Smart Business Magazine, October 2015
52 Smart Business Cleveland October 2015 In this structural model employee interactions are mostly horizontal across the organization rather than vertical between layers of managers and their direct reports Since interactions within a flat reporting structure are mostly among employees decisions are often made by consensus among groups of employees rather than by individual managers Our process typically takes around 12 months and nearly 90 percent of the projects using this system have been successfully commercialized Nottingham says If you have the right process and I really do feel we have the right process you can be successful in almost any venture you want to pursue if you have the commitment and the right team A transformative product One of Nottingham Spirks creations that made it to the big time was the Crest now Arm Hammer Spinbrush While it was an example of an idea that was a good value at the right price about 5 it turned out to be more than that and Spirk is quite proud of its impact Five dollars was the magic price point Spirk says Now it could have been 10 but we tested sales at 10 and they dropped like a rock after that It still wouldve been successful but it would never have been the super product that it was We had to manufacture it for 125 batteries motors gearboxes housings packaging shipping displays That was a challenge but we knew it had to be 125 because we wanted a 50 percent margin Youve got to do that You can go into a store and say This is a great product but you have to get a certain percent markup It doesnt work that way so you have to have your numbers right COVER NOTTINGHAM SPIRK SOCIAL MEDIA To learn more about Nottingham Spirk like its Facebook page www facebook com nottinghamspirk and follow on Twitter @ NottinghamSpirk
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