Success Story

It's the year 2000 and every time Cindy puts a clip in her infant daughter's hair, it inevitably slides away. Frustrated, Cindy plays with simple material until she creates a hair clip that does not slide through even the thinnest of hair. This was the beginning of No Slippy Hair Clippy.

As a single mother on welfare in the East Bay, Cindy had to overcome the hurdles of launching a company that manufactures and sells specialty hair clips for infants and toddlers. Thanks to Cindy's hard work, the business education and financial help received from the Women's Initiative, a small loan obtained thought the Oakland Business Development Corporation (www.obdc.com) and the support of the Small Business Development Center Technology Advisory Program (SBDC TAP), No Slippy Hair Clippy has not only become a reality, but is on its way to becoming a large success. After only a few months, the company now has three employees, a good roster of retail clients- mostly upper-end children apparel stores- and is expected to generate over $250,000 in revenue for the year 2003 with ample room for growth.

On March 2nd 2002, Cindy and No Slippy Hair Clippy were featured in the cover story of the Contra Costa Times business section. On January 16 2003, No Slippy Hair Clippy made the front page of the business section in the Oakland Tribune. Cindy has also received the 2002 Northern California Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

For "No Slippy Hair Clippy" SBDC TAP has:

• Provided strategic advice on using advanced technology to optimize marketing, sales and manufacturing operations
• Designed and supported the implementation of a unified order taking system allowing retail clients to order merchandise via the Internet, email, toll-free number, fax, while enabling Cindy to receive and process all orders in one place at any time: her e-mail
• Managed the installation of high-speed DSL Internet access
• Architected and supported the design and implementation of her website and online retail catalogue with order-placement capability(www.hairclippy.com)
• Assisted in the development of electronic marketing campaigns
• Advised on the adoption of an inventory management system which will reduce the hair clip production management effort and allow her to scale up production reliably

The company currently has reps selling “No Slippys” all over the country, with 150 accounts in about 20 states, and is working its way into department stores such as Nordstrom.