You've seen them all over. You may even use one or two of
them during your average day. They're convenience
products--those nifty little inventions that make typical tasks
just a bit easier. Think cups with spill-proof tops or organizers
that keep your car tidy. Not only do you use convenience products
all the time, but you've also probably come up with a few ideas
of your own--the kind that start with, "Hmm . . . somebody
should invent a . . . ."
But it's still a difficult market to crack, says Dave
Sutton, CEO and president of Inforte, a Chicago-based strategic consulting
firm that does marketing analytics and business intelligence work.
"There are a lot of missteps with this [kind of
product]," he says. "Mainly because people oversimplify
what the need might be . . . and the new device doesn't do
anything substantively different than the old type of
thing."
Even so, entrepreneurs shouldn't try to completely reinvent
the wheel with a product--or try so hard to make it unique that it
doesn't fit into any established retail categories (like health
and beauty, food, automotive, travel, and so on).
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It's often a shift on an established product that makes a
good convenience product. Take, for instance, TissueKups,
cup-shaped tissue dispensers that fit in car cup holders. Lorraine
Santoli invented this convenience product after she scrambled
around in her car for a tissue box that had slid away. She thought
this twist on a classic tissue box would make things easier.
"The most simple things are the best ideas," she
says.
Santoli, 56, secured a patent in 2001 and began selling her
product online in 2003. She's also seen great success in
private labeling for corporate groups and is currently trying to
get her product into larger retail stores. Projecting 2005 sales to
reach the $3 million range, she notes that the challenge is finding
enough capital to roll out her specialty convenience product the
way she wants to.
"That's the most difficult part for anyone who's
not in that world," Santoli says. "How do you get into
the market? It's very hard to get a retailer to take on
something new."
It's true that throwing your product into the convenience
market could put you in direct competition with big companies that
have the R&D capital to launch products faster than you--but
that could be the way to get your idea out there: Sell it to the
big guy. Says Sutton, "I think most small product innovations
get bought out by larger manufacturers."
You could also try going local with your product--getting it
into retailers in your own neighborhood and building a buzz around
it, notes Sutton.
The key, though, is landing on the right product at the right
time and really heeding the needs of the marketplace. Products like
the Johnny-Light, a small light that mounts on a
toilet-seat to light it up at night, or the AirPocket, a
small pouch designed specifically to carry an inhaler at the ready,
fit specific needs of specific markets.
To get ideas, Sutton suggests asking questions like: What are
people doing with their downtime? What brands already resonate with
them, and how can you change their behaviors? What are some unmet
needs of your target market?
Airports, for instance, are ripe for convenience products as the
wait time for the average passenger has increased--travelers have
time and expendable income, and they're a captive audience,
says Sutton. Apply that thinking to other areas, and you might come
up with the next cool (or should we say hot?) convenience
product.