Meet the creators of Zipit Bedding-the Bedding that Zips Up Like a Sleeping Bag

Welcome to another Mompreneur Rockstar Interview, today I have the honor to introduce you to the two creators of Zipit Bedding. Meet  Jennifer MacDonald and Hayley Carr in their their exclusive interview below.

Welcome to Mompreneur Media Jennifer and Hayley, please tell us a little about yourself.

Jennifer MacDonald and Hayley Carr are the inventors of Zipit Bedding, a patented bedding system that combines the sheets with the comforter via zippered sides so the bed never becomes a tangled unruly mess.

Here’s a fun video of where you can get to know them a little better:

Your Zipit Bedding is Amazing! How did you come up with such a fabulous idea?

The story of Zipit Bedding began when Jennifer, a former advertising executive and mom of three, was tired of the daily struggle of getting her kids to make their beds. Then one day, while hosting a sleepover, she had an “Aha!” moment. In the morning she watched her youngest son simply zipping up his sleeping bag and “Voila!” the once messy room was clean! She quickly realized that by combining the ease, fun and simplicity of a sleeping bag, with the look and feel of stylish kid’s bedding, she would be able to solve her problem AND finally put an end to the age-old battle between parents and their kids!

Jennifer sought the help of her sister, Hayley Carr, a businesswoman and inventor-at-heart, to develop the product.

A rough sketch of a zippered comforter drawn on a napkin, countless hours of hard work, a 401K cashed in and several prototypes later, Jennifer and Hayley were finally ready to debut their Patent Pending, innovative and time-saving product to the nation.

 What kind of approximate startup costs were involved in getting your Zipit Bedding from concept to launch mode?

We had to come up with the money to develop our product, which at first was not that much, as we just went to a local fabric shop and started playing around with designs. We hired a local seamstress to help us achieve our first prototype. Then, when we started working with a factory in China, we had to come up with more inventory financing. This can get costly. In the beginning I think we spent about $50,000 of our own money. Then we brought on an investor to launch our National DRTV campaign as the costs are extremely high when doing something like this. We won’t mention how high, for our investor’s sake but be prepared to lose money in the first year. If you have a hit though, you’ll know early on.

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All you have to do is stay the course and Never Give Up!!

Please provide one marketing tip that can really help a mom business owner?

Find out who your demographic is and target that specific one first that specific one first… we started marketing to moms and quickly realized that it wasn’t converting to sales, so we switched to kids and were sold out almost overnight! We launched a DRTV campaign across the US which aimed at getting kids excited about Zipit… in the hopes that they would ask their parents for it! It’s called in the marketing world “pester power,” and it actually works, ha! Once the parents were ordering Zipits for their kids and seeing how easy it was to use… they realized they wanted one for themselves too. So now we’re selling a teen and adult line!

Again, knowing your demographic will help you save money… you don’t want to cast a wide net out of the gates, you want to get specific and figure out “Who is this product perfect for?” This will help you determine how much to spend attracting that demographic and lead you down the right path in terms of the best PR as well.

Any future plans for you or Zipit bedding?

Big plans! Since our huge airing on ABC’s Shark Tank, we have secured a retail licensing deal with a major bedding manufacturer in NYC. They are putting us in retail stores (all the major big box stores, like Bed, Bath and Beyond, Walmart, to name a few) by the end of this year. Then we hope to expand into the European markets. We also hope to release new styles and eventually have licensed prints, like Disney, on our bedding. Not to mention all of the fun accessories Zipit Bedding is going to be selling with their bedding (pillows, zipper pull charms, etc.)

1 thing you do for yourself to unwind from it all?

Sometimes just taking a deep breath and trying to hover over the chaos of the day, 33,000 feet up, ha… helps to gain perspective on why you’re in this business and what it’s all about. It really has been and always will be about wanting to make others’ lives easier. We hope we’re doing that in some small way.

Share one book or website you like to browse for fun.

We love to look at parenting.com but also love The Mom Inventors Handbook, by our friend and inspiration Tamara Monosoff. She empowers women to go for their dreams and helps you learn how to balance life with kids along the journey.

Jennifer MacDonald and Hayley Carr are the inventors of Zipit Bedding, a patented bedding system that combines the sheets with the comforter via zippered sides so the bed never becomes a tangled unruly mess.

Connect with Zipit Bedding

Website: http://www.zipitbedding.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ZipitBedding

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