The Entrepreneur: Jeff
Pettit, 47, founder of Floppy Sprinkler USA LLC in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana
Product Description: Rain on
Demand is a water sprinkler with a silicone tube that can rise and
rotate 360 degrees, distributing water in a 40-foot circle. The
primary advantage of Rain on Demand is that its softer tube
produces large water droplets without mist-so more than 90 percent
of the water falls in the intended area. Traditional sprinklers,
which use a piece of metal to disperse the water, create a
substantial amount of mist that floats away, with only 65 percent
of the water falling in the target area.
Start-Up: $150,000 in
2000
Sales: $250,000 in 2002
The Challenge: Getting your
product sold over a home shopping network and maximizing those
sales to get your product into normal channels
It takes a lot of time and work to get a new product featured on
a home shopping channel. Here's how Pettit recommends handling
the challenge:
Steps to
Success
1. Make sure your product has the right
features for the consumer market, and market the product
so it appeals to as broad an audience as possible. Rain on Demand
actually started out as an agricultural product for farmers. Pettit
redesigned the product and packaging for the consumer market and
dubbed it Rain on Demand. To make the product appeal to even more
people, QVC, the cable channel home shopping network that first
featured Rain on Demand, also came up with the idea of pitching the
product as "a sprinkler for kids to run through," says
Pettit.
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2. Evaluate the networks.
The various home shopping networks don't like to sell the same
products as each other, so it's best to approach them one at a
time. Says Pettit, "I watched all the shopping networks and
decided that QVC had a no-hype, straightforward style that I felt
most comfortable with and would be most effective with Rain on
Demand."
3. Submit your idea. "I
went to the QVC Web site (www.qvc.com) and downloaded the forms for submitting
an idea," says Pettit. After filling them out, he waited for a
response. If you're interested in selling via a home shopping
network, you should check their Web sites monthly. The networks
frequently go from city to city looking for new products, so you
just might have the chance to present your product in person. The
networks also set aside certain days for inventors who want to go
to the network and present their products to buyers.
4. Answer any questions and document
your claims. "After about three months, QVC
contacted me for more information," says Pettit. QVC wanted a
video of the product in action as well as substantiation of the
claims made on the packaging. Any time you plan on selling a
product, it's a good idea to start documenting your claims from
the moment you begin developing the prototype.
5. Attend a class for first-time
presenters. Preparation is essential for a successful TV
appearance. QVC, for one, offers a free full-day seminar on all the
dos and don'ts of appearing on a home shopping channel.
"The class dealt with how to create one sentence that could
sell your product, how to sell the features of the product, and
what to expect when I went on the air," Pettit says. "The
class was a big help in preparing my script."
6. Ship your product as soon as
possible. QVC ordered 4,500 units from Pettit but
wouldn't air the Rain on Demand spot until the product was in
hand.
7. Trust the host. When the
big day finally arrived in July 2002, "I had a script
prepared, but I only got to talk to the host, Jill Bauer, for a few
minutes before I was on the air," says Pettit. "The host
did a great job and said the right things to sell the
product."
8. Follow up with the buyer
afterward. Because the buyer at QVC was pleased with
Rain on Demand's sales, the station scheduled another
airing.
9. Capitalize on your success with
home-shopping in your regular markets. Getting your
product featured on a TV shopping network is a big endorsement for
most retailers. After all, TV shopping networks only feature
products they know consumers want. Promote this in your marketing
materials.
"Currently, we have the product in about 200 Gulf Coast
garden centers and hardware stores," Pettit says. "I
include information about QVC in my sales package and have
attracted the interest of two distributors and a catalog retailer.
With the combination of distributors and QVC, we are expecting
sales [to quadruple] in 2003."
| PATENT PENDING | |
| Protect your idea
with an "inventor's notebook" to document all your
work. Drawings, written concepts and meetings should be recorded in
the notebook. Every two to four weeks, have witnesses
sign the last page of your notes with a statement to the effect
that: "The information on pages XX-XX [pages from the last
witness signing] is confidential, and I have read and understand
these pages." Since your notebook is a record that verifies
when you had your idea, it is a key piece of evidence in any
potential patent dispute. This kind of notebook is also valuable to
potential investors and partners because it documents the work
you've done to create and develop your idea. You can generally
find permanently bound record books with numbered pages at office
supply stores or on the Web, at sites such as CleanSweepSupply.com
and Eureka Lab Book Inc. (www.eurekalabbook.com).
Prices start at approximately $20.
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