Two housewives invent million-dollar products

"If we can do it, anyone can do it," said Jane Och, co-founder of Guac-Lock.

Guac-Lock is a food container that helps solve one of the biggest problems for parties: keep the buttermilk dish from browning.

After four years of difficult development, this product was launched in 2016 and by the end of 2017, it achieved sales of 1 million USD.

"If we can do it, anyone can do it," said Sharon Prince, Guac-Lock's co-founder, repeating his friend's words.

Jane Och left) and Sharon Prince - (Photo: CNBC).

Bounce ideas from the kitchen

Both women were former investment managers, but then stayed at home to raise children and only worked as consultants. They meet through the children, become good friends and then one-sister.

But then they become bored.

On a day of 2012, while in the kitchen, Och took out a box of mashed butter sauce from the refrigerator, and found that it was still fresh, despite being there for three days.

Gauc-Lock - the housewife's invention - (Video: YOUTUBE).

"I realized that if I didn't touch this box, it would never turn brown. Therefore, I think if we somehow managed to get rid of the air it would solve the problem. for a long time, " she recounted.

People have also tried many different ways to keep the butter in the box always green but it seems to work only for a short time.

"I searched online for months, couldn't understand why no one had thought of this idea before. I'm sure no one had , " Och said.

After four years and each person "lost" lost $ 100,000 in their savings, they finally succeeded.

Before that, neither Prince nor Och had invented anything. They know nothing about technology, production, branding, distribution or patenting. " We started to mention it to anyone we know , " Prince said.

The more people ask, the more help they receive. " I listen to everyone's advice and don't know where it will lead," Och added.

One of the first things they encountered was to name the product, and it turned out to be the only easy thing in their journey. After an exchange of ideas in Och's kitchen with her teenage daughter and friends, they got the name Guac-Lock.

An industrial design designer they met through friends created models for Guac-Lock, making it easy to use while still having the function to push all air out. out. And another friend helped them produce samples in just five days in Taiwan.

Test ideas

After 4 years, Guac-Lock was officially born - (Photo: CNBC).

In 2014, they participated in a home furniture exhibition, and Guac-Lock was voted one of the finalists for the "Creative" category. So their stalls became very famous.

However, at that time they only had a sample product, not a product that was really approved by the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration).

"People come in and ask How do we get this product? We answer We are not ready to sell, just about to do it. Give us your name, phone number and information, when Yes, we will contact again, " Prince recalls.

Before attending the exhibition, one of their good friends met Bruce Kaminstein - the founder of a family product company, Casabella. Kaminstein promised to help the two. And indeed, their booth was placed near the large display area of ​​Casabella.

Casabella even approached them with a licensing agreement, helping Guac-Lock to take advantage of the company's contact and distribution information.

However, things are not always smooth.

Must reinvent

These two housewives have overcome many tough challenges - (Photo: CNBC).

The biggest problem is the material they choose to produce Guac-Lock. People propose silicon because many food products use this material and it has also been approved by the FDA.

However, it has a deadly drawback when it contains crushed butter sauce. " Silicon is air permeable and that's what we don't want, " the two said.

This feature allows air to enter and cause the butter to turn brown, making them take a long time to understand why this is so.

Eventually, they hired a material engineer and suggested using "a thermoplastic elastomeric" with less gas permeability.

It took six months and a lot of money, a "very dark" period, but an FDA-approved elastomer was born. "People think it's silicon but not," Och said.

However, difficulties have not stopped there. They have problems in design.

Since the Guac-Lock originally had a smaller bottom, when the plastic to put the butter out was pushed up, it would slide down, giving the opportunity for air to enter. That means it is impossible to keep the avocado after one use, and thus fail.

So Och came up with another idea. She found that if the upper part is smaller, the butter will help solve the problem.

But there is a big problem. The first order of 12,000 Guac-Lock boxes was previously made in China and is about to be delivered.

Simply turning the device over, changing the bottom of the component will not work, but need to be edited and re-produced. Both women immediately called Casabella to stop the delivery and began to redesign.

Casabella agrees. So the two found a mold maker in Michigan, quickly made 3,000 Guac-Lock to deliver on their commitment, and the Chinese factory then rebuilt the mold and produced the rest. Och and Prince cost $ 11,000 to postpone the order.

After those difficulties and costs, Guac-Lock was finally released in 2016 - four years after Och came up with the idea in the kitchen. The box currently has a retail price of $ 19.99, and another version with a tray for fries is priced at $ 29.99.

Their first year sales were $ 200,000, and in 2017 it increased to $ 1 million. This product is available on Amazon, Bed, Bath and Beyond. Currently, they want to expand the use of this box for many similar items.