Fans of the mega popular show Seinfeld will instantly smile when they hear the name Kramer. You will surely associate the name with falling over, things breaking and doors being opened with massive enthusiasm. Jerry on the other hand is more main stream, he has a good job, a neat apartment and a healthy schedule. He is generally quite successful. How is it then that both he and Kramer can afford what is basically the same apartment? After recently re watching most the show, turns out Kramer was quite the entrepreneur and had many business ventures that helped fund his lifestyle.
Over the many seasons, Kramer had a go at countless ventures, startups and get rich quick schemes. We will take a quick look at his most memorable ideas.
The beach cologne
Kramer showed us that he is always thinking about the next big thing and came up with the idea for a cologne that smells like the beach. He did his best to pitch the idea to Calvin Klein but as you might expect, things didn’t go according to plan.
The coffee table book about coffee tables
Perhaps the most famous of all is the coffee table book about coffee tables. As if that wasn’t enough, if you don’t have a coffee table, the book itself can become one. Now that’s some creative thinking. We suspect that if the idea was around today, it would be an instant hit on Kickstarter.
Self service pizza shop
Yet another idea that proves beyond doubt that Kramer thinks outside the box. A make it yourself pizza shop. Isn’t that just genius? Get the customers to do the work and then ask them to pay you at the end.
The bottle deposit
Kramer understood the importance of forming partnerships. Therefore he teamed up with Jerry’s arch enemy, postal employee Newman. A mail truck was used to offset costs while transporting empty bottles and cans to a neighboring state in order to avail of higher deposit fees. Kramer and Newman joined forces and agreed to split the profit.
The rickshaw startup
You think Uber is a ground breaking idea? Kramer was years ahead of them with his rickshaw startup. This venture is the pure essence of innovation and opportunity. After reading that Hong Kong outlawed rickshaws Kramer wastes no time. He gets a rickshaw delivered to New York and creates new jobs for the homeless. A win-win, although unlike Uber, this business didn’t get billions in funding.
Other notable mentions?
As if all the above example weren’t enough, other memorable moments include flipping an opera ticket for a big profit, hiring Cubans to roll cigars, suing a tobacco company, distributing coats invented by Jerry’s father, investing in a local non-fat frozen yogurt shop, Kramerica Industries and much more.
