Combat flip flops - bad for running, worse for fighting

This is the tag line of a US start-up business whose story appeared on the BBC website this week, and it is a great story. It has all the best elements of entrepreneurialism, and would be very much at home on Dragons Den. Matthew Griffin, a US soldier spots a rather obscure similarity between two markets which could not be more different - the US and Afghanisan; a change of career gives the opportunity to start up a business; he gains funding and support from family and friends; he makes successful prototypes but then has stumbling attempts to find a reliable manufacturer - which result in setting up production at home in the garage; he has orders but difficulty in finding the capacity to meet the current level of demand; and the set-backs he meets result not in abandoning hope but in seeking alternative solutions to the problem. Ultimately the business has strong social entrepreneurship objectives, as it aims to bring jobs and security to factories in Kabul. It is selling, and has many orders on its books, which it cannot fulfil from the garage at home. The idea is to find funding to take a mobile flip-flop factory to Afghanistan, and it that is successful, Mr Griffin hopes the concept can "be extended to other former combat zones, to help provide employment and boost their economies". In the meantime, Combat Flip-Flops continues to also sell both sarongs and scarves that are made by Afghan women.

If you are still looking for a Christmas present ideas, this could be the answer. Although at around $70 a pair they are not cheap!