And just for that, I’m buying a t-shirt

Johnny Cupcakes, an entrepreneurial genius and the brand behind the ubiquitous cheeky limited edition t-shirts and now retail stores, just pointed out an amazing similarity between one of his shirts and the multi-kazillion dollar Billabong‘s shirts. Judge for yourself in the photos above. The original is on the left. The “new” shirt is on the right.

For me, this brings to mind a phrase that we have long used at Bramble Berry, “Innovate or Die.” It’s a bit dramatic and yes, over the top but our worlds are always rapidly changing. There’s always a new kid on the block who is cuter, younger and gets a lot of buzz. They’re waiting to see what you’re successful at to ride your coattails.

Or, there’s the big corporations waiting to see what the next great idea is. Etsy had a niche market, carving out a place in online auctions by specializing in the handmade. Ebay is jumping right on that bandwagon with a home page interface that’s starting to look more familiar to Etsy users.

What does this mean to you and your small business? It means that you cannot sit on your laurels. You can never get too comfortable with your great idea (anyone remember when Primal Elements was the only slice-it-yourself MP soap company?). You can never stop creating, improving and pushing the trends yourself. You never know – it might be your little company that prompts Bath & Body Works to decide that cupcake bath fizzies are the next big thing.