked him to look for replacement pieces for them. By 1980, Bob had revenues of $53,000 from his hobby and decided to quit his job to start Replacements, Ltd. By 1997, Bob's hobby had grown into a business with almost $60 million in revenue and 500 employees. Bob was proud that he had been successful without a business plan, a marketing strategy, budgets, and many of the things that business schools teach a company must have to be successful.
Replacement Ltd. has a strong network of suppliers that supply the company each week with pieces of china, crystal and silver that they locate from estate sales, auctions, flea markets and antique stores. Replacements provides its suppliers the current price the company is willing to pay for a particular piece.
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