Funny Business readers will know that this blog "broke" the story of the Canadian remote control airplane company which designed its own Balloon Boy Halloween costume.
Bud Kays of Microflight/Plantraco originally thought he might sell 1,000 of the $20 specially-outfitted balloons, then, as media coverage exploded, he "raised guidance" to between 2,000 and 3,000.
In the end, he sold 1,700. And counting. "Believe it or not we are still shipping some out for FedEx Saturday delivery," Kays tells me. "This makes shipping cost about $48.00 and the product is $19.95!"
More importantly, Kays thinks he's turned some of the Halloween shoppers into buyers of Microflight's full product line, "which was one of the main goals we had in the first place actually!"
The company went into overdrive to manufacture enough supply, and they've ended up with some surplus gondolas. But they learned how to react quickly. "The actual time it takes to process the orders was quite significant," Kays says. "We use NetSuite, and one good thing about it is that it is not a problem to have two or more —many more for bigger companies —operators working simultaneously on the system to process orders. So that was nice technology for us to have."
Finally, Kays says his 10-year-old son wore the costume to school today. "At lunch he said that everyone said he had the best costume and thought it was super funny - so that's good!"
So what now for these entrepreneurial go-getters from Saskatoon?
"We have an interesting new product we are working on to completion right now - a tiny tracked vehicle that can be controlled with great precision - beyond what any other 'toy' product has been capable of," Kays says. "This is my real passion. Would you like me to send you some pictures of our new product?"
Sure, why not? Maybe you can sell some to the Gosselin kids or Nadya Suleman's octuplets.
Halloween Fun:
- Hot and Hotter Halloween Costumes
- The iPhone Costume—And It Works
- Is Your Boss a Witch or the Grim Reaper
Questions? Comments? Funny Stories? Email funnybusiness@cnbc.com
