But in fact, successful entrepreneurs are not Lone Rangers–which, for inexperienced entrepreneurs, should be regarded as a good thing. I’ve talked to more than 100 successful entrepreneurs over the past 10 years, and they frequently don’t have a lot of business management experience, don’t have any more money than the average person and typically have never tried to introduce a product before.

The key moment in their entrepreneurial process has been when they recognized their shortcomings and sought help from other people. That help is exactly what they need to succeed, and it can come in hundreds of forms, such as these:

• A manufacturer willing to extend dating on orders
• An independent sales agent or industry insider who offers tips on getting a product out into the market
• A retailer who heavily promotes your product at its expense
• A manufacturer who funds your research and development for the option on a private label contract
• A marketer who shares a booth with you at a major convention or provides an introduction to key industry buyers
• An industry connection who helps you fund your initial production run
• Another entrepreneur who tells you the best fairs and events to attend, and helps you price your product
• A manufacturer who lets you use his or her model shop to produce your products in return for help filling backorders on Saturday
• An industry insider who first invests in your company and then comes to work with you to make the product a success
• A retailer who gives you a provisional order–they’ll buy when and if you can deliver–so you can get a manufacturer to fund an initial production run

You should think about the kind of help you will need right at the start, before you even begin to introduce a product to market. If you can prototype and make your product at home, you can probably survive on your own until you’re ready to sell. But most entrepreneurs have products that require a little more investment upfront, and they could go broke if they wait too long to get experienced advice. Not only that, but getting help early will prevent a lot of mistakes in creating your product, and this will help you save money for the crucial tasks that lie ahead.

The Lone Ranger Is Dead

The product life cycle today is short–very short. Products can come and go in just two to three years, and this dramatic change presents both problems and opportunities for entrepreneurs. On one hand, entrepreneurs can’t afford to work alone and follow the normal two- to five-year process to get their product to market since in that time the market may pass them by. This means entrepreneurs can’t be independent, can’t control everything that happens with their product and may have just a few short years of successful selling.

The good news is that established marketers and manufacturers have an even harder time getting to market quickly, so nimble entrepreneurs can beat them to the punch. The big manufacturers are responding to this challenge by working with an increasing number of outside companies, including entrepreneurs, to keep on the leading edge of their markets. This also means that manufacturers, marketers, distributors and retailers are generally willing to help entrepreneurs. All you have to do is ask.

The simple fact is that teamwork equals success. In today’s crowded market, individual entrepreneurs have a hard time standing out and getting noticed. To build the necessary size and momentum, you need resources, and if you don’t have them, you must team up with someone who does–someone who has the money, the manufacturing prowess, or the distribution reach required to turn a new product into a success.

Every month I hear at least one new story of an entrepreneur forming alliances to succeed. Below are examples of three entrepreneurs who’ve done this, and they are just the tip of the iceberg. If you keep alert, you’ll read about other examples in your local newspapers and business magazines. Might that other person’s experience work for you? Remember to always be on the lookout for opportunities to make alliances.

• Karen Alvarez of Dublin, California, invented the Baby Comfort Strap, a product that keeps children safely strapped into shopping carts. When she first started her company, Baby Comfort Co., she was referred to Safe Strap Co., a manufacturer that sells shopping-cart straps to supermarkets. Alvarez asked Safe Strap for help, and the company agreed to make small quantities of Alvarez’s product and to 90-day payment terms to help launch the product.
• Nathaniel Weiss, founder of G-Vox, a Philadelphia-based music company, got his start with a hardware/software product package that automatically transcribes notes played on a guitar into sheet music. His product allows guitarists to work on a new song without having to stop constantly to write down each note. Weiss has had a board of advisors from the beginning. His big break came when he formed an alliance with Fender Guitar Co. Fender agreed to sell his product to guitar stores, both as an accessory and as an option on Fender guitars. Once his company generated some initial sales success, Weiss went out and found several marketing people with extensive experience selling to retail music stores to push his product into the market.
• Gary Lewtschenko of Glenmore Park, Australia, had worked for six years on his Anywhere Tent–which can be set up in mud, shallow water, over fallen trees or on rocky ledges–without achieving any significant market penetration. Then, in 2005, he took on four partners with experience in developing new businesses, who put their expertise and $75,000 into his company. Lewtschenko gave up 80 percent of his company, which might seem like a lot, but he feels it was a good deal, and sales took a sharp upturn once he found partners. His plan is to use the income from the Anywhere Tent to launch other products on his own through his company, Unique Creations. As for Lewtschenko’s partners, who were judges on Dragon’s Den, a TV competition that looked for new, exciting products, they got what they wanted, too: major involvement in a new product they felt had a real niche in a promising market.

The New Product Factory

There are three tasks involved in launching a successful product.

1. Finding an opportunity in the marketplace, and then creating a product to meet that opportunity. The well-conceived product meets a consumer desire or need and can be produced at a price that provides buyers with value. This is normally an entrepreneur’s strength.
2. Manufacturing the product. Tooling, manufacturing fixtures, working capital, quality control, value engineering, product liability insurance, regulatory approvals and a host of other complicated concerns are the realm of the manufacturer.
3. Marketing the product. Pricing, packaging, promotional allowances and connecting with major buyers are some of the simpler tasks of marketing. Understanding customer needs, positioning the product so it will sell, creating a memorable brand and product image, and finding customer hot buttons are some of the tactics marketers use to successfully introduce a product.

As you look at these three tasks, ask yourself: Does it make sense for entrepreneurs to try to do everything involved in bringing a product to market? I don’t think so. Each of the jobs of new product development, marketing and manufacturing requires in-depth expertise. Your goal as an entrepreneur is to learn to use other people so that both you and they make money. Once you do that, you’ll be able to devote your time to being creative and inventing new products.

Unfortunately, there is no single way to find partners. Each market and each product are different and require a particular approach; for each new endeavor, you will need to go to shows, make industry contacts and find just the right marketing and manufacturing partners. But once you become skilled at finding partners, you’ll only be limited by your creativity and your ability to come up with new ideas that the market wants.

This article has been excerpted from Selling Your Products, by Don Debelak, published by Entrepreneur Magazine.

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Private label manufacturers cut into an inventor’s profits, as private label manufacturers will buy the product from you at 20 to 25 percent below what distributors will pay, but in return inventors have an established sales base. Since inventors can sell both on a private label basis and under their own name at the same time, a private label contract can provide the volume inventors need to successfully launch their own businesses.

Inventors can also sell on a private label basis to a retailer. For example, Sears Craftsman products aren’t made by Sears. They are made by other companies that sell to Sears on a private label basis. You need to offer 50 to 60 percent off suggested retail pricing when selling on a private label basis to a retailer, but that is a much better deal for inventors than having to offer a 30 to 50 percent discount off the wholesale or distributor price.

Most inventors will find that distribution, marketing and gaining market acceptance are three big problems when starting to sell a product. Private label is one way to overcome those obstacles. When trying to sell the product under your own name, the cost of marketing and distribution for the first two or three years is often 20 to 40% of sales, and sometimes more. The increased discounts you offer based on private labeling are offset by saving on marketing and distribution.

Perfect Products

Products that are natural extensions of other product lines are ideal private label products. For example, your product might be a rack that allows people to bake four sheets of cookies at a time instead of just two sheets. This product may not have enough appeal to get mass merchants to carry it from a separate company. But the product is an ideal complement for a company selling other similar baking products such as cookie trays, spatulas, and cooling racks. The baking product company will be receptive to an offer to sell a product on a private label basis because it enhances its line and gives the company a better chance to secure shelf space in major retailers. The same situation applies to private label agreements with retailers. They look to add products that complement other products in their private label line.

Your Goals

• Entering competitive markets where one-line companies are at a marked disadvantage.
• Developing sales for a product that helps consumers but doesn’t have the potential of being a major factor in the market.
• Creating a sales base that will help support sales under an inventor’s own brand name.
• Securing a distribution contract so that an inventor can secure the financing he or she needs to begin production.
• Having just a few customers so that the inventor can operate his or her business on a part-time basis.
• Developing a relationship with a company that could eventually result in a licensing agreement.

How to get started

Prototype

Inventors need a “looks like, works like” prototype before landing a private label agreement. A company is going to want to not only to see but to test your product before deciding to go ahead. If you don’t have the ability to make the prototype, you probably can get a contract manufacturer to make it for you at a low cost if you promise, or sign an agreement, to give them the business if you get the final agreement.

Research

When you approach a company with a private label proposal, you want to show them that their target customers like your product and feel it helps them accomplish their goals. This can be shown by having surveys of potential customers, or by having interviews or supporting letters from influential users. The best research might arise from a study of a group of target customers actually using the product, with the results demonstrating that your product is a big benefit to them.

Manufacturing

You are responsible for providing the product in a private label agreement, either by making the product yourself or by having it made by a contract manufacturer. Typically you will need to have a manufacturer who will be willing to make your product in a large enough quantity so it will be of interest to the private label partner.

Picking target private label partners

Companies that have the second through fifth market share positions are usually best to approach, as they are typically not complacent and they are more willing to take a chance on a new product. You want to approach companies where your product is a good fit with their product line. You want the potential buyer’s sales force to be already calling on or selling to your target customers.

Inside support

When you are targeting a company or distributor, you need someone within the company to help promote your idea. You can meet contacts at your target company at trade shows, or by just contacting the company and finding the salesperson that covers your area. Salespeople, regional sales managers, and marketing personnel all can be the right one to push your product with company management.

Approaching the target company

The best approach is to decide on the target end user price and then to approach the company and say you are willing to sell it on a “private label basis for 40% of the end-user price.”  Most companies will only want to pay 35% so expect to pay less. This percentage is low, and you may only make 25% on your product sales. But you won’t have sales and marketing costs, you will typically end up with much higher sales than you could generate on your own, and often are opening the market up for your own sales efforts in a year or two.

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• They let you sell to a small market that can’t be reached in any other way.

• They help you create initial sales momentum. Often, retailers are reluctant to handle a product until it has some degree of sales success.

• They can be your primary sales channel.

Virtually any type of product can be sold through catalogs. Since most catalogs are aimed at specific niches, catalogs work best for inventors with specialty products. Products suited for catalogs usually have four characteristics:

1. They meet a need buyers already know they have. People skim catalogs and only notice products that catch their interest. That happens when the product meets a specific customer need.
2. They have a new or unique positioning statement. Most people think of products in categories. A consumer might see a new sleeping pillow and think it’s just like the neck-bracing pillows sold in the past. Your product has to stand out in the market.
3. They are easily understood. You’re lucky if readers even give your product a glance. Your invention needs to be understood in one to two seconds, or the prospect will move on.
4. They are priced appropriately for the catalog. Products priced from $12.95 to $29.95 do best in general-merchandise catalogs. Specialty and premium catalogerss favor products priced from $40 to $500. Catalogers look carefully at how many dollars a product generates relative to the space it occupies on the page.

Find Your Target

Catalogs cater to specific audiences with a narrow product line. Levenger, for example, is a catalog of upscale products for serious readers. Find catalogs that sell to your target audience, sell products priced similarly to yours (economy, midrange, or premium), and sell products that are complementary to, but not the same as, yours.
Get a copy of each catalog, and look at the different products to find where yours fits. Double-check that each catalog’s target market and pricing fit your product. Then make a list of the top 10 catalogers to which you will send presentation packages.

What to Send

You typically won’t need to send a sample product. Catalogers often prefer to see a brochure or sales flier and price schedule first, then request a sample if they are interested in the product.
When you mail your package to the catalog company, include a mock-up of a typical page from the catalog that features your product alongside other complementary products already in the catalog. This shows the catalog buyer how your pricing and product features are a perfect fit.

Create a clear visual that lets people immediately connect to your product. This image can be of the product itself, or it can be of the situation the product solves. For example, people easily understand from a product picture the dispensing racks that hold multiple drink cans in the refrigerator. But they may need a visual of a dandelion-removing tool in action to quickly understand how it works.

Match the style of copy on your sales materials to the style of each catalog. Many marketers who sell to various catalogs custom-write their materials each time. Having the right style helps persuade buyers that your product is perfect for their catalogs.

If you have any past publicity, include it in your presentation. If you don’t have any, manufacture some. Host an event–it doesn’t have to be big-that allows people to use your product, and then ask them to offer testimonials. For example, you could organize a 5-kilometer bike ride for 10 people to showcase a new, more comfortable bicycle seat.

How to Send It

When you send your package is just as important as what you send. Catalogers typically decide to buy products only once or twice a year, when they are laying out their new catalogs. Often, this date could be four to five months before the catalog is actually printed. Find out when a cataloger finalizes its product decisions, then mail to the catalog twice: two months before the final date, and again two weeks before the date. Mailing two months before will help get your product considered in the regular decision process. Mailing two weeks before the deadline puts you in front of catalog buyers right when they are trying to fill last-minute holes in the catalog.

Before sending your package, find out the name of the buyer for your type of product. If you call and ask, most catalogs will tell you. If you don’t know who the buyer is, you won’t know if your information reaches the right person, and you won’t know who to call when following up.

Catalogers don’t want products everyone else has. You can often get a foothold in the market if you tell buyers your product will only be in one or two catalogs the following year. This gives them a little more incentive to buy, and it allows you to ask the buyer for a response by a certain date so that you can contact other buyers if the first catalog doesn’t want your product.

Is It Worth Your While?

One of the biggest advantages of catalog sales is that you have few expenses other than manufacturing costs. There are minimal sales and marketing expenses, which in most other marketing channels consume 20 to 40 percent of your sales dollars. You will probably make money as long as you can sell your product for 50 percent more than your manufacturing cost.

The only major expense is that catalogers often ask you to pay part of the printing cost. This should be no more than 15 percent of your projected sales volume. If the printing costs are too high, you can frequently negotiate a better deal. Tell the cataloger you’ll pay with free goods; for example, you’ll include 15 percent extra merchandise with each shipment to pay for printing.

Many catalogs have gone out of business recently, and many more are operating on a shoestring. Ask for credit references, and don’t pay for printing before the catalog is printed-pay only in free goods or discounts off your invoice.

Sustaining Success

As a rule, catalogers change a substantial number of product offerings every printing. So unless your product is a top seller, you can expect to be dropped from a catalog every now and then. You can minimize the roller-coaster effect of catalog sales by creating strong relationships with buyers. Ask buyers what their goals are for the next issue and what you could do with your product to help them meet their objectives. You should also:

• Create variety. Catalogers don’t like to have the very same products as other catalogs, so offer your product with several variations for catalogers to choose from. You can offer different colors or a few new features, or pair the product with different complementary items. A painting tool, for example, might come with a paint-can opener one season and a masking aid the next.

• Add catalog customers. You may have offered an exclusive contract to a cataloger for the first year of catalog sales, but you can only grow your business by adding catalogs on a regular basis. Find new target catalogs, and keep going after them.

• Support the product. Your value to catalogs declines rapidly if you have quality or return problems. Most companies try to overcome this by directing product returns to themselves. Give consumers a toll-free number to call for questions and problems, and provide instructions on returning a product to you. You want to clear up every problem on your own to avoid conflicts with the catalog.

The drawback to catalog sales is that your product is exposed to a wide variety of people. Potential competitors can see your product, realize it has potential and decide to compete with you. You should at least have “patent pending” status before approaching catalogers, or you risk someone taking your idea.

Key Resources

http://onestopinventionshop.net/books/catalog-lists/List of catalogs relevant to inventors.  Cost os $39.95. Included are catalogs from thee markets:

• Baby Products,
• Men and Women’s Clothing
• Camping Equipment and Supplies
• Campers, Off-road and RV Accessories
• Fishing Equipment and Supplies
• Garden and Lawn Supplies and Equipment
• Novelty Gifts
• Gifts
• Hunting Equipment and Supplies
• Jewelry and Costumes
• Kitchenware
• Office Products and Supplies
• Pet Accessories and Gifts
• Toys and Games

Response magazine www.responsemagazine.com  (714-513-8400): In addition to mail order catalogs, this magazine covers infomercials, direct-response short-form ads and TV shopping networks. It also sponsors a yearly trade show where inventors can meet with direct-response marketers who license inventors’ products.

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Edie Tolchin, aka “The Sourcing Lady” (sm), owner of EGT Global Trading (www.egtglobaltrading.com), providing product safety, China sourcing, manufacturing and importing services since 1997, has joined forces with Ken Robinson, to now offer website design, development, search engine optimization, and web hosting for inventors via www.widgetsontheweb.com.  Contact either Ken (kenrbnsn@widgetsontheweb.com) or Edie (EGT@warwick.net) and…

Get your product out there!

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People think of the pet store market as primarily Petco and PetSmart and then a large number of small stores, but pet products are actually sold in many other locations including convenience stores, big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Target, and even grocery stores. So the market is wide open, and the interest in pet products is sky high as people are spending more and more money on pet accessories. So now is a great time to proceed with a pet product.

Trade Magazines

I always like to recommend that people start their marketing and sales program early, even before a product is completely developed, by subscribing to the industry trade magazines. These magazines tell you about the industry, often give you names of key buyers, distributors and manufacturers reps, and provide an outlet for your new product announcements when your product is ready to sell. The pet market has three strong trade magazines:

Pet Age:  http://www.petage.com/
Pet Business:  http://www.petbusiness.com/
Pet Products:  http://www.petproductnews.com/

When you start reading trade magazines be sure to look closely in the new product announcement sections for pet businesses near where you live. You might be able to make some contacts at that business just by showing up and talking to the marketing and sales people. Send away for literature on products in your category as you might get letters from manufacturer reps in your area who could later turn into key contacts.

Trade Shows

The industry also has a major trade show, the Global Pet Expo, held this year from February 29th to March 2nd at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando Florida. The show is a great place to meet possible buyers from all the major companies and many buyers of smaller stores. If you are not quite ready to exhibit it is still a great show to attend, just tell the show you are planning on introducing a product the next year and that you would like to attend the show to see what it is like.

Pet Distributors

Pet products are often sold through distributors and there is an active distributor association: the Pet Industry Distributor Association, www.pida.org. Their site also includes a list of all the distributor members at http://www.pida.org/memberdirectory/index.cfm#product.

This is an excellent site with a great deal of information about the industry and it has many useful links. You can sell directly to the distributors or sell to distributors through manufacturers’ representatives.

Manufacturers Sales Representatives

There are a large group of manufactures’ sales representatives that sell pet products.  Often the reps concentrate one market, such as convenience stores or Petco and PetSmart so you can end up with a large network of representatives to sell your product. The best way to find sales reps is to attend a trade show. If you don’t have a booth, you can still meet reps by talking to people at tables in the snack area, and by going to small booths and asking who the sales reps are for your geographic area. If you can find one or two reps in your area to support you, often they will help you set up a strong rep network.

If you can’t get to a show, the best way to find reps is to get subscriptions to the trade magazines and send away for literature from every product remotely connected to yours. When you receive literature, often it will contain the names of local reps. Contact the reps and arrange to meet him for lunch or a late afternoon coffee or drink and then see if he will represent you.

If those two approaches don’t work you can also buy a sales rep list from One Stop Invention Shop by going to the site http://onestopinventionshop.net/books/sales-reps/ and purchasing a list on pet market sales reps for $24.99.

Selling to Petco or Petsmart

Often your best bet on selling to these companies is to use a manufacturers’ representative that has purchasing contacts. But you can approach either company on your own too.

Contact the Petco corporate offices by letter: Petco Animal Supplies, Inc., 9125 Rehco Rd., San Diego, CA 92121; or by fax: (858) 784-3489. The company’s main phone number is (877) 738-6742.

Petco also has a web site where inventors can submit their idea,
https://partners.petco.com/cs/vportal/custom/not_doing_business.htm  explains how to submit and idea and the web page http://petco.mysourcingcenter.com is the page you go to when you are ready to submit your idea.

Petsmart is a little more difficult to get into.  You can try mailing a sample to the company headquarters: Petsmart, 9601 N. 27th Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85027 Phone: (623) 580-6100.  I found you have a better approach by locating a Petsmart buyer on LinkedIn and then sending information through an email or mail to the buyers, who are mostly located at the companies Phoenix headquarters. These two pages will help you find a buyer: www.linkedin.com/title/associate+buyer/at-petsmart/ and www.linkedin.com/title/buyer/at-petsmart/.  If you don’t have a LinkedIn account you will need to set one up.

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