"Together Talks" feature # 121: HairyGrabster presented by KLS, freight company
Some Background on "Together Talks"
Today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the opportunity to interview HairyGrabster and CEO, Patricia Watne. With just a simple “Swipe Swipe” HairyGrabster® grabs and traps loose hair from your hands. HairyGrabster® is the new and easy way to remove hair from your hands in the shower or bath. No more wiping hair on the walls, balling hair up or dropping hair down the drain. Simply swipe your hair filled hand on HairyGrabster® and hundreds of hair hungry bristles trap and hold the hair
A bathroom idea
Patty told us that the origin of her company was back in 2017. One night her husband came out of the bathroom and told his wife that something was wrong with their oldest daughter. Patty looped us in, "My husband proceeded to tell me there was so much hair in the shower after she showered. I proceeded to look in the shower and it was nothing out of the normal." After reassuring her husband everything was okay with their child he proceeded to ask well where does the hair go and why isn't it working. Patty explained to her husband that either it gets wiped on walls, caught in the drain, or a hairball thrown outside the shower. The duo realized they were on to something.
At the time her husband was in between jobs. In the mornings he would send out resumes and in the afternoon work on the prototype with Patty. They knew one key element would to be a low tech product. Around this time one of their children attended a birthday party and inside the goody bag was a porcupine toy ball. Patty had the idea to use something along these lines because anytime it fell on the floor it picked everything up. They went and bought a bag of those balls, cut it in half and began experimenting with different designs. Patty used it and said it absolutely works.
They understood they were looking at a product in the $10-15 range. If they could find a way to make it cheap enough they believed they had a product worth bringing to market. They were also able to learn and create their product at their pace because they didn't go 100% in at the beginning. It was just providing them a fun challenge and something to do together.
We are going to get this made
Collectively they decided to reach out and have the prototype made. Unfortunately they had no idea how to do it. The first designer they went to said there is no way this can ever get molded. He did provide them suggestions. The "spikes" on the product create the most difficulty getting it to securely mold. They continued to tweak the design until they found a local company to render the 3D printed samples. It succeeded with taking hair off the hand, but it wouldn't keep the hair on the spikes. They kept trying.
A few months later without much traction, the design firm sent them to another engineer who had some creative and out of the box thinking. They met with him and with one look he said it could be made, Patty would call him a godsend in their journey. January 2018 they sent out for bids. Their internal hope was to have it made here in the US, but they could not find any takers. They realized they would have to open it up to overseas. After getting a few competing bids they landed on one factory. Patty explained the apprehension, "We heard stories about taking a video tour of the facility. We did that and felt good about our selection." They proceeded with having some samples manufactured and sent to them which worked how they wanted it to. They proceeded with sending the company money for the first run. Then things changed. They quit hearing from the company, becoming increasingly worried they reached out to another individual within the company. Patty and her husband were told the factory knew nothing about this project. The sales person they were doing business with was doing all of this on the side. There was no way for them to recoup their money unfortunately and Patty called it the ultimate gut punch.
The couple took a break to decompress and regroup. Once they picked things back up they noticed that the samples they received were molded different than they had intended. Ultimately it provided a better idea for the mold. While it was a very expensive situation, they framed it as an expensive lesson. They went back to the drawing board to get bids. Once again they yearned for US made. They got introduced to a company in Michigan. Patty and her engineer flew up there and met with the team. They loved everything about it, then they got the price. It was 6 figured to create the mold. Unfortunately they had to walk away. To this point everything was self funded. They were reeling from the previous China catastrophe. They opened it back up to overseas. One of the companies from the initial bid was once again interested. Doing the due diligence Patty signed with them and completed the sample followed by the first run of 60,000 units. In the fall of 2019 the company launched.
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Eyes on every shipment
When the product first entered the market Patty explained that there was no other product that does exactly what HairyGrabster does. She broke it down to 3 main components.
1 – grabs and traps hair from the hand
2 – keeps hair off the walls
3 – stopping hair from reaching the drain
The closest type of competition is drain catches, but Patty believes those are more complimentary products versus direct competition. The innovation of their product is what sets them apart. Patty explained the challenge of introducing a new product to the market when they launched with different e-commerce platforms. It was difficult for them to choose what category they were in, they got grouped with hair brushes initially. (Patty also said to get your category correct initially because it is a nightmare to try and have it changed!) They now are in the drain catches category.
The biggest ongoing challenge for the company is quality control. Because of the mold there is a chance that either the bristles or the suction cups have issues when they receive the product from their manufacturer. Every product that goes out was hand inspected by Patty to ensure no issues for their consumers. She believes this is the greatest roadblock to scaling the company to date.
The next phase of HairyGrabster is whether they can continue to scale it or if licensing it is their best play, To get their product into brick and mortar, Patty believes it will take a company with a larger reach than they have. She is open to any possibility and will continue to learn as she goes. Another lesson she has learned was learning how to weed out potential partners. Patty has had many companies pitch to them about how great they are and what they can offer, but upon completion of the work it rarely delivered on the ROI. That has forced her to once again learn about areas she isn't familiar with and how to decipher what makes a good partner for her and her brand.
Shark Tank
They always believed that their product was suited for Shark Tank. It was easy to demonstrate, had a quirky name, unique concept. Patty had been kicking the idea around for a few months and in the Fall of 2019 there was a casting in Dallas, TX. Timing didn't work out so she settled in on their casting in New York in the winter of 2020. However the world would shut down and remove that option.
Shark Tank pivoted to online applications. Once again Patty was considering applying, finally she decided to, "I was sitting on the couch, the application was filled out and the kids were doing homework at the kitchen table. I asked them if I should do it and they said yes! I submitted our application to Shark Tank." Three weeks later she received the first phone call to start the process. She received the call to do be cast during the covid season. Instead of filming in Los Angeles it was moved to Las Vegas where each contestant had to quarantine in their hotel room for 8 days prior to pitching. They pitched, Patty and her husband, and she felt really good about their performance. Finally one Friday afternoon she got an email stating their pitch would be airing.
"It has been the biggest thrill of the entire journey so far.", Patty shared with us. She said the exposure and momentum that episode created for them was so paramount.
Recently, HairyGrabster released their newest product, BottleGrabster. Designed with older adults or anyone with vision issues in mind, they are plastic bands to place over your shampoo and conditioner bottles to help identify, Also it provides a more secure grabbing despite being wet and slippery. Patty joked that while they first two creations are shower themed, that is where great ideas are often generated. But she plans to continue to invent whenever she comes across a problem and finds a better solution for it.
Piece of Advice
Our conversation with Patty ended with her sharing her piece of advice:
"There will be a lot of ups and a lot of downs. Some of those downs will be absolute gut punch. All you can do is keep going forward. I like to channel my inner Jimmy Buffet, breathe in... breathe out... move on. As business owners, we can often feel alone, or unmotivated, or needing a sounding board. This is especially felt by solo entrepreneurs and those working from home. After talking with a few owner friends who were facing these issues, I formed a Mastermind-style group for us. We focus on accountability and follow-through, while also providing ideas, expertise, and encouragement for each member. We have founders of both product and service businesses and we all come away from each meeting feeling energized and full of ideas for our businesses."
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In Closing
KLS wants to thank Patricia Watne, CEO, of Hairy Grabster for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for their journey with their social handles below!
Business Resources!
Look at our new page HERE designed to provide excellent opportunities that may be of interest to you. These are a compilation from our chats within our "Together Talks". If you have any suggestions please let us know as we would love to provide more valuable insight to our community!
Klimson Logistics Solutions - Together Talks with Hairy Grabster feature # 121
*Klimson Logistics Solutions is an Industry Leading Customer Service 3PL. Our focus and commitment to our clients has us striving to be the BEST customer service 3PL for LTL, FTL, Reefer, and Drayage in the country. KLS, freight company, is a 3PL providing nationwide logistics solutions. KLS shipping services include: LTL freight, FTL freight, Reefer LTL freight, Reefer FTL freight, and Drayage. Klimson Logistics Solutions thanks you for viewing our marketing campaign, "Together Talks". If you have any interest in being featured or questions regarding your freight operations please contact us today!
Why KLS?
Our precise and reliable effort.
We handle every shipment with the exact same process. It does not matter if you move one shipment a year or ten per day, you will receive the same level of customer service from us. When we started this company, we had one goal in mind, treat every shipment like it was our own. With our vast knowledge of the industry, we understood what a customer would want from a communication standpoint. We applied that process to be the standard here at KLS. Our reliability and being able to depend on our consistency is why we have such long-standing relationships with our clients.
Our Process?
Every shipment in our industry starts with a quote. We are firm believers that time is money, thus we strive to have quotes back in a 5-10 minute reply time for LTL and FTL, any FCL quotes are at the mercy of the carriers getting back to us. For LTL we have the flexibility to quote both off of NMFC and also Density depending on the carrier. Utilizing our services, you’re allowing us to use our expertise to class your freight accordingly to ensure we are providing the best rate we possibly can.
Once a quote has been submitted and a client chooses to proceed with KLS handling the arrangement of the shipment our full process begins. We create the BOL that will be used for the shipment. If it is a new location for our system, we will obtain all the important/special details (reference numbers, contact details, shipping hours, closed for lunch, dock/doors, etc.). We meticulously build every detail into our software for all future shipments involving that location. After we have both locations built and necessary reference numbers have been applied we will tender the shipment to the carrier. We use this method because it provides us a real time pickup number from the carrier to obtain updates prior to pickup. Our staff will either email the BOL directly to you or to the shipper (at your request) the minute after the tender has been accepted by the carrier. LTL carriers require a 2 hour window prior to close time in order to schedule it for a same-day pickup attempt.
The following morning you’ll receive an email from us. It will either provide the reason the pickup was missed (driver’s trailer filled up, driver missed the close time, truck broke down, shipper said no freight, etc.) or if the pickup was successful you will receive the PRO (tracking) number from us, along with the eta for delivery. Our staff will track it throughout the duration of transit and advise if anything happens that will alter the estimated delivery date. The day the shipment delivers we will email you with confirmation and the POD (Proof of Delivery), should you require it.
Your shipment has been quoted, scheduled, picked up, and delivered. The next step is waiting for the carrier to invoice us and make sure the rate matches up. If it does, we close out the invoice from the carrier in our system and automatically your invoice is created and sent to the requested party at your company. In the event the carrier has an additional charge on their invoice “Variance”, we will never send you an invoice with an additional charge without first identifying you of the charge.
Let us repeat, NEVER WILL WE JUST BILL OUT AN EXTRA CHARGE WITHOUT YOU BEING NOTIFIED.
You are our customer, we represent you. Should the carrier provide an extra charge on an invoice, “Lift gate, additional weight, reclass, detention, etc.) We notify you of the charge via email first. Second, within that email we identify what is required should you choose to dispute the charge. Again our goal is to honor your request, if you want to dispute, we will dispute. During a dispute we will provide you updates every step along the way. Once a dispute is closed out, whether it is approved or rejected, then we will invoice you as the invoice has been resolved.
For reference, our company only had 6.2% of all shipments go to dispute in 2022 and we successfully won 91% of those disputes on behalf of our customers.
This is our process for every single shipment you move with us. We don’t cut corners, we don’t hide from difficult situations. We believe in being available, honest, and transparent. We don’t ever want to tell you that a shipment is lost, damaged, misrouted, but it is our duty to notify you the second we find out something has gone wrong. We hate to present bad news, but it is part of the job. What you can guarantee is that we will work a shipment all the way through and turn over every stone until we get a resolution for our clients.
Services offered?
Our core business is LTL and FTL. Within these options we have options for both dry and refrigerated/frozen. We also offer FCL/Drayage options. Our company as a 3PL has nationwide options and services clients across the US.
Let’s breakdown our services more in-depth
LTL:
Standard and Guaranteed
CFS (Imports & Exports)
Tradeshows
Hazmat
Anything that is on a pallet can be moved LTL. Typically LTL is up to 10 pallets, but the sweet spot for a carrier is 6-8 pallets at most for an individual shipment. LTL quotes are good between 5-30 days depending on the carrier. LTL can be quoted either via NMFC or density to determine the class (we do this for you).
Volume:
Anything over 10-12’ of space in the truck is the technical rule for a volume shipment. When we run a quote for you we will determine if it qualifies for volume and provide you a rate if available. Volume moves allow you to get a reduced rate for larger shipments. The caveat to volume shipments it the quotes are only valid for 3-7 days and they move on capacity between terminals. If a terminal is backed up they will move their LTL freight first before the volume freight, which can lead to longer transit times for volume moves.
FTL/Dedicated/Expedited: 53’ Dry and Reefer 26’ Box trucks with lift gate Sprinter Van The main difference for FTL vs LTL is space and transit time. For standard pallets you can fit either 26 or 30 pallets in a 53’ dry van. The other main difference is transit time, for FTL each day counts in the transit time, whereas LTL does not count the day of pickup, weekends, or holidays in their transit time.
Reefer/Frozen:
LTL and FTL
We specialize working in the CPG space with food manufacturers. We regularly deliver to
the following locations:
Kehe
UNFI
Core Mark
DPI
Wegmans
Cugini
H.T. Hackney
Netrition
HEB
ALDI
Chambers and Owens
EBY Brown
Nassau Candy
Harris Teeter
Wakefern
NU INC
Long Distribution
What makes KLS different?
There are thousands of freight brokers and 3PL in our industry. Barrier to entry is rather easy and agents or owners will often hire sales people without any intention of properly training them. It results in high turnover for many freight companies and a forgettable experience for the client. We choose to operate differently through our consistency. We truly care about doing right by our clients and prospects too. While we would love to help provide our services to every company we speak with, that just isn’t realistic. We won’t always be the right fit for every company that moves freight and that is ok. Our authenticity as a shipping company sets us apart from the competition and that is backed up by our testimonials. We also run a marketing campaign bi-weekly called “Together Talks”. We interview, highlight, and promote two businesses every week. Our goal is to grow our network, make new connections, and learn something new with each collaboration. Check it out on our website and if you’re interested in being featured reach out.
Our company also runs a year long charity promotion. Book your first shipment through KLS and we donate to the charity of your choice in your name. Our way of thanking you for giving us an opportunity to show you the KLS way and what makes us one of a kind. This entire package is what we offer to every prospect and every client. Our goal is to help provide answers that customers may have when it comes to shipping. We want to always be available as a resource and will always offer a lending hand whenever we can.
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