Bringing a Product to Market: Mom Inventor Christine Barlow Shares Valuable Lessons Learned
For Christine Barlow of 5 Phases, dedication is not merely an abstract, feel-good entrepreneurial concept. In fact if you were to craft a pictoral representation of Christine's stick-with-itness, it would probably look something like Rosie the Riveter.Nine years ago she discovered, during a routine ultrasound, that her unborn son suffered birth defects - a phenomenon which the doctors said was becoming increasingly more common. Then three and a half months before the due date, her 1.5 pound premie was born.He spent his first three months in the NICU and the following year on oxygen. Even at a year and a half, they couldn't be sure he was out of the woods, as he continued succumbing to complications like asthma, eczema, bronchitis and pneumonia. Christine's own research pointed to toxic chemical exposure from plastics as a likely culprit.
5 Phases Founder
The doctors seemed at a loss, so in desperation Christine sought out alternative practitioners, including Chinese medicine doctors and holistic healers. It was there that her son's health finally started to improve. It was also when Christine was introduced to the philosophy of the 5 Phases."All living things go through transitions," Christine explained. "It's the yin and the yang, and the 5 phases: wood, fire, earth, water, metal. It's about cherishing every moment, about the moment that you're in at the present. I just thought because all of life is transitions that we could build a whole line of products from infant all the way up to adult."When her son was three years old, Christine started developing the concept of what this product line would be: safe, fully-encased glass baby bottles, with separate inserts to support the graduation to blended organic foods, and eventually sippy-cup toppers that fit the original bottles and possibly even adult bottles built along the same concept.But with Christine being a mother of two and working another full-time job outside of her business, it would be three more years before she was ready to begin production."I originally launched the bottles 3 years ago in 2010 but I was having issues with the nipple and a number of small issues that I felt I really needed to correct before getting the bottles out there. I just kept my website open, and I redesigned the nipple and I redesigned the glass, and it works 100% better."We re-launched in July of this year. I have a whole line of products now. So now I just need to get them out there. But, oh my gosh, that's the hard part."If that is the "hard part," wait until you hear what Christine went through to get her business to this point.
Mom Inventor
"I had read an article in the L.A. Times about the leaching plastics with baby bottles, and because my son was premature and there were a lot of issues with him, I thought there's got to be a way to get people to use glass again.""I drew a picture of the bottle on a napkin while I was at work. I brought it home, showed it to my husband, and he was like, 'Christine, what do we know? We know nothing about developing products.'"The very next day he was going through the Costco magazine and there was an article there from The Mom Inventors Handbook. So we bought the book, and that's how I started."From there, began the grueling process of testing for FDA approval in the U.S., as well as extensive testing for approval in Canadian and European markets. But wait, I forgot to mention the horrorshow Christine experienced while navigating the world of manufacture for the first time."After I had it on a napkin, I had to get a CAD(computer aided design)-drawing engineer...actually my first engineer was a nightmare, and I ended up getting a prototype made from that which was literally a bottle big enough for a camel! It was a disaster."I spent $800 on him and then probably another $1000 on the prototype, so that mistake cost me about $1800. Then I had to start over. The people who created the prototype gave me the name of another engineer, and he was awesome. He created a perfect bottle, then I had the prototype made from a company called Solid Concepts."Now, armed with the right prototype, Christine hoped that the worst was over, but she encountered another bad apple on the manufacturing side. "He ended up keeping half of my molds. I didn't get them back. He sent me the rejects, and it was a nightmare."I had to rebuild a whole new bottle again. And I had 4,000 rejects in my garage because they were not working properly. I spent a lot of money on those bottles, but I don't dare put them out there and get a bad reputation."
Lessons Learned on Bringing a Product to Market
Finally, Christine found a good manufacturing partner when she attended an entrepreneurial roundtable and was introduced to a local manufacturer with offices in California and China. She expanded her product line from a single 8oz. bottle, to a whole line, inlcuding 4 oz. bottles, separate glass inserts, and 4oz. start kits.
What would you say to mompreneurs out there as far as selecting the right manufacturer?
"Don't try to do it yourself. I would recommend finding someone to help you through all of the hurdles. You need help. There's no way without. You'll end up getting hooked up with the wrong people. It's networking and meeting people, and somebody knows somebody who can help you."
Do you have any networking tips for moms who are just starting out and not sure even where to begin? What would you recommend?
"You could call someone like Tamara Monosoff, creator of Mom Inventors. That's what she does. She has a lot of connections to manufacturing or some people who write or can help you do packaging. I was lucky I found a gal who was learning: Jeanetta Gonzalez of Nett Designs. She did my packaging and all my graphics. I think my package was probably one of the first ones she did, and it took a while to get it, but I think she did a really nice job. I get A LOT of compliments on my packaging for the bottles."
What about distribution? How do you find and capitalize on good distribution channels?
"That's what I'm working on right now as a matter of fact. I was on the cover of National Child World magazine with some really big entrepreneurs, and right now I have a couple of them helping me because they've already got their products in distribution. I just got into Bel-Bambini in West Hollywood and Newport, and those are huge stores -- that's where all the celebrities go. They love the concept and they love the bottles. They said, 'You just stick with us and we'll help you brand your bottles.'"
What could you tell our readers about getting publicity for their business? Because it looks like you've gotten some pretty good publicity so far...
"I've done four trade shows, and that really helped. I just did the ABC trade show a couple weeks ago, so that's where I met Bel-Bambini, and they went crazy over the bottles. I used Pitch PR, a public relations company, and I've used them for about four months. I used Veriis for a while -- they helped me with some of my social media. And I would like to do another trade show in March, which is Expo West, where my bottles are really well-received because it's all all-natural products.
How do you make the most of the trade shows?
"I did an ad in the Baby Maternity Retailer. They have a special trade show edition that goes out to retailers one month before the ABC Trade Show. I put a half page ad in, and it wasn't that expensive. It goes out to all the retailers and helps people learn about your product. I've got MailChimp, and I always send out emails letting retailers know I'm going to be there. You always want to put on a show special and notify them beforehand to encourage people to buy your product right there at the show."
How did you manage to land publicity in People Magazine?
"They must have just seen them, maybe because I won a lot of awards on the bottle. I didn't even have any PR going on then. When you win awards a lot of companies look to do write-ups about your product. The JPMA Award goes along with the ABC trade show. If you have a new product you submit it, and there's a small fee. They get hundreds and hundreds of products, and they pick maybe ten or twelve products, and that's how I got the JPMA Award."I submitted my product for the Mom's Choice Award, and I got the gold seal. And these were all on my old bottles -- so it was still winning awards even when it wasn't working very well. It's always good to put on your website that you won awards."
Which aspect of launching your business presented the biggest challenge?
"The initial launch. You have to do your marketing, you have to do your Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you have to do trade shows. The marketing is key to really getting your product out there. You can't just put your website live and expect it to sell because it really doesn't work that way. It took me two years to fix everything because I had to get rid of my manufacturer, I had to get a new manufacturer, and I had to make new molds."So I kind of look at it as the launching really only happened this past July, because I really could not market it until the problems were corrected. You just can't give up and that's the thing. You have to just keep going, and it's very easy to give up. You just gotta pick yourself back up and you gotta just keep doing it. You've put so much time and money into it that you just can't stop. I had to finish it, and I had to make it work right. It's nice to finally get the really good reviews."
What's the direction of the future for you and for 5 Phases?
"I would love to be out on the street and see a baby using the bottle. My goal right now is just to get it out there. I think these bottles could be a top seller! The bottles really are a great design, the functionality and the way it works – The bottle has a glass insert which addresses the health concerns of leaching plastic. The plastic sleeve helps protects the glass and will keep the shards of glass away from the baby if it did break. They offer the healthful benefits of glass plus the protection of BPA free plastic."
What wisdom would you want to impart to moms who are launching a business?
"It takes A LOT more time and money than you think. Depending on what your doing, it can cost a lot to market, and I definitely recommend getting help--and finding the right people. Somebody who can help you find manufacturers that know what they're doing. Once you find your people it's much easier. Getting help is the most important thing.
Do you have a story to tell about bringing a product to market? Questions or suggestions about how it can be done best? Tell us in the comments.
Have questions or comments from this interview with Christine Barlow? Visit her website: http://www.5phases.com or find her on Facebook.