
Sweet, fragrant mass Family Business Forms
By Elizabeth Greenspan
April 2008
INCOME
Play Clay sold two Christmases before the extra money in the local market homes in Lamar, Colorado After my husband was fired, we started to sell for income. I started with a homemade recipe and then added a touch of perfume to make it smell good. Our formula is nothing else on the market, and nobody has been able to replicate it.
Play dough is one of best selling toys throughout the year. It is therapeutic and educational – is one of the most relaxing things you can do besides rolling, and contributes to the develop hand-eye coordination. We began to think that the game of clay is suitable for children three years or more, but our product is soft and flexible, so that even 2 years old can play.
Mothers love Play Clay because it does not crumble and flake. It is soluble in water and is not stained, unlike Play-Doh [by Hasbro] that comes right out of the carpet. Play Clay lasts two to three years, which has more than Play-Doh, and is manufactured in the U.S. from organic ingredients.
Clay goes to market
I designed the package for a professional. Then she hired some women to work, packaging and sale of Play Clay directly to consumers fairs, craft fairs and holiday markets.
After a couple of years, we went to the wholesale market. Our first performance of wholesale was the Dallas gift market in 1991.
Now we do a lot of details as well, and sell on our website. Our Product is in toy stores independent and have been in Wild Oats stores (NOW Foods full) for a few years.
Getting It Right
One obstacle we encountered was the realization of the right machine for our packages, and those that have worked well with our formulas. We used a 200 miles away, in company Denver let me put a machine to try again with the formula. If I can not change jobs. We make the machines until we have found that worked.
At first, we did everything by hand in 11 homes. Now, we have a factory and a process that makes our products more quickly 12 times. The company is large enough to support us, and we can do more with fewer people.
MODELS OF INTEREST
We worked with a public relations firm last year, and I think in the back to help a little. Sometimes it takes two or three years before seeing results.
We had a radio station in Oklahoma, which was the promotion of products manufactured in the United States last fall, and we did well with it. We also do a lot of work with TDmonthly.
In autumn, We do 17 shows over a period of five weeks more educational programming throughout the year. The whole family – my children and their spouses – Are our sales teams, and sell directly to consumers.
We are funded by ourselves do a lot of shows in detail. We believe that our product must be in the mass market, and are ready to make the transition. We are open to the sale of our business or having a partner.
HAVING tigers
Business has been a shock to me because I was raised to tell the truth. People and product copying flyers – who are dishonest.
My advice to people entering the industry is to work hard and be ready for the Tigers from there.
To read the rest of this article, please visit: http://www.toydirectory.com/monthly/article.asp?id=3143
About the Author:
About ToyDirectory.com® and TDmonthly™ Magazine
For more than 10 years, ToyDirectory.com has been connecting retailers and manufacturers within the specialty toy industry. It has been ranked by Yahoo! as the most popular business-to-business directory for the toy industry since 1998. TDmonthly Magazine, an online trade publication for the toy, hobby, gift and game industries with more than 27,800 registered retailers, is dedicated to being the most comprehensive monthly resource for the toy industry through trend reporting, reviews, trade show coverage and a 12,000+ searchable database of products in more than 100 categories.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Play Clay Models Success
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