Bee Safe Systems

Bee Safe Systems, LLP
Bonnie and Terri Snow
795 W Center Street #2
Provo, Utah 84601

In 2002, during a family graduation party, seven-year-old Virginia Graeme Baker was out swimming in the families private pool and hot tub. Her sister ran to get her mom because something was very wrong. Nancy Baker jumped into the hot tub trying to pull her daughter free of the drain, but she was no match for the suction force of the drain. Two men took over and broke the drain in order to release Virginia’s body. The child was rushed to the hospital but was dead on arrival. Nancy Baker, in the midst of her grieving, consulted her father-in-law, James Baker III, White House Chief of Staff for President’s Reagan and Bush, to pass a law about anti-entrapment drain covers. The Virginia Graeme Pool and Spa Safety Act was passed in 2007, requiring all public pools to have proper anti-entrapment drain covers in place by December 2008. Many public pools across the country have closed for the summer of 2009 because they did not have the means and funding to put in place an approved anti-entrapment drain cover. Other pools that have been caught without proper security have received a $5000 a day fine until the facility is fixed or closed.
In 2005, Bonnie Snow and her daughter Teri read about the accident and thought this would be a possible invention to tackle. They spent many afternoons discussing possible solutions to such a problem. In 2006, Bonnie was doing an inspection for Utah County and fell into an insecure sewer drainage that collapsed. Breaking her back and destroying her knees. She was on bed rest for months. One day, Teri told her to start researching their idea more. Together, they thought of a contraption that would save lives. Thinking of a design like a bee-hive, with strong tubular joints, they started inventing a device.
In October 2007, Bonnie and Teri started coming in to see Ken Fakler. Ken pointed them towards many helpful resources such as Internet Marketing and QuickBooks classes, assistance with taxes, and people they would be able to make contacts with for developing their product. Of all the sources that Bonnie and Teri tapped into, Ken never steered them wrong. Ken also believed in them and never let them give up. After months of testing that failed on their product and wanting to stop, Ken kept pushing them forward. After two times of failed testing through the ISOD machine that checked plastic standing against UV Rays, Ken pushed them forward and explained that the testing might be faulty. Bonnie and Teri went back to find out that even ISOD created plastic could not withstand the testing. With this new knowledge, ISOD readjusted their scale and temperatures and Bee Safe Systems passed. The specialized plastics had to pass food grade plastics tests, strength tests, stretch tests, and many others. Bonnie found a company called Georgia Gulf to make the plastic. This company was so excited by Bonnie’s product, that they even helped fund the testing.
In March 2009 the product finally passed all the testing. By April 2009 the Snow’s made their first massive sale of $100,000. Sales continued strong throughout May, June and July. They just received another major order in Logan under Utah Plastics for August. Just recently, they received a letter from the Director of Health in Tennessee saying that he was so excited about their product that he has mailed their brochure to all public pools in Tennessee along with their yearly license safety renewals. Canada has just passed a similar law and they are planning to advertise their next.

Sole Envy

Sole Envy
Laura Felt
1200 Town Centre Blvd #1142
Provo, UT 84601

Laura started out working in Claire’s Boutique as a retail manager. She enjoyed her position, but wanted to go to law school. Once she stopped working retail she realized how much she missed it. She knew what she really wanted was her own retail store. Laura had married into an entrepreneurial family and she and her husband dreamed about opening their own retail place. One day, while driving around, they decided that it was time to stop talking about their dream and start living it. They started researching the Provo Towne Centre to see what was missing from the mall. They decided that there really was not enough reasonably priced shoe stores. The only competition around was Famous Footwear.
Laura dove into research and decided she wanted to stay within a moderate price of $17-$24 per shoe pair. She looked into chic companies such as SODA, Cupid and Wild Diva. Laura scoped out the competition, camping out in front of other small retailers, finding out just what were the desirable and less desirable traits of each place. She decided she wanted to own a place that was shopper friendly with great customer service. She wanted to have well trained and helpful employees but also make it easy for customers to help themselves.
It wasn’t always easy for Laura to be successful. She came to Ken Fakler needing help to get a business loan. With the way the economy was heading, no bank was willing to finance a 22-year-old wanting to open a shoe store. Ken pointed Laura in the direction of Zion’s Bank as well as private investors and he helped her get a business plan together that won over both bank and investors.
Laura’s next hurdle was the Mall lease. The bank and mall could not come to an agreement about a lease plan. The Mall’s rules were that they can kick out anyone the first 90 days if you do not meet your goals. Once an agreement was finally reached and the Mall saw what a success Laura’s store was, she received invitations to franchise and spread throughout the Ggp (a mall organization that is in charge of 669 malls nationwide).
Before Laura opened her store she hired a designer to help with the store layout. She decided to keep everything at eye level, with deep enough shelves that all the sizes were available on the floor. She went with long mirrors on the walls that made the space look bigger. Laura chose furniture from IKEA, so that it looked modern and yet very inviting. She also spent hours making her window displays unique and eye catching. The result was the Sole Envy of the mall.
Even with the current economic downturn, Laura’s store has been recession proof. Within her first four months of business she was able to reach 62% above her projected sales. The sales were thousands of dollars above her projected monthly goals. Part of what makes Sole Envy such a success is that people always need shoes, and this is a lower priced, yet chic option. Another success maker for Laura is that she puts her employees first. She makes sure that her employees are very well trained and customer oriented. In return for their excellent service she is willing to help them out with their college education. Laura has been able to accomplish all of this at the young age of 22 and as a new mom, thanks to her dedication, the strong support of her family and the SBDC.