Coco Chanel’s Accidental Billion-Dollar Perfume

Coco Chanel had a loser on her hands with her new perfume, Chanel No. 5. That is, until a bold bid begat billions.

Coco Chanel never intended to revolutionize the perfume industry.

But she did, by accident.

Coco was already a fashion icon, known for breaking the rules of femininity with her bold, modern designs.

But in the 1920s, she set her sights on something new: a fragrance that embodied the spirit of the modern woman—elegant, mysterious, and unlike anything else on the market.

Accidents Happen

Chanel enlisted the help of a Russian-French perfumer named Ernest Beaux, who went to work and soon presented her with a selection of scent samples.

Among them was a formula simply labeled “No. 5” - a the scent born of a mistake.

It tuns out that Beaux’s assistant had accidentally added in far too much aldehyde, a natural compound that heightens the jasmine found in the perfume.

But the amount added should have ruined the perfume.

it didn't.

Instead it gave the fragrance a bright, unique crispness; a depth that set it apart from the heavy floral and musky scents of the time.

Chanel, always one to embrace the unconventional, chose it immediately.

At First, Chanel No. 5 Was A Loser

Coco Chanel was convinced she had something special.

The market, however, was not:

• Chanel No. 5 was expensive

• It was different

• And it was not selling.

For months, it sat on shelves, a forgotten creation of a designer who had never sold perfume before.

A Desperate Gambit

And then, in a moment of desperation, Chanel tried something audacious.

She invited an elite group of Parisian women to an exclusive dinner at the legendary restaurant Maxim’s.

But before they arrived, she sprayed Chanel No. 5 all over the room—on the chairs, the tablecloths, even in the air.

As the women dined, they were surrounded by the scent.

It was intoxicating.

When they asked what the fragrance was, Chanel did not sell it to them—she gave it away for free.

Birth of a Legend

Word spread fast.

Within days, wealthy women across Paris were demanding the perfume, not just for its scent, but for what it represented—exclusivity, sophistication, power.

Chanel No. 5 was no longer just a perfume.

It suddenly had become a status symbol.

From that moment, the perfume that almost failed became the best-selling fragrance in history, a billion-dollar empire built on an accident, a bold decision, and the willingness to trust that sometimes, a mistake is really just an undiscovered masterpiece.

The Takeaway

The Best Ideas often come from mistakes. Indeed, the scent alone was not enough. It took some brilliant marketing to turn it into a luxury icon.

Lesson? When something isn’t selling, see if you can find a way to create demand—even if that means giving it away to the right people first. If Coco had played it safe, Chanel No. 5 would have faded into obscurity. Instead, she turned an accident into an empire.

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Steal This Strategy

The secret behind the legendary scent -

Overnight Challenge

Just like Coco Chanel turned a perfume accident into a billion-dollar empire, consider taking something in your business that is imperfect, overlooked, or "wrong" and see if you can turn it into an opportunity. Here’s how:

• Find a “flawed” product or idea – A project you abandoned, an unsold offer, a service nobody wanted—something that almost worked.

• Repackage or reposition it – Can you tweak it, give it away to create buzz, or sell it to a different audience?

Test it and see!

About Steve

Steve Strauss is the best-selling author of The Small Business Bible (and 17 other books), Inc.’s small business columnist, a lawyer (non-practicing), and an entrepreneur. He sold his last venture, TheSelfEmployed.com to Mark Cuban & Zen Business. Need a ghostwriter or a newsletter for your business? Contact Steve!