bee-shaped handheld reusable vibrating cold pack that blocks needle pain

When (month and year) did you have your "aha" moment that became the basis for your business?

4-Aug-04

Describe your moment, the problem you solved, or reason for starting your business.

I was doing needle pain research throughout my pregnancies, and when the kids got old enough to remember I brought creams or distraction toys to lessen the impact of the shots. Consequently, they were all really good shot takers until one nurse told my oldest out of nowhere "You are going to sit still or this is really going to hurt and we will have to hold you down." He did great for the shots but then threw up afterwards and had been needlephobic ever since. I was so mad at the system and myself for not being able to protect him that I wanted to come up with something that worked instantly that parents could bring and use even if the healthcare system wasn't interested.

I knew that the body could stop pain naturally using something called "gate theory". If you bang your knee and rub it the pain stops, if you smash your finger and shake it it helps the pain, or if you burn your finger and stick it under cold running water it quits hurting. I thought of cuffs of cold water, all sorts of messy stuff. I got the idea in the car driving home from the hospital on August 4th, because my hands got a little numb from the vibration of unbalanced tires. Eureka! Vibrators are the answer! I really thought that vibration would work, but it wasn't until my husband suggested frozen peas UNDER the vibration that it really made my kids' hands numb to sharp pokes. We re-inacted it with a video camera, it was such a profound moment. Once I figured out that cold and vibration together near the sharp pain worked, I tried to get a pharmaceutical company interested in the idea. For a few years I tried, with no luck. Finally my husband and I agreed to sink the home equity line into the idea and start our own business. I also invented cards called DistrACTION cards that you can pull out and distract during procedures. They have counting and finding tasks which are proven to decrease pain, and they can even fit in a slot on Buzzy's tummy to block the view of the procedure if the sight of the sharp is the problem.

How did you come up with the name of your product?

I wanted something to make the sound of the motor logical to kids so it wouldn't be scary. The sound was definitely a buzz, but also the first vibrating massager we used was yellow and black, so "buzzy" made sense.

What were you doing prior to starting your own business?

I was and still am an emergency pediatrician and researcher. I intend to keep practicing at least one day a week. With emergency, that one day is often a weekend. I'm not changing, just adding bigger and bigger Venn diagram circles encompassing my li

How did your spouse or family react to the idea of you having your own business? Do they participate?

My husband relieved one of my anxious periods by saying, "If you didn't do this you'd always be consumed by regret not knowing." Another time he said, "OK, what did you project as a break even? Do you think there are that many children out there who will be helped by Buzzy? You can just stop then and have made the world a little better." Or something to that effect. At any rate, he's right. People always talk about the opportunity cost of one activity versus another, but no one talks about opportunity profit. Knowing how the idea panned out is an opportunity profit, and very satisfying.

Mostly he is a silent partner and always-willing caregiver when I need to go out of town, but when we do trade shows it turns out he's the BEST boothmate. He also often provides just the little directional guidance when it's needed, and he's great to bounce ideas off.

My kids support me by bragging to their friends about how they don't mind getting shots, and by being interested in a variety of ways in the business. Over the past 5 years my children helped test, build, and prototype Buzzy until we had a device that worked. They smashed cell phones, helped me use electric tape and elastic bands, and have served as my first and best advisors. We started with a hand held massager and frozen peas, and finally got to a cute bee with frozen wings. At one point I contemplated having Buzzy be a shivering polar bear (Stephen Cold Bear!) but my son Miles stopped me. "Mom. He's a bee. He's always been a bee. All your files have "Buzzy" on them. He has to stay a bee." The kids alternately get frustrated and are proud of the Buzzy work, and they're REALLY proud when friends use it for their shots. One likes to help with design details, one likes to put together the distraction cards and inventory, one just likes to be videoed (sp?) and do demo on electronic equipment. All of them are excellent salespeople at the booths.

How long was it from the time you had your idea until you had your first sale?

Well, August 4 2004 until we launched May 1 2009.

What skills from being a mom or from your previous work helped you in your business?

Primarily knowing how to do scientific research. We were able to get a 1M NIH grant because I knew the science of needle pain and how to write a grant.

Also, being a doctor and pain researcher made it possible to learn the physiology behind why Buzzy worked. Buzzy combines cold and vibration to block sharp pain transmission, just as putting a burned hand under water makes it better. The ice pack is either brought in a Cold-to-Go bag or sandwiched between two freezer packs (I used the ones from the Medela pump) or taken the freezer at the doctor's if they have a Buzzy. When the nurse is ready for the shots, the freezer pack is slipped into an elastic band behind buzzy, then the vibrator is switched on and the ice and vibration are applied together "above" the site of the shot. When the shot is not on an arm or leg, put Buzzy between where the nerves come out of the spinal cord and where the shot is: lateral to the shot for the stomach, closer to the spine than the shot on a diagonal for the buttocks. Leave Buzzy on for at least 15 seconds, up to a minute or so for extra numbing. Buzzy stays ON during the poke to keep disrupting the nerve transmissions.

What has been your biggest challenge in business so far? How did you overcome it?

Balancing the time has been the biggest challenge. I'm still a practicing doctor with a busy research department, and so I don't have nearly as much time for my family. I haven't seen a movie with my husband for three years. If Buzzy doesn't take off and help a lot of people, and allow me to have a bit more free time when the kids are teenagers, I've sacrificed a few years of time with my children that I can't get back. The very hardest is working from home when I don't have a sitter but expected one: I'm edgy about the goals for the day I need to get done, irritable because the kids want time with me and I've got STUFF TO DO, and sad because even when I try to be in the moment and enjoy the time with them I can't put myself in that mental frame.

Most of the problem is just hours. I've gotten used to having no time for myself right now: I say "it's a season" and this is not the season when I get to kick back and relax. It helps stress go down when we get letters from nurses or kids telling us how much Buzzy helped them, or how great it is, or how a kid who hasn't gone to the doctor for years due to fear of shots now isn't afraid. I also learned to delegate a little, and hired moms who are transitioning back to full time. I have a team of exceptionally talented women, and all of us are helping Buzzy. We're all moms, and all have really down to earth "let's make this work" sensibilities, on top of a desire to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Even if the business doesn't take off, we're still doing something meaningful.

What are some of your favorite business tools and/or resources?

HARO

What tricks or traps did you discover in your business journey that you would caution other moms to avoid?

Don't pay for a shipment of anything from China without pictures of it loaded on board and letters of credit escrowed to make sure you don't get escrewed.

Who do you look up to, follow and/or admire in business? Why?

Peter Diamandis, space entrepreneur: Peter wanted to go to space, but after realizing the military opportunities were limited and slanted against him he figured out a clever way to achieve his goal and benefit others like him. In addition, he capitalized

How have your revenues grown since you started your business? What helped the most? (Here you can phrase this however you'd like - year to year growth, actual sales figures, etc.)

We've been doubling in sales every 6 months, but since we got international distribution the volume has been going up FAST. Now I'm more stressed about keeping up with demand than about whether we'll sell them.

What retail stores are you in? Do you have any advice for moms trying to get their products to retail shelves?

We are ALMOST ready with retail packaging, but aren't retail in the US yet.

What are your goals and plans for your business? What challenges and/or opportunities are ahead?

To reduce worldwide pain through inexpensive reusable products and research
To be the market leader in non-invasive analgesia for needle pain
To improve worldwide vaccination compliance
To develop further modalities for pain relief using BuzzyR technology

If you were mentoring a mom starting her business or developing her idea, what advice would you give her? What steps would you recommend?

First, don't be too afraid to bounce the idea off of friends you respect. Doing something new is really hard, and companies aren't likely to try to steal an idea without an actual product behind it. Make sure the idea is something that all your friends think is brilliant, and ask them on a 1 to 10 scale how likely they would be to buy it. People can say "amazing" but then not actually want to purchase it. If they are anything less than a 10, make them say why. Starting a business, if you plan to sell, is a 7 to 10 year investment of your life. You will be obsessed, you will not have as much time for yourself, you will become a bit more boring from lack of social currency, and you will get less sleep. Unless the idea is really awesome, don't go there.

Once you do make the plunge and you're sure you have a good idea, stick to it. I've been ready to quit about 4 times, preceded by two or three days of shadowy lurking anxiety that is VERY atypical for me. When I am finally able to tack the dread to a specific business decision, I've made the tough choice and the dread has dissolved. There was a moment a few years ago where I visualized the trajectory of Buzzy clearly, and I haven't worried so much since then. It helps that my husband and I both like working, so we aren't hung up on a given retirement date. The fact that our 401K's plummeted has actually relieved some stress, as we figure the money we put into the business instead of retirement was well-invested. The difficult decision is how to determine a "hard stop", as in "Ok, this isn't coming out as well as we thought and it's sucking us dry. If we haven't achieved X by X date then we just quit and give the inventory away at a garage sale." We're getting some success now, so that discussion hasn't been as necessary.

Find a good group of mom entrepreneurs, and find a design firm you LOVE. It's good to find someone that has come in second on a lot of the big awards (IDEA, MDEA) because they'll be hungry to win. Make sure the people you are working with, from attorneys to desingers to packaging people, GET the idea. If they don't have a spark of "OH! That's a really good idea" find someone else.

When you get time to yourself (if you ever do), what do you like to do that is unrelated to your kids or your business?

cook, drink IPAs, travel