The Story Behind "THE FUNKY BAG "

The conception of the electrical safety drilling tool, AKA "THE FUNKY BAG" began 15 years ago. I, the inventor, was at that time an electrical foreman working in hospitals installing new equipment. I, like everyone else in trade, found a piece of cardboard and strategically tried to place it into the proper location so as to protect the live switchgear components. I was convinced at that point that I would set out to invent and patent a device to protect personnel from this dangerous and sometimes fatal practice.

The search for a device, more than just a bandage, is a journey that is at times very tedious and not very rewarding. One hopes that in the end one can eventually develop a device or procedure whereby the ultimate ideas and concepts can be incorporated to create the perfect tool. Tool develop is not an easy feat by any means, especially when nothing else like it even exists. It"s not building a better mousetrap, it"s building the mousetrap.

The every increasing demand for newer electrical/electronic equipment also complicates the development of a device that can accommodate the potential needs that the future may bring. The tool "THE FUNKY BAG" has sought to incorporate all the needs of the present and is also geared to the needs that we in the field see in the future. With electrical switchgear becoming every more electronic, the need for a tool that could have magnetic energy displaced only in the areas where it was needed proved to be a challenge. The aspect of total non-conductivity, as easy as that may seem, in the day and age of plastics and technology, also was a hurdle that needed to be bridged. The desire to have a tool that was flexible, easy to use, and would fit almost anywhere did not simplify the development process. How do you set out to create a tool, never done before, with criteria that can embody all the particular and specific needs for the electrical and electronic fields?

The pursuit had begun, find a magnet manufacturing company that could not only supply magnets, but also engineer specific magnets that would ultimately end up in "theFUNKYBAG". Not only were the concepts of this device peculiar, but the design was unique. Buying magnets, attempting to attach them to a frame, test them and buy new magnets, same process and testing. Ordinary magnets were to brittle and to hard and would not allow for any deviations in the electrical cabinets that they were designed for. Flexible magnets weren"t strong enough. I needed both, but neither seemed to work. That"s when we designed magnets, specially extruded for the sole purpose of having both elements working together to achieve the ultimate goal. A multi-pole based magnet was seen as the best option to proceed with and by testing and intensifying the strength by manipulating magnetic energies by engineering, we built a magnet that specifically is designed for "THE FUNKY BAG”.

The upper frame that would have hold the flexible magnets was also a challenge. The cost involved in mold injections was far too costly to start there. Building parts that would actually hold the magnets, be within certain tolerances and perform to its maximum ability, took time and plenty of material. Cutting and filing parts to be accurate enough to actually perform to the specs that the tool was to become was tedious. The components that would house the bottom magnet, at first was simply just the magnet in a metal shield adhered to the inside of a leather pouch. It worked, but somehow it just wasn"t marketable looking like that.

The outer pouch was the easiest, just leather. Well, not everything is that easy, I needed it to be tapered, round at the bottom, square at the top and again marketable. Buying leather is not as easy as you think, what kind do you use? Cowhide, pigskin, lamb, or something else?

Having found, at least I thought, the proper pieces to build the tool, it was time to start thinking about the possibility of actual production and hence I needed drawings for the components and specifications for the product. Now try to find a guy that can do computer assisted design (CAD) drawings that you can actually afford. I talked to several people and finally found a guy that was able to do the work, would work with me and turn out a good product drawing. Now that the drawings were done, take them to the injection mold companies and find out the costs of actually producing some pieces. Well that was unrealistic, $5 - 6,000 for 10 pieces, how can one afford that cost on the hopes that it would turn out right, however what if all was lost because the drawings weren"t as accurate as I had hoped. I went to a company that was able to cut blocks of plastic into the proper shapes using the CAD drawings that I had. Much cheaper and within proper tolerances to produce a prototype that would actually work.

Finally, I"ve got a product, ready for production - not so fast. Now you have to protect the ideas before you can actually take out in public. What if someone else picks it up and runs with it. Now it"s time to figure out patent protection - what"s the best method? What"s the best form? What kind of patent do I want, or better yet, what kind do I need to seal my rights as the inventor? A lot of questions and a lot of places to make mistakes. I got fortunate, I was turned onto a good attorney and thus began my patent process. I filed my provisionary patent (PPA) status myself to limited any error or corruption in the system of dishonest attorneys, fakes and flakes. Once the PPA was filed, I could show the product, the prototypes, to the fields for which it was intended. I booked a trade show and figured I"d see the response at that point. This would either give me the thumbs up or thumbs down on the product. Hint, I took someone with me that new nothing regarding the electrical trade so that he could see the response and I could get an honest opinion. At the end of day 1, he told me that it was not IF but WHEN this product takes off.

Now the hardest part was about to get underway. Find a couple of guys that have some good background in sales, marketing, financial matters and would always look out for James. That wasn"t the easiest thing to do however it all came together. Michael Fell, owner of a home expo design center, whom I had known for a couple of years, had a growing business and had little interest in my product. I being insistent in that he ought to look further at it, told me that it needed 3 main aspects to fall into his criteria.

1. Innovative
2. A "Must have" tool, not a want
3. Residual Income - income after you sell the tool, replacement liners/bags.

He told me that when I presented the tool with all three criteria built in, he was in. Mr. Fell has also been in marketing, releasing new products to the market in his business and understands the market hoops and loops that one must take. Now I had an ace in the hand, but one card is never enough.

The second card was added when Mike Perry, a bio-chemist, engineering and roasting his own coffee brands and names, also had shown some interest. He, too, also wanted to be an initial investor, not a partner. Now I had the financial aspects taken care of, I thought.

Just put money in the picture and the product will sell, correct. No not at all. How could I get where I wanted to go if I had no background in business, just merely investors.

That was the million dollar question. How do I market a product, as good and relevant as it is to every electrician, in the US and eventually the world?

A short time later, both men had shown a surprising sense of - we want to be more than investors, we"d like to be involved with the product. We met over some drinks at a restaurant and talked. Things went pretty good, but how do you take this product to market over a few drinks? The interest was definitely there from both men and within months we had scheduled our second trade show in Los Vegas, NV. All three of us went and it was the first time that my soon going to be partners would see the real venue that this tool would take. Elated at the response, FPF Int"l, was formed in February, 2004.

The last several months have been very busy. Getting legal paperwork done for the corporation, making sure that the product is ready for production and marketing. With scheduled meetings every week, and usually meeting my partners 3 and 4 times a week to get things done, was very taxing, however it would pay off shortly. My CFO had several manufacturing contacts and pursued to cut our production costs and find companies that would offer terms, instead of a huge initial investment. My CEO, started to get the marketing plan in tact. We tried to sell the product on an exclusive basis, but were turned down. Now, do we use manufacturer"s reps or do we sell the product ourselves. The ideas were discussed and we started to pursue different venues.

We met with Larry, a partner from a manufacturer"s rep company, and discussed the ideas that we had discussed. He explained how the rep business works, still not knowing what our product was. We showed him a prototype and explained the use and demand for the tool. He sat up and some 30 minutes later wanted brochures and literature. We gave him the pertinent information, no product, to set out a pursue the potential market that was out there. About a week later, he called me and told me that his contacts wanted to write purchase orders for product. We hadn"t even signed him up as a manufacturer"s rep, much less did we even have our rep agreement written up. Mike Fell has his work cut out for him. Write the contract and the sooner, the better. Within a week, we had our agreement and were ready to start signing up reps for our product. My CEO made an appointment with Larry to get on board. He had taken it to several of his clients (electrical supply houses), as well as the IBEW, and received a very welcoming response. The main question, "when can we get the product?" At this point he was about to see the new graphics, packaging and that one of the first 10 tools would be his. He was very excited and signed on immediately. Within 10 days from his meeting with Michael, I received a phone call from Larry requesting paperwork so that his supply companies could give us purchase orders.

On 11/5/04, I received a call that our first shipment of product had just arrived, and I could pick it up. I immediately drove down to meet with our manufacturer and pick up the product. I was impressed. It looked good.