Booty Pop entrepreneurs turn niche idea into successful firm(Oct 10, 2011)
Have you admired the shapely derrieres of stars such as Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Serena Williams or Kim Kardashian? Thanks to the founders of Booty Pop, you no longer have to be in the gym for hours or spend a lot on expensive plastic surgery to get a round rear ."Everybody wants to have a great booty now," says Booty Pop co-founder Susan Bloomstone.Bloomstone and business partner Lisa Reisler recognized the trend, and created undergarments that help give women a curvaceous look. Their niche product is now known worldwide.But it was all about timing, which is an extremely important factor when creating a niche product, says Molly Brogan, spokeswoman for the National Small Business Association. The timing of a product's introduction can decide its success or failure.Brogan points to the success of Magnolia Bakery, which brought cupcakes to New York 10 years ago. Now, everyone is cupcake crazy from reality shows to restaurants. But she also remembers a gentleman who had an idea for sushi chopsticks in the mid-90s. It didn't catch on."The timing was off," says Brogran. Bloomstone and Reisler seem to have perfect timing. They launched their product three years ago, just as America was admiring Mad Men's Christina Hendricks' curvaceous shape. Bloomstone, a former PBS television documentary filmmaker, had read an article about the increase in the rate of buttocks surgery. She mentioned the statistic to her fashion industry friend Reisler, who had also noticed a shift of attention from the bosom to the backside on the red carpet. Women everywhere wanted to look more voluptuous."It used to be about making the booty disappear," says Bloomstone. "Women were now going to the gym, working out to get a booty."One advantage of having a niche product is that an entrepreneur can really focus on a specific customer, says Louis Foreman, chief executive of Edison Nation, a company that pairs aspiring entrepreneurs with retailers and manufacturers.Bloomstone and Reisler knew that women wanted to look better in their clothing. As soon as they got a few samples made, they called The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, then on CNBC. They appeared on the show a week later."We didn't even have a website up yet," remembers Reisler. "We got emails upon emails upon emails. The phones wouldn't stop ringing. People wanted to find out where we were."An Entertainment Tonight reporter deemed the new undergarment as a "must have accessory," and the product was featured on Live with Regis & Kelly, The View, Martha Stewart's show, The Doctors and Good Morning America. Late night talk show hosts including Jimmy Fallon, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien were mentioning Booty Pop in their monologues.But the business didn't come as easily as the media publicity."We didn't realize what we didn't know, the licensing, the legalities," says Reisler.The partners had to learn about things such as manufacturing, packaging, importing and landing costs, "things that aren't as much fun as the creativity," says Reisler.Booty Pop was initially sold in trendy boutiques. As the product became more popular, the partners sought a way to reach a wider audience and did an infomercial, drawing customers of every size and walk of life."The infomercial really helped us," says Reisler.1|
