I'm not on the staff of the Transportation Security Administration, but I've been doing some pat-downs of my own lately. Entrepreneurial pat-downs. Of women. From the waist down.
Now that I have your attention: in the past months I've written about two fascinating women-owned entrepreneurial companies: Invisibelt, which makes an invisible belt so women can wear fitted shirts over their jeans without showing a bulky belt bulge; and BootyPop, which makes padded underwear that endows your rear end in a way nature did not. Moving down from there, the other day I interviewed the founders of FootzyRolls, a rollable pair of shoes women carry in their handbags so they can change out of uncomfortable heels anywhere, anytime.
FootzyRolls was founded by Sarah Caplan, 28, and her sister Jenifer, 34, in 2009, although the idea for the product started years earlier when Sarah was in college. Like most women, Sarah was a slave to fashion, which means she tolerated really uncomfortable high heels. She carried a bag around with a comfy pair to change into, but the bag-lady visual kind of defeated the fashion statement of her stilettos. Then, presto!, she dreamed up the concept of a rollable shoe, and she and Jenifer were in business.
That's a gross oversimplification of what actually happened and how the sisters went from pained feet to selling $1 million of FootzyRolls in one year. I'm always amazed to learn how women fashion entrepreneurs got their businesses going. It seems so simple. Invisibelt's Kathy Kramer had a problem with her jeans not fitting well because of her small waist, so she invented a product to solve the problem. BootyPop's founders Lisa Reisler and Susan Bloomstone glommed on to the fashion trend of women wanting some extra junk in the trunk. And the Caplans saw their opportunity to solve a painful footwear problem and grabbed it. (And all three companies chose spectacularly perfect names, which is no small part of success.)
Here's what I learned from the Caplan sisters, who offer important lessons for any entrepreneur, even if you're not a femme fashionista.
"When you've got a great idea, everyone wants to be your friend -- and take from you." Jenifer notes the hard reality of needing to project your idea. That means patent filings, non-disclosure agreements and other protections.
Your educational and professional background can make a big difference. Jenifer was an auditor by profession, with a master's degree in finance and real estate. She ran a mortgage brokerage and title insurance company prior to starting FootzyRolls. Sarah was a marketing and project management executive who worked for Accenture and J.P. Morgan Chase. Finance, marketing, project management -- all critical skills when you're starting a business.
"If you don't know the right people, you won't succeed," Sarah notes. You can't possibly do everything yourself, especially in a manufacturing business. You need web designers, logo creators, manufacturers (more than one, to protect your source of supply), attorneys, PR firms, independent sales reps. Your network has to be powerful, even if you have to build it from scratch.
You have to be shameless and willing to embarrass yourself, over and over. The Caplans demoed FootzyRolls at an accessories trade show in New York and someone pointed out to Sarah an executive from O Magazine ("O" as in Oprah), who was walking briskly down an aisle of the show. Sarah was practically an Oprah stalker, watching or TiVoing her show every day, so she knew Oprah complained about wearing heels. Sarah darted after the executive, trailing him down the show floor to let him know she had a large size that would fit Oprah if he would please, oh please, oh pretty please be interested. He kept walking. And the next week he called for the shoes. FootzyRolls was later features in O Magazine's 2009 holiday gift guide.
Business plan? We don't need no stinkin' business plan. There was none. The sisters just kept plowing money into the company, to the tune of $200,000. Now, they're finally getting around to creating a written plan so they can scale the company and extend the brand with new products. They have borrowed from no one so far, hold all the equity. Without a dime of investor money they managed to line up distribution in 311 Macy's stores, Bloomingdales, boutiques, and online, selling over $1 million in product in a little over a year. All without a written business plan. Message: when it's "go time" and you know it, it's more important to just get it done. You can write about it and plan for it later.
You have to be a promotional genius and opportunist. Check out FootzyRoll's website. There are pictures of celebrities like Jennifer Garner, Taylor Dane, Amy Adams, Debra Messing, Heather Graham, Tyra Banks and many more who wear and endorse FootzyRolls. There are more press clips and videos from Fox Business, The Today Show and dozens of magazines and websites. The sisters did a cross-promotion with Warner Brothers when Sex and the City 2 came out, sending thousands of specially packaged pairs of FootzyRolls to press people across the country. A good product and a charismatic sister duo isn't enough to get those kinds of results. You have to have great PR consultants, and be willing to call anyone and everyone who can help you.
"We make things happen," Sarah notes. "I have a lot of guts, I go and find people and figure out a way to get to them."