What:
"Girls' night out" pajama/spa party events for
women
Who: Melody
Biringer of Crave Party
Where:
Seattle
When: Started in
2000
Women want to network with other women while wearing pajamas,
getting spa services and shopping-at least this is what Melody
Biringer, 41, found out when she founded Crave Party.
Inspired by a pajama party at a friend's home, Biringer got
the idea to create fun business networking events for women on a
larger scale-at fancy hotels and ballrooms with champagne and
strawberries. She secured local spa professionals (massage
therapists, nail techs and so on) and merchants to provide the
pampering services and shopping, and charged women a $35 fee to
register. Her first three nights of Crave Parties sold out in two
weeks.
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Thanks to word-of-mouth marketing, her parties have grown in
popularity. "[It's] networking in your pajamas in a swanky
environment-that makes it even more fun to walk into this
place," Biringer says. With parties under her belt in New
Orleans; Phoenix; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Biringer would
like to bring the concept to every major city-and even create
annual parties themed around events such as holiday shopping or the
Oscars-to push 2004 sales into the mid- to upper-six-figure
range.
In Good Faith
What: A
business that manufactures bobblehead dolls of biblical
characters
Who: Andy Dabney,
Dan and Darren Foote, and Dan Hinckley of Le Jortes Productions
Inc. (dba Isaac
Bros. Bible Bobbleheads)
Where: Allen,
Texas
When: Started in
2002
Why should sports heroes be the only ones revered in bobblehead
form? That's what Dan Foote thought while watching a baseball
game with his good friend Dan Hinckley in 2002. A Christian
cartoonist and children's book author by trade, Foote
immediately set upon the notion of biblically themed bobblehead
figures-a sort of holy take on the trend. The theme of the line is
simple, notes Foote: "We take our faith seriously-not
ourselves."
They thought it would be interesting to have bobbleheads based
on biblical heroes. The first line included Moses, Noah and Samson.
After getting the initial idea, Foote, 44, and Hinckley, 43,
brought in Foote's brother Darren, 34, and Darren's
brother-in-law Andy Dabney, 33, to iron out the manufacturing
details. They marketed the first run of 1,500 bobblehead figures
via their Web site, mostly to friends and family, says Foote. A
small ad in the back of a Christian magazine drummed up interest
and caught the eye of a Louisville, Kentucky, journalist who did a
piece on the company. Word then spread like wildfire-and the
initial run sold out. "It [grew] into something bigger than we
were ready for," says Foote.
In fact, once people realized that the bobbleheads were not
meant to mock faith, but rather to encourage it, they were very
receptive, says Foote. Still establishing their plans for the
future, the founders of Isaac Bros. hope for sales in the mid- to
upper-five figures for 2004. And they plan to add new biblical
figures to the line, including John the Baptist, Queen Esther and
Daniel in the lions' den.
Local Motion
What:
E-newsletters that encourage people to patronize local
businesses
Who: Michael W.
Peterson of ShopCloseBuy Inc.
Where:
Minneapolis
When: Started in
2002
It's never easy to get people to try your restaurant or
retail store. But Michael W. Peterson, 33, had an epiphany while
walking through his Minneapolis neighborhood: Was there a better
way to get customers to patronize these businesses? He decided on
an opt-in e-newsletter that would tell people about local eateries
and shops, and feature specials.
Peterson's first step was persuading some local retailers to
buy newsletter space. They liked the idea, especially because
Peterson would do all the technical work. "They didn't
have to lift a finger, and they'd be [reaching] people within a
mile of their location," he says.
The newsletter was successful with the business lunch crowd.
They'd get mid-morning e-mails about the day's special, and
those establishments would be full. Noticing the response their
competitors were getting, other businesses bought into the
newsletter, too.
Having built a subscriber base via in-store sign-ups and his Web
site, Peterson also offers a newsletter showcasing nighttime
destinations in the four Minneapolis neighborhoods ShopCloseBuy
represents. With plans to go national, Peterson is perfecting the
model and getting a patent on his process. Still, with sales set to
hit $400,000 in 2004, it looks like the word is getting out.
On a Shoestring
What: A
provider of in-vehicle GPS tracking systems for parents of teen
drivers
Who: Sara
Rothfeder of Signal Wireless LLC
Where:
Atlanta
When: Started in
1998
How much: Less
than $5,000
With her passion for technology, it was just a matter of time
before Sara Rothfeder found her calling-selling global positioning
systems (GPS) for vehicles driven by teenagers. Formerly an
executive with BellSouth, Rothfeder, 39, left her corporate digs to
find an entrepreneurial endeavor that would appeal to both her
technological side and her natural inclination toward sales.
She found GPS technology so intriguing that she started selling
GPS systems out of her basement to business fleets. A parent of a
teen and young twins, Rothfeder read statistics about teen drivers
and thought to apply her technology to that market to help improve
teen driver safety. In 2002, she changed the focus and carved out
her niche selling peace of mind to parents in the form of GPS
tracking systems for teen drivers. She sells the systems via her
Web site and a toll-free number to the tune of about $1.4 million
in annual sales.
Her startup operating expenses were low, she says, and mostly
went to computer equipment. Rothfeder was able to negotiate terms
with her vendors so that she wouldn't have to keep inventory on
hand; instead, she was able to float the inventory until she got
orders.
To further stretch her startup capital, Rothfeder had to get out
of the corporate mindset of hiring staff and instead outsource
specific duties to independent contractors. Investing in a
high-tech phone system, Rothfeder maintains a virtual office where
she can transfer calls to her contractors in different states at
the push of a button. "Coming from a large corporate
environment, it was an exercise in putting aside my ego," she
says. "I had to focus myself on what the necessities were to
start the business." Now that's what we call finding the
right direction.