Insuring Success

Carl did.

Carl had a good hand and a good idea. Everyday he’d play bridge on the commuter train into Chicago along with his neighbour Robert. Carl was an insurance broker who was unhappy with the state of his industry … and Robert, his neighbour, was the CEO of Sears.

One day Carl had an idea and pitched Robert.

Why not sell insurance through the Sears Catalog? It would make insurance cheaper to sell since you wouldn’t need as many offices or salesmen … and at the same time be a source of revenue for Sears.

Robert liked Carl’s idea … and took it to the board and they liked it too.

They named the insurance after Sears most popular brand of tires.

Well things didn’t go quite as planned … losses were high for 2 years … before they started selling insurance inside Sears stores in all states.

Well things took off from there … and eventually Sears spun off the insurance company into its own entity.

Today, the insurance company Carl suggested to Robert over a bridge game on a commuter train ... has sales of $35 billion a year and assets of over $120 billion … is one of the most successful worldwide. Allstate

Allstate is a great idea … because sometimes all it takes to drive an idea forward is to recognize that you’ve been dealt a good hand.