Inventor Story: Debbee Barker

Debbee Barker was looking for a way to help keep her daughter’s rooms more organized and less cluttered.  She realized that a large part of the mess was caused by laundry left unfolded or folded improperly and started thinking of ways to make folding and organizing clean clothes easier.  The result was Barker’s invention of the FlipFOLD laundry organizer which allows anyone to quickly and uniformly fold clothes. Read the rest of this entry »

Michele Kish markets the All-In-One Cosmetic kit — a single product that self adjusts to individual natural pigments and bone structure to produce a perfect natural color fit with each user — through her company Go-Natural, Inc.  The silky pressed powder from her replaces eight different types of cosmetics — blush, foundation, eye shadow, concealer, brow and lip color — in a single application, while it also blends away imperfections and produces a natural healthy glow. Simply brush it on and daily make up is completed in seconds. All-In-One Cosmetic works with all ages and all skin colors. With a two year development cycle that began in 1999 Kish has been able to develop her idea to the point where it has been sold on TV, is offered in a major mail order catalog is sold at more than 450 upscale salons and spas. Read the rest of this entry »

From “Pitchmen” to QVC – New Products are Being Introduced

Aug 23, 2010 – Santa Monica, CA – T2 Design Corporation (http://www.t2design.com), featured on a Freemantle TV series, has designed and prototyped dozens of new inventions for their clients and several of these products are now being introduced on television.

“Inventors and entrepreneurs find TV to be a powerful tool in making the public aware of their new and innovative products,” says T2 Design President Paul Berman.  T2 Design recently licensed a barbecue tool with Chuck Khubani’s company Ontel, a leader in the direct Response and retail business.  Ontel is a pioneer in the “As Seen On TV” industry and some of their current products include the “Iron Gym,” “Swivel Sweeper G2″ and the hugely successful “Dryer Balls.” Ontel sells their products, from housewares to hardware, on television, retail and at http://www.ontelproducts.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Blakely was a national sales manager for a fax machine company and an amateur comedian.  One night before going on stage, she decided she wanted to wear cream colored pants with opened toe shoes, but everything she put on under her pants showed lines, so she cut the feet off of her panty hose.  The panty hose kept on rolling up her leg that night, but she realized she was on to something. Read the rest of this entry »

Does Your Business Have Staying Power?

50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 95% fail within five years, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.  Does your business have staying power?  In this article we will talk about what contributes to staying power and how to incorporate that into your own business. Read the rest of this entry »

As anyone who has studied inventions knows, inventor success isn’t always a case of having the best product or the best strategy.  Often the difference between a successful inventor and an unsuccessful one is that one inventor chose a market that has outstanding characteristics, or what Don likes to call them, outstanding GEL Factors, (Great Customers, Easy Sales and Long Life) and the other one didn’t.  If you idea doesn’t approach a market with excellent GEL factors you will have trouble introducing your idea and should consider a different idea or market.  To learn more about GEL factors look into Don’s book Business Models Made Easy, (Entrepreneur Press, 2006). Read the rest of this entry »

What makes some inventors succeed while others fail?  Success isn’t always a case of having the best product or the best strategy; often the difference between a successful inventor and an unsuccessful one is that one inventor chose a market that has outstanding characteristics, or what Don likes to call them, outstanding GEL Factors, (Great customers, Easy sales and Long life), while the other did not. If your idea isn’t targeted for a market with excellent GEL factors, you will have trouble introducing your idea and should consider trying a different idea or market.  To learn more about GEL factors look into Don’s book Business Models Made Easy, (Entrepreneur Press, 2006). Read the rest of this entry »

How would you like to have a team of Ph.D’s and Doctors with decades of experience consulting you on how to create the perfect product? What if you didn’t need to pay them? What if instead of paying them, they pay you for your products and recommend them to others? Does this sound too good to be true? It isn’t if you know how to tap into your customers’ knowledge. Read the rest of this entry »

Balancing Market and Cost Pricing

Many inventors have a hard time pricing their product.  Why is this?  It is because pricing your product is a very difficult task—one that takes weighing multiple factors.  The two main aspects you need to weigh are cost and market factors.  We will deal with pricing in a three part series, with the first part dealing with market pricing, the second part dealing with cost pricing and then the third part dealing with how to balance the two. Read the rest of this entry »

Cost Pricing

Many inventors have a hard time pricing their product.  Why is this?  It is because pricing your product is a very difficult task—one that takes weighing multiple factors.  The two main aspects you need to weigh are cost and market factors.  We will deal with pricing in a three part series, with the first part dealing with market pricing, the second part dealing with cost pricing and then the third part dealing with how to balance the two. Read the rest of this entry »