RESOLVE PAYS OFF WHEN HIT WITH COMPETING PRODUCT
Monday, May 28, 2001 - By KAREN E. KLEIN
Faced with a similar backpack tackle box, Shane Pase
did not give up. Now he gets orders from all over the world.
When
Shane Pase returned to fishing as a hobby a few years ago, he was disappointed
to discover that the gear had not changed much since he was a kid: hard,
plastic tackle boxes that were bulky and hard to carry. Pase, 31, figured
a backpack-style tackle box could be a big hit. But after he invested
in design and manufacturing, a large sporting goods company released
the same product one week before his was due out. Persevering in the
face of disaster paid off, Pase said. He was interviewed by freelance
writer Karen E. Klein.
I came up with the backpack idea in 1999, but not having any true experience
in business, I had no clue how to start. I was just a fisherman with
an idea that I knew could be huge. I still have the pencil sketches
I did of the design. I talked to people around me and asked everyone,
relentlessly, for advice. It took a full year of researching before
I found the people I needed to help with manufacturing capabilities
and supplies.
I came across a baby products manufacturer in Orange who has been
a fisherman for 40 years. He loved my idea, so he helped me to do a
ton of research and development. After I had worked with him for eight
months, we came up with a final prototype. I funded the development
right out of my pocket, with accumulated savings and credit cards. It
was tough. My wife and I invested about $15,000, and we weren't sure
it would work.
We took the prototype everywhere, just to put feelers out. We showed
off the backpack on local boating trips, at lakes and anywhere we could
find people fishing. Apparently, we showed it to the wrong person along
the way, because nobody had come up with anything like this until one
week before our first order was scheduled to be delivered. I opened
up the sports page and saw a big sale ad for a nationally known fishing
tackle company. There it was in bold, living color--a backpack tackle
box. My wife and I looked at each other and panicked. We had dropped
15 grand and the big guys beat us to the punch by a week.
I knew a company like that had production capability and marketing
value and millions it could spend on advertising. How could we possibly
compete against this monster? I figured we were finished. Then I called
William Soto, my marketing manager, and he started laughing and asked
why I was so worried. Our backpack was better, it was made in the U.S.,
and we could offer customer service that would be untouchable by a big
company, he told me. He was a great rock of support. Even if we sell
only a few a month, he told me, we'll have a great little side business.
I listened to him, because we had talked to real fishermen and knew
what they wanted. I knew our product, and our quality and customer service
couldn't be beat. Besides, theirs was selling for $95, and ours would
be a lot less expensive [$59.95, plus $7.50 for shipping]. So we decided
to go forward.
When the first backpacks were delivered, we started our Web site, posted
messages on fishing bulletin boards online and started selling them
from the back of our truck--with an on-the-spot discount--when we went
fishing. We sold a few that way, and meanwhile I kept approaching local
fishing stores. After several months, I came across a retailer in Brea
who was willing to take a chance. He told me that he'd been looking
for something like this, since the backpack from that big company did
so poorly they discontinued it. His customers were asking for something
like [ours], so he tried a few in his store. They sold really well there,
so he suggested that we take it to a fishing and boat show in Long Beach
last March.
I couldn't afford the exhibition fee, but a professional fisherman
who saw the product and loved it offered me free booth space in exchange
for a cut of any product we sold at the show. We had hats and T-shirts
printed up and 250,000 attendees got a chance to see the backpacks.
We had incredible sales at that show and had to call our manufacturer
from the floor and make another order immediately. The response helped
propel us into the marketplace, and the sales we generated have given
us enough money to be able to go to a huge sports fishing trade show
in Las Vegas in July. We hope to have a shot at winning their "new product
of the year" award.
We now get 4,000 to 7,000 hits a month on our Web site, and orders
are coming in from all over the world. Our sales goal for next year
is $250,000. I'm a full-time administrator of group homes for the developmentally
disabled, and I love being an advocate for my clients, but someday I
hope to devote all my time to this business. What I've learned going
from ground zero to this point is that you can never say die. The more
people told me I couldn't do this, the more I was convinced that I could.
If you know in your heart of hearts that you've got an idea that you
can make work, do whatever it takes to make it happen. * * *