We first shared Sarah Brennan Mott and Nurse Born, LLC back on Sep 2, 2013…
By Sarah Brennan Mott
Nurse Born, LLC was founded by Sarah Brennan Mott, RN in 2012 to promote innovative products designed by nurses. After 15 years in the healthcare field Sarah began to notice how her co-workers continuously came up with innovative ideas to solve common everyday problems associated with various aspects of their job. Through this practical approach Sarah came up with the idea for the Nurse Born Stethoscope Holster.
Suffering from neck pain and discomfort that was aggravated from the weight of the stethoscope around her neck, Sarah looked for an alternative means of carrying her stethoscope. Unable to find a satisfactory solution, Sarah was inspired to create a spring based stethoscope holster that offered an easy means of carrying the stethoscope while on the move in a work environment. It was during the process of inventing the Stethoscope Holster that the concept for Nurse Born came into being.
Nurse Born offers products designed by nurses. Sarah feels that nurses are some of the most dedicated and innovative people in healthcare. They are the ones that provide direct care and often have to improvise in order to provide that care. You can find Nurse Born, LLC and the Nurse Born Stethoscope Holster at NurseBorn.com
The Process:
While out of work recovering from a neck injury, Sarah decided to put together a stethoscope holster out of items she found around the house – duck tape being one of the items! Because the product worked so well, Sarah’s husband encouraged her to research how to get a patent. While researching Sarah found out that UCONN School of Intellectual Property and Law Clinic had a program in which they did free patent work. For the heck of it; she filled out an application. Sarah’s application was chosen over more than a hundred other applicants. She worked with a professor who was previously a patent attorney and a student. UCONN liked Sarah’s stethoscope holster so much, they offered to send the project over to their business school to have a business plan prepared for her.
It did not all fall into place as easy as it sounds. After waiting around two years for patent approval, Sarah received her first denial letter. The UCONN professor told her this was standard practice and not to worry. Modifications were made and the application was resubmitted. Time passed and finally Sarah received word that the modified application was also denied. Certain that her product was an original, Sarah sought out a private attorney who made the changes necessary for patent approval. Sarah has no regrets about working with UCONN, if it was not for them, I would never have pursued this journey, Sarah stated.
The business plan
After the students at the UCONN Business Dept. completed the business plan, Sarah and her husband were invited to a presentation of the business plan. It was during the business plan presentation that Sarah met a manufacturing student from China. The older female student told Sarah that she was an agent for manufacturing in China. Sarah never contacted the agent. However, about a year later, the agent contacted Sarah to see how she was doing with product development. Encountering many obstacles in development, Sarah decided to meet with the agent from China.
A mold was made in China and product samples began to arrive. The product samples were not satisfactory and they were sent back for improvement on several occasions. The agent tried to convince Sarah to settle for the faulty product and move Sarah in a direction that she did not want to go. Sarah eventually realized that the China agent was charging too much for her “piece of the pie” and that the agent was not completely honest. Sarah ended the relationship. This delayed the project by another year and the loss of around six thousand dollars.
SCORE
Eventually, Sarah jointed SCORE. The Small Business Association’s free mentoring program. Through SCORE Sarah was matched with a female mentor that had experience in product development and business start up. Sarah’s mentor got her on the right track for finding a reputable manufacturer. Finally, Sarah had a manufacturer to work with. A second mentor who specialized in marketing was added to the team. Her mentors Pat and Tom provided her with direction, practical advice, resources and the honest feedback that she needed to bring her dream to reality. Sarah stated, I could not have gotten this far without the help from my mentors Pat, Tom and the SCORE organization.
Currently, Sarah is working with an American manufacturer that has factories in both America and China. Sarah stated that her manufacturer is not the cheapest, but he is the best fit for her. He believes in her products as much as she does and he has gone above and beyond to help her get it developed, packaged and ready for sale. Sarah is also working with a fantastic website developer who has been a huge part of bringing her dream to reality. Sarah states that without the assistance from her team she would not have the top notch product and online storefront that she has today.
The Nurse Born Stethoscope Holster can be found at www.nurseborn.com
If you would like to stay up to date with what is going on with you can visit Nurse Born on Facebook at NurseBorn. LIKE the page and keep up with Nurse Born’s future projects and products.
Best advice, find a team that is not only qualified to assist you with your dream, but one that also believes in you.
Click here for Nurse Born Products.
