A fitting memorial: two entrepreneurs hope to fill a void in the funeral industry with their low cost, fabric urn covers

Entrepreneur,  May, 2004  by Nichole L. Torres

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WHAT: Designer and manufacturer of decorative urn covers

WHO: Mary Hickey and Bob Wheeler of the Renaissance Urn Co.

WHERE: San Francisco

WHEN: Started in 2002

IT'S NOT EASY FOR MOST PEOPLE TO TALK about death or anything associated with it. But for Mary Hickey and Bob Wheeler, co-founders of the Renaissance Urn Co., it's all in a day's work. These tech-industry veterans design and manufacture unique and modern urns and urn covers--aiming to personalize them and to offer new options to grieving families and friends.

It was, in fact, when Wheeler's mother passed away that he had a difficult time finding a suitable urn for her remains. "I did not like any of the urns that I saw [at the mortuary]," he says. "I didn't think they were beautiful, and they were very uninspired. I'm a potter by hobby, and I ended up making my mother's urn."

He took the idea of creating unique urns to his good friend Hickey and expanded it to include fabric urn covers. Since many families do not buy urns because of the expense or because the urns are unattractive, some people are forced to leave their loved one's remains in impersonal plastic boxes. So Hickey and Wheeler created urn covers as a low-cost alternative to traditional urns. Hickey, 41, and Wheeler, 45, wanted to create urn covers that are decorative while being respectful.

The biggest challenge, according to the pair, was learning about the funeral industry. In the early stages, they learned everything they could from independent funeral directors. "They really took us under their wing," says Hickey.

Primarily selling wholesale to funeral directors, Renaissance Urn Co. saw around $100,000 in sales for 2003.

Banking On It

WHAT: Developer and marketer of prepaid debit cards for people who don't use traditional banks

WHO: Roy and Bertrand Sosa of NetSpend Corp.

WHERE: Austin, Texas

WHEN: Started in 1999

WITHOUT A CREDIT CARD, IT'S NEARLY impossible to buy merchandise online or even open a video-rental account. Brothers Roy and Bertrand Sosa of NetSpend Corp. set out to change that by developing a prepaid debit card for people who don't have bank or credit card accounts.

Originally intended to enable teenagers with no credit to buy online, Roy, 33, and Bertrand, 29, modified their plan to target the Hispanic community--especially recent immigrants. "Part of the reason we found this target [market] is convenience," says Bertrand. "[Members of the Hispanic community are] looking for ways to enhance their financial literacy."

A key in NetSpend's development was becoming a direct processor and service provider of MasterCard to produce the prepaid debit cards. MasterCard, looking for a way to reach out to the Hispanic market, agreed to join forces with NetSpend, following Roy and Bertrand's initial presentation. Now the cards are offered at checkcashing facilities and grocery stores in ethnic communities, and yearly sales are in the tens of millions.

All That Glitters

WHAT: A diamond jewelry company

WHO: Ruta Fox of Divine Diamonds Inc., maker of The Ah Ring

WHERE: New York City

WHEN: Started in 2001

WOMEN WHO ARE AVAILABLE (A) AND happy (h) are flocking to buy The Ah Ring, a trademarked diamond pinky ring by Divine Diamonds Inc. Conceived by Ruta Fox, a former freelance writer, this 11-diamond pinky ring with a white-gold band is the diamond ring a woman buys for herself.

A longtime jewelry aficionado, Fox purchased a stylish diamond ring to wear on her pinky. Her friends noticed--and asked her to get rings for them. "I thought I'd take out some savings, get some inventory, and try to sell just to some friends," she says. When her initial inventory of 20 rings went fast, she knew she was onto something.

Because of her media background, Fox, 44, knew promotion was key to getting her company off the ground. She took a promotional kit describing her product to the offices of Oprah Winfrey's magazine, O, hoping to sell a few rings to the staff. Instead, The Ah Ring garnered so much excitement that Winfrey herself decided to include it in "The O List." "It was wild," says Fox. "I had six weeks to go from being a freelance writer to having a product ready to be launched by Oprah."

The product, an affordable luxury retailing at $295, immediately resonated with women of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds, says Fox. With the ring available solely from her toll-free hotline (800-310-9694), Fox's biggest problem was filling orders fast enough, Today, she also takes orders on her Web site (www.divine diamonds.com), and she's added The Tranquility Cross (representing calm) and The Snowflake Necklace (representing individuality) to her Divine Diamonds brand.

With 2004 sales expected to approach 2 million, Fox knows she has struck a chord with women. "I get letters from women saying 'This is the first piece of really nice jewelry I've bought myself,'" she says. "I really believe that I'm changing the head space about [women saying] 'Oh, I would never buy myself a diamond ring.'"