About Us
R
en Field had a full-time job as a school
custodian in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a part-time job as an airport security
guard. His flat feet bothered him after his long work hours, but none of the
available products gave him the relief he wanted.
So he made a massager in his woodworking shop-a cylinder 13 inches long with
a circumference of 2 1/4 inches. It is covered with 250 small, knobby protrusions
that Field calls "fingers." Rolling it with various parts of his feet-toes,
sole, heel, even fallen arches-provided stimulation that eased the discomfort,
he found.
School colleagues who saw the device in his office asked what it was, tried
it, and wanted their own. Field was repeatedly asked the question that has
launched countless small businesses-"Why don't you sell them?"
He quit his airport job, withdrew his savings of $2,000, bought some molds
to shift to a plastic product from time-consuming hand crafting of the wood
model, and started turning out massagers for sale. He called them "Foot Logs."
As business picked up, Field had injection-molding companies make the components.
Field and his wife and older children assembled the massagers in their basement,
and he sold them weekends at conventions, county fairs, home shows, and other
events. An average weekend produced sales of 200 to 250.
Through Media Enterprise, a Pennsylvania firm that seeks media exposure for
clients, the Foot Log gained a sales spot on the Home Shopping Club's cable-television
program. Field was asked to have 10,000 ready for shipment, but he could not
handle an order that size.
He compromised at 5,000, due in 30 days, but he still had no capital for such
production and no assembly or shipping facilities. He arranged for production
of components by his suppliers, and signed up several schools for the handicapped,
which seek such jobs for students, to do the assembling. Field also engaged
some 20 families in his neighborhood to assemble and box the logs for shipping.
The project was financed with money borrowed from a relative at high interest
and advances on credit cards.
The Home Shopping Club sold 3,200 logs in a first airing of the sales message
and the balance of the 5,000 half-way through a second presentation. The club
sold 100,000 over the next several months. The log sells for $19.95 and comes
with a 70-page book, "General Maintenance Manual for Your Feet." Field's product
has also been featured on the QVC home-shopping channel and is sold through
250 Relax The Back stores. Assembly is still done by the schools for the handicapped
and neighborhood families, but Field now has a shipping operation staffed by
employees.
The company has turned out over 500,000 logs in a single year. Sales have
been so good that Field has added a second product- it is 25 inches long, has
bicycle-type handles at each end, and is designed for application to any part
of the body. He calls it, not surprisingly, The Body Log.
Contact Us
Foot Log
PO Box 26683
Salt Lake City, UT 84125-0683
FAX 801-302-5977
TEL 800-922-1961
E-mail:
footlog@msn.com
People Love it!
Awards
Ranked as 17th fastest growing Utah business
Ranked as 45th fastest growing Utah business
Ranked as 78th fastest growing Utah business
Winner of the Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative Award.
Who We Are
Ren Field calls himself a developer - not an inventor. And what he is running
is a hobby rather than a business.
"I can't really call the hours and effort put into my product a job," says
Ren Field. "I have too much fun."
