Young Entrepreneur Brands Products
That Make Life Easier

AMBITIOUS IDEAS, INC.

Craig Nabat's company takes a new product idea from conception to the marketplace by manufacturing, marketing and distributing all their own concepts.
A tiny book light that makes for easier night reading, a domino-sized device locates keys quickly, an eyeglass cleaner that hooks onto a key chain - all are products that made Ambitious Ideas' list of useful products for 2001.

Many of the products were born out of 31-year-old company president Craig Nabat's own frustration. For example, when he hit on the idea for FINDIT - a device that helps people locate items they tend to lose most - Nabat himself was searching for his remote control. Realizing that a device to help people like himself find such items quickly would be the perfect solution, he made one.

Since then, Ambitious Ideas has either created from scratch or completely revamped and repackaged a total of 24 such products, including the FINDIT Book Light, FINDIT Eyeglass Cleaner, FINDIT briefcase alarm and locator and FINDIT Car Locator. All are priced under $30 and available via a toll-free number, the FINDIT Web site, infomercials, print ads, the Home Shopping Network, mail order catalogs and other outlets.

Nabat's Web site was one of three nominated for an Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) "Best Retailing Internet Design" award in 2000.

For Nabat, a sociology major who minored in business and financed his company through business loans and family investments, the road to success has been bumpy. Originally, he figured on spending about $30,000 to get his product to market. "The majority of that was spent on research and development," Nabat remarks. "I never thought it would end up taking $700,000 to launch my company."

"We want to specialize in marketing new products through
direct response television and infomercials."
Craig Nabat, Ambitious Ideas, Inc.

Unaware of just how complex the creation of an electronic device could be, Nabat, who outsources work to outside contractors, worked consistently with a team of six engineers through the design process, which started in 1992. To make things easier, he recently partnered with an overseas injection molding manufacturer, who plans to develop and market 20 new products a year with Ambitious Ideas.

Through FINDIT's lengthy development process, Don Azars, executive producer, director/writer at dapTV Associates in Los Angeles, Calif., says he "always knew that Craig would succeed as an inventor and an entrepreneur."

"He's not only an inventor but he also has a strong marketing sense," says Azars. "Not everyone has those multiple talents. Some people are very good creators and conceivers who just don't have a feel for the marketing side. Others are entrepreneurs who have a different attitude when it comes to product development. Craig is a unique combination of the two."

Nabat recently named one of the top ten sexiest entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur's Business Startups magazine, and has also been featured in E-Merging Business, Home Business Magazine and Business Assets. A 5-foot FINDIT display will appear in an upcoming Jack Nicholson movie, The Pledge, and a 40-foot FINDIT banner will appear in Champs, a new Sylvester Stallone movie.

Looking ahead, Nabat hopes to sell 5 million units total by late-2001, and plans to expand the FINDIT brand into an apparel line. "We want to specialize in marketing new products through direct response television and infomercials," he says. "Currently, we're developing other products to follow the FINDIT brand, which in itself is a great word just waiting to be marketed."
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