You can become rich, famous or both if you come up with a “big idea” and then take action on it. So says Donny Deutsch in his newest book entitled, appropriately, The Big Idea.

Since ideas—no matter how big—are useless if nothing is done with them, the former ad exec and current TV host (on CNBC) cites numerous examples of people who (sometimes when they were broke and desperate) came up with big ideas and developed them into various kinds of unusual, money-making enterprises.

For example: Wayne Perry found out, by accident, that the active ingredient in pepper spray (used for self-defense) caused his cluster headaches to go away. So he took his last $350, mixed a batch of spray in his kitchen, bottled it in nasal spray containers, and started selling it on eBay, Today it’s FDA registered and sold in health food stores and vitamin stores, and Wayne is making $2 million a year.

Then there’s Debbee Barker, who used cardboard and duct tape to invent a simple device that makes the folding of T-shirts fast and easy. There’s Kim Lavine, who created Wuvits by sewing colorful fabrics into “healing pillows” and filling them with corn feed. When frozen, or heated in a microwave, they’re used to ease aching joints. And there’s Jeff Foxworhy, who’s made a fortune with his “redneck” brand of comedy—a niche not previously filled by any other comedian. His previous occupation: customer service rep at IBM.