BY TIFFANY KRUMINS
Tiffany Krumins is the CEO, Co-founder and inventor of the AVA the Elephant brand. AVA the Elephant is a talking children’s medicine dispenser that takes the fear and anxiety out of administering medicine to children 3 months and older.
Tiffany’s passion for helping sick children has been evident through her years of experience working with kids, including children with special needs and childhood cancer patients. It was that same passion which brought Ava the Elephant to life!
She realized no product on the market resolved the common problem of giving children medicine, minus the tears. So she took matters into her own hands and created the first Ava from sponges, fabric, and a store bought medicine dropper.
After Shark Tank
After her life changing experience on ABC’s “Shark Tank” Tiffany Krumins went home and spent months perfecting AVA to make sure she was as safe as she was helpful. She found that it was not necessarily children’s dislike for medicine that made it so difficult. After all, they can flavor it to taste like bubblegum these days! The process was the scary part. Realizing this, her first goal was to hide the medicine dropper completely! Her second was to make the child smile or laugh, hence the sweet voice! And last, but not least, she wanted their new little friend to praise them for a job well done! In a twist of fate, Tiffany was diagnosed with cancer three months after the show (at the age of 28) which made her passion to help sick children even stronger!
Tiffany Krumins was considered one of the Top 50 Mompreneurs of 2011 by Babble.com! She was a panelist at Troy Johnson’s Spark and Hustle event as well as a panelist at Mom’s in Business Unite.
AVA the Elephant Available in 10,000+ Retail Stores
With mentions on Youngentrepreneur.com, Mominventors.com and many others, she has been coined the “Modern Day Mary Poppins”. AVA the Elephant received the Certified Miracle Award in 2011!
Now AVA the Elephant is available in more than 10,000 retail stores in the U.S.A., including CVS Pharmacy, Kroger, Safeway, BabiesRUs.com, Drugstore.com, Amazon.com, and Walgreens.com and many more.
AVA the Elephant is also sold in multiple languages and internationally in Canada, Mexico, Australia, Europe, and parts of Asia.
When I walked out of the Shark Tank with a $50,000 investment, I had no idea where to start. Although Barbara is a genius when it comes to real estate, business and marketing, product development is the one area where she lacked experience. After all Ava was the 1st product she invested in while filming Shark Tank. I set out on a journey to learn the “Ins and Outs” of developing and launching a successful product.
Tiffany Krumins…How Did You Do It?
Almost two years later, I have a international hit & well known brand. I receive between 300-2000 emails a month asking the question: “How did you do it?” The bottom line is, I did it with a lot of hard work & determination. The path for developing my product was not handed to me. Much like any investor, Barbara expected me to do the leg work and supported me along the way. I am thankful for that because it forced me to really LEARN this industry.
The sad fact is, I found there were more companies looking to take advantage of inventors/entrepreneurs than there were those willing to help. I am determined to give you the simple, yet time consuming steps to develop a product. Along the way, you will find that manufacturers, freight forwarders, and even licensing companies will all take full advantage of you if given the opportunity. Even with my well known investor and careful consideration, some took advantage of me. My goal is to steer you down the right path so you have a fighting chance at making your dream a reality.
Educating Myself
When I first started developing AVA I wasn’t able to find answers to all of my questions in one place. Yes, I eventually figured it out, but my lack of education resulted in some major roadblocks along the way, including financial setbacks. I have attended some great entrepreneur events. One that really took away what I call “fluff” and gave you real life steps was Tory Johnson’s Spark & Hustle. (http://sparkandhustle.com/) I attended the event to sit on a panel and help others, but I also left with a wealth of knowledge and a few new friends that I would cherish for years to come! With that said, I have seen a lot of events that lure inventors/entrepreneurs with the “keys to success,” but many are all fluff and not enough cold hard facts.
Helping Others
This program came out of my desire to help others, as well as my own frustration in seeing people taken advantage of. A few months ago, I decided I would take the time to write down all of the steps I took and put them in one place in an easy-to-reach, affordable website program! I don’t care for companies that want to profit solely on entrepreneur passion. They often speak of “License your product now!” Or “Patent this, patent that!” The reality is, neither of these may be your priority in the beginning.
Once my first patent was awarded, I received HUNDREDS of “scams” in the mail regarding my patent. You may be thinking “Don’t patent my product? Are you crazy?” OR “But all I want to do is license my idea and sit back and collect royalties” I am not saying you will not or should not do either, but it shouldn’t necessarily be your first priority. AVA the Elephant is a successful product and we still aren’t at the licensing phase.
My Goal
My goal in mentioning other seminars to you is so that you may keep in mind what you get for your money. You are going to spend a lot of money on launching a product! If you spend $2000.00 on a one-weekend seminar, that will not do the leg-work for you, it may not be money well spent. I would depend on the seminar I suppose. Consider your thinking pattern and be willing to question and test it when securing an investor! Although I have an investor, I closely consider every penny spent on AVA. You will need to do the same thing from day one in order to succeed.
Inspiration and drive are important, but it is not going to get your product on shelves. It is going to take hard work and determination!
If you are trying to break into retail, know that there are “rules” that are not broken. Simply put, my invention was seen by over 6 million people in one night and became a favorite of moms and children right away. However, I was not able to get into stores quickly, and you probably will not either. Searching for a retail buyer’s email, name or phone number is far down on the list of things you will need, although many people think it should be 1 on the list. If you want to succeed, you have to prepare your product and presentation before selling your product to retailers/customers.
The Simple Steps
I will take away all of the FLUFF and give you the simple steps! And I will give you a list of the exact steps I took to get to where I am now. I don’t recommend skipping over steps. The order in which you do them is VERY important as well. The reality of securing an investor without gathering all of the needed information is next to impossible. I won’t confuse you with the “what if’s”, like licensing your idea, as the reality is that may not happen. It is more important that I am realistic with you and offer you a plan.
Stage 1 will focus on: Idea Conception, Patents, Prototyping & Finding a Manufacturer. Stage 2 will focus on: Investors, Retail Buyers, Logistics & becoming a vendor. You will have to put in the time, and in the end you could have a worldwide hit like AVA! For inspiration read my blogs about roadblocks I encountered along the way, some of which I am able to laugh at now, some not so much. (Cancer sure will throw a wrench in your plans!) My hope is that my triumphs and mistakes will make this a successful journey for you in the end! If you are ready to get started, yet don’t know the next step, visit www.tiffanykrumins.com, and click on the Paypal button to sign up!
All the best,
Tiffany Krumins
P.S. I am thrilled to be donating a percentage of every website membership to one of the life-changing charities listed on my website. Check out the Charities page for more information on the groups I support
