Building a successful business is as hard as finding the cure for cancer. Now imagine doing it while you actually have cancer. Tiffany Krumins, inventor of the wildly successful Ava the Elephant children’s medicine dispenser, did just that with the help of Shark Tank investor Barbara Corcoran.
Krumins, a former nanny from Atlanta, struck a deal with Corcoran in the pilot episode of Shark Tank in August 2009. Krumins sought $50,000 for 15% equity in her company. But Corcoran insisted she needed 55% of the business for the amount of risk involved, considering that Krumins had nothing more than a clay prototype of her talking, elephant-shaped medicine dispenser. She had no manufacturing let alone sales. Corcoran reportedly had to invest $285,000 as the costs of bringing the product to market was much more than originally anticipated.
Just a few months after her Shark Tank appearance, Krumins was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 27. While undergoing radiation treatment, the CEO and founder of Ava the Elephant® Brand continued to work eight to 12 hours a day from her hospital bed.
Ava the Elephant had its first manufacturing run in April 2009 and sold for $9.99. It was packaged in three languages and distributed in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australia at more than 10,000 retail outlets including Amazon.com (AMZN), BabiesRUs.com, Drugstore.com, CVS Pharmacy (CVS), Kroger (KR), Safeway (SW), and Walgreens.com (WAG).
Sales the first year totaled approximately $170,000. Revenue stampeded to $500,000 in 2011 and were projected to soar to more than $1 million in 2013 with the addition of a second product, according to Entrepreneur.com. Krumins declined to share 2015 sales because she’s currently negotiating a licensing deal and halted production last year.
Krumins plans to sell her products through hospitals and brand promoters as well. A new version of Ava the Elephant along with two new animal characters are set to launch in this summer. She has designed four additional health-related products that are set to launch at the end of 2016.
Krumins explains how she became one of the biggest success stories on Shark Tank, the best business advice she’s ever received from Barbara Corcoran and more.
Creating a Remedy for a Common Problem
Ky Trang Ho: How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Tiffany Krumins: My desire to help sick children was the inspiration for my business. I was working as nanny to a little boy named Gibby, who has Downs Syndrome. For him, medicine time was extremely challenging. His parents and I were forced to restrain him in order to administer his medication. The medication itself was not a problem for him, but the delivery system was.
I became very focused on finding a way to relieve Gibby’s distress. Gibby was very trusting of his stuffed animals. So I decided to cover his syringe with a friendly animal face, which became the first prototype on the road to my accidental entrepreneurship. I created the first Ava the Elephant® using sponges, fabric, and a recordable greeting card device. The following day, I introduced Gibby to Ava and the result demonstrated an extremely positive response.
Ho: What made you think it could be a successful product and/or service (especially when there are so many competing products)?
Krumins: Gibby’s story, a successful one, helped me gain an understanding of why this tool was so valuable. Using Ava the Elephant® was a positive life-changing experience for this little boy – one that helped him overcome past negative experiences.
I envisioned that this success could spread in a way that other children might experience as well. Gibby began taking medication as if he never hated the process. After seeing the life-changing effect it had on him, I knew I had something pretty amazing that other mothers and professionals might appreciate as well.
While other medicine products were on the market, they were not child-friendly in their design, nor did they allow positive interaction. This was what made my product unique.
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.forbes.com/sites/trangho/2016/04/08/millennial-nanny-turned-shark-tank-entrepreneur-stampedes-into-10000-stores-despite-cancer/2/#41ce49014eda