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

Develop and Launch New Products and Services ● 127
sells his hardwood-body, custom-made electric guitars for $1,500 to $2,500.
It takes him between 40 and 60 hours to make one guitar. So far, he’s been
selling them through word-of-mouth and by attending guitar shows.
Nicknamed the “Caveman” for his rumpled appearance, Blake named
his company Cavey’s Clubs. It’s a play on words because musicians call their
guitars axes (www.caveysclubs.com).
The founder of Alibre said Blake is a typical customer.
“My vision from the beginning was to have a software product that
lets individuals and small business owners turn their ideas into products,”
said Paul Grayson, CEO of Alibre. A veteran software guy, he founded
and later sold for $100 million a company that made graphic software for
personal computers.
He invested his own money to start Alibre, which posts annual revenues
of about $10 million.
“We’ve lowered the bar so new companies can get their products to
market,” said Grayson. “We are part of the industrial revolution 2.0. . . . All
you need is passion, persistence, and an idea you can turn into a product.”
GREAT
IDEA
Serve the High and Low
Ends of the Market
One of the most creative and savvy entrepreneurs
I know built a lucrative frozen-pizza manufacturing
business by serving all ends of the pizza market with targeted and pricespecific
products.
A former potato saleswoman, Kathy Taggares sold her condo, jewelry,
and cashed in her insurance policies to buy an ailing salad dressing factory
from Marriott Corp. in 1989. She named the company K.T.’s Kitchens. A
few years later, she added pizza crust to her product line. She eventually
added a full line of frozen-pizza products, selling them to Trader Joe’s, club
stores, schools, and the military.
With about 250 employees and 2010 sales around $45 million, she’s
doing something very right. Her most successful strategy relies on using