Master Plan
If you want to see your product get on store shelves, you'd better have more than one plan in place.
By Don Debelak
Kevin Ridolfi figured he had a million-dollar idea: a product
called the T Mate that would help new and high-handicap golfers
with their errant golf shots. Unfortunately, success didn't
come quite as easily as he had hoped. What Ridolfi learned during
Plan A-selling the idea himself-was a lesson that speaks to all
inventors, high handicap or not: "No one will hear about a
great idea if isn't marketed with the right promotion,"
cautions the 29-year-old Centereach, New York, resident.
Still, the slow start didn't faze Ridolfi, who quickly moved
on to Plan B: licensing his product to another marketer of golf
products. Well, Ridolfi isn't counting his money just yet, but
he still believes in his idea, and he's prepared to move on to
Plan C-distributing the product through instructional activities
for young golfers-if his current licensing agreement doesn't
work out. In a nutshell, he's not stuck on just one option for
his product. And that could be the key to getting it on the
shelves.
The Initial Stages of Development
One reason Ridolfi decided to move ahead with the T Mate was the
minimal cost involved: He was able to make the prototypes and do
the packaging himself. His first models, for instance, were simply
tongue depressors. And it was easy to test the product: He had
several friends try out his model-as well as his fiancée, who
had never played golf and yet was able to crack some big drives
down the fairway.
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Convinced the product would succeed, Ridolfi decided a patent
was in order before he could sell the product. He sought the help
of a patent agent (vs. a higher-cost patent attorney). Including
the time for the patent search, it was a year before Ridolfi's
patent application was accepted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office. That acceptance was what he needed to declare his product
patent-pending and begin sales.
That year wasn't wasted: Ridolfi spent the time looking for
products that he could use as a model for packaging and pricing his
product. Using a device called Skycopter (a plastic X-shaped tool
used in convenience stores), he put together a model, took it in to
a local Golf USA store and piqued the interest of the manager, who
told Ridolfi to come back when the product was ready. From there,
he experimented with the best way to gain attention for his
product.
Plan A: Selling on His Own
Once Ridolfi had patent-pending status for his product and he
was ready to sell, he placed a display in the Golf USA store. He
also got four or five other stores on Long Island to carry his
product. "When I could, I'd go out and visit the stores
and see how the product was doing," he says. The product was
selling, but not as fast as he'd hoped. "I was doing
everything myself and holding a full-time job; I didn't have
time to get the product off the ground."
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