Investors help young inventor put product on market
By DUSTY RICKETTS 315-4448 | @DustyRnwfdn dricketts@nwfdailynews.com
MARY ESTHER, FL
When the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce launched the local Young Entrepreneurs Academy almost three years ago, the goal was to teach youngsters the ins and outs of starting their own business.
Ryan Kochan, the winner of the first YEA! class and a 2015 Fort Walton Beach High School graduate, has exceeded all expectations the academy organizers had for him. Kochan received $1,875 from local investors to further develop his idea — the Kochan Case, an attachment to the spine of a three-ring binder used to store pens, pencils and other supplies.
Kochan used that money to hire a patent attorney for his binder cases. With the patent pending, he started search for a manufacturer who could turn his concept into a reality. Earlier this year, Kochan signed with a Chinese manufacturer, who helped to find ways to improve the product while also keeping his cost down. His first shipment of 2,500 Kochan Cases arrived in Florida about two months ago. The cases are now on sale through Kochan’s online storefront, www.kochancases.com.
“It’s been going really good,” Kochan said. “It wasn’t as fast as I was hoping it would take off. I’ve got a lot of marketing I need to work on. But I have been selling them, which is very good. I’m hoping that next year, when the big back to school (sales start), I’ll be able to have them here in stores locally and be able to sell a lot more of them.”
The Kochan Cases are now available in nine different colors for $4.95 each, although a Thanksgiving sale going on now has reduced the price to $3.95 for a limited time.
“For someone to actually have a real business come out of (the YEA! class), I truly think it exceeded our expectations,” said Ted Corcoran, president and CEO of the Fort Walton Beach chamber. “Even our judges, who did the (investment panel) and allocated a certain amount of money, are extremely proud to know that money was used to hire an attorney to take the project further. What a great investment that was.
“It’s a beyond wonderful feeling to be involved with the organization that changed his life,” he added.
In addition to trying to get the Kochan Cases on store shelves locally in time for back to school shopping next year, Kochan is thinking of different school products he could develop. But he’s not finished with the Kochan Case yet.
Kochan would like to find ways for students to order customized Kochan Cases that would feature personalized embroidery or screen printing. Kochan is also in the process of getting into the real estate business with his father and has been taking some real estate classes.