WHILE it usually takes several years for innovative ideas to get into the market, for Perth-based mother-of-two Aimee Gullotto, it took just 11 months from conception of her product to hitting major chain stores such as Woolworths and Priceline.
WHILE it usually takes several years for innovative ideas to get into the market, for Perth-based mother-of-two Aimee Gullotto, it took just 11 months from conception of her product to hitting major chain stores such as Woolworths and Priceline.
Ms Gullotto attributes the rapid success of her innovative heathcare product, Sweax Underarm Liners, to the team she assembled around her.
"I wouldn't be where I am, I think I would have pulled all my hair out by now, if I tried to do it all on my own," Ms Gullotto told WA Business News.
Ms Gullotto previously worked as a project manager in her husband's business and has drawn on that experience.
"I'm not an expert in any field and I really see myself as the project manager, you have to bring people in that are experts in those fields," she said.
That help has included hired professionals, through to informal help from family and friends who are lawyers and accountants.
Ms Gullotto has also used her own commercial savvy; for example, she rejecting expensive proposals put forward by advertising agencies in favour of her own marketing strategy.
A substantial private investment of between $300,000 and $400,000 was also necessary.
Sweax are self-adhesive perspiration liners worn on the inside of a garment.
Ms Gullotto says the idea came to her in November 2007, when she was going to a Christmas function and was forced to improvise.
"I actually put panty liners into the cardigan and I went out that night and I thought, oh my gosh this could actually work," she said.
After doing initial research and discovering that there was no similar product on the market, Ms Gullotto found an agent in China through web site www.alibaba.com.
"He found a breast pad manufacturer for us which used a similar material and they had been toying with a similar product," she said.
In conjunction with producing the Sweax liners, Ms Gullotto was working with graphic designers and focus groups.
"What came out of the research was people that are going into offices and men that are wearing business shirts and going to job interviews would really benefit from this product," she said.
Sweax has penetrated the pharmacy market through a distributor and has recently signed on a specialist medical products distributor.
Ms Gullotto has also discovered a market in hospitals.
"We are just now going into the cancer wards in hospitals and they're all really excited about the product. It's just an ancillary product for them to pass out to their patients, because for people that are having chemo and radiotherapy, one of the side affects is increased sweating," she said.
While Woolworths and Priceline were the first outlets to stock Sweax, getting into the grocery chain stores was more difficult.
Ms Gullotto went through a specialist brokerage firm to negotiate deals with the major chains.
"If you've never dealt with the big chains before it's very intimidating and pretty scary and they use terminology that you'd never know unless you had been doing it for 30 years," she said.
Sweax has progressed exponentially since its launch, with a label targeting a younger market to be on shelves later in the year.
The packaging is being translated into six languages for its release across Europe.
An international partner has taken equity in the business and will be facilitating the overseas launch.
