Singular Sensation
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Part of Carter's success came from staying loyal to his
reps. He's given them full rights to all Home Depot stores and
allows them to sell to anyone in the country. Carter knew that trying to keep Home Depot as a house account
would have been a mistake. "The reps have been the ones who
built the customer base that landed Home Depot," he says.
"I want to give them a chance to make big money on the
product, because that's what motivates them to keep
selling." Carter also realized that although advertising is important to
big retailers, it's not essential. What impresses them most is
that customers come in and ask for the product. So if you can't
afford to advertise, concentrate on one market and get into every
store you can. The big retailers will come around-even for a
"one-SKU wonder"-if enough people want to buy your
product. Content Continues Below
Typically, inventors do best by concentrating on their local
markets. That way, they can easily give demos, provide units on
consignment, send friends in to buy the products and check in on
each store to ensure products are being displayed correctly. Most
inventors don't have the time to lock up a local market if
they're simultaneously attempting to sell on a national level.
Rather than spread yourself too thin, take Carter's advice and
thoroughly sell out one market. That's usually good enough to
get you into the local stores of a large retailer. Then, if you
sell well in your local region, you'll have a great chance of
being picked up by the chain across the country. | But will it sell? | | | For a realistic
evaluation of your big idea, check out the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center at the
University of Wisconsin in
Whitewater. Since 1980, the service has assessed more than
6,000 ideas. A big advantage of this program over others: Marketing
students at the university conduct a fairly thorough market evaluation, researching both competition
and market benefits. Plus, the program is completed under a
director's supervision. Evaluations cost $495, and most reports
number 100 to 200 pages in length. For submission information,
contact Milissa Rick at (262) 472-1365. |
Don Debelak is a new-business marketing consultant and author
of Think Big: Make Millions From Your Ideas.
Send him your questions at dondebelak@qwest.net. Contact Sources
Originally published in the November 2001 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine
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