My first million: profiting from plastic marshmallows

He may have been unimpressed the first time he saw them, but once he'd tried wearing a pair - 'like walking on marshmallows' - Duke Hanson of Crocs was sold. And thousands of customers around the world agree.

The first time Duke Hanson saw a Crocs shoe, he wasn't impressed. "Man those are ugly," he told Scott Seamans, the friend who'd found them in a small Canadian factory a few months before. They looked heavy and plasticky; not at all suited to their Caribbean sailing holiday. "He said just try them on. And once you try them on, they're very soft and comfortable; like walking on marshmallows." The secret was the resin they were made from, croslite a light yet resistant material patented by the factory. At the time, Crocs shoes were just clogs, not best suited to sailing, so Seamans made a strap to counter that problem. "We started loving the shoes" and by the end of the trip, they had decided to go into the footwear business.

So with another friend, George Boedecker, the three men leased a warehouse in Miami's Little Havana and made a deal with the Canadian factory to become its sole US distributors. Three months later, they set off for the Miami Boat Show and started throwing shoes to passers-by, who rapidly became fans once they had tried them on. By the end of the show, the company's entire inventory had been sold and they had built up a solid customer base to expand upon.

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Jody Clarke

Jody studied at the University of Limerick and was a senior writer for MoneyWeek. Jody is experienced in interviewing, for example digging into the lives of an ex-M15 agent and quirky business owners who have made millions. Jody’s other areas of expertise include advice on funds, stocks and house prices.