Irvine Robbins' taste for business success

With more than 5,800 locations in 34 countries, Baskin-Robbins is a powerhouse in the retail industry (the company is now part of Dunkin' Brands). But like many great businesses, the early days were fairly humble.

Last week, the co-founder of Baskin-Robbins -- Irvine (Irv) Robbins – passed away. He was 90-years old.

To Robbins, business was about some simple principles; one of his mottos was: "We sell fun, not just ice cream."

In 1945, Robbins set up an ice cream store, starting with 21 flavors. It certainly was good timing. After a World War and a massive economic depression, the US economy was poised for economic growth. And there would be a new mega-trend: suburbia.

By 1953, the store renamed itself to Baskin-Robbins, and yes, there were 31 flavors (one for each day of the month). Yet, Robbins wanted to supercharge growth. As a result, he helped to pioneer the concept of franchising.

Then, by the late 1960s, Baskin-Robbins sold out to United Fruit for $12 million.

However, I think it was Robbins' fun that was a big factor in the company's success. Some of the neat flavors included Baseball Nut (when the Dodgers came to LA in 1958) and Lunar Cheesecake (when we landed on the Moon in 1969).

True, there were some bad ideas – like Ketchup flavored ice cream (sounds awful, huh?) -- but when having fun, there's a pretty good chance you'll ultimately stumble on some innovative ideas.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.