Look Who’s Launching: Throw Diet and Caution to the Wind Eat Your Way To Bliss
Look
What
What You Should Know: Who owns your website?Copyrights, Works for Hire & Solutions
Perspective:
Know: Who
Feast Restaurant, Owner Teri Rodgers talks about the balance of life and business
How I brought my product to market –Bringing Laundrapak to life.
7 Things You Should Know about Launching your Business
2007 Turn Up the Volume Conference
An ECONOMIC POWER to be reckoned with, 22 million micro-business owners and the self-employed nationwide and over 155,000 in Atlanta alone, can you hear us? Our voices, loud, our messages & signals clear.
Micro-business owners
We’re bigger than you think
Welcome
WOn behalf of The Wilson Connection, Inc., it is my pleasure to finally announce the inaugural online issue of Launch magazine, a balanced-lifestyle magazine for micro-business owners and the self-employed. Launch is a quarterly online-publication designed to encourage, enlighten and empower through four foundational elements of focus: wealth, business, life and community. Our goal is to provide a view into the balanced life and business approach of micro-business owners and the self-employed. Each issue will feature stories of success, challenge, innovation and motivation. Our on-going departments include Launch’sperspective and look who’s launching along with what you should know.
This issue is a preview of what’s to come in future issues. Our features perspective interview with Teri Rogers, restaurateur of Feast restaurant of Decatur Georgia and the process of successfully bringing a product to market by Jeremy Kestler, inventor of Laundrapak.
There’s a whole lot more where this comes from. Micro-business owners and the self-employed have something to say. I cannot contain my excitement for how we plan to fuel their aspirations.
It’s a long time coming, but Launch exists for you.
Susan Craighead, Nikki Street, Vivian Jones, Jeffory Packer, Jeremy Kestler, Monique L. Wilson
Creative Director at Large Brent Cashman
brent@bc2design.com www.bc2design.com
404.402.0125
Assistant Creative
Shan D. Wallace Gama Design Studio 5585 Peachtree Road
Atlanta, GA 30341
770.936.0403 tel gamasdw@mindspring.com
Website Development
Bethany Brown www.1018media.com
• Look Who’s Launching
By V. K. Jones
A Diet Breaking Business
O“One of my greatest pleasures is baking cakes. It’s simply what I love to do!” says Vivian Jones.
Vivian was always the one at work who baked for birthday parties, picnics, and other office events. At the suggestion of many of her coworkers and friends, she decided to experiment with selling her mouth-watering cakes as holiday gifts for corporations and individuals. The first year went extremely well, so Vivian offered this service again during the 1995 holiday season. After an overwhelming response, she decided it was time to offer her cakes throughout the year. In 1996, she started Homemade Cakesby Vivian in the kitchen of her Marietta home.
Every cake is baked to perfection, carefully and beautifully packaged, and hand delivered with the personal guarantee of satisfaction.
Initially she managed her business while attending Kennesaw State University part time and working full time. But in 1998, she dissolved Homemade Cakes by Vivian, left her job, and made school her primary focus while she worked part-time at Kennesaw’s Small Business Development Center.
After her graduation in 2000, she worked full-time as the program manager at Cobb Microenterprise Council, (now known as The Edge Connection), for about two years. One day as she was having lunch with a friend, she mentioned she would like to start baking cakes again. Her friend cheered her
on and suggested she start with a cake tasting party for her coworkers and friends. Vivian thought this was a fantastic idea. So she began baking while her friend planned the party and designed invitations.
The party was a huge success. About fifty people attended, and six placed orders. Vivian was ready to crank up her KitchenAid® mixer and start baking. She launched her business again in June 2005 under the new name PattyCake. PattyCake cakes and frosting are made from the finest ingedients. Every cake is baked to perfection, carefully and beautifully packaged, and hand delivered with the personal guarantee of satisfaction. For those who want to go easy on the sugar, Pattycake offers several scrumptious pound cakes. For those who want to broaden their horizons, they should try the red velvet, the italian cream, or any number of layered cakes encased in tantalizing frostings.
PattyCake has one rule when choosing any of its stellar cakes: throw diet and caution to the wind and really enjoy yourself. Eat and savor every bite. Turn an ordinary day into a heavenly day. •
Business hours: Monday-Friday, 9-5
Saturday 10-2
Phone: 770-433-7311
E-mail: pattycake1@bellsouth.net
By Susan T. Craighead
Do You Own Your Website?
Today, one of the first things a business does is create a web site. If you hire someone to design and create your web site, you may assume that you own it. In fact, you may not own it at all, even though you paid good money to have it developed. The design and creation of a web site involves the creation of copyrightable elements by the designer. If you hired an independent contractor to build the site, that person or company may actually own those elements in the legal sense.
What is a Copyright?
United States copyright law provides copyright protection to the authors of “original works of authorship” whether published or not, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. Copyright protection exists from the time the work is created in a tangible medium or fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Copyright generally gives the owner of the creative works the exclusive
right to reproduce the work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies of the work, and to perform or to display the work publicly.
With respect to a web site, this means that from the moment that the developer creates something that is copyrightable, he or she is generally considered to be the author of the work and the sole and exclusive owner of the copyright and related rights to those creations.
Works Made for Hire
Whether you or the web designer owns the copyright is a matter of copyright and contract law. An exception to the “creator is the author” rule is the doctrine of “works made
With respect to a web site, this means that from the moment that the developer creates something that is copyrightable, he or she is generally considered to be the author of the work and the sole and exclusive owner of the copyright and related rights to those creations.
for hire.” U.S. copyright law defines a work made for hire as:
(a) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or (b) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use which is (1) a contribution to a collective work; (2) a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; (3) a translation; (4) supplementary
• What You Should Know
work; (5) a compilation; (6) an instructional text; (7) a test; (8) answers material for a test; or (9) an atlas; and if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire.
If your web site is created by a bona fide “employee,” the work will be a work made for hire and you will own the copyright. In most cases, however, you will hire an independent contractor to build your web site. In that case, in order for you to own the copyrights in the web site, you must have the independent contractor assign ownership of the copyright to you.
Make sure the developer grants you an exclusive and perpetual license to use the site he creates for you.
So, why do you care about ownership as long as you can use the web site? What if you later hire a different independent contractor to make some changes to your site? You deliver the files for the original web site to the new developer, pay her for the work and have her place the new material online. If you don’t own the copyright, the original developer may sue you for infringing on his exclusive right as the author to prepare derivative works. And, if he has registered his copyright with the United States Copyright Office, he will have the option of suing you for actual damages or receiving statutory damages in amounts up to $25,000.
To go further, perhaps your original developer also hosts your web site. Suppose you decide to move your site and dutifully give your original developer/host the required notice of termination. You transfer your web site to a new server where it is reproduced and goes on-line. You may then receive a certified letter from the original host claiming copyright infringement for reproducing the web site, which by law is his sole and exclusive right. He can send a letter to your new host alleging copyright infringement, and you may be forced to remove your site.
Solutions
A web site design agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties. If you are to retain rights to these creations, the agreement must clearly spell out those rights that are being transferred to you.
Work for Hire Agreement & Assignment of the Copyright
Many people think that if the web development agreement they sign includes a “work made for hire” clause, that they will own the rights to the work. Remember though, if an independent contractor performs the work, it must fall in one of the statutory categories listed above. The categories usually don’t apply to most web development projects. So, even if your agreement states that it is a work made for hire, if the work does not fall within one of those categories, you don’t own the copyright. Rely on this alternative only if you are sure that all elements of the web site fall within one of the described categories – and if they don’t, you need specific language stating the web development company will assign all right, title, and interest to the web site to you and will execute all copyright registrations in your name in the event the work for hire clause is ineffective.
License to Use the Site
At a minimum, make sure the developer grants you an exclusive and perpetual license to use the site he creates for you. Under a license, the developer keeps the underlying copyright and gives only you the right to use your site forever. It is important to define the scope and conditions of the license. For example, do you have the right to modify, or have another modify the web site? Make sure that the conditions attached to the license give you the rights that you need, because if your rights aren’t specified, you don’t have them.
Your web site is an important, perhaps crucial, part of your business. It is worthwhile to ensure your legal rights to use it. •
The information contained in this article is for general business purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
Ms. Craighead practices corporate and technology law with the law firm Trusted Counsel Ashley, LLC (www.trusted-counsel.com), which specializes in the representation of privately held businesses as well as individual founders and executive management.
What a Feast
MMonique L. Wilson Talks to Teri Rodgers about her perspective as a small business owner in the restaurant business.
In the summer of 2005, a colleague suggested I visit an eclectic neighborhood spot in downtown Decatur, Georgia and check out Feast Restaurant, a new woman owned business venture. I’m always get pumped up about anyone stepping out and taking the risk to launch a business.
I was pleasantly surprised by the ambiance, the prompt professional service, and the exquisite flavors of my pizza made with margarita, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil for an easy price of$8.00. I checked back with owner, Teri Rogers, to hear how business is faring one year later.
MONIQUE: Hi Teri. Finally. Is this a good time to talk? I know you’re probably busy already. If you want me to call back, I can a little later.
TERI: No, this is a good time. Glad you called.
MONIQUE: I know we’ve talked before, but I want to do a story in Launch magazine about the perspective of business owners, how they balance wealth, business, life, and community. So hopefully I won’t take up too much of your time.
TERI: (Teri talking to an employee)What are you looking for? (Teri talking to me) Hold on for a second please. (Teri talking to an employee) No. (Teri talking to me again)Okay. It seems like every time I get on the phone someone walks in.
MONIQUE: I understand. It’s business. Let me start by asking you, what inspired you to go into the restaurant business?
TERI: I’ve always wanted to be in the restaurant business. I’ve been working in restaurants since my late teens. I’ve worked in all areas of the restaurant and love the business.
MONIQUE: What kind of experience do you have in the restaurant business?
TERI: Like I said before, since my teens to about early 20’s, I’ve worked both front and back of the house in restaurants and about nine years ago I went into business with some friends in Tennessee. Doing that for that amount of time gave me the experience to open my own restaurant. It’s very different owning than just running the business.
MONIQUE: Where did you get your start? Did you work franchised restaurants?
TERI: Well, mainly mom and pop type restaurants. I never really worked with corporate restaurant franchises. I did work for the (Pleasant) Peasant restaurant in Atlanta for eight years, which started in early 80’s. The Peasant was pretty popular then.
MONIQUE: Are you originally from Atlanta? Why did you choose Georgia or Decatur to plant the restaurant? Was location a primary factor in determining where you would locate?
Teri: I’m originally from Statesboro, Georgia which is right outside of Savannah. I came to Atlanta because I wanted to get more experience doing more full service restaurant work. That’s how I ended up at Peasant.
know about Wahoo? During that time, an associate of mine said that there was another spot coming available soon, so I decided to take a look at it.
MONIQUE: Is that where you are now?
TERI: Yes. It used to be a coffee shop, and when I walked in the space I immediately got the vision for the restaurant.
“I opened Feast on a shoestring budget. I visited yard sales, maxed out credit cards and pulled furniture from my house to furnish the restaurant. It can be done.”
MONIQUE: When you did decide to open your own restaurant where were you looking?
TERI: I was originally looking a spot in Virginia Highlands, but that plan fell through. It turned out to be too expensive, so I decided to wait and keep looking for different locations.
MONIQUE: While you were waiting for a good location, what were you doing?
TERI: Well I helped out at Crescent Moon during the construction phase, and I did some freelancing for a friend of mine who opened a restaurant called Wahoo. You
MONIQUE: That’s a good segway into my next question. Did you think about what kind of environment you wanted to give your customers?
Teri: Yeah, I did. I’m very customer oriented and I get a lot of pleasure out of pleasing people. I didn’t want Feast to be an occasion restaurant. I wanted to have my customers coming back two to three times a week, so that meant that I had to make sure that there wasn’t a high check rate per visit. I want them to come back frequently.
MONIQUE: Has being in business caused you to look at how you balance life, family, and relationships?
TERI: I don’t really concern myself with a balance so much, not because I don’t want to, but because I love my work, and I’m quite balanced when I’m here.
MONIQUE: I wanted to focus on perspective through the eyes of a small business owner who’s living a life of balance. Part of that is creating wealth. What does that look like for you in your business?
TERI: I don’t have children, so I can totally devote all my time to the business. It’s really a mental thing. You know the bottom line is the bottom line and this is not a hobby for me. I’m doing it to make a profit. [Laughs] I’m trying to set up my nest egg. Why try to make money doing something else when I’m good and running restaurants?
MONIQUE: Is it important to you that you give back to the community? That you share your wealth? How are you doing this?
TERI: I support the community at food, school, and church events. I also try to help out with fundraisers, AIDS causes, and Hands on Atlanta. I haven’t gotten personally involved in some time, but when the surrounding community needs assistance, Feast is there to provide what they can.
MONIQUE: Is your business today what you desire it to be? What are some of the concerns that are on the forefront of your mind and what changes do you think you’ll have to make to stay ahead of the game?
TERI: You know, I’ve exceeded my expectations for this year, and we’re still just under a year old. My current concern for the business is how the flow of customers is going to be this summer. I try to figure out the trends of the neighborhood, but since I’ve only been in business for less than a year, I still haven’t gotten a good grip on that trend yet.
MONIQUE: What kind of trends have you noticed in the recent months?
TERI: On Memorial Weekend 2006, I noticed that the flow of customers was slim at the restaurant. I think everyone was out at community events. Next year I will consider having a booth at the event, because everyone seemed to be at the event that weekend. So mapping out trends is a must for the future. My current concerns are figuring out the trends of the neighborhood and finding out where the people are going on these slow weekends.
MONIQUE: Are you doing “restaurant” as usual? Are you striving to be different?
TERI: I wanted to offer a great value coupled with a cool atmosphere and good food. I don’t sell frozen foods; everything is cooked fresh. I also have a wood-fired oven that I use. I remember trying to get the permit for the oven. [laughs] It was a real ordeal because the inspectors hadn’t seen a wood-fired oven for some time. I think my restaurant is the only one in the area with a wood-fired oven. But it’s about value and setting my restaurant apart from what others are doing.
MONIQUE: Are you considering opening another restaurant or franchising?
TERI: Well I don’t know about franchising, but I may do another restaurant. But that’s not for another few years now. I’m still trying to get this restaurant to where it needs to be. But who would have thought that the Flying Biscuit would be bought out by Moe’s?
MONIQUE: For anyone that may be interested in the restaurant business, what advice would you give them?
TERI: I would say to anyone interested in the restaurant business that they should first get a job in the restaurant business for several years. They should work in all areas, in the kitchen, doing the books, waiting tables especially. You’ve got to get a feel for all aspects of the business. It’s not what people think. I’ve known great chefs that were interested in going into the restaurant business, but couldn’t manage the business side of the business and their restaurant ventures failed. The key is, you’ve got to work all the positions. You need to know the financial and customer service side to make it successful.
MONIQUE: On a final note, what would you say to aspiring business owners who are preparing to launch?
TERI: I would say that it’s possible to get into the business even if you don’t have all the resources. There are ways to do it. I opened Feast on a shoestring budget. I visited yard sales, maxed out credit cards, and pulled furniture from my house to furnish the restaurant. It can be done.
Feast is a fun, eclectic neighborhood restaurant serving the local Decatur and Oakhurst market with fresh, simple, and uncomplicated food and drink in a fun European influenced atmosphere. •
Feast is located at 314 East Howard Street parallel to E. College Ave in downtown Decatur, Georgia. It is walking distance to the Decatur City Hall, the police station, and the courthouse.It is also directly across the street from the old train depot. (404) 377-2000.
by Jeremy B. Kestler
Bringing LaundraPak to Life: How I Brought My Product to Market
OOver the past four years I have dedicated a significant portion of my time and energy to bring my first product invention, the LaundraPak™ Over-The-Door Laundry Backpack, to market. I developed the LaundraPak from an image in my mind to a patented product, manufactured overseas and sold in the USA on QVC, several e-commerce websites, in fifty college bookstores, and the Linens N Things chain.
As I have progressed with my product development, many people have asked me, “How did you do it?” To me, this question is a bit like asking, “How do you get from New York to Los Angeles?” You can go by car, by plane, by train. But the journey from invention to bringing a product to market includes some key success factors that will help you to reach your destination. You will likely need to ask a lot of people for directions and use good judgment to determine whether to trust their advice. Success takes a lot of money, patience, moral support, and most of all, persistence.
Below I have broken down the process of bringing an invention to market into eight steps.
Step 1: Identify a Need, Not a Product
Many people start with a product. It does something cool and different and it “could” be useful to firefighters, stamp collectors, or bird watchers. A successful invention concept will originate from an identified need, or a burning need as I like to say. There must be a real problem your product solves, a need it fulfills that you can articulate in one or two sentences. The question on the minds of potential licensees, retail buyers, or investors will be, “Are the dogs going to eat the dog food?” or in other words, “Will people actually buy this?”
One of the most important concepts for a budding inventor to understand is the distinction between a need and a perceived need. People may need it, but
• How I Brought My Product to Market
do they know they need it? If your customers don’t know they need your product, you will need to spend the time and money to educate them about why they need it. Nearly all new items require some degree of consumer education, but any product that requires too much consumer education may fail.
Step 2: Do Some Market Research
Often, if your concept is truly innovative, it may be difficult for licensees, buyers, or investors to determine whether or not they believe your idea is destined to succeed or fail. They may or may not be familiar enough with your unique target market to judge for themselves, so a lot of their decision of whether to invest in your product will depend upon how much they believe you understand your market.
There are two important types of research to perform: “top down” and “bottom up.” Top down research means asking store managers, manufacturers, and industry people what they think of the idea. For example, “You own a pet store. Do you think pet owners would buy a designer dog raincoat?” A great follow-up “top down” question is, “Is this a good business to be in? Why or why not?” An experienced businessperson will share many valuable insights and perspectives with you that you may never have considered.
Bottom up research means asking your potential customers if they’d buy your item. Here you want to focus on two questions: “Would you buy this?” and “How much would you be willing to pay?” Over the course of my four-year odyssey, I have asked people this question literally hundreds of times. Actually, most will tell you, even if you don’t ask. Just make sure you ask the right people.
Step 3: Concept Refinement
If you’ve done your homework and you’ve spoken with enough people, you’ve probably received a lot of input about your product’s design. Your product’s size, weight, color, and level of quality are critical details that you alone must manage. Consider making changes if they:
a) make your product less expensive to produce without compromising key benefits;
b) make your item cheaper and easier to package, ship, or merchandise;
c) add functionality without increasing the price; or d) simplify the design or the buying decision for a potential customer.
With LaundraPak, after working with a potential licensee, I significantly modified the way some of the main zippers were configured so the bag could be produced more cheaply and easily. In retrospect, this was an essential part of the product’s evolution. Many people counseled me along the way to build a Buick not a Cadillac, which was good advice. As the saying goes: “Serve the classes and you eat with the masses. Serve the masses and you eat with the classes.” More importantly, there are so many costs that you would never think of such as packaging, fulfillment (shipping orders from a warehouse), and freight that require you to make the most of every penny of production cost. If you don’t, your competitors who quickly enter to copy your successful idea will undercut you on price. Also, your resellers will need to make a hefty profit margin on your item (sometimes up to 75%!) and your sales reps will require a commission (typically at least 15%) to push your item.
Step 4: “Packaging”
Packaging is in quotes because it means more than simply having a pretty box. Proper packaging emphasizes the product’s key features and benefits. You have to grab shoppers’ eyeballs and make them “get” your concept within a few seconds. The way you package your item will depend on the distribution channels you choose to sell through. For example, if you’re selling through catalogs or on the Internet, your only packaging may be a product description.. LaundraPak’s packaging was almost as challenging to prototype as the product itself. The product’s packaging had several essential requirements: a small footprint on the shelf, a way for shoppers to feel the fabric, high-quality color printing, and on and on.
Step 5: “Why Don’t You Make One?”
Very early on in my project I scheduled a free meeting with a business counselor from SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives (www.score.org.) I showed him my drawings, explained my concept and he asked, “Why don’t you make one?” “Where would I find someone to assemble a backpack for me?” I asked. I had consid-
• How I Brought My Product to Market
ered trying a luggage repair shop. He suggested a seamstress. It was an affordable and practical way for me to develop and refine the product. I found a seamstress through a local fabric store and we worked together in her basement for months on several prototypes to develop the first LaundraPak.
In addition to contacting a SCORE counselor, I also recommend locating your local Small Business Development Center (www.sbdc.gov) office. They are usually located at colleges. There also may be a microenterprise development organization nearby. Visit www.microenterpriseworks.org for more information about these great agencies.
Note: While my product could be inexpensively sewn together, some products require plastic or metal molds, and others must be produced in quantity. You can save yourself a lot of time and money by finding a talented graphic designer who can develop three-dimensional (3D) “renderings” of your product. For patent purposes, you will need two-dimensional professional schematic drawings. Very often someone with these skills can also create three-dimensional drawings on the computer that look as good as photographs. Photos of a product that doesn’t yet exist provide a great way to solicit feedback and secure buy-in from customers.
Step 6: Shop the Idea – “You’ve Got a Concept!” OK, so now you’ve got a presentable prototype, drawing, or 3D rendering. Next, try to identify some influential people who might be able to introduce you to someone who can help get your product licensed to a manufacturer/distributor or help you reach a manufacturing contact to make an initial production run on your own. This is a tough step. Depending on your level of experience, you may want to enlist help from someone experienced in business and marketing to accompany you to meetings you set up.
At this stage, real fear sets in and many inventors become paranoid about sharing their ideas with others. Inventors who are afraid to take their great ideas out of the basement are guaranteed to end up with a basement full of great ideas. You should consult a patent agent or attorney and consider using a one-page Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to protect both parties. In my experience, however, I rarely used an NDA, because it became quickly apparent that
asking someone to sign one a) communicated that you were paranoid and inexperienced as a business person, and b) had the effect of stopping any potential progress dead in its tracks. NDA or not, you’ve still got to shop your idea around and get feedback.
I will never forget a meeting I had with the CEO of a medium-sized athletic equipment and apparel manufacturer. I had previously licensed an invention to his company, which they designed and marketed poorly. The product quickly flopped, but I remembered someone said this CEO was a former JanSport executive. I drove four hours to meet with him for a 2 p.m. meeting. I hung my LaundraPak prototype on the door and gave him the quick two-minute demo. By the time I finished, he was practically jumping out of his seat pointing his finger at the product and saying, “You’ve got a concept! That is a concept.” I must confess that I was absolutely lit up by his validation of my product. He then told me to contact a colleague of his at JanSport and tell him, “This is something he should definitely take a look at.”
This meeting occurred at the two-year point in the project and I thought I was home free. It was the quickest four-hour drive home ever. I basically floated on air out of the company’s headquarters with visions of licensing my product to JanSport. Long story short, after sending a letter overnight to the JanSport executive requesting a meeting, we exchanged emails and he pawned me off on some product manager, who in turn bounced me to someone in the legal department, who shot me a terse email saying they don’t except unsolicited ideas. This was one of the events that led me to consider producing the idea on my own.
Step 7: The Big Show
A friend then referred me to someone in my hometown who had grown up in a family handbag business. He was experienced in sourcing products overseas and he often traveled to China. He was presently working as a Vice President of Product Development for a company that supplied purses, leather folios, wallets, and luggage to many large retailers and college bookstores. The $20 million company also owned all the licenses to the major college logos and seemed like a fitting partner and potential licensee. I pitched to a group of VPs and the CEO. The CEO was so impressed that he told me he would produce 1,000 units in five
• How I Brought My Product to Market
colors and that I should draw up a licensing agreement. Again, I thought I was home free.
We ended up working together closely for several months to prepare for a big tradeshow they had coming up. Working with their overseas manufacturer, we produced several rounds of prototypes and ultimately created five color samples. They then invited me to exhibit in their booth at the show. Over three days I received tons of positive feedback and actually took my first orders from two enthusiastic college bookstores. I was ecstatic.
After the tradeshow, communication with executives at the company became more difficult. Ultimately I discovered that they were not as thrilled with the results of the show as I was. (They had hoped for hundreds of orders). Even worse, they cancelled my two flagship orders and never bothered to tell me or my two customers! Though this potential licensee and the VP of Product Development had been instrumental in the development of the product, this was another low point. Once again I became convinced that to make LaundraPak a market reality, I would need to produce it on my own.
Step 8: Get a Little Lucky
Months later I contacted the manufacturer again to refine the product for a potential first order of a few hundred bags for marketing and sales. During this process I attended a QVC Product Search event in Atlanta, Georgia, an open call for inventors with innovative products. Hundreds of people showed up, including a guy with a small coffee table with about six surge protectors attached to it. I wondered what I had gotten myself into. The QVC Buyer spent about two minutes talking to me and examining my sample and marketing materials.
A couple of weeks later I got the call. I had won a coveted six-minute slot on a special QVC show called the QVC Product Search Showcase. I had the opportunity to present my product on national television along with 14 other inventors whose products were selected from a nationwide search. While QVC was not an overwhelming sales success (I only ended up selling 200 of the 1,200 bags that they had ordered), it enabled me to get some great media coverage, which in turn led to some great marketing
contacts. Not to mention, I got to be on TV and relish my entire 15 minutes of fame.
Now I know why they say every great success is built on a lot of perseverance and a little bit of luck. LaundraPak is now available in 50 college bookstores and I recently received a milestone order from Linens N Things for a back-to-school test. Even so, I still feel like LaundraPak is a long way away from becoming a mass-market success. So here are some final points I have found to be key success factors for me in this project.
• How I Brought My Product to Market
One Step at a Time
Inventing a product and bringing it to market takes a long time and is a very gradual process. Along the way I have often felt as though I were taking one step forward and two steps back. Another key point to recognize is that progress is built one step at a time. And there’s no way to predict how you’ll get to Step 7 (or sometimes even what Step 7 is) until you reach Step 6 and take a good look around and consider alternatives. With my product, it has felt like climbing a ladder to the sky with each rung separated by millimeters.
Set Goals and Deadlines
At every stage I asked myself what I needed to do next. I would think of a time frame and a deadline and then pursue the completion of that step by that deadline. This helped me maintain my focus. Many inventors and entrepreneurs get distracted and their ideas end up similarly scattered. To be successful, you must stay focued.
Support
Make sure you have a supportive family. If you don’t, doing something like this can quickly make your life hell. Fortunately for me, my spouse grew up in a family business and understands what it takes. There is simply no way I could have gotten anywhere without her patience, moral support, and her frequent business advice. It’s also important to have friends and business associates who believe in your idea and want to see you succeed. My project started off when I was laid off as a dotcom refugee and I had a conversation with an entrepreneur friend. When I told him I was considering pursuing LaundraPak he said, “That’s a winner.” That’s what gave me the confidence to start—just those three words.
The Business Stuff
I’ve actually been a small business advisor myself in the past, and I’ve seen firsthand how frazzled entrepreneurs get by the business stuff: incorporation, business licenses, bar codes, bank accounts. It can all be very confusing and distressing. Remember that these activities are part of the cost of doing business and don’t let them distract from your product development efforts. Many people lose focus because they think that incorporating is starting a
business. Don’t let the legal and administrative aspects of your project become too burdensome. On that front, what I’ve learned from the later stages of the administrative aspects of a product business (importing, logistics, warehousing, bookkeeping, invoicing, shipping orders) is that I’d be a lot better off if I had been able to find an existing company to do all of this for me. Then I could stick to just inventing new products.
The Patent Stuff
When you’re listening to people’s advice or recommendations, always consider the source.
This can also be a major distraction from the important functions of product development, marketing, and sales. There’s a lot to learn and know and it takes a lot of time and money to pursue intellectual property protection for your ideas. Again, don’t get distracted from your core activities of prototyping, market research, marketing, and sales. Also, be careful not to try to patent something before the design has been finalized. This is challenging because invariably once you begin to market and perform research, you may change your design. Don’t get obsessed with the patent stuff because a patent alone won’t get you squat. Don’t be one of those inventors who has a million patents. Be an inventor who points to successful products that have been introduced into the marketplace.
“What Ya Gotta Do Is…”
Lastly, along the way, you are sure to encounter what I like to call the “what ya gotta do is” people. Everyone’s an expert. They’re very quick to tell you how to conduct your project because they saw one guy on Oprah or because they once heard about a guy who produced something in China, or saw an episode of Dateline. Don’t be fooled! They’ll be very certain and confident and passionate about their opinions. Ninety-nine percent of the time, they really don’t know anything. When you’re listening to people’s advice or recommendations, always consider the source. Remember you are the owner of your product and your project and you call the shots. That’s what makes it fun! Good luck and don’t give up. •
7 YouThingsShould Know about Launching a Business on the Internet
By Jeffory Packer
AA lot a things have happened in the last 10 years regarding the Internet and its growth. We have seen the technology markets rise and we have seen them fall. But there appears to be an aspect of the technology industry that has continued to grow—E-commerce online. In this segment, I’m going to give you seven steps to launching a successful website online.
1. Don’t begin construction of your website until you learn the basics of online auctions. Look around the house and find some old stuff in the attic to sell. Setup an account using eBay or Yahoo stores. Once you have sold an item online, you’ll have the confidence to begin selling more and you’ll learn what actually sells online versus what doesn’t.
2. Research what sells online and compare it to your interests. You want to get excited about your new online store, but keep in mind that the product mix must be appealing to your market. Select products that fit the market’s demand and your personality.
Find a wholesaler who is willing to provide you with your online products.
3. Setup a merchant account. This will allow you to process credit card transactions online. This will include contacting local providers or merchant card service providers who will be happy to supply you will the security, the virtual call credit card terminal, and more.
4. Find a wholesaler who is willing to provide you with your online products. In some major markets, companies like The Apparel Mart will sell to small businesses, provided they have a
• Launching Your Internet Business
business license and pay a small fee. If you really want to realize deep discounts, consider ordering directly from the source. There are literally thousands of companies in China and the Far East that will ship you just about anything you require. Many of their web sites are printed in English, and should you decide to call the supplier, you will likely find their English is very good.
5. Register your company name. This is called your domain, your online name, ie: www.mycompany.com. Register fly and GoDaddy.com are two of the more popular sites to register your domain. These companies can also provide hosting for you.
Begin your branding campaign. Keep in mind that just because your store is virtual, doesn’t mean your marketing should be.
Hosting is simply the service of providing space on a computer where your site will be stored. Typically a monthly fee is required for hosting, so please read all the fine print before signing up. A word of caution is also in line here: the quality and level of support varies widely among domain and hosting services, so shop around. Often the lowest priced service will not provide the best value.
6. Begin your branding campaign. Keep in mind that just because your store is virtual, doesn’t mean your marketing should be. Plan a marketing campaign that includes traditional marketing tools, like business cards, signs, and if budget allows, radio and television. You’ll be surprised at how little you can pay to have an ad promoting your online store on some cable television networks. 7. Launch your site. You can always learn some basic HTML techniques to design your online store. What I would recommend, however, is that you
have a professional designer set up the front end or the main pages of your site. Tell your designer that you want a high quality design, but you would like the site templated in such a way that will allow you to make changes with a simple web editing tool like Front Page. If you decided to reach for the stars and really design a Hollywood style site using FLASH, you’ll need to learn FLASH, or when it comes time to make changes to your site, you’ll have to rely on the designer to make even the smallest of changes.
These are just a few steps that will help you become a successful online marketer. Stay tuned for the next installment when we will discuss selecting the best high-speed Internet service for your business.
Jeffory is a small business consultant who makes his home in Marietta, Georgia, in the Atlanta Metro Area. You can write Jeff at j.packer@jpacker.net
