Thomas-Ray decided to approach the Chicago Police Department and
the local Pace Bus Service in an effort to learn more about how the
uniform market worked. She discovered an entire network of uniform
shops existed nationwide. "In Chicago, the important store
serving the market was Kale Uniforms, which is a part of the Flying
Cross by Fechheimer, a major uniform distributor," says
Thomas-Ray. With the help of Kale Uniforms, Thomas-Ray added the
Chicago Transit Authority and the Chicago-Area Suburban (Pace Bus
Service) to her list of customers in 1999 and 2000.
Thomas-Ray also discovered the restaurant uniform market through
Chef Direct, a Chicago-area restaurant distributor. Attending the
2000 and 2001 National Restaurant Association Shows led to business
with chains such as Pizzeria Uno. Thomas-Ray also exhibited at the
National Association of Uniform Manufacturers and Distributors,
where she signed on 15 independent sales agents.
And the business continues to add customers as major distributor
Fechheimer added the Y-Tie to its catalog for the first time this
year. "Being in the catalog gives buyers nationwide a chance
to see and stock the Y-Tie," Thomas-Ray says.
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Retailing for $12.95 (polyester) and $24.95 (silk), the ties are
also sold on the company's Web site and advertised in Made to
Measure, a uniform trade magazine. The ads have led Thomas-Ray
into yet another new market: "I've been getting orders
from tuxedo shops, which is why I introduced the silk
tie."
Soon Thomas-Ray was seeing potential markets everywhere. She
wondered: What about the military or even the Post Office? Landing
even one branch of the military would be a major coup, but
Thomas-Ray didn't know how to go about it. Then she attended a
fund-raiser for her congressman, Jesse Jackson Jr.
"I took a Y-Tie necktie to give to him," Thomas-Ray
says. "He thought it was a great idea, and he started to
arrange meetings with the appropriate purchasing people. I met with
Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy people, and I was flying out to
Washington about every other week in the summer of 2001."
Unfortunately, 9/11 interrupted that activity, but Thomas-Ray has
been able to reconnect with her contacts and hopes to land some
government business in 2003.
Steps to Success
Don't be intimidated. Big buyers are often easier to deal
with than smaller customers with limited budgets. Read industry
trade magazines for stories on big buyers in your market. You can
find lists of trade magazines at the library in the Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast
Media (Gale Publishing). Check the magazines for listings
of contacts in your area. They can recommend trade shows for you to
attend.
Don't be afraid to use sales agents, other manufacturers,
contacts at association meetings or even your local congressperson
to get your foot in the door. And follow up many times. It's
not unusual to make seven to 10 calls before landing a big
account.
Thomas-Ray projects 2002 sales of $750,000, and there's no
telling just how big Y-Tie Neckware will become now that the
company has a nationwide sales network and contacts at big
institutional customers. Thomas-Ray's strategies can work for
any inventor: Find out who your major customers might be, and chase
them first. Not only will it give you a jump-start in sales, but
you'll also get the cash flow you need to grow your
business.
| | COURT REPORT | |
| In a unanimous
decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recently boosted inventors'
odds of having a more meaningful patent. In the case of Festo Corp.
vs. SMC Corp., two makers of air cylinders for industrial
equipment, the Supreme Court overturned a lower court's
decision that placed restrictions on patents with amendments. Had
it not been overturned, the decision would have limited the scope
of a patent's claims. For more than a century, according to
Don Kelly, ex-director of the Independent Inventor Office of the
U.S. Patent Office, courts have held that inventors could challenge
infringers who had similar, though not exact, replicas of their
inventions. The overturned decision, which impacted patent
applications for several years, prevented inventors from
challenging inventors with such similar, though not exact,
products. |
Don Debelak is a
new-business marketing consultant and author of Think Big: Make Millions From Your Ideas.
Originally published in the October 2002 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine
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