2545 S ATLANTIC AVE # 303 DAYTONA BEACH, FL 32118 Get Directions
2545 S ATLANTIC AVE # 303 DAYTONA BEACH, FL 32118 Get Directions
Nancy Tedeschi wasn't trying to invent a breakthrough product when she came up with the idea for her SnapIt screw. But that is what happened.
Tedeschi's innovative, time-saving screws, which take the pain out of eyeglass repair, have become a big deal in the optical industry. In the 12 months since the distributor OptiSource International introduced SnapIt at the Vision Expo East in New York, more than 2.3 million have been sold. OptiSource International sells SnapIt's 26 hinge and eyewear designs and plans are in place for the line to grow to the approximately 35 screw sizes that will fit every type of frame.
Since its launch, SnapIt has won the top prize and the People's Choice Award at the National Invention Contest sponsored by the Inventor's Club of Kansas City, and received an Award of Excellence from the Optical Laboratories Association.
With the optical industry business in place, Tedeschi is moving into retail sales. She has reached an agreement with Walgreens to sell the SnapIt in its more than 8,000 stores across the nation. The repair kits are scheduled to be on Walgreens shelves in the second quarter of 2011. AARP is testing SnapIt. Tedeschi has received an order from Solutions Catalog; is in talks with other major chains; has reached agreements for sales in some European markets and is working with Bluewater Media of Clearwater, Fla. to produce an infomercial.
Thanks to her success during her career, Tedeschi had the resources to invest about $250,000 in the venture and says she has reached the break-even point. The real reward, she says, is accomplishing a goal that often seemed beyond her reach. "It feels surreal," she says. "You sometimes lose track along the path of what you're really trying to get to. I said this to my friend the other day, 'it's kind of strange that it's really happening.' I don't know why I think that this is a foreign concept, because that's what I worked so hard to get. But when you actually see it happen it's like reality hits you, 'Oh, my God, I did it. All this pain is paying off.'"
Tedeschi has spent parts of six years working on a project that slowly evolved from the original idea to the SnapIt screw, which since the beginning of 2010 has turned into a successful product with a bright future. "This isn't about the money, though that makes things easier, it's the fact that I took something that I knew nothing about, taking the path and getting to where I am with this little screw," she says. "What did I know about making a screw? Zero. I'm not mechanical at all. "Getting here has changed me. First of all, it's given me way more confidence in who I am to know that I could take something from nothing and make this happen. It's amazing."
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