Inventor’s Journey to Success
hard work and perseverance
Remember the days of having your cell phone plugged onto the cigarette lighter in your car and not knowing where to keep your phone?
Linda Schuerman Anderson was one of many in that same situation and would constantly lose track of her phone in her car. She’d have to root around on the passenger side to find her phone; or when applying the brakes, the phone would come sliding out from under the seat and get in the way. After trying a variety of products, she knew there had to be a better way.
She not only found it, she invented it! Linda dedicated herself to researching and developing a new cell phone storage solution and KangaRing™ was born. Having received feedback like, “it’s a great idea, but we don’t know if it will sell” from a few large companies, Linda took the challenge to prove it would sell, and decided to manufacture and and market the KangaRing™ herself.
The first displays were created and assembled in her living room, featuring a large photo of the product in use and holding 24 units. The very first customer was a local family-owned car wash that sold two in the first two hours the display was on the shelf. After selling 17 units in the first month on display, KangaRing™ was off with a bang! Car dealerships and car washes became the focus markets and over 13,000 units were sold in the Phoenix area the first year. Despite impressive sales numbers and positive customer feedback, after two years of proving the market Linda lacked the necessary funds to take the product to the next level, and KangaRing™ was put on hold for several years.
Linda would go to the world-renowned Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas almost every year, monitoring the campaigns to see if there was still a market for her product. She learned that not only do more people than ever carry a cell phonein the car, but they also carry many other items like GPS, solar chargers, and digital radio systems and all of those items come with a car charging plug and need a place to “live” in the car. And there is still not a better place to keep a phone in the car than the KangaRing™ cell phone holders using a pouch, a ring, a charger plug and an accessory outlet.
Linda says, “When I invented the KangaRing™ cell phone holders, I was just thinking of how to best keep my phone close in the car. But things have changed over the years, and we’ve now entered the time of widespread distracted driving. With so many people talking and driving, and now even texting and driving, it is dangerous out there. The statistics for accidents and talking and texting while driving, have personally changed my habits. With my phone safely secure in my KangaRing™ cell phone holder I know where it is, can easily reach it if I need it in an emergency — and am not tempted to text and drive or talk and drive as when I have it in my hand or in my lap. Gone are the days of sending a quick text or checking my email when I am at a stoplight.”
People and companies are very interested in finding solutions for the overwhelming problems of distracted driving. The KangaRing™ technology is a valuable solution and is available for licensing.
Products
We offer a variety of products to keep your phone safely put away. There are millions of cars on the road with accessory outlets that work perfectly with these cell phone holders. Some styles have a belt loop for keeping your phone on your person and other have fabrics to help protect your phone from extreme temperatures. Contact us for information on all styles.
Consulting
Linda has extensive knowledge in all areas of product development. She is experienced in patent protection, understanding manufacturing, calculating distribution costs, preparing and working from a business plan, and calculating the profitability of a new product. She has worked to help other inventors and has been a long time member and board member of the Inventors Association of Arizona. What about one-on-one mentoring to take your product to the next level? We’ve got that.
Barcodes
In 1999 while developing her product she purchased Barcodes from the UCC (now the GS1). Her company is one of the very few companies in the US authorized to resell these barcodes to other inventors and product developers. You can buy legal and authentic barcodes at money saving prices and learn more about barcodes at GotBarCodes.com You can email Linda at