Recipe for Success Smart partnering can transform a lone inventor into a market force.

TheEntrepreneur: Michael Karyo, 35, founder of SiliconeZoneUSA in New York City

ProductDescription: Karyo's company produces a line of siliconebakeware cooking tools with superior heat transfer and nonstickproperties. The odor-resistant products, priced from $15 to $25apiece, let users bake more efficiently, thanks to such features aseven cooling and heat distribution. Silicone products had been usedin commercial kitchens previously, but Karyo was the first tocreate a consumer line.

Startup:$70,000 to $80,000 from Karyo, before the product was formallyintroduced in 2002; tooling costs of $70,000 to $80,000, from hisengineering partner/manufacturer

Sales: $6.2million in 2003; $9 million to $12 million projected for 2004

The Challenge:Introducing a product into a crowded category like kitchenware, andobtaining a significant market position

Michael Karyo didn't invent the silicone technology behindhis line of bakeware products-but he did bring to the masses whathad previously only been available to commercial kitchens. Andtoday, his KitchenZone Commercial Quality Silicone Bakeware andKitchen Tools products are sold nationwide in stores like Bed Bath& Beyond, Crate and Barrel, Macy's and MarshallField's. Despite a category saturated with large,well-established competitors, Karyo was able to hit the groundrunning and stay in a leading market position-a tough challenge forany inventor.

Steps to Success

1. Find a void in themarket. "I was working as a consultant to develop akitchenware [line] for a company that primarily sold siliconeproducts to the medical industry," says Karyo of how heuncovered this market opportunity. "I found that, whileseveral European companies were selling silicone products to thecommercial market, no one had a true consumer product. I felt thatconsumers and home bakers could benefit from silicone technology. Iverified [this] with buyers for kitchen stores." But by thattime, the company he consulted for had changed its mind aboutentering the market, so Karyo went out on his own to develop asilicone line.

The typical drawback to filling a market void is that you haveto create a market for your product. Fortunately, Karyo didn'thave to deal with this obstacle-the existing popularity of siliconein commercial kitchen markets convinced buyers to give Karyo'sproducts a try.

2. Determine how tostay in a leading market position. Karyo knew that beingfirst to market wouldn't be enough for him to remain a marketleader. "I felt from the beginning that the key to staying ontop in the market was to have 'better than them' productquality, unique designs and moderate prices that would give us acompetitive advantage over much bigger housewares companies,"he says. So Karyo expanded his vision to include features thatwould differentiate his product from competitors: "The surfaceof SiliconeZone products is high gloss, not matte, and the productcomes in vibrant colors that competitors can'tduplicate."

3. If necessary, finda partner. Karyo is a sales and marketing person-not amanufacturer. The high quality he was after called formanufacturing expertise and a willingness to help develop theproduct. Karyo knew he couldn't afford to pay someone fordevelopment, nor could he afford to buy from a factory as acustomer and keep prices down. "I knew I needed a partnercompany experienced in silicone," says Karyo. "I talkedto my father, Maurice, who had done business in the Far East for 40years. He [found] a company in Hong Kong that made siliconeproducts for the electronics industry. We formed a 50/50 jointventure with the owners, Ken and Ricky Yeung, where [they paid]development and tooling costs, while I paid for sales andmarketing. Then we split the profits." If you don't have aconnection to find a source you need, go online or to your locallibrary to check out the Thomas Register of AmericanManufacturers, which lists manufacturers you can talk toabout potentially setting up a partnership.

4. Sell the market onwhy your product is the clear choice. With some products,customers can tell right away which product is best based on visualclues, such as fit and finish, expensive materials or packaging.But in Karyo's case, buyers didn't understand that hisproduct was of higher quality. So Karyo gave them a straightforwardpitch: "I showed buyers the factors that determined a qualityproduct." He pushed three main differentiating factors: thehigh quality of his proprietary silicone formula, a denser andheavier product that provides better heat conductivity; thehigh-gloss finish, which calls for a slower production process andhand-polished tooling; and the vibrancy of the color, which resultsfrom using high-quality silicone material and pigments.

5. Strengthen yourbrand. Karyo ran an ad campaign to get the word out abouthis business. "We didn't have any sales, but I wantedbuyers of independent stores and major retailers to know andremember that we were the first ones in the market," he says."I took out ads in key trade magazines like HFN (HomeFurnishing News), HomeWorld Business and KitchenwareNews." He says people still remark to him at shows,"I remember you being the first in the market."

Lessons Learned

1. Establish cleargoals. Typically, an inventor will start developing aproduct without a clear idea of what factors will keep it sellingin the market. The result is that he or she ends up with a productwithout enough differentiation to succeed. You should develop aclear product specification, compare your product with competitiveproducts, and state why yours will sell over thecompetition-before you start spending money.

2. Get feedbackbefore you move ahead. The toughest sale in any new productintroduction campaign is to buyers at sales outlets, such asdistributors, retailers, catalog houses or other intermediariesbetween you and the final customer. They know which products havethe potential to sell well in the market, and the best time to facethem is at the beginning, before you spend too much money. Thebuyers can verify if there's a market need and if they'llcarry the product, as well as offer suggestions regarding changesthat would improve the product's sales potential.

3. Be willing toshare. Inventors traditionally like to be lone wolves, goingit alone in the market to reap the most profits and keep totalcontrol of their product. However, you're far better offteaming up with one or more partners to keep costs down, spread therisk, and, more important, take advantage of other people'sexpertise. A smaller share of significant profits is far betterthan no profits at all.

4. Keepinnovating. Just because you're first to marketdoesn't mean you'll stay there forever. You must keep newproducts flowing into the market. One way to do this is to workwith a partner company that has the expertise and funding tosupport an ever-expanding product line.

Don Debelak is author of Entrepreneur magazine'sStart-Up Guide #1813, BringingYour Product to Market (www.smallbizbooks.com), and host ofinventor-help Web site www.dondebelak.com.