The Queen of QVC
Published on June 6, 2017, at 8:06 a.m.
by Briana Borcic.
It all started in 1997 with an earring box. Today, the Chicago-bred entrepreneur Lori Greiner has about 500 inventions and 120 patents to her name. With her success has come the opportunity to sit as one of the six “Shark Tank” members on the ABC Network.
Greiner told Success Magazine, “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t women just love to have something like this at home where instead of all their jewelry crumpled on top of each other … they would hang and you could see them like a fine jewelry display?’”
Greiner invested $10,000 of her own money to create the first prototype of her jewelry box idea. After receiving feedback from women all over Chicago, she finally stepped into a bank where she was given a much deserved $300,000 loan. This would ignite the beginning of her success, and she would soon be featured in department stores and on popular infomercial networks.
Greiner was then featured on the Home Shopping Network (HSN) and, within a few short minutes, all 2,000 available units of her 100-piece earring holder had sold. It was after this success that Greiner built her long-lasting partnership with the Quality Value Convenience Network (QVC), where she has continued to create and sell more products. Greiner eventually took her product to J.C. Penney in Chicago, where her creation was sold in store.
The queen has also gone on to write a book, “Invent It, Sell It, Bank It!,” and now plays a huge role in helping entrepreneurs find success with their inventions. She lends advice to entrepreneurs everywhere with her greatest caution being, “Don’t let business get personal. It’s just business. Shrug it off.” Both her husband and her father gave her this advice at the beginning of her career.
Greiner also has seven tips for entrepreneurs when they are ready to pitch their inventions.
1) Be concise in your pitch. Your idea should only take one or two sentences to describe.
2) Engage with the buyer; be entertaining.
3) Be as appealing as your product.
4) Demonstrate an opportunity that cannot be missed.
5) Have answers for every question, and if you don’t, be honest.
6) Have supporting data.
7) Practice your pitch.
Lori Greiner has become a role model to entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts around the globe. She proves that with hard work, dedication and the drive to succeed, many doors of opportunity will open. Are you ready to sell your million-dollar idea?
