Ask any successful businessman and he'll tell you one of the secrets of his success - find a product people didn't even know they really needed and convince them they can't live without it.
Which brings us to an Ottawa man and the idea he came up with that's become all the rage. What did he do? He established a tie-in to something that's become quintessentially Canadian - the Roll Up The Rim contest from Tim Horton's.
If you've ever tried to get that rim up, you know it's like pulling teeth. Or at least you have to use yours to see if you've won a prize.
So Paul Kind came up with a different idea. He invented the Rimroller, a device that pops that top up for you with very little effort.
It took him three years and 12 prototypes to find a formula that worked. He quickly realized that it's the kind of thing you don't really need. And it just as quickly become a big seller.
The device has a little built in blade that grabs that rim with a push and a pull.
"One step and it's done," relates Jigisha Patel as he tries the tool out. "I just bought three of them."
Paul Childerhosc points out it solves a problem he's long thought about.
"When you see the cups on the street ... you're not inclined to roll up somebody else's rim."
And it turns out you can get your chance at this loving cup even easier than you thought. A detail in the fine print on the coffee holder says you don't even have to buy anything to take part in the contest. There really is no purchase required.
Except, of course, if you want to buy a Rimroller. The devices are available at
Lee Valley Stores. Each one will set you back all of $1.95.