"I'm not one that gets frustrated. I just want to fix it," said Casper. So he patented his pizza paddle design in 2000 and started selling it on Amazon.com to consumers, specialty stores and resellers a few years later.
"Last year we were the No.1-selling pizza paddle product on Amazon," Casper said. He expects to sell about 10,000 this year earning about $250,000 in revenue.
His product, made entirely in upstate New York, sells for about $30, double its Chinese-made rivals. That's why Casper doubts he'll be able to sell to big chains like Wal-Mart and Target, known to squeeze vendors on price.
Only once has Casper looked for an overseas supplier for a product component. "I found a supplier in Thailand. It was a one-time try and it didn't go well. I lost 35% of my inventory as a result,"Casper said.
After that experience, he hasn't seriously thought about outsourcing to bring down costs. But Casper isn't entirely happy with his domestic suppliers either.
"I have had mixed results with quality from U.S. manufacturers where the product is the wrong length or width," he said. "But I know that since the product came from a few states over, I can still send it back. And I know the people making my products. I can't say that if I source from Asia."
NEXT: Larson Electronics
