Have a business idea but think it’s a lousy time to put it into action? Many successful companies were launched during a downturn in the economy. Some out sheer necessity, and some by people who took a ‘what have I got to lose’ attitude. One way to increase your success rate is to learn from others. I thought it would be a fun idea to once in awhile feature an entrepreneur on Budget Smart Girl. You’ll hear how they got started and what they learned along the way. To kick things off (and you might remember her mitt-minders www.mittminders.com from the Stocking Stuffing Gift Guide) is Marcey Max.
Budget Smart Girl (BSG)-Tell us about yourself and your background?
Marcey Max (MM)-I’m an advertising executive, and have enjoyed a 20 year career in radio and public television. I’m married with 2 teenage boys, 19 and 15. They are old enough that I can spend quality time on mitt-minders! My sister who helped to create the product lives in New Jersey with her two big dogs. She’s a school teacher turned music festival tour coordinator.
BSG-What are mitt-minders and what do they do?
MM-mitt-minders are the fashionable solution to the lost glove syndrome! They keep your gloves attached to your coat sleeves so you never lose your gloves again. We make them in 9 fun and classic designs from patent leathers to animal prints! And coming this fall/winter a new addition, beautiful bling adorns the face of the clip, to give more of a jewelry-look to the product. Who doesn’t love bling?
BSG-When did you get the idea?
MM-Driving home from our respective jobs we were chatting on the phone and complaining how we hate to lose our gloves! She had recently moved to the East Coast from Arizona, had her first pair of leather gloves and was upset she may have lost one already. I usually place my gloves on my lap when I’m driving and they end up on the parking lot or driveway –if I’m lucky they are still there when I come back to the car.
BSG-So you had this idea for a product…what were the first steps you took to turn it into a business?
MM-When we visited together in November of ’07 we took a few trips to craft stores to buy materials to make a prototype. We tried a few different options, the first as one long piece of material that you wear inside your coat threaded through your coat sleeves but we didn’t care for the way it felt when we were driving.
BSG- What hurdles (if any) did you face?
MM-I don’t recall any hurdles except when it came to ordering our materials in bulk, some things took a lot longer than we imagined and that was scary as we set a deadline to launch mitt-minders at the Philly Gift Show in July of 08.
BSG-Any moments when you thought, this isn’t going to work? If so, what kept you moving forward with your plans?
MM-Yes! The initial equipment purchased came with the wrong piece to hold the rivet and we were ruining 50% of our product at first. Luckily we were able to recognize the issue before too long. Again, the deadlines we set kept us on course. We were in motion and not going to slow down for anything.
BSG-Was financing a problem at any point?
MM-Not at all, at first, due to the many offers of low credit balance transfers I had been receiving back then from credit card companies. Now, it’s a bit more challenging and we don’t have the marketing funds we’d like to have to create awareness —we’re working on low cost/no cost methods to make this happen.
BSG-How about making a prototype of the mitt-minder? How do you do that?
MM-mitt-minders is a product I can make at my dining room table, in fact that room is affectionately referred to by my family as my sweatshop! The prototypes we developed were interesting as they lead us to the final product which we have tweaked a couple of more times, adding the charm and bling just recently!
BSG-How have you grown your business, what’s worked, what’s not?
MM-The business has sadly not grown in terms of revenue, only in terms of retailers that carry the product. The 09 sales year was disappointing due to my lack of time to devote to this part-time venture AND the economy. What has been helpful is to place product in local consignment stores in and around Baltimore where I can gauge what is selling—-this is extremely helpful!
BSG-Many of my readers might be thinking about or already launching their own business. What tips would you offer them?
MM-Definitely set a deadline for your business to launch. Whether it’s a craft show where you’ll be selling as the artist, or a full-blown trade show with a booth you’ve created, it’s important to work towards that reality because you will put in overtime until you get it done. We invested money upfront in the gift show and thought we’d open 100 accounts, silly us. We opened 5. It was not a waste however, as we met people that could help us—the experience in that room was amazing and awe-inspiring.
BSG- Anything else you’d like to share with my readers?
MM-If you have an idea explore it! You never know what the result will be. I never wanted to be an entrepreneur per se, but Cheryl and I have said from the beginning, we’re saving the world, one glove at a time. We believe we’re doing something worthwhile, creating and marketing glove insurance, a small expense to protect the investment made in a nice pair of gloves.
Additionally, I don’t mind hearing “no” from potential retailers because there are so many out there. I can really see mitt-minders in a Macy’s or similar store and I’m not going to stop until I make it happen.
We probably should have had a business plan in place before setting out on this adventure, but we’re working on it now, in case funding becomes an issue, and we’re looking for a manufacturer as well—for when that big chain says “yes” to mitt-minders.
