Invent your way to retirement at Halpin Solutions

I am on to something.

24 years of owning my own company has taught me a lot. I have witnessed every walk of life enter and exit my front door. I have had employees last 2 weeks and I have employees who have been faithful to me for 12 years. As an entrepreneur, I have fallen into the habit of looking at things differently. I ask questions that may not have answers, and I explore possibilities deep beneath the surface. Like many other company owners, I want only the best for my employees. They are hardworking individuals whom I have trained, believed in, and watched grow into the successful designers they are today. But as a boss, I can't help but continue to ask myself, “how am I different”?

When taking a look at other companies in the game, regardless of their trade, there seems to be a commonality. An employee is on the clock delivering a service for a big company, there is a limit on the amount of money they can make per year. This doesn’t seem appealing to me. Instead, I believe everyone has a talent or an idea which can add value to an uncountable number of people’s lives. I encourage my employees to, not only do the work that is in front of them, but maximize on their own creativity and passions as well.

When you work for me, at Halpin Solutions, I encourage you to invent your own products. I encourage you to get the most out of your lunch breaks and weekends by investing your time in a product that can change your own future. I frequently have employees approach me inquiring of a pay raise. I ask why are you thinking about 5-10%? Why not have a vision for $500k a year more? While each circumstance is unique, my response is mostly the same: 

Show me how you can add value to other people’s lives and I can show you how to make as much money as you want too. 

I don’t want to pay you one or two extra dollars an hour, I want to pay you one or two hundred thousand dollars extra a year. That is achieved by putting ideas into motion that will generate effective solutions to problems people face on a daily basis. I find it so common that people have great ideas, but never put them into motion. But why? Is it because they don’t know what steps to follow to deliver that product or idea to the masses? Or is it because they don’t have someone in their life telling them they can?

Here at Halpin Solutions, this is how it works:

When we agree that your idea has the potential for production (and some mass appeal), we are going to go for it.

We are going to build production tools and make parts and ship them globally together.

We are then going to build an Amazon store for it and get it out to the world.

When my team members prove their determination by investing their own time into the beginning steps of entrepreneurialism, we surpass the typical boss/employee relationship. Once it is visible to me that they believe in themselves the way I believe in them, we become partners. We invest our time together developing their product and bringing it all the way to production. Our Product Development Manager will lead the testing and 3d printed parts from concept, to working products on the shelf. The best part for my team members is, they are now growing their own idea while staying on my payroll.

Throughout 24 years of running my own company, I have learned that our ship runs most seamlessly when my staff is 100% in-house trained. I have been known to take in employees whom other companies reject. While a resume is important, character and grit is even more so. I don’t care if you have ever used a computer, or driven a car, my 90 internships—or “boot camp” as we call it—will shape any hard working and driven individual into a Class A surface designer. And a damn good one at that.

The internship is important for many reasons, aside from learning how to use CAD design tools, it gives my team members a chance to prove themselves as the hard working individuals they are. 2/3rds of the trainees don’t make it to the end, but the ones who do are well worth the investment. Because every individual in my office is in-house trained, they have a bond that cannot be broken, and a hunger for success to match. I have never had a pound for pound team so good at what they do, as I have right now.  The best part about it is: the day to day excitement is unmatchable.  

The enthusiasm to not only design cars, but bring new products to life has spread like wildfire throughout our building! Each of my team members comes from such beautifully different backgrounds and it stands out in his or her creative different ideas.

So far, we have a book to simplify the process of knitting, a musical accessory tailored to guitarists, a unique golf hole for training purposes, a fishing lure, a disc golf product, an innovative hockey training tool, a college tail-gating item, and something to appeal to the medicinal marijuana community.

In a way, we end up being a mini “Shark Tank”. I encourage each designer to develop something that they are passionate about. While we don’t set any limitations on ideas, simple and small is most desirable. When you think about it, you are able to make as much money on a product the size of a mouse trap as a product the size of a hot tub. The only difference is the volume of inventory, material handling, and shipping. The excitement of making a dollar or two on each of the 500,000 products in a year is super exciting for all of us.

With many of the U.S. design studios (our customers) reaching around the world for discounted design and engineering services, the writing is on the wall for companies like mine that can deliver on time, affordable and high quality. It doesn't matter anymore. The purchasing groups are not interested in building and keeping local companies and talent busy and accessible. They are being told to shop around the world. To be successful in today's world—good price, quality, and delivering on time doesn't matter. You may be on the wrong continent.

How to get started developing a product.

When you have an idea, search for it. Google it, Bing it, Yahoo it, US pat.gov it. Look everywhere. That is how I evolved the Nutribullet Koozie. Because I was into juicing in the morning, I would blend frozen items in the blender and head for work. By the time I got to work my car, lap, and desk was completely saturated with the condensation from my smoothie container. Frustrated, I started searching for a Koozie, only to find out they did not exist.  When I approached Nutribullet directly with a concept proposal, they would not acknowledge my existence. Instead, I developed it on my own. I ordered Neoprene by the yard and developed 18 versions, including 3 sizes and 6 color variations.

Next, I obtained a GS1.com user ID and acquired some skews for bar codes. This gives your product identity everywhere in the world. People know where to order it. We now develop them and ship Koozies and many other products from my office around the world!

This simple solution to an everyday problem that I had only made me think that others will have that problem too! Because I was searching for the product, others would too, and they do, they buy them. Now they can be purchased in my Amazon store. I carry the only Nutri-bullet blender koozie in the world.

Oh, and next week we may be working on developing an entire exterior and or interior for the next super car.

I want everyone at my company to become self-sustainable with a retirement plan that may come sooner than later.  I want my people to call my company home. When a nice huge offer comes from a big car company studio they simply say “ I found my home no thank you” If you want to see an excited team, swing by my new Troy, MI office and have a cup of coffee one day. We are moving from Rochester Hills September 12th.  You will feel the excitement when you walk in the door.

I laugh about retirement. I think to myself if I retired tomorrow I would start a company that would do what I am doing now. So maybe I have retired already, and don't even know it.

Thank you , Sean Halpin 586-243-2240 shalpin@halpinsolitions.com www.halpinsolutions.com, www.powersk8r.com, www.proudmaryprosthetics.com, www.putterpower.com (patent completed this year)