Beverly Morgan started her home-based business, Kitz 4-U Inc. in Hamilton, Ontario, by selling First Aid Kits to fundraising organizations. She has also developed three other affordable "Everything You Need In A Pinch" kits, the Bowling Kit, the Golf Kit, and the Travel Kit.
Helping organizations fundraise successfully gives Beverly a lot of satisfaction. For instance, a small nursery school in London, Ontario, asked Beverly if she could organize a fundraising event for them using the First Aid Kit. The group was hoping to raise $1,500.00 for new playground equipment for the children, but thanks to the help of Kitz 4-U Inc., they were able to raise $8000.00 in a two week campaign.
All the kits are also unique gifts and promotional items. "Companies have purchased products by the case," Beverly says, "to give away as "Thank Yous" to clients, or appreciation gifts to staff." The First Aid, Bowling, and Golf kits let small businesses show their appreciation to customers and staff and market their product or service at the same time.
What personality traits have contributed the most to Beverly's business success? She says she is inquisitive and determined. "I like to come up with new ideas and turn them into reality. For this you need determination."
The biggest challenges Beverly faced starting Kitz 4-U Inc. were challenges that every new business faces; product development and defining the market. Beverly's description of how she met these challenges provides a blueprint for new businesses.
Beverly tackled the challenge of product development methodically. To produce the kits, she had to find the answers to questions such as, "What will I put in each kit?" "What will the packaging look like?" "Where will I purchase the products I need?" "Who will do the graphic design?" "Who will make the packaging?"
She designed a list of priorities and worked her way through them one by one. To determine which products her potential customers would like to see in the kits, she did several market surveys, which she describes as "very time consuming, but very important." Once the product list was set, she had to find suppliers, which also took some searching. "Some wouldn't sell to me, while others took a chance."
Then it was time to look at the packaging. She prepared (and rejected) several designs before deciding on the final product. The graphic design for the packaging took the longest. Beverly warns, "This is where you must know the packaging laws. You must know the requirements for each country you are selling to. Do not depend on your graphic artist to know these regulations. They probably won't. The best advice I can give anyone is to check, check, and double-check your information."
Beverly herself almost went to print with her packaging company before she found the information she needed on packaging laws, which would have been an expensive lesson. Just in time, she discovered that everything was incorrect and the entire design had to be redone.
"It's no one's responsibility but your own to make sure things are done according to regulations. I assumed incorrectly that the graphic designer would know the law; then I assumed incorrectly the company making the packaging knew the law. I do not assume anything any longer. I ask advice whenever possible, and pay for it whenever necessary."
Continue on to the next page to read how Beverly got her kits export ready and her advice for others who want to start a small business.
