Gwen Keefe and the Poli Sippy Cup
The Poli sippy cups solve the cleaning problem associated with the traditional sippy cups with a unique patented “easy to clean and no parts to lose” design. The small parts come apart for easy cleaning and can go right in the dishwasher for a thorough cleaning. Small parts are tethered to the inside of the lid and will not get lost in obscure places. The Poli Sippy Cups come in three original nursery rhyme designs which were hand drawn and colored by me. Each illustration took over 30 hours to complete. You can choose from Humpty Dumpty, Hey Diddle Diddle and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
I contacted Gwen Keefe, inventor of the Poli Sippy Cup and asked her to answer the following questions:
What gave you the idea?
When my 2 children were babies, I couldn’t find a sippy cup that was easy-to-clean and use. Many traditional spill-resistant sippy cups feature constricted passageways, which make it difficult if not impossible to adequately clean. Cleaning the cup then became a real chore to make sure that the sticky juice or old milk does not accumulate and breed bacteria and/or mold. Poli sippy cup solves this problem.
What made you act?
I spoke with different moms and asked if they had the same experiences as me with sippy cups. I researched on Amazon to read reviews about sippy cups. My researched confirmed that modern moms are looking for an easier cup to clean with less parts.
How was the prototype process?
We used rapidprototyping to make our first 2 prototypes. It was very expensive 6 years ago. I think I paid 800 for the first prototype.
How was the patent process?
The patent process was the easiest for me. I hired a patent agent and he did an amazing job on getting the patent issued in 3 years. We only had one office action and it didn’t take very long before we were issued a patent.
How have you marketed it?
Currently, we are selling Poli Sippy Cup directly on our website, Amazon. Possibly we might partner with Suning to sell in China.
What are some obstacles and how did you overcome them?
There were so many obstacles along the journey. However, I was determined to bring Poli Sippy Cup to market despite huge obstacles with manufacturing in America. First, we had many issues with our tools. They were sourced in China through a local mold maker in the US. The tools were poorly built and needed a lot of work before going to production. We sampled parts from China multiple times and each time the parts didn’t match the blueprint.
Our mold maker suggested to bring the tools back here so he could work on them. We spent a year with him without any good results and left. It took 2 years before we found Advanced Engineering to do our production. Advanced Engineering and one other molder did a lot of work on our tools to get them ready for production. We ended up spending 10K to make changes on the tools needed for production.
Also, the decorating machine we bought through a supplier back East ended up being the wrong machine. So that was another waste of money and time. We lost almost a year of time when we could’ve been selling. It was a tough journey but I learned a lot of valuable lessons.
What advice would you give to those interested in inventing?
I have 3 advice for inventors. First, keep the design simple. Going overboard on the design with too many features can add complications to tool design and molding. Also, the tools and production will be more expensive. Focus only on the key features. It will help things go faster and smoother. Second, find a one stop shop where they make the tools as well as molding the parts. If anthing goes wrong that shop will be responsible for the tools and parts. Otherwise, it becomes a nightmare and everyone is blaming each other. Last, instead of buying equipment I suggest to rent it instead to make sure it does what you need.
What has made the biggest difference?
Sourcing packaging and my web developing and design has made a difference to keep cost down. The cost of starting a business can easily go out of control. Sourcing some work overseas helps keep cost down. I just hired an intern from college and that makes a huge difference with getting more work done too.
For more information please visit www.usapoli.com
