In Think Outside the Bottle: The Product Entrepreneur's Playbook, self-made multimillionaire Duane Thompson draws product entrepreneurs a blueprint for business success. This fast-paced, engaging how-to guide shows how he built his business up from a pot of salsa he created in his college dorm room to a seven-figure-grossing company with products sold on the East Coast and beyond-and how you can take your product from concept to reality too. The Playbook pushes and prods you to brainstorm ideas that will help you create the best product possible. It provides plenty of practical advice on how to develop your brand, select the right manufacturer, and get free media coverage. It also takes you through fourteen steps to develop your product-and that's just for starters. If you're serious about taking your business dream to the next level of success, the Playbook is for you!

Duane Thompson is the founder, president, and CEO of Sabrosa Foods Inc., a Hampton Roads, Virginia-based food-manufacturing and service company selling products in the United States and abroad. Duane and his company's award-winning salsa, Asorbas, have been featured in print, online, and on TV, including MSNBC and CNBC. Inside Business: The Hampton Roads Business Journal named Duane 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year and a Top 40 Under 40 businessperson. Duane lives in Norfolk, Virginia, with his wife, Lingisi, and son, Duane Jr.

Preface 02 Introduction 05 Chapter 1 My Story 08 Chapter 2 Focus on One Product: Perfecting and Connecting 22 Chapter 3 Branding Your Product: Naming, Trademarking, and Copyrighting 32 Chapter 4 The Business Plan: Your Map to Success 41 Chapter 5 The Product Development Playbook: Developing, Testing, and Measuring to Produce "Perfection" 63 Chapter 6 When You Find the Right Manufacturer, Say "I Do" 114 Chapter 7 Selling Your Product: Why It Pays to Start Locally 125 Chapter 8 Don't Pay for Advertising When the Media Will Do It for Free 135 Chapter 9 A Perfect Ten: Case Studies 148 Chapter 10 Why Entrepreneurs Fail, and How to Avoid the Traps 161 Chapter 11 Applying the Lessons You Learned in Corporate America (or Another Job) to Your Product Venture 174 Chapter 12 When Opportunity Knocks, Think Outside the Bottle 187 Conclusion Having Vision-Seeing Your Business (and Your Life) in the Future 200 Thinking Outside the Bottle 203 Bonus Quiz: Are You Ready to Become a Product Entrepreneur? 213 Worksheets 216 Bonus Asorbas Recipes 222 Acknowledgments 230