Cable Envy: Hard
Wired Woman Taking
Male Dominated Industry by Storm
Home, pregnant and frustrated by the endless amount of unsightly,
unruly and unsafe office equipment and the cabling and wiring related thereto,
Valerie Holstein was not one to just sit around and suffer the problem.
Instead, with the “intuition” that others in the marketplace shared her and
her husband’s frustration and with a strong desire to start a home based
business that would allow her to earn an income while caring for her newborn,
out of her garage and with just $30 CableOrganizer.com was born.
The result? After just four years post-launch, Holstein’s “other”
baby is tracking to log sales revenue of $8 million, which is a full 28% over
the $5.7 million realized the year prior. Although not named in
Internet Retailer’s
2006 ‘Top 500 Guide, “We certainly qualify for such a distinction,” said
Holstein, Founder and CEO of CableOrganizer.com. “Had they listed us, we
would have registered in position number 463 based on the qualifying criterion
– impressive, by all accounts, for an operation that started out of my garage
just four years ago. Also somewhat unexpected given ours is a woman-owned
business, which is quite an anomaly within our male dominated,
technology-driven industry.”
What’s in a name? A mere $30 and insightful branding, as this
initial investment allowed Holstein to register the intuitive
CableOrganizer.com Web site address. And, ever resourceful, Holstein then took
full advantage of the many online business resources at her disposal, such as
free Web hosting and a revenue sharing system with PayPal in “exchange” for
her online shopping cart system.
Holstein’s frugality has also been a boon for a company’s bottom
line, as all office equipment and furniture is paid for, the company carries
no debt, and all of her invoices are discounted as she pays within the net 10
window.
A women’s touch has proved fruitful. “While we offer somewhat
commodity products, we have chosen to differentiate ourselves and add
intrinsic value by offering nothing short of customer service excellence. This
mandate, combined with our goal
to remain the most comprehensive ‘one-stop shop’ on the planet for quality
solutions that help our customers ‘do business better,’ has clearly resonated
with consumers and, I believe, is the unique combination of factors largely
propelling our success.”
