We Say Goodbye to 3 Inventor-Entrepreneurs Featured This Year
In January 2009 we launched Spark, a yearlong hand-in-hand journey with three women inventor-entrepreneurs at different stages of their product-development cycles.
What started as an experiment turned into an immersive, voyeuristic learning lesson for all involved – for the three subjects, for those of us at the magazine, and, we trust, for readers.
While their three stories end with us – at least for the time being – we’re grateful and honored they allowed us an extended look behind the scenes.
We started posting parting thoughts on Wednesday with Julie Austin.
Next up:
Madeline Canfield, inventor of the NanoLite attachable key light. She learned the value of hiring a professional public-relations and marketing firm, which allowed her to focus on other aspects of her business. Here’s what she had to say:
Closing a sale with a retailer is the goal for any inventor, but being too flexible meeting their requests for customized packaging took too much time and money. I would have challenged my reps to secure sales for the current inventory before working on those that requested new packaging.
I would have been more selective about accounts our team goes after. Instead of going after multiple outlets at once, I would have focused our efforts on one or two major retailers. Some of the companies I dealt with had a lot of turnover among decision makers, which resulted in lost deals.
I also learned the importance of project management. I have begun to enforce what we call a “work-back schedule,” which starts with the final deadline for a project and works back on the calendar setting deadlines to meet for each element of the project.
The most challenging aspect of business this year has been the availability of funds to grow my business. Some potential accounts required a larger inventory than I had in stock or had funding for and that stifled our growth.
Customers continue to surprise and inspire me with their feedback. The latest came from a gentleman who lives in the Southwest and uses his NanoLite to check for rattlesnakes when he takes out the trash.
Although we are currently producing in China, I would choose to bring this back domestically if some of the costs could be tax write-offs or the overhead was reduced. U.S. production brings many advantages, such as being able to keep a better eye on the production process.
The changing economy had a significant impact on NanoLite’s sales. I thought pitching the sale to retailers would be the hardest part. Instead, it was negotiating an acceptable contract. Many retailers are implementing guaranteed sales clauses, essentially allowing these stores to send back any unsold products and requiring me to reimburse them and pay their shipping and handling costs.
Retailers don’t want to store inventory, so they demand that I have sufficient stock to fulfill reorder request within seven days. Some wanted me to drop-ship to individual stores rather than process a small item through their distribution center. These clauses made payment tentative and reduced my profit margin.
We learned to not rely on any one source of revenue, as we could no longer guarantee anything in the current economic climate. We were pleasantly surprised that some avenues of NanoLite sales, like direct sales over the Internet, proved to be more profitable than expected.
In hindsight, I would have gone to market more quickly via the Internet and hired my public relations and design firm sooner. After hiring professionals to design NanoLite’s packaging, sales materials and the Web site, I found that closing a sale with retailers or approaching a potential investor was so much easier. Professionally designed materials reinforced the credibility of my invention and my company’s reputation.
I would do it again, definitely. I learned to research patents and write articles. My computer skills expanded to computer graphics and Web sites. I talked with business professionals, lawyers, inventors’ clubs and retailers. I’ve done cold calls and sold to small, independent businesses, large retailers and individuals at expos and fairs. I’ve met amazing people and had great opportunities – like writing for this magazine.
Location: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Product: NanoLite, the world’s smallest attachable key light
Web site: http://nanolitestore.com
Background: Special education teacher, art teacher, diagnostician
