Infantile Inventions

Entrepreneur, Oct, 2001 by Don Debelak

NO, NO, IT'S NOT A BAD THING! THE BABY - PRODUCTS MARKET IS THE PERFECT PLACE FOR BRAND - NEW INVENTORS TO TAKE THEIR FIRST STEPS.

PARENTS AREN'T THE ONLY ONES DELIGHTED when a baby is born. Entrepreneurs are, too. Grandparents, friends and other relatives are eager to shower gifts on the newborn. And because infants turn life upside down, moms and dads are always searching for new and innovative ways to save time and make life easier--no matter what the cost.

No wonder the baby-products market is the most popular one for individual inventors. And that's not just because there's a huge base of parents ready to spend their hard-earned dollars on new products. Often, becoming parents inspires moms and dads to invent new baby products. And because there are so many babies around, inventors in this category have ample opportunity to test products and determine ahead of time whether they'll fly in the market.

Of course, it also helps that three relatively easy and straightforward avenues exist to help new inventors enter the baby-products market: catalogs, buying groups and trade shows.

Calling All Catalogs

Have you ever gone shopping with a baby or two? If you have, then you understand why baby-products catalogs are so popular (and profitable): They promise a more convenient shopping experience for parents.

That's good news for inventors. There are dozens of baby-products catalogs out there, and they're always looking for new and innovative additions. To find a listing of catalogs in this category, simply visit your local library and peruse a directory of mailorder catalogs. For example, check out the Directory of Mail Order Catalogs (Grey House Publishing) by Richard Gottlieb.

Like many entrepreneurs, Jim Moritz, 32, and Greg Nieberding, 44, of Baby B'Air successfully introduced their product through catalogs. (See "Vested Interest.") According to Nieberding, "The main advantage of catalogs was [that] we didn't need retail packaging."

The Dallas company's founders got their initial list of catalogs by simply asking moms what catalogs they received. Says Moritz, "Once we had the catalog names, we just kept contacting them. Our product [a safety vest for babies to wear on planes] was unique and had a useful benefit, so the catalogs were ready to give it a try."

Some of the catalogs they sell in include Bye, Bye Baby; One Step Ahead; and the Right Start Catalog. But although the catalog option opens doors for inventors, you won't succeed unless you're able to keep your commitments. Cautions Moritz: "You can't afford to miss a delivery date. The catalogs have a big expense including your product in the catalog, and they expect your product to be there when their customer orders."

Look Who's Buying

If you want to get your baby product in retail stores, try contacting buying groups. Individual baby stores frequently band together to form buying groups, not only to get better name recognition, but also to negotiate better prices from big vendors.

When Shawn Boice started In Touch LLC in Bothell, Washington, in 1999, she first sold her Carseat Companion to individual stores. (See "Rearview Baby.") Boice, whose product is a mirror that helps parents keep tabs on their babies while driving, says, "The product was a big hit at every store, and some of the store owners told me I should contact corporate headquarters for bigger orders."

The first major event where Boice met representatives of buying groups was the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) show in Dallas. Not long after returning home, Boice, 39, she used success at the JPMA show to get the attention of other buying groups, too.

According to Boice, buying groups gave her an advantage by opening the other two avenues into the market. Groups offer a catalog of products that member stores can buy from, and they host their own trade shows where store owners can place orders.

Showing It Off

As Boice learned from experience, trade shows--whether sponsored by buying groups or other organizations--are a great way to get products to market. "I landed lots of new stores, and I didn't have to follow up for orders--people gave me the orders right at the show," she says. Virtually every juvenile-products retailer and manufacturer attends the JPMA show, scheduled for October 5 to 8 this year, and it's a great spot for introducing items. For details, call the JPMA at (856) 439-0500 or visit www.jpma.org.

Although Nieberding and Moritz didn't sell to many retailers when they attended their first JPMA show, they still recommend the event. Says Moritz, "We met a lot of other small manufacturers, learned lots of marketing information and found out which customers we could trust."

At its second JMPA show appearance in 2000, Baby B'Air started to pick up more retail store orders. Today, the product is carried by independent baby stores nationwide and has just been picked up by Babies "R" Us.

Boice, too, attended last year's JPMA show and expects to introduce several new products this year. Says Boice, "JPMA is really the one big show in the industry, and it's one where you want to make a splash."