1) Organize: When you have a knives, forks and spoons in a kitchen drawer without dividers or rows and rows of spices in a cabinet having to pick  up 3 or 4 to find the label of the one you want or cookware stacked and shoved in a bottom cabinet along with  non matching lids needing to find the 3 quart covered saucepan that you know you own but just can’t put your fingers on it.  True organizers are engineered and designed to solve both convenience and accessiblity to the problem. So a drawer organizer will separate out the knives from the forks, a spice rack will display each spice in its own cubicle and the PANTREE (R)  ( hey its my blog ) will separate each piece of cookware so one can access each piece separately along with 4 matching lids.

2) Save Space : Using the example of 20 different spices lined up on shelf so that  one can easily see each spice label or place each piece of cookware separate from the next are two good examples of needing an organizer that saves space. Shelves and Drawers are NOT ORGANIZERS therefore are not SPACE SAVERS.

3) Added Convenience:  Kitchen designers for example designed lower cabinet drawers to accommodate larger kitchen ware items such as cookware, bakeware, ceramic serving bowls and other heavier larger items. The drawers slide out so there is an element of convenience. The problem is that all these drawers provide is  easier access to the same disorganized space problem that one had before. An organizer that provides added convenience, actually  streamlines the ability to access the things you need, not to just add convenience to accessing the PROBLEM.

If I were to add a 4th function or characteristic to what I believe is an organizer that truly solves the problem(s) that it was designed for, then lets add……….solves the problem where the problem exists. For example, what good is a hanging spice rack  or a spice rack  designed for counter space if you have no available wall space or counter to put it on. Wall and counter racks in this case certainly are viable and good alternatives but the best organizers function in the same place where the problem exists.

I an Elliot Anker, the owner of Vertical Storage Solutions Inc., the organizer inventor. Please visit my website www.pantree.com .

Its all about the invention itself. If it  doesn’t do what you say it does, or if the problem that it solves is not a pervasive one or your target market is too small or the value is not perceived or the quality of the product is subpar than any of these things can throw a wrench into any business plan.

In my case, I identified  a problem that existed for over 20 years . In fact the problem existed well before I realized it. The problem was simply messy disorganized cookware cabinets. Base kitchen  cabinets were used to store cookware and other larger and heavier kitchen items. Most kitchens have a limited amount of  lower cabinet space to house what most people own. Ok , so what do people do when they have too much stuff in a cabinet. They stack and push and jam it until it fits and then quickly shut the door.  Aha ha, big  problem.  

My company Vertical Storage Solutions Inc. was named after the solution to this generational problem. The floors of cabinets and/or shelves are linear and are not made to store and organize an abundance of varying shapes and sizes of cookware for example. Both the cabinet and housewares industries never figured out that the only way create organization in a confined cabinet is by going up, Vertical, hence Vertical Storage Solutions Inc.

PANTREE is my brand which conotes a vertical organizing solution. The closet industry figured it out in the 1980s when they realized that designing closets by just using shelves was inefficient. Space was the commodity and utilizing the wall space in a closet to organize and store clothes and accessories changed the entire industry . Closet manufacturers began making vertical  product organizers that were designed  specifically for the product that they were organizing such as shoes, sweaters, belts , ties etc. etc…

I believe that the PANTREE  cookware and matching lid organizer is well  conceived in that it took a successful formula from another industry and applied it  to the base kitchen cabinet. The problem has been enormous considering that both the cabinet and housewares industries have addressed based cabinet storage with non solution type fixes such as deep drawers and sliding shelves. Same problem just more convenient to access. How may pieces of cookware can you really store on a sliding shelf. And tell me that the deep drawers that are now built in most newer kitchens don’t cause the same headache of having to pick up and shuffle and find what you are looking for. I am telling you, its all about the invention.

I am Elliot Anker, the owner of Vertical Storage Solutions Inc. the Organizer Inventor. Please visit my website

www.pantree.com

Think about it, if you are  starting any new business…….opening a restaurant or  gas station for example would you just work it part time and keep your old job? Not me. I can’t tell you how often during the  period of my research and development  phase,  people would constantly ask me ….so did you keep your FULL TIME JOB ? The conversation would get cut short when I would answer, THIS IS MY FULL TIME JOB.

The PANTREE cookware & lid organizer is an invention that required hundreds of hours of research and development just to support all of the “call outs” and warrenties necessary to substantiate it originality. I literally went to dozens of stores and measured hundreds of pieces of cookware to design the  PANTREE to accommodate the sizes and shapes of most of the cookware that people own. That was just one relatively small project necesary to  complete before bringing my drawings to my engineer.

When I say my engineer, I mean the engineer that I ended up actually designing the PANTREE. I hired a large engineering firm and spent months of time and money before I determined that this firm was not a good fit for me. I finally found a sole practitioning engineer that I felt totally understood what I wanted to accomplish. I hired him, and maybe a week or two later we had working engineering drawings.

Just like any start-up business, it all begins with a well conceived business plan with a  reasonable timeline to achieve one’s goals. My business plan was/is divided into 3 phases, Research & Development (1-2yrs) , Launch ( 3-5 yrs ), Future (5-10yrs ), Exit Strategy (10yrs +) . I began my business in mid 2005 and it took one and a half years to begin marketing PANTREE to the public. AT that point I had inventory to sell here in the U.S. I am now a little over 3 years into my “launch phase”  which is consumed with  maximizing sales efforts  in multiple channels of distribution while designing new product to be released once there is  sustainable cash flow.

I am still a one man show, I am my only employee. Of course I hired independent sub contractors in the fields of Marketing, Public relations, Patent Attorneys,  Manufacturing, Graphic Design, Web Design & Hosting, Internet Marketing, Engineering etc… but I gotta tell you, Inventing  the PANTREE cookware & lid organizer , at least for me is NO PART TIME JOB.

I an Elliot Anker, the owner of Vertical Storage Solutions Inc., the organizer inventor. Please visit my website www.pantree.com

Having said that, I can only share with you my own path from idea to invention and give you what I believe were the  5 key elements for me that allowed me to succeed in this process. The product I invented is the PANTREE(R) cookware & lid organizer. Their were 5 key elements to my process that actually took over 23 years to come to fruition, from idea to invention.

1) Identify the Problem : I was a cookware and basic housewares buyer for Burdines Dept. Stores in Fl. in the early 1980s and one of the classifications of housewares that I was responsible for was Organization. I knew back then that there was a problem that most people had when it came to organizing their cookware in a base kitchen cabinet.

2) Provide a Solution: Believe it or not I actually figured out the solution to the cookware mess in cabinets about 1 year later when I was on the phone and someone used the word …….VERTICAL. This was the concept behind the idea that fueled my thought process to eventually come up with a product solution to the problem.

3) Timing: The timing for me to follow through and invent the PANTREE wasn’t until 20+ years later. Small things like time, money , family etc…. got in the way  and then finally the stars alligned  in 2005. Yes you got it, the cookware organization problem still existed inside a standard base kitchen cabinet. Both Cabinet makers and housewares product mfg. never in all of that time came up with a true solution to organizing cookware and matching lids where the problem exists.

4) Passion: Trust me, if you don’t have the passion and conviction of your product & idea and business/marketing sense  to pull the trigger when the timing is right , DON’T DO IT. This is not a hobby its a business.

5)  Committment: Combination of financial committment as well as a   grounded well thought out business/marketing plan that CLEARLY distinguishes  the emotional and passionate side of your conviction to the pragmatic business plan that will implement it.

I am Elliot Anker,  the owner of Vertical Storage Solutions Inc., the organizer inventor. Please visit my website

www.pantree.com .