A St. Paul bookkeeper bought the store he balanced the books for, plastered his family's name on it, and left it to all nine of his kids. Three generations later, they still won't sell.
Alen sells air purifiers that look like furniture and carry a lifetime warranty - as long as you keep buying filters. Twenty years in, that trade has built a two-million-customer business out of Austin.
The Scottsdale builder made energy efficiency standard equipment instead of a luxury upcharge - and used it to close more than 15,000 homes a year.