Disappearing Barrettes Lead to Bow-tiful Business

Notes from Chris

Episode 891

Rozalynn Goodwin is a wearer of many hats and bows—she’s a Vice President for the South Carolina Hospital Association, a booking agent for her comedian husband, and an investigator of lost barrettes for her daughter Gabby. That last project is what we’re going to focus on here.

One night after yet another run to the beauty supply store to purchase hair barrettes, Rozalynn found herself frustrated. She pulled out all of the hair products that Gabby (who was five years old at the time) had and dumped them on the kitchen table. As she picked through them, she began to notice just how poorly constructed most of them were. Many were even missing clasps to snap and attach to the hair.

She then did what many frustrated moms do and took to social media. Rozalynn complained about the age-old problem of disappearing barrettes and how she was tired of having to replace them. Many other moms chimed in, agreeing with her. Then her pastor spoke up, telling her that it sounded like a market she needed to break into. Rozalynn was a little annoyed, "how was she supposed to manufacture hair barrettes with all of her other responsibilities?"

But one morning as she was styling Gabby’s hair before school, she found herself in the same frustration mode. She mumbled to herself that someone needed to make a bow that would stay in.

Without realizing she was talking out loud, Gabby exclaimed, "Mommy! Are we going to make a bow?!"

Rozalynn was caught off guard and tried to push it aside. But, like most kids, Gabby wouldn’t soon forget. Later that afternoon when she picked Gabby up from school, Gabby asked when they were going to make bows.

Gabby was like a broken record caught up in pigtails and wasn’t going to let it go until it was fixed. Rozalynn agreed that they would take it on, thinking of it like a science project. She thought that they could investigate what was missing with the current barrettes on the market and sell the results to a company to create. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple.

They began to make notes of what could be improved upon with the design. After they had a concept, Rozalynn presented it to many hair accessory companies—but no one was interested in selling their newly invented product without a patent. She quickly learned that it was not an easy road to clip down.

Rather than letting this idea disappear like the other missing barrettes, they decided to make and sell them on their own.

To launch their product, they shot a short video demonstrating how the double-face double-snap barrette works and posted it on Facebook with a link to their simple WordPress website. Within a day, they had more than 1,000 views and their first sale! They knew this was the start of something great.

That was a few years ago, and sales have continued to climb, now averaging around $4,500 in profit each month. Thanks to consistent marketing and use of the hashtag #kidpreneur, GaBBY Bows has been featured in many publications and TV shows including the Today Show.

 

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• GaBBY Bows: Clip on over to Rozalynn and Gabby's website to learn more about their barrettes!
• WordPress: Rozalynn and Gabby used WordPress to set up their website, and here you can learn how to install your own WordPress site in 5 minutes

 

SEE ALSO:

• Frustrated Mom Grows Hair Brush Hustle to Seven Figures: Hoping to work the tangles out of her kids’ morning routine, a Colorado mom creates her own solution to the struggles that come with having curly hair
• Mom & Son Create 'Comfy Cup' Support for Young Athletes: A Kansas City-area mom and her 10-year-old son invent an unconventional (but essential) product for young male athletes that brings in more than $5,000 a month
• High School Students Earn $10k in Profits Selling Bread at Farmers Markets: A brother-and-sister duo learns about entrepreneurship first hand when they create a side hustle baking and selling bread at their local farmer’s market. Each of them purchases their first car with the profits!

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,