What: Custom
sports jerseys that combine two different teams or home/away
uniforms
Who: Craig and
Matt Steichen of Torn Apparel Inc.
Where: Carol
Stream, Illinois
When: Started in
2000
Matt Steichen didn't have a favorite team in the 2000 Super
Bowl between the Tennessee Titans and the St. Louis Rams. So when
his dad, Craig, took him to Atlanta for a fun Super Bowl weekend,
Matt made a jersey to wear that supported both teams. He cut the
official jerseys in half and sewed the opposing pieces together,
creating an all-new, one-for-all jersey. Matt, now 20, says the
shirt attracted immediate attention as soon as he got off the plane
in Atlanta. People from all over the world were interested in his
creation.
When they got home, the father-and-son team started developing a
plan to manufacture and sell the two-tone jerseys to other sports
fans. A year later, with jerseys in hand, they went to Tampa,
Florida, for Super Bowl XXXV, the Baltimore Ravens vs. the New York
Giants. Walking around a mall in the days before the big game,
Matt, wearing his Baltimore/New York jersey, caught the eye of rap
star Nelly filming an episode of MTV's Diary. Nelly was
scheduled to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, and he liked
the look of Matt's combination jersey. The next thing they
knew, Matt and Craig, 46, were watching Nelly perform live at
halftime wearing their Torn Apparel jersey.
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Fast forward to 2004: Torn Apparel now creates jerseys for
professional baseball, football and hockey teams-even local high
school and college teams. The most popular combinations are a
team's home/away jerseys. While their products are sold online
at www.tornaprl.com and in some local retail stores, the Steichens
are still trying to secure licenses from the professional leagues
and hope to have their products in stadium and arena souvenir
stores in the future. With 2004 sales set to hit as much as $2.5
million, they're well on their way to making it in the big
leagues.
Driven to Succeed
What: An
all-female valet service that dresses according to a party's
theme
Who: Gillian
Harris of Valet of the Dolls Inc.
Where: Malibu,
California
When: Started in
2003
For clients of Gillian Harris' valet company, the party
starts as soon as they pull into the driveway. Guests are greeted
by lovely women dressed to match the party's theme-whether
it's the Roaring '20s or a Moroccan fantasy. For Harris and
her staff, it's about providing a service and having a lot of
fun doing it.
With a background in the radio industry, Harris had to look for
a different type of gig when her radio station turned to Spanish
programming-so she started working for a valet company. Harris, now
in her 40s, says about the job: "What it showed me [was that]
I did have a knack for this particular kind of business."
She brainstormed with a friend to come up with her unique
company name. And because she had already learned about permits,
regu-lations and such from her previous valet gig, she was prepared
to launch a business of her own. Harris e-mailed all the contacts
in her address book-party planners and caterers in and around the
Los Angeles area-to spread the word about her new, fun take on
valet service. As a result of her marketing efforts, Harris
immediately booked half a dozen parties.
Her company's popularity grew with the help of some Los
Angeles-area media coverage, and today, Harris maintains a staff of
120 well-trained valets. Though she's rarely had to actively
recruit, her employees often refer friends and acquaint-ances to
her.
It is Harris' commitment to a high level of training and
customer service that she hopes will push her company's sales
to about half a million dollars in 2004. With an eye on franchising
as a possible growth strategy, Harris wants to get other people
zooming down the specialty valet highway, too.
Write Stuff
What:
Manufacturer of erasers for the tops of dry-erase pens
Who: Julia M.
Rhodes of KleenSlate Concepts LLC
Where: Sonora,
California
When: Started in
2001
As a teacher, Julia M. Rhodes was used to the constant presence
of white dry-erase boards. She also noticed how often people would
write on them and hurriedly rub out mistakes with their bare hands
or shirt sleeves. She thought about how much easier it would be if
dry-erase pens had eraser tops-like pencils-and went looking for
something like it on the market. Finding nothing, she set about
manufacturing her own.
Rhodes, 47, then started networking with women's business
groups and the Service Corps of Retired Executives. Through these
groups, she landed a meeting with one of the vice presidents of
PepsiCo. and asked for advice on how to get her products into large
office- and school-supply retailers. He suggested she pitch to big
corporations and tell them to ask their office suppliers for the
dry-erase tops.
The wraparound strategy worked: Her product is now available in
big retailers like Office Depot and Staples, and yearly sales are
projected to hit half a million dollars this year. Now that's a
mark no one would want to erase.
On a Shoestring
What:
Card-stunt producer for large sporting and entertainment
events
Who: Joe Kivett
of CardStunts.com
Where: Orlando,
Florida
When: Started in
1991
How much: Less
than $1,000
Have you ever wondered who's the brains behind those nifty
card stunts at big stadiums-where each member of the audience holds
up a card to create massive pictures and messages for the world to
see? Joe Kivett, 40, organizes these fan-friendly events with his
company, CardStunts.com. Kivett learned the card-stunt business as
an employee of another company and branched out on his own in 1991
when word about his successful Super Bowl card stunts started to
spread.
Armed with less than $1,000 in startup cash, he landed his first
client by virtue of his reputation. Kivett says most of his startup
money was for travel expenses to examine the site in Minneapolis
where he was doing the card stunt.
His serious startup-cash coup was drafting an agreement with the
organizers of Super Bowl XXVI to pay him half his fee upfront and
half on the day of the event-this way, he was able to organize the
event with no out-of-pocket costs. "I paid all my bills
añnd had my little profit left over," he says. "I
took that profit and used it to market my company."
Word-of-mouth is still a key element of his marketing efforts,
and the years have seen him grow CardStunts.com from planning one
to two big card stunts per year to about 10 yearly today. In
addition to doing card stunts for two Super Bowl half-time shows,
he's coordinated events for the World Series and the Daytona
500. With about $350,000 in projected 2004 sales, Kivett is
definitely playing his cards right.