If you want to start a business, you can pick up ideas in unusual places.

One of my first looks at business vision came from a childhood encounter with Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt.

One Sunday in the early 1970’s, my father received a call to bail Flynt and his chauffeur out of jail in Cincinnati. Flynt had lived in Northern Kentucky at one time and knew my dad then. Dad was at home with my sister and me, so he took us to the jail where we picked up Flynt.

Dad had only enough cash in those pre-ATM days to bail out one person, so we took Flynt to lunch at Wong’s Chinese restaurant while we waited for someone to drive from Columbus with money to bail out the chauffeur.

While we were at Wong’s, Flynt laid out his business idea for the three of us.

“I’m going to start a blue collar version of Playboy, called Hustler,” said Flynt. “Playboy is too highbrow. I’m going to have a Hustler Magazine and Hustler clubs, just like the Playboy clubs.”

Flynt did exactly what he said he was going to do.

It’s impossible to remember the exact date and time of that lunch but it is hard to forget it. Going to the jail was not a normal experience, and Flynt was the first person I had ever met who had a chauffeur.

As years went by and Flynt became a nationally known figure, it was interesting to reflect on the business lessons learned at that lunch. These are lessons that anyone starting a business can use.

Develop a vision and understand where that vision fits in the marketplace

Flynt knew exactly where he wanted to take his business and how it fit in the marketplace. He understood the competition and where his business model fit in.

Be flexible and able to change direction.

Flynt opened some Hustler clubs, but like Playboy clubs, they were a fad that faded away. Flynt got out of the clubs well before Playboy did and focused on the more profitable magazine. He followed the Playboy model, but was quick to react when he saw part of the model was not working for him.

Understand yourself and what you bring to the business.

Most people, like myself, have moral and ethical reasons not to sell pornography. Flynt did not have those reservations. He would do anything to make money. He delighted in attracting attention to himself and that worked well in getting publicity for the type of businesses he was promoting.

Most people want to be liked. Flynt did not care and liked it when people were mad at him. He understood this about himself at an early age and used it to his business advantage.

Challenging conventional wisdom.

At the time, men’s magazines like Playboy and Penthouse were aimed at an upscale audience. Flynt challenged that notion.

Flynt understood the publicity value of going against the grain. Many entertainers today, like Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl, use shock tactics to attract attention but Flynt was a pioneer in that area.

There is a good reason that Flynt is always stirring trouble in Cincinnati. He knows the city will fight with him and that will bring more publicity to his ventures worldwide. No one in larger cities like New York or San Francisco would care if Flynt opened a smut bookstore in their towns, so he does not go there. Instead, he finds cities where he knows he can stir up trouble and get good press coverage for it.

I have never seen Flynt since the lunch over 30 years ago and I don’t read his magazine. Although I agree that he has the first amendment right to speak his mind, I usually don’t agree with what he is saying.

However, I must say it was fascinating to hear him lay out his vision and then watch him go out and achieve it.

He is internationally famous and very wealthy. As far as the goals he set for himself, he has been successful.

When someone is starting or running a business, they need to learn lessons wherever they can.

Even from a self described smut peddler.

Don McNay is President of McNay Settlement Group which will not advertise in Hustler magazine.