Shumei Hsu - Collapsible Hanger

My name is Shumei Hsu. I heard about the 'entrepreneurs helping entrepreneurs' project with Meet the Money from the small business week website when I was looking for events or opportunities to promote my product.

I emigrated from Taiwan 11 years ago. I am currently working part-time at the Fort Calgary's visitors centre (a historical park about the RCMP).

My product is a collapsible clothes hanger designed for narrow necked garments. I wear turtleneck sweaters a lot and like everyone else I have great trouble hanging them up without over-stretching the collars. So I developed this hanger to solve that problem and make our daily life a little bit easier.

I have been promoting the hanger to potential customers in both the US and Canada and exploring the distribution channels. I have obtained good feedback about the product but no sales so far. The experience led me to re-evaluate my sales and marketing plans and my personal sales skills (although I am not trembling that much anymore when I introduce the hanger to strangers). But after having had the plastic injection mould made and manufactured the first 2,000 pieces, I have basically no budget left for marketing. (I do have few marketing ideas but don't know if they are good plans and I don't know how to execute them.)