"To say we are a nation of entrepreneurs would be an understatement. More than 25 million small businesses operate across the country, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates. About 40 percent of those are in high tech industries.
Behind these numbers are often intensely personal stories. This is the first in an occasional series of columns that will follow several startup companies as they attempt to develop and market their innovations. Some have substantial venture capital backing; others are go-it-alones. All are seeking to capitalize on disruptive technologies -- Web services, new composite materials -- or emerging trends, such as concern over the environment.
These enterprises can spring from almost anywhere: university research departments, major corporations, or even a neighborhood garage. Many are inspiring stories. Take, for example, Robert Rod's. A lifelong entrepreneur, Rod has always lived by the inventor's code: If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door.
In the 1950s, he developed a fuel-measuring system that increased the range of U.S. ballistic missiles. The government bought it, and he founded a thriving aerospace company on Long Island. Eventually, he sold it with the intention of retiring, but his concern about unsafe pesticides led to a second career. Although in his 80s, Rod bought the U.S. patent rights to a pesticide made from orange peel extract and launched Rod Products Co. to market Bugs 'R' Done.
It's so safe the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given the pesticide its least hazardous rating -- Category IV. As such, a first aid statement and warning label are unnecessary. Yet, it kills even the hardiest insects, including cockroaches, by dissolving the waxy lining of their breathing passages, causing suffocation.
He may have built a better mousetrap, but the path to his door has been blocked by the realities of the marketplace. Shelf space is scarce, and companies often must pay steep stocking fees to get in retail stores. In addition, most regional distributors won't touch a product unless it has $10 million in sales; 'Bugs' has about $1 million.
Rod, who is now 86 and has endured a heart valve operation, a double bypass, and two stomach aneurisms, is still at it. He has been able to get his product in some Whole Foods Stores, but his goal now is to license it to a major manufacturer. 'That way, we don't have to worry about advertising, marketing, and distribution.' he says. ..."
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