Ave Maria Green 30ish, founder of P. Puff Industries in St. Paul, Minnesota
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Description: Maker ofrubberband jewelry
Start: 1998, for less than$10,000
Sales: Up 300 percent from1999 to 2000 (with more than 12 million sold)
Cool Clients: Hersuperstar-studded clientele includes Giorgio Armani, Janet Jackson,Oscar de la Hoya and Vince Carter.
Hot Product: "I'm abig fan of the NBA, and I knew guys in the NBA wore rubberbands.Then I saw those WWJD [What Would Jesus Do?] bracelets and thought,'Wouldn't it be funny to put something crazy on there,like 'What Would Scooby Do?' My mind just went,'Combine the two.' It was a naturalprogression."
Slam Dunk: "About sixmonths into the business I ran into [Minnesota Timberwolves']Kevin Garnett in an airport. And he was the main guy I wanted toget to, because he wears rubberbands. I just went up to him andsaid, 'I make colored rubberbands that say anything you wantthem to say.' And he was like, 'I'll be your P. Puffguy.' Now we're the official rubberband of theNBA!"
Universal Appeal: "Kidslove them; mothers wear them; cool people think they're cool.See if it works-that was my theory. It just picked up steam fromthere."
