Finding Your Leg Up With a Niche Product
Entrepreneurs find their inspiration in the strangest places. My lightening bolt came from rampant visible panty lines and uncomfortable thongs.One night I wanted to wear my cream pants with open-toed shoes, but I couldn’t find the right undergarment. Everything I tried gave me panty lines and additional lumps and bumps. Out of frustration, I cut the feet out of my control top pantyhose. It was the perfect solution, except that the hose rolled up my legs all night. I searched for footless pantyhose in stores, but everyone had the same response, “No, we don’t have anything like that, but what a great idea. If you find them, let us know.” That’s when frustration turned into inspiration, and in 2000, with $5,000 in savings, the brand SPANX and the company Spanx, Inc. were born.
What started as an idea for footless pantyhose soon grew legs of its own. My footless pantyhose idea evolved into a super niche product category: new-and-improved and comfortable footless pantyhose with super control and body-shaping support. Starting a company with such a niche product required that I find unique marketing tactics to get my product onto shelves and into shopping bags. Marketing body-shaping pantyhose is extremely niche to the hosiery department, since body shapers are typically found in the intimates department. So my challenge was to find a way to get my brand and niche products noticed and sold among a sea of established and well-known hosiery brands.
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