Once the Spin Clean found its way into local stores, Dudley made
a video demonstrating what a great job it did. In 1997, he sent
that video to big pool-store chains. A year later, Leslie's
Pool Mart placed an order for 2,550 Spin Cleans, to be sold at a
retail price of $29.95 in its 500 stores. Robertson and Dudley were
looking at their first big order.
There was only one problem: Techniques used in manufacturing the
Spin Clean's initial production run weren't right for a
bigger one. The temporary mold also couldn't make a lot of
parts. That was when Robertson's decision to bring Dudley on as
a partner truly paid off. Dudley arranged for a more permanent mold
to be made and for a manufacturer to create the injection-molded
parts for mass production.
Of course, it wasn't all smooth sailing. Robertson explains:
"We got the parts made and gave them to an injection-molder to
finish, but we still had to do the final assembly. Also, we
didn't have a place to store the finished product, and we
didn't have a manufacturing facility."
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The solution: Robertson dispensed parts to about 20 friends,
neighbors and relatives who helped assemble the Spin Cleans, which
were then stored in three neighborhood garages. The order went out
in time, and Leslie's Pool Mart ordered another 5,000 units in
1999. Not a bad trade-off for Robertson and Dudley—their
initial "looks like, works like" prototype was key in
landing them their first big orders.
The Right Steps
In 2000, with business picking up, Robertson and Dudley had some
decisions to make. They could either give up their current jobs and
run the business themselves, or sell out to a pool-supply company
that could give the product full nationwide exposure. They opted to
keep their jobs and licensed the Spin Clean to a major supplier.
Finding a licensing partner wasn't too difficult, because the
Spin Clean had proven sales success.
The inventors and the licensor redesigned the Spin Clean, both
adding features and reducing cost, and the company plans to launch
the new and improved product in the summer of 2002. Robertson and
Dudley don't mind the delay, as the licensor is tooling up for
major production, which the partners hope will translate into big
royalty checks.
Robertson gives Dudley a lot of credit for Spin Clean's
success. "I would never have gotten anywhere without
Dave," he says. "I just couldn't have made a
professional-looking product. And I didn't have the money to
have one made for me."
As Robertson's tale illustrates, when it comes to prototypes
and manufacturing, inventors can't know it all, and they need
advice from knowledgeable people to succeed. If you don't have
a friend like Dudley, attend local inventors' clubs and talk to
people to get ideas and contacts.
The downside to Robertson's strategy was that he gave away a
major portion of his idea. The upside was he spent very little
upfront money, and his invention did finally make it to market.
Getting the help you need doesn't guarantee success, but you
have only a slim chance of success without it.
| IT'S YOUR
TIME! | | Congress has designated August
National Inventors' Month.
The founders of Inventors' Month, which include Inventors' Digest magazine and
the United Inventors
Association, are setting up invention displays at 8,000
public libraries across the country.
Inventors' Digest also has one of the the most
comprehensive inventors' sites on the Web (www.inventorsdigest.com). It's one
of the busiest, with about 9,000 visits per month. What's the
big draw? The site offers help for every topic, from basic help for
new inventors to legislative updates and advanced prototyping
strategies. The site even includes a page where inventors can list
their inventions for sale. And the magazine posts articles from
many of its back issues, so you can search for items relevant to
your interests. |
|
Don Debelak is a
new-business marketing consultant.
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