0816_TOEFL-Test-and-Score-Manual-1997

124 ● 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business
“Launching a small business in 2008 was not the best time in the world,
but we are alive,” said Diana Schulz, chief executive officer of Cyber-Rain,
which is based in Encino, California. “Our success is a testament to the
technology and the fact that there is a growing awareness of the water crisis
and increasing water rates.”
Schulz said that 39 states will be facing drought by 2013, according
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That’s another reason she
believes homeowners and landowners will be willing to pay $399 for a
system that controls eight sprinklers.
“The system will pay for itself within a year or two,” said Schulz, adding
that it is easy to install with a screwdriver and a few other easily available
tools. “Our product is such a no-brainer, I have to ask, why doesn’t everybody
with a lawn have one?”
The small company is venture backed, but Schulz declined to share
any financial information. “Fund-raising has been a big part of my life
for the past two years,” said Schulz, who spends much of her time promoting
the product to potential customers, mainly commercial landscapers
and property managers.
Consumers can buy the Cyber-Rain system online at www.cyber-rain
.com. Landscape contractors and owners of commercial buildings can
purchase bigger systems through Ewing Irrigation, a Phoenix-based firm.
GREAT
Build a Working Model of Your Product
Raising money to manufacture and market your great
IDEA
idea is almost impossible without a working model.
Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs fall prey to invention scam artists who
charge big fees and do absolutely nothing to bring your product to market.
So you need to find a reputable firm to build a working prototype. Most
investors want to touch and feel the product before writing a check.
“People think that if they have a patent they are nine-tenths of the way
there,” said Henry C. Keck, the semiretired cofounder of Keck-Craig, the
Pasadena, California, based firm. Keck has been designing products since
the 1950s. “When the inventor says it’s 90 percent complete, we say there’s
90 percent more to go.”