Ben's 1x1x1 - I found the Honey, I Shrunk The Kids of business - July 17, 2026 🚀

For those of you that are new here, every week I send what I call a 1x1x1.

One thought from my week. One interesting find/tool from my week. One image from my life.

Let’s dive in 👇

Thought from the week

I found the Honey, I Shrunk The Kids of business

We celebrated my daughter’s second birthday recently.

One of the gifts we got her?

A tiny Dyson vacuum.

And before anyone judges us…

She absolutely loves vacuuming.

I don’t know where we went wrong as parents, but while other toddlers are pretending to be superheroes, ours is following us around cleaning the house.

Honestly… we’ll take it.

The vacuum was an instant hit.

But then my entrepreneur brain kicked in.

My first thought wasn’t, “Aw, that’s adorable.”

It was…

“Someone is making an absolute killing selling miniature vacuums for $30.”

In my head, this was some Amazon private-label business.

Find a factory.

Slap “Dyson” on a toy.

Print money.

Then I did what I always do.

I poured a glass of wine, slapped some Nic D, and went down the rabbit hole.

Turns out… I was completely wrong.

The company behind the toy is called Casdon.

This business is f*cking brilliant and I’ll explain why.

And it isn’t some fly-by-night Amazon seller.

It’s a 79-year-old family business.

The company started back in 1946 when Thomas Cassidy was making toy molds in a shed behind his mother’s house in Blackpool, England.

The legend himself - I stole this from the Casdon website

To make ends meet, he repaired vacuum cleaners on the side.

Back in 1997, Paul Cassidy had an idea.

What if they made toy Dyson vacuums?

Instead of trying to avoid Dyson’s lawyers…

He called James Dyson himself.

James loved the idea.

They signed a licensing deal.

A few years later, the first toy Dyson launched.

Today, Casdon is still family owned (3 generations) has around 34 employees and sells licensed miniature versions of some of the biggest household brands in the world.

Dyson.

Henry.

Hotpoint.

Little washing machines.

Little ovens.

Little shopping carts.

Little cash registers.

Basically anything your toddler can use to convince you they’re “helping.”

The genius of the business isn’t the manufacturing.

It’s the positioning. Check this out 👇

Parents already trust Dyson.

Kids already want to copy whatever Mom and Dad are using.

Casdon doesn’t have to create demand.

They simply shrink it.

Every time Dyson releases a new vacuum…

Casdon gets a new product launch.

Every time a parent buys a Dyson…

Another kid wants one too.

It’s one of my favorite types of businesses.

Find an existing wave.

Don’t fight it.

Just build the surfboard.

It’s also a great reminder that some of the best businesses aren’t trying to invent the future.

They’re quietly borrowing trust from brands that already spent billions creating it.

Sometimes the biggest opportunities aren’t hiding in a breakthrough invention.

Sometimes they’re just 50% smaller… with a lot more plastic.

Image from my life

Another day of chaos 😂

See you all next week!