Tobin MBA Graduate Invents International Product

Queens -
November, 2006—Angie Parlionas was always fond of lip gloss as a child, constantly reapplying it throughout the school day, so she thought, “wouldn’t it be great if the lip gloss could be permanently attached to me?” That was the day YOYO Lip Gloss was born. The lip gloss, made in five different shades, is attached to a retractable reel that clips onto your jeans, making it easily accessible.

The groundwork of her project began with a search to confirm no other similar product was currently on the market. When no exact matches were found, Angie proceeded to build a business plan, based on what she had learned in Professor Larry Boone’s Entrepreneurship class in 2003. This plan helped her to determine profit potential, industry and target consumer information, and growth potential within the US cosmetics industry.

Outlined in her plan, Angie estimated that the female teen, tween and young adult segments, aged 8 to 24, will reach $34 million in 2010 and that this same market accounts for 20% of all US cosmetic sales.

To create the vision of YOYO Lip Gloss, Angie had a designer, and personal friend of hers, create the characters, packaging and brochures of the product. From that point she got online and researched manufacturers around the world and chose three in Zhejiang, China because of their excellent pricing and communication skills. Angie and her mother, who is also an investor in YOYO Lip Gloss, traveled to Guangzhou, China to attend The Canton Fair and to meet her manufacturers of choice.

When Angie first came up with the idea of YOYO Lip Gloss she had no idea how she would find the money to finance her project. That’s when she remembered what she learned about venture capitalist funding in Dr. Boone’s class, and asked her parents, to invest in her invention. Angie was pleasantly surprised, however, by the enthusiasm that so many others showed in her product. Angie says, “I live YOYO Lip Gloss. It is all I think about and there is no doubt in my mind that this product will be profitable.”