Here's something: You know Michelin Stars? Like the things that tell you if a restaurant is fancy or not?

Ever wonder why the tire company logo is on there?

Here's why. It's a good story.

In 1900, there were fewer than 3,000 cars on the roads of France.

To increase the demand for cars and thus car tires, car tire manufacturers and brothers Édouard and André Michelin aka the Michelin Tire company, published a guide for French motorists, the Michelin Guide.

Nearly 35,000 copies of this first, free edition of the guide were distributed. It provided useful information to motorists, such as maps, tire repair and replacement instructions, car mechanics listings, hotels, and petrol stations throughout France.

Four years later, in 1904, the brothers published a guide for Belgium. And then other cities.

Soon, based on the principle that "man only truly respects what he pays for", Michelin decided to charge a price for the guide, which was about 750 francs or $2.15 in 1922.

Recognizing the growing popularity of the restaurant section of the guide, the brothers recruited a team of inspectors to visit and review restaurants, who were always anonymous.

They then gave stars to rate some of the restaurants.

By 1950 the French edition gave 38 restaurant stars. The first Michelin Guide to Italy was published in 1956. It awarded no stars in the first edition. In 1974, the first guide to Britain since 1931 was published. Twenty-five stars were awarded

How do they come up with the stars? Michelin has anonymous reviewers. They do not identify themselves, and their meals and expenses are paid for by Michelin, never by a restaurant being reviewed.

The stars stand for:
1 star : "A very good restaurant in its category"
2 stars : "Excellent cooking, worth a detour"
3 stars: "Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey"

See how it's car related?

The Michelin tire company still makes the guide. Its paid with tire profits. But also different governments pay to host Michelin reviewers in their country in hopes of getting reviewed.

Obviously, this business model can be tricky. But they've done a great job of staying legit

These types of business models fascinate me: reviewing things.

Other examples are JD Power and Gartner.

On Trends ( http://trends.co ) we'll be discussing this business model. We'll break down how it works so you can make one for your industry

Let me know if you want more stuff like this and which industries we should cover!