Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Ok, so about 6 months ago I sent my product, OnTray, off to be reviewed by the catalog Leaps and Bounds for their consideration to include it in their offerings. I have e-mailed them several times to follow up with them. I finally get a response today. This is what it said:

"We have reviewed the product and based on our parents panel feedback we have decided to take a pass. They really liked the concept overall, but were concerned about germs since the tray has to attach directly onto the handle of the shopping cart. Our customer, also purchases product/covers that cover up shopping cart to elimate the exposure to germs from the shopping cart, and they would not be able to use both products together.
Please let us know if any changes are made to the product to address these issues."
To which I responded with this:

"That`s too bad. I`m guessing you haven`t taken a look at my Product Uses page lately on my web site, www.ontray2go.com. There is a picture of a little boy Max shopping with his mom in the seat cover with his fantastic blue OnTray. Many moms are buying OnTray to use in conjunction with their seat covers, because the covers only have pockets, not a tray to use to hold snacks. I do think your customers would appreciate options.

Thanks for your consideration."

I take rejection hard anyway (who doesn`t), but now I told my husband, it`s things like this that make me want to throw in the towel. Any comments?


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Laura Hamrick
Creator of OnTray; the Container 2 Go!
http://www.ontray2go.com

You know the old story about every no bringing you closer to a yes and all the examples of entrepreneurs being rejected over and over again before hitting it big....keep plugging away.....good luck!

Oh, you are so right.  It`s tough sometimes to remind yourself of that, you know?

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Laura Hamrick
Creator of OnTray; the Container 2 Go!
http://www.ontray2go.com

I know sometimes it feels like nothing is working, nothing going our way.....generally speaking if it were easy someone would have done it already....dont give up!

Wow, how funny.  I just said to my husband, "If this was easy, people would be inventing things or starting businesses left and right."  Oh, I am feeling so much better.  Thank you!

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Laura Hamrick
Creator of OnTray; the Container 2 Go!
http://www.ontray2go.com

Wow, I didn`t know parents were so afraid of germs.  You`d think they would never let their kids touch anything!

One thing to keep in mind is that they didn`t reject your product because it was bad or faulty or anything like that.  They (and the parents) actually liked it but couldn`t see how it would work with a product they already like to use.

This is great news!  Why?  Because you just got some important customer feedback from a "panel" of parents that you didn`t have to pay for.  And you already have a solution.  They just didn`t happen to see it on your site.  Now you know that this is a concern of your customers and it is time to put that particular photo with your tray and the cover in a place where people can see it better.  And you know that you can even make a bigger point of saying "It even works with seat covers!"

A slight refinement of your marketing message and you`re even closer to better customer understanding and acceptance!

Wow!  Thank you, thank you.  I appreciate your feedback, and I am off to place the picture of the baby in his seat cover somewhere on the front of my site!

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Laura Hamrick
Creator of OnTray; the Container 2 Go!
http://www.ontray2go.com

I make it my policy to quit immediately, if someone says they don`t like something.



Nah...just kidding. I quit a few days later. I`m a stealth quitter.....!

Criticism is really hard, though, and something always under discussion these days. We`ve all heard the old "don`t take it personally," but that really doesn`t help much when you get an outright rejection, which also includes reasons.

Over the years of being a musician and writer, I`ve sort of developed a couple of things that work pretty well. Not to the point of ending the anxiety, but at least to help deal with it.

The first is practice. It sounds weird, but the more you put yourself and your product out there, the more likely you`ll experience a goodly number of rejections. You`ll also experience acceptance and other-worldly joy (from a couple of folks in Idaho), but it`s that you get to know rejection. You can try different approaches, and eventually work out what you have to do so as not to take it personally.

The other is to have someone to talk with about the rejections. It`s a way to bounce ideas off someone in an objective way. And that helps validate your analysis of the rejection. Not all rejections are reasonable; some are basically ridiculous, but it`s hard to separate the wheat from the chaff when it`s all in your own head.

We`ve had various questions, problems, rejections, and so forth, and it seems that about 10% end up having some merit, AND leading to improvements or changes in the product. Sometimes they`ve led to whole other product lines, where we found we weren`t meeting the needs and expectations of a particular market segment---a product line.

There`s one other option, not recommended for chilren under 12, and that`s pharmaceuticals. They have their upper and downer sides, but you have to be careful to be realistic about pharmaceutical use. :-)

Thanks Craig.  If nothing else, you made me laugh!   No, seriously, I appreciate your feedback.

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Laura Hamrick
Creator of OnTray; the Container 2 Go!
http://www.ontray2go.com

George Carlin has a monologue about he and his brother used to swim in the filthy Hudson River when they were kids, but they never got sick.... why is that? Because they used to swim in the filthy Hudson River!

I`m sorry to hear about your rejection, I think your idea is really clever. But Craig and Steve are right...  ultimately Leaps and Bounds just saved you a pile of cash and made it easier for you to overcome future objections before they happen.

Good luck,
—paula