BonnerSprings.com

The idea came to her a couple of years ago.

After years spent on the bleachers at Bonner Springs High School watching her four athletic children play softball or football or basketball games, Martha Forshey asked herself, what might be the best way to store a soft drink or bottle of water without having to hold it in your hands throughout the entire game?

The answer she came up with: A portable cup holder that attaches to any bleacher. It can even fold up for convenient transport in a bag or purse.

“Every time we’ve gone (to a game), there’s never been any cup holders for the bleachers,” Forshey, an Edwardsville resident, said. “I thought if we had that, we could use that and save our drinks and keep it from spilling over; kind of save your seat spot (too).”

Though Forshey figured her idea was good enough to market and sell, she had no idea how to go about doing it. That is, until last week. Martha was the winner of InQuest Marketing’s 25th Hour Entrepreneur Challenge. The marketing firm, based in Kansas City, Mo., began accepting submissions for new products or business ideas in August, offering the winner 25 straight hours, free of charge, of marketing and research services by the firm. The challenge was organized as a way to celebrate InQuest Marketing’s 25th anniversary in Kansas City, Mo.

Forshey’s bleacher cup holder was chosen out of about 30 submissions by a panel of four judges, Jody Hanson, public relations specialist with the firm and one of the four judges, said.

“We could quickly see that it was a good idea. That it was practical. That it had a huge potential market,” Hanson said of why Forshey’s cup holder was chosen over the other ideas presented.

An inventor of conveniences

Martha Forshey’s son Greg Forshey, who is helping her with her business venture, said the bleacher cup holder wasn’t the first idea for an invention his imaginative mother had come up with. It was only the first one he had taken seriously.

“We always joke that she worked part-time, so she has all this time to come up with these … ideas,” he said laughingly, noting that his mother is a part-time insurance examiner who spends a lot of time in her car. He says that’s where all the ideas come from. “So this was one that I actually thought, ‘That’s really a great idea.’”

A self-proclaimed inventor, Martha Forshey says she’s always coming up with different ideas to make life more convenient. Like the time she came up with the idea for a bracelet with a pad of Post-its attached so that notes and lists could be recorded at a moment’s notice. Though not an idea she was able to sell her family on — a point she laughs about today — she said the Post-it bracelet is just one of several inventions she has thought up in the past with a goal of simplifying the lives of those around her.

“I always think, ‘What would make it easier for everything? Like, what can I do to make everything a little bit (better), and someone can use it?’” Martha Forshey said.

Challenge accepted

Martha Forshey first heard about the 25th Hour Entrepreneur Challenge on NBC Action News. Having toyed with the idea of starting a business with her bleacher cup holder for some time, she said there was no doubt in her mind about submitting her invention for consideration.

“We’ve had the idea kind of, of developing (it), so when I saw that, I thought that would be the perfect time for me to see what I could do to get it out there,” Martha Forshey said.

She enlisted the help of her son, whom she says is better with words than she is, to assist her in the application process. Applicants had to answer questions regarding their ideas and explain them thoroughly.

Once Martha’s idea was chosen, the idea was for professionals with InQuest Marketing to work for 25 straight hours on a feasible marketing campaign that would set the Forsheys up for business success. Hanson said the Inquest marketing professionals didn’t need 25 hours to get the job done, however.

“I think we had wrapped up by midnight, so we actually did not need to go all night,” she said following the challenge, which kicked off at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 13.

The day’s work included coming up with a name for Martha Forshey’s bleacher cup holder — “The Drink Defender” — and a tagline — “Stands up to bleacher bums.” Additionally, a full marketing and business plan was drawn up that included possible startup costs, an analysis and comparison of any similar products, sales strategies and a mockup of what The Drink Defender website might look like.

“We tried to give them real, tangible next steps,” Hanson said following the challenge. “So they just need to sort through it and prioritize.”

What’s next

Martha Forshey said she’ll be using much of the plan that was developed for her by InQuest’s marketing team, and she said the challenge was a great way to get all those early steps out of the way that are crucial to getting a business off the ground.

“I would say, because of them, everything (will come) a lot easier to us,” Martha Forshey said following the challenge, noting that right now she and her son are still sorting through all the information that was provided to them and trying to figure out their next move. “At least, they pushed it a lot forward faster for us to get it going. And they were (a) pretty amazing homedown team. Yeah, they were very easy to talk to and anything you asked, they were really nice about. I mean, it was just an awesome team.”

Hanson said she was confident the Forsheys had the capability and the drive to take the challenge and turn it into a successful business venture. She said it was also her hope that other area public relations or advertising firms will, upon hearing of the challenge, be willing to step in and help the Forsheys out with that process.

“For all of Kansas City to kind of rally around this idea we think would be incredible,” Hanson said. “What we think we have done is identified kind of a budding entrepreneur out there with a great idea. And that was our whole goal with this challenge, that’s what we want to do … I think this challenge has really given (the Forsheys) some momentum, and I think they’ve got a great shot.”

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