Have you ever wondered what makes an inventor tick? Some students at Ouachita Baptist University are about to get a firsthand lesson. Entrepreneur and alumnus Scott Bonge (’92) will speak in Dr. Jay Robbins business class Wednesday, Dec. 10 from 9-9:50 a.m. Bonge will be talking to students about what it takes to be an entrepreneur, what makes one tick, and what the risk factors and potential rewards are for people who choose to pursue their dreams.
Bonge started his dream with Playdoh, plaster and Popsicle sticks. While not many people would try to find their fortune in such simple things, Bonge will tell you the three may just become the building blocks to his success. Going back a few years, his idea was simple enough; come up a device that would help him create the perfect goatee. “I was tired of being frustrated with trying to get my own goatee even on both sides of my face,” he said. “If it ended up crooked, I would just shave it off. So one day I thought, if I’ve got this issue, other guys have to have the same problem.”
At that moment, he became set on figuring out how to make this perfect shaving contraption. His wife, Christy, became his helper. “At first, we started with Play-Doh. She would literally mold it over my face,” Scott said. “Then we graduated to plaster. There were times I would literally have only a small hole to breathe through.”
Ten molds later, Bonge had what he thought would work. His next stop: an engineer. But the first few told him he was wasting his time. “They basically told me I couldn’t do it because it was ‘too complicated,’” he said.
But Bonge, who is no stranger to adversity, didn’t give up. The man who had recently gone from a six-figure income to the unemployment line invested his own time and money, made a few tweaks here and there, and ultimately gave birth to the GoateeSaver.
“It’s a big undertaking, not just financially, but emotionally, physically and time wise,” he said. “Every step you take is a learning process.”
The GoateeSaver no longer looks anything like the child’s art class creation it once did. Today, the invention is plastic, sleek and refined. It even moves up and down and the sides adjust thanks to its chrome turnbuckles. Some say it looks like a cross between a football player’s mouth guard and something Hannibal Lecter wore in “Silence of the Lambs.”
Since the GoateeSaver was released in June, the unique mouthpiece has been profiled on more than 1,500 Web sites. It has also been featured on several radio talk shows, television stations, newspapers and magazines around the globe. The GoateeSaver has also made a special guest appearance on late night talk show host Jay Leno’s chin.
In late September, Scott’s company hit another milestone when the GoateeSaver went from exclusive sales online at www.goateesaver.com to retail availability when Drug Emporium in Little Rock added the product to its inventory. Right now, Scott is close to sealing a deal with several Wal-Mart stores in Arkansas.
His most recent accomplishment came last month when the GoateeSaver Company was recognized by “Start Up Nation” as part of its Home-Based 100 Competition for 2008. The company, which received an honorable mention in the “Most Innovative” business category, was among thousands of businesses which were entered into this competition.
To hear Scott’s secrets to success, Dr. Robbins’ Wednesday, Dec. 10 class starts at 9 a.m.
