Piece of cake: Joke turns into a million bucks

Johnny Cupcakes. What started out as a joke has turned into a $1.2 million T-shirt business for a dude in Boston.

That's right, people at the record store he used to work at would call him Johnny Appleseed, Johnny This, Johnny That, but it was Johnny Cupcakes that stuck. So the guy decided on a lark to make it a T-shirt. Easy enough since he makes T-shirts for his band. Next thing he knew, he was selling T-shirts out of the trunk of his beat-up '89 Camry.

Next thing, he's raking in $1.2 million in 2006. Opens a store in his town. Sure, it was more than luck. The shirts are cool and amusing. He struck a nerve with all kinds of people in Boston, and it all started with a joke.

The Big Idea's host, Donny Deustch, is excellent, energetic and smart. But he actually said, this goes to show that you don't have to be corporate or have thought something out deeply... Uh, Donny, give Johnny Cupcakes a little more due than that.

His visit to The Big Idea got me thinking of all these little ideas I've had for T-shirts. Maybe I should look into investing in a computer program and T-shirt making machine or whatever they're called. Hmmmm...

Visit the site: JohnnyCupcakes.com. Sheesh, even the site is cool.