Then John received an e-mail from South America, written all in caps. Someone had bought two, and loved them. Now he wanted to buy hundreds of thousands. John thought, “Yeah, right.” A few months later, the same guy emailed to say he wanted 200,000 and where did John want the money transferred? John was still skeptical, until the funds hit his bank account a few hours later. His next e-mail showed what this customer wanted the 200,000 Re-Pillable Cards to look like: pewter gray, not John’s blue, with an engraving of the Bayer logo and, above that, the Levitra name and flame logo. Between the logos was a tagline in Spanish.
These went to Mexico City for Bayer Mexico. “They could order millions now. I wanted it to be aspirin, but my first hit was for ED (erectile dysfunction) pills.” John might still make it big with the aspirin makers soon. He is talking with Bayer Aspirin U.S. about plans to shrink-wrap the Re-Pillable Card as a value-added incentive to not buy generic.
The Re-Pillable Card is really catching on now, and each time a new chapter unfolds in the Re-Pillable story, it’s told in the local Nashua, New Hampshire, newspaper, where John is a hometown hero. “Here’s this little guy from New Hampshire exporting American-made products to Mexico. My congressman should be patting me on the back. That’s how NAFTA is supposed to work, as a two-way street.”
John has already sold well over 400,000 cards and was in the black after the first year. John and Ken’s initial investment of $25,000 paid for the first mold and they’ve kept it rolling from the sales that came in. They now have four molds, so they can make 250,000 cards a week. “Men’s Health was the key to everything: our initial sales, Diabetes, and Levitra. And we haven’t even spent a nickel on advertising.” At 59, this former print broker says he might retire yet. Not a bitter pill to swallow, eh?
Mother’s Third Arm™
Armed and Ready
What mother hasn’t wished for an extra set of hands, especially during those tough infant and toddler years? Margo Smith, mother of five and grandmother of eleven (blending families with her husband, she has a total of twenty-six grandchildren) knows this wish all too well.
When you’re a mom in the trenches, being armed with a third arm could give you that extra hand to win the baby battle. And this grandmother wanted to help mothers everywhere.
Margo wanted to make something that would hold baby bottles, sippy cups, and toys, and would attach to car seats, strollers, tables, high chairs, and shopping carts. She went to stores and confirmed that nothing like this was in the marketplace. Next, she did the patent search, then the prototype construction, and finally did focus group testing to get the public’s opinion. The focus groups loved her invention. Margo was ready to move forward.
Sometimes in product development, an invention takes on a life of its own. The inventor recognizes one user group for the product, but the public sees another user group. That’s what happened with Mother’s Third Arm. This baby product found its way into the arms of wheelchair users and their caretakers, who have embraced Mother’s Third Arm and the independence it provides. If wheelchair-bound children can move their heads to where the cup is held, they can sip from a straw. Margo says, “A product is either a need or a want. For mothers who have a child in a wheelchair, Mother’s Third Arm is a need.” And they’re grateful to have this need met.
Margo thought of the idea in 1996, got her patent two years later, and then had 10,000 manufactured in Phoenix. She brought her costs down by getting 20,000 made in China. Out of those 30,000, she only has 1,500 left. Mother’s Third Arm is not sold nationally, but an earlier model was—through Toys “R” Us, Baby Depot, and other outlets. That one-size version broke when people tried to put different size cups in it. So Margo took it off the market and improved it to hold various sized bottles and cups. She has been selling it through catalogs, the Internet, and her office in Phoenix, as well as giving away thousands to children’s
disability charities.
Margo hopes that, before long, her invention will be in all the stores and on the Home Shopping Network. She is working with a big company that has plans to take Mother’s Third Arm all over the U.S., Canada, and Europe. “I’ve been looking for these people for a long time. Instead, they found me through a website.” If the deal goes through, Margo will no longer be responsible for manufacturing Third Arm. Instead, the big company will make the product and the patent will remain in Margo’s name. Margo says that, if it happens, she’ll rest easy in the arms of this deal.
Last fall, Margo entered Mother’s Third Arm in Proctor & Gamble’s achievement contest, and out of 400 products, it came in third. Do you see the irony here? Mother’s Third Arm came in third. And it turns out, the contest brought in more than just kudos. “Target is very interested, as is Canadian Tire.”
To get Mother’s Third Arm this far, it has cost Margo an arm and a leg. She’s spent about $300,000 over nine years and is now more than eager to get out of the red. “Sales are great. I’m holding my own. But I’m still putting my own money into it.” She lost a bundle through scams. “I was scammed by three companies. As soon as I got my patent, a company said that for only $5,000 it would help me get my product out. Companies like these don’t do anything for you but take your money. And it’s too small an amount to sue over.”
Through it all, she’s had the unfailing support of her husband, family, and friends. “The first few years, everybody was happy for me. Now when I see friends, I wonder if they’re afraid to ask, thinking, ‘Oh dear, is it still going?’ No one ever told me I was crazy. People might have thought it, but they haven’t said a word.”
Whether Mother’s Third Arm makes it or not, when you see the effort Margo has put into her invention, you just have to stop and give her a big hand.
Air Guardian™
Air Today, Gone Tomorrow?
Hal Koch is one devoted dad. And his son Kyle is one lucky kid. Having suffered with asthma and coming from a family with respiratory problems including emphysema, Hal wanted to protect his son from developing breathing problems.
When Kyle was brought home from the hospital, the nurses said that he was not to go outside for the first month. Concerned about air quality, Hal surfed the Internet and learned that our air is not as clean as we think. Every year, over 10 million school days are missed and billions of dollars are spent on medical costs because of air pollution in this country. Hal learned that if a child’s immune system is impaired early, it sets the stage for problems down the road.
And it is on the road that Hal focused on air issues. He wanted to protect his son’s developing lungs. “People were having heart attacks from driving behind cars blowing exhaust in their faces. Every mode of transportation these days has an in-cabin air filtration system. The type of transportation that needs air filtration the most is the baby stroller.”
Born and raised in Queens,