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While working her way through Clark Atlanta University bystyling hair, 26-year-old Fatima Sokera kept running into aproblem. When she removed artificial braids or other hairextensions that had been in a customer's hair for months, theclient's real hair was often matted and full of glue. Since shewas studying for her bachelor's degree in biology and a minorin chemistry, Sokera put her learning to work. The perfect solutionto the problem was a cream she later dubbed Take Down. The wonderproduct dissolves and removes glue and other attaching media whileloosening tangled hair.
While still in school, Sokera started her business by followinga simple three-step process that can work for any underfinancedinventor:
1. Prove that consumers will buy your product in a testmarket.
2. Persuade people in your industry to support the product.
3. Get major distributors or buyers to purchase the product.
Don Debelak (dondebelak@uswest.net) is anew-business marketing consultant who has been introducing newproducts for more than 20 years. He is the author of BringingYour Product to Market (John Wiley & Sons, $19.95,800-225-5945).
Prove Your Product
At first, Sokera used Take Down only on her customers, but soonother stylists in the salon started calling her "Take Downgirl" and sending customers to her whenever they wanted hairextensions removed. Sokera knew she had the only cream on themarket that helped remove extensions.
After several months of success in the salon where she worked,Sokera bottled a small quantity of Take Down and hit the streets,calling on salons all over Georgia and neighboring states. To buildde-mand, she left samples with salons and passed out fliers abouther product to friends and family, as well as strangers on streetcorners and in supermarkets. In the end, an average of four out of10 salons liked her product and started to buy it on a regularbasis.
In 1997, her first year, Sokera sold just $15,000 to $20,000worth of Take Down through her company, Fatima's BeautifulBraids Inc. Small as this figure was, it proved that customerswould not only buy her product, but they would also reorder it.This step was essential because distributors are usually reluctantto take on unproven products, fearing they'll get stuck withunwanted inventory. Initially, Sokera tried to sell Take Down tobeauty product distributors, but she couldn't get them to takeher seriously. Such early rejection is common. Distributors andretailers see dozens of small, one-product companies disappearevery year, so they prefer to wait and make sure a company lasts ayear or two before buying its products. That's why you have toforge that small initial market with your own sales effort.
Make Contact
Sokera couldn't survive on $20,000 in sales per year, butshe wasn't sure how to get wider distribution for her product.She called a Doraville, Georgia-based beauty products distributor,Jinny Corp., explaining she was a college student wanting to learnhow to get a new product on the market. Roscoe Thomas, vicepresident of purchasing, met with her and explained the ins andouts of the business. He then gave Sokera a key contact, ChesterCavil of Target Marketing Group, a major manufacturers'representative in the Southeastern beauty products business.(Manufacturers' representatives are independent sales agentswho take a 10 percent commission on sales they generate.)
Cavil was happy to meet with Sokera because Jinny Corp. was oneof his biggest accounts. The first question he asked Sokera was,"Does your product work?"
"Of course," Sokera answered. Then she explained thatsalons were using and reordering her product. She didn'trealize it at the time, but that's the only answer Cavil wouldbelieve. Proving a product will sell is all-important when startinga relationship with a broker.
Cavil felt the product's price needed to be raised to $8.99to make enough money to pay all the industry middlemen and stillsupport an advertising program. He took some samples and put themin 25 beauty supply stores in the Atlanta area to see if peoplewould pay $8.99 for an 8-ounce bottle. The product sold, and salonssoon wanted more. With Cavil's help and positive word-of-mouth,Sokera's 1998 sales soon hit $60,000--setting the stage forgreater success.
Get The Big Accounts
In 1999, Sokera and Cavil started calling on bigger distributoraccounts and began to pick up some small initial orders. Of course,Sokera would have liked to get big orders right away, butthat's not what typically happens with new specialty items.Each salon would buy only a limited amount of Sokera's productsimply because each salon was an independent business.
The only cost-effective way for Sokera to reach multiple salonswas to work through a distributor who sold a variety of beautyproducts. When distributors first agreed to take on Sokera'sproduct, they placed small orders because they hadn't yet builtup a demand. Over time, however, the distributors convinced moreand more salons to handle the product, which in turn allowed thedistributor to steadily increase its orders. Cavil also got SallyBeauty Products, one of the nation's largest beauty supplychains, to carry the product line. While the small initialdistributor and retailer orders weren't making Sokera rich,they were a key step toward building a substantial sales base. In1999, Sokera's sales reached $150,000.
While everyone wants immediate success, if you're like mostinventors, you don't have the financial resources needed for alarge product launch. Instead, you probably need to followSokera's example and go through the three-step productintroduction process. The benefits of the process are substantial.First, you can get started with a minimum investment; second, yourreliance on assistance from others in your industry minimizes thenumber of mistakes you'll make; and third, you can still end upwith a substantial business.
Don't get discouraged if success seems a long time coming.When it comes to introducing a new product, in many cases, slow andsteady wins the race.
On The Q.T.
Sokera's formula contains natural, readily availableingredients. It's not processed in a particularly innovativeway, and Sokera was told it probably would have to be altered to bepatented. Unwilling to change the formula, she protected her ideaby keeping it a trade secret--the same tactic KFC has used over theyears to protect its "finger-lickin' good" chickenrecipe.
A trade secret can be any formula, pattern, device, idea orprocess. In order to be considered a trade secret, it must: 1) giveits owner a competitive advantage in the marketplace, and 2) be thesubject of reasonable efforts for protection from outsiders."Reasonable" is a vague term, but generally, you willkeep an idea a trade secret if you get employees to signnondisclosure agreements regarding the secret, and if you share nosecret information with outsiders unless they sign nondisclosureagreements.
While trade secret status is not as powerful as a patent,trademark or copyright, it still offers some protection for youridea.
One advantage to trade secrets: Unlike a patent, they have notime limit. A utility patent expires after 20 years, while a tradesecret can last forever. So keep those great ideas hush-hush!
Start Gabbing
Use publicity TO find your initial customers inbusiness-to-business marketing. Trade magazines aimed at retailstores have extensive new-product sections that are usually justpress releases from companies and inventors.
A published press release will definitely benefit your business.First, it's an effective sales tool. Showing that your producthas been in major magazines gives you credibility when talking topotential customers. Second, you'll get a list of prospectsfrom the magazine. Trade magazines contain response cards thatreaders can send in to request more information about products inads or press releases. Often, new-product sales are made primarilyto the people who respond to initial press releases.
To get the word out, check out these books:
- Bulletproof News Releases by Kay Borden (FranklinSarrett Publishers, $18.95, 770-578-9410)
- The Complete Guide to Publicity by Joe Marconi(NTC Contemporary Publishing Group, $19.95, 800-323-4900)
Contact Sources
Fatima's Beautiful Braids Inc., (770) 424-8189,http://www.millesucres.com/takedown
Jinny Corp., (770) 734-9222
Target Marketing Group, (404) 2411506
