Ideas: Where Do They Come From?

There are people out there that always seem to have great ideas.  But the questions for the rest of us are: where do these ideas come from and how can I have great ideas, too? These needs are the basis of Idea Offer, a new site that was alpha launched for Wasabi Ventures last week.  Idea Offer is a clearing house for people who need ideas or feedback and people who have ideas.

The need for ideas also inspired us to reach out to our realm of entrepreneurs and ask them about their ideas and where they came from.  So, this week we are going to highlight the feedback that we received and the stories that go with them.

This first installment covers people that found a spark of enlightenment from every day actions:

Budd Shamroth, Drain Mate and Before & after Remodeling Consulting

I have been in the remodeling industry for 20 years. I own a design build company called  Before & After Remodeling Consultant Inc. I love what I do; I make people’s dreams  reality. When I design people’s kitchens the largest request I get is to create more space in the kitchen.

One night I was doing my own dishes, and I couldn’t stand the plastic dish rack. Everyone I know who has one can’t stand them. They are ugly and take up usable counter space.  I put down a dish towel after I was done doing the dishes, and I had more water on my countertops and floor than a swimming pool.

I took a step back from the kitchen sink and said, “There has to be a better way.” I sat down and started to draw. The next thing I knew I had created three products instead of just one. Drain Mate was born, I pitched to my clients and everyone loved the idea.

The only thing I need now is exposure. This may seem like it was easy, but this has been one of the most difficult projects I ever encountered.  MY PASSION keeps me going. I know for a fact I have a multi-million dollar product.

Tangela Walker-Craft, Simply Necessary, Inc. and the GoPillow!

My daughter was born with a headful of black silky hair.  Each time I would breastfeed her, the back of her neck along the hairline would perspire, and my arm would be damp.  I decided that I needed an arm cover of some kind – not just for breastfeeding, but for cradling my baby.  I told my husband about an idea that I had.  He and I began playing around with various versions of an arm pillow.  My husband drew a rough sketch of a pillow and my aunt was able to sew a rough prototype for me.

I was watching a child product segment on a talk show when they plugged a website and explained that the company bought ideas from parent inventors.  I emailed the site and asked for submission requirements and sent in my idea.  The owner contacted me that same week.  She loved the idea.  After finding out that I was a stay-at-home mother trying to replace my previous teaching salary she asked me if I could come up with my own “start-up funds”.  She then told me how to get the product made and market it myself.

The original intent of the pillow was for cradling babies for breast or bottle feedings.  We knew it would be an excellent travel pillow.  The idea for adding the privacy blanket came later.  It was added after I was caught in a crowded area during a rainstorm at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.  My husband had to hide me with his shirt so that I could nurse my daughter.  We realized that a privacy blanket or cover would separate our pillow from any other nursing pillow on the market.  The built-in blanket turned the pillow into a multi-purpose wonder!  The GoPillow! solved several problems that mothers often run into when away from home with a baby or toddler.  The pillows are professionally manufactured and packaged.

Leslie Haywood, Founder and President, Charmed Life Products LLC

I invented Grill Charms™.  The concept is similar to wine charms, but for your food. Grill Charms™ are the size of a dime with a decorative head and a stem that is textured so as not to fall out of the food while grilling. They are made of food grade solid stainless steel, and sit flush on the food so they do not interfere with the grill when being moved or flipped.  Food is Grill Charmed prior to cooking so when it comes off the grill perfectly charred and plated for guests, everyone knows which one is theirs. They simply look for their unique individual Grill Charm™. No more cutting into 5 steaks to try to find the rare one. No more having all mild barbecue chicken because only a few people like it spicy. Have a food allergy or health concern? “Grill Charm-it” to avoid problems.

The whole crazy process started one sultry April night in 2006, my husband was grilling some fantastic boneless chicken breasts for my friends and I.  The flavor of the evening was Jerk, which we all love.  Some people happen to like their chicken “jerkier” than others.  IE, more rub equals more spice and heat.  Some of us like ours on the milder side.  Once all the chicken came off the grill, arranged on a serving plate, brought upstairs and served to our guests, my husband couldn’t tell which chicken was spicy.  Wouldn’t you know it… me being a “mild” person; I bit right into the hottest one of all!  He said “I wish there was a way to tell which chicken is which” and immediately I knew we had something.  This was the light bulb moment.  In my mind I started the company that night, but according to that State of SC, I didn’t start my company until November 2006.

I really had no idea where to start or how I was going to do it, but that night I started scribbling drawings of a prototype on a note pad and thought to myself “this could be as big as the wine charm.”  Everyone I know has wine charms.  You can’t get away from them!  Funny enough my initial goal and Vision Statement still to this day, is “To see Grill Charms™ become as popular and as common in the American home as the “wine charm”.