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睡眠的生意經
作者:
Geoff Williams
時間:
2011年04月19日
來源: 財富中文網
位置：
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根據來自美國國家神經疾病與中風研究院的數據，有4000萬美國人在遭受睡眠障礙的折磨。這對老百姓來說是件壞事，但對企業來說卻是件好事。比如說，以下七家公司都想通過幫助老百姓睡好覺來成為頂級企業。
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會漂浮的床
????產品：浮動床
????總部：愛荷華州費爾菲爾德
????發明家約翰?赫夫今年61歲，他一直對醫學很感興趣，而且花了許多時間閱讀有關運動及運動對身體的好處的研究——例如運動可以促進血液循環和肌肉的張力。他很好奇水床為什么沒有流行起來（答案很簡單：因為涉及到水和內耳平衡問題）。而從水床這個靈感上，他又冒出了漂浮床這個想法。
????在漂浮床可以投入量產之前，赫夫花了五年時間，耗資40萬美元來不斷完善他的理念——簡而言之，所謂“漂浮床”就是一張吊在架子上的吊床，而不是傳統的底部用床腿支撐的床。
????這款產品吸引了媒體的注意。赫夫帶著他的漂浮床上了ABC電視臺2006年到2007年播出的《美國發明家》（American Inventor ）節目，漂浮床給一位評委留下了深刻印象，這位評委打趣道：“睡眠是一種新性感。”這張床還在ABC電視臺的《改頭換面》（Extreme Makeover ）和《今夜秀》（The Tonight Show）節目中亮相，此外，還在迪士尼的艾波卡特主題公園展出過。雖然漂浮床價格不菲——一張雙人床的價格高達3995美元，不過赫夫表示，這款產品的銷量很好，并表示他最大的客戶是酒店。
????赫夫表示，睡在這張床上的感覺就像睡在母親身體里一樣。“我們已經開創了一個全新的小眾市場。 |
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A bed that floats
????The product: Floating Bed
????Headquarters: Fairfield, Iowa
????John Huff, 61, an inventor, has always been interested in medicine, and spent time reading studies about motion and its benefits to the body, such as improved circulation and muscle tone. He began wondering why waterbeds hadn't caught on (short answer: it has to do with water and the inner ear), and from there, came up with the idea of having a bed that floats in mid-air.
????It took $400, 000 and about five years of tinkering with his concept -- which in a nutshell has a bed hanging from the frame, instead of resting on top of it -- before he could reach the point of mass production.
????The media noticed. Huff took his bed on ABC TV's series American Inventor that ran in 2006 and 2007 where an impressed judge quipped, "Sleep is the new sex." It also made an appearance on ABC's Extreme Makeover and The Tonight Show, and the bed is on display at Disney's theme park Epcot. Although they are expensive -- a queen bed is $3,995 -- the beds sell well, said Huff, adding that his biggest clients are hotels.
????These beds are like sleeping in your mother's womb, he said. "We've created an entirely new niche." |
很酷的電扇
????產品：被窩風扇
????總部：得克薩斯州斯努克
????11年前，科特?湯普金斯管理著一座養牛場，得州的炎炎夏夜讓他覺得非常難熬。一開始他開著空調，不過電費實在太貴了。后來他選擇開窗降溫，不過又總是渾身大汗淋漓地被熱醒。最后他想到了一個很“酷”的消暑的法子。
????2001年，46歲的湯普金斯發明了一個巧妙的裝置，后來這個裝置演化成了現在的“被窩風扇 ”，它是一個又高又平的裝置，立于床尾，可以將涼風吹入床單下面。這個發明的消暑效果很不錯。后來湯普金斯發現這個發明對他的岳母也很管用——那時他的丈母娘正受到更年期夜間盜汗的困擾，這時他才意識到自己的發明很有市場。
????一年后，他成立了湯普金斯研究公司（Tompkins Research, Inc），拉到了資本，并做出了一臺原型機。2003年他只賣出了幾百臺“被窩風扇”。不過產品卻贏得了口碑和一些高調的宣傳，比如The View欄目的女主持們就很喜歡它（The View是ABC電視臺的一檔午間訪談節目，由五位不同膚色的女性主持，深受女性觀眾的喜愛。——譯注）。湯普金斯表示，現在被窩風扇的年訂貨量已經達到了每年10000臺。營業收入每年增長100%。
????湯普金斯表示，今天，不僅更年期婦女和討厭高額電費的德州養牛工喜歡“被窩風扇”，許多化療病人、患有各種硬化疾病的人，甚至任何在夜里覺得熱的人都可以從“被窩風扇”中受益。
????湯普金斯表示：被窩風扇讓許多顧客享受到了“一生最好的睡眠”。 |
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A cool fan
????The product: Bedfan
????Headquarters: Snook, Texas
????Eleven years ago, Kurt Tompkins, a cattle rancher, was having a hard time dealing with Texas' sweltering nights. At first, he tried air-conditioning, but the bills got too high. Then, he tried leaving his windows open, but found himself waking up in a pool of sweat. His next solution turned out to be a cool idea, literally.
????In 2001, Tompkins, 46, designed a contraption that would evolve into the Bedfan, a tall, flat device that stands at the end of a bed and sends cool air under the sheets.The invention worked well. But it was only after Tompkins saw that it worked for his mother-in-law -- she suffered from night sweats due to menopause -- that he began to think there was a market for it.
????The following year, he formed Tompkins Research, Inc., found capital and made a prototype. In 2003, he only sold a couple hundred, but word-of-mouth and some high profile publicity (the ladies on The View loved it), helped boost orders to its current 10,000 a year. Revenues have been growing 100 percent a year, he said.
????Today, the cooling system has found fans beyond menopausal women and Texas cattle ranchers who hate high electric bills. Chemotherapy patients, sufferers of multiple sclerosis, or just anyone who gets hot at night will benefit, Tompkins said.
????Bedfan customers wind up having "the best sleep of their lives," said Tompkins. |
尊享床墊
????產品：超奢華尊享床墊
????總部：加州庫卡蒙加牧場
????俄爾?克魯夫特大半輩子都在從事睡眠生意。他的祖父在1946年創辦了E.S. Kluft & Company公司，這家公司專門生產床墊。今年62歲的克魯夫特從14歲起就在祖父的公司里做工，一開始在縫紉室里工作，后來一步步爬升到CEO的寶座。他的公司一直擅長生產高端床墊。美國歌手弗蘭克?辛納特拉和前總統羅納德?里根都是他的客戶。不過克魯夫特卻想把他的公司帶到更高的高度上。
????去年，他推出了定做版的“超奢華尊享床墊”，這種床墊的填充物是羊絨、馬海毛、絲綢、經過認證的有機棉以及新西蘭羊毛。這款床墊的價格達到了令人咂舌的44000美元，據報道它是美國賣得最貴的床墊。
????有時克魯夫特的其它床墊也會在價格上走走較為親民的路線。例如布盧明代爾百貨店（Bloomingdale）就有一款售價2399美元的床墊。但是顧客們就不要指望克魯夫特會推出更便宜的床墊了。克魯夫特下一步將推出一款名為Cameo的床墊，其零售價格將高達50000美元。
????克魯夫特表示，美國可能沒有做出世界上最好的汽車、最好的太陽鏡或最好的手表，但它“做出了世界上最好的床墊，就是這樣。” |
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Sublime mattress
????The product: Beyond Luxury Sublime mattress
????Headquarters: Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
????Earl Kluft has been in the sleep business for most of his waking life. His grandfather started the E.S. Kluft & Company, a mattress business, in 1946. And Kluft, now 62, got his start there at 14, working in the sewing room, until he climbed the ladder to CEO. His company has long specialized in upscale mattresses -- Frank Sinatra and Ronald Reagan were some of its high profile customers -- but Kluft wants to take his company to the next level.
????Last year, he introduced the made-to-order Beyond Luxury Sublime mattress, which is filled with cashmere, mohair, silk, certified organic cotton and New Zealand wool. The mattress costs a whopping $44,000, reportedly making it the most expensive in America.
????Every once in a while, other Kluft mattresses will go for more wallet-friendly prices.?Bloomingdale's had one model on sale for $2,399. But customers should not hold their breath waiting for cheap versions. His next move is to introduce the Cameo, which will retail for $50,000.
????America may not make the best cars, sunglasses or watches, said Kluft, but it "makes the best mattresses, period." |
睡眠教練
????產品：瞌睡蟲
????總部：賓西法尼亞州溫德姆爾
????家里添了新生的寶寶，往往意味著父母們要度過許多個無眠之夜。不過安德莉亞?艾勒沃森表示，父母們并不一定非要忍受這種情況。艾勒沃森今年44歲，是一名睡眠教練，她為難以入眠的新生兒父母和一直吵得父母無法入睡的寶寶們提供了一系列睡眠解決方案。
????艾勒沃森說：“新生兒父母缺乏睡眠總是件滑稽的事，”不過這的確是個嚴重的問題。
????艾勒沃森知道它可以導致多嚴重的后果。當她第一個兒子奧爾登出生的時候，由于缺少睡眠，艾勒沃森變得極為疲勞，經常在洗澡的時候忘記脫內衣。有一次她把消毒奶嘴忘在火爐上，幾乎把整座房子燒成平地，她就知道她已經有嚴重的問題了。
????從那時起，這位記者開始對小兒睡眠進行研究，而且很快就學會了哄兒子入睡的本事。2005年，她推出了自己的“瞌睡蟲”公司（Sleep Bug），來培訓其他的父母。
????在該公司的網站上，賓西法尼亞州羅斯芒特市產后壓力中心的主任凱倫?克雷曼褒獎道： “安德莉亞創立了一個許多人急需的項目。”
????許多新生兒父母和準爸爸、準媽媽們都請艾勒沃森來幫他們解決問題。艾勒沃森現在是三個孩子的母親，她每次上門訪問收費100美元，每次時長一小時的電話授課收費80美元。此外她也舉辦了一些睡眠研討會。艾勒沃森表示，她的策略可能非常簡單，只是建立寶寶的日常生活習慣；也可能更加復雜，這取決于客戶的具體要求。她表示，每月大概有12對父母向她尋求幫助，并表示她的生意勢頭正越來越好。
????艾勒沃森表示：“睡眠教練可以為新生兒父母提供支持以及非常重要的信息，來減輕新生兒父母的疲勞、壓力和擔憂感。” |
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Sleep Coach
????The product: Sleepy Bug
????Headquarters: Wyndmoor, Pa.
????New babies often mean many a sleepless night for parents. Not necessarily so, says Andrea Elovson, 44, a sleep coach, who offers an arsenal of solutions for sleepless parents and the children who keep them up.
????"Lack of sleep with new parents is always this kind of jokey thing," said Elovson, but it is really a serious issue.
????Elovson knows how bad it can get. When her first son Alden was born, his sleeplessness exhausted her so much that she often forgot to take her bra off when she showered. She knew she had a serious problem when she forgot sterilizing pacifiers on the stove and almost burned the house down.
????That's when the journalist began researching pediatric sleep and soon came up with techniques that quickly sent her son night, night. In 2005, she launched her company Sleepy Bug to educate other parents.
????"Andrea has created a program that is desperately needed," said Karen Kleiman, the director of the Postpartum Stress Center, Rosemont, Pa., in a testimonial on Elovson's web site.
????New and expectant parents hire Elovson, now a mother of three, for $100 a house visit or $80 for a one-hour phone session. She also holds sleep workshops. Strategies are as simple as establishing routines for the baby or more complex, depending on the clients' needs, she said. Elovson gets about 12 new parents a month and said her business is building momentum.
????"A sleep coach can offer support and vital information to alleviate the exhaustion, stress and worry of new parenthood," said Elovson. |
舒鼾枕
????產品：舒鼾枕
????總部：紐約沃特福德
????如果和你同住一屋的人睡覺打呼嚕，那么這漫漫長夜對你來說將不啻于一場噩夢。不過Soft-Tex公司的銷售與營銷副總裁鮑伯?歐康納表示，有了該公司生產的“舒鼾枕”，可以包你一夜好夢。
????這種枕頭是由哈佛大學畢業的神經病學家納耶布?祖百瑞博士發明的，她想通過這個發明幫助那些患有睡眠呼吸暫停癥的人，該癥會導致患者在睡眠中出現暫時的呼吸停止。歐康納表示：“睡眠呼吸暫停癥是一個嚴重的健康問題，甚至可能致命”。歐康納還補充道，足球明星雷吉?懷特就是死于此癥，感恩而死樂隊（Grateful Dead）的主唱杰瑞?加西亞也是死于此癥引起的并發癥。
????在頭三年里，這種枕頭只在布魯克斯東（Brookstone）百貨店里銷售，不過現在你可以在JC Penney和柯爾百貨（Kohl’s）等商店里找到它的身影。
????歐康納本人就使用了這樣一個舒鼾枕，不過他每天晚上只睡五個小時。“但這五個小時是高質量睡眠的五個小時。”他說。 |
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Sona pillow
????The product: Sona Pillow
????Headquarters: Waterford, N.Y.
????A snorer can be a nightmare, especially for the person who sleeps with one. But pleasant dreams can be had with the Sona Pillow, said Bob O'Connell, the vice president of sales and marketing at Soft-Tex, the manufacturer.
????The Sona Pillow was invented by Harvard-educated neurologist Dr. Najeeb Zuberi, who wanted to help sufferers of sleep apnea, a condition that causes people to stop breathing temporarily. "Sleep apnea is a serious health problem that can be fatal,'' said O'Connell. Football player Reggie White died of the condition and Jerry Garcia, the lead singer of the Grateful Dead, died of complications caused by it, he added.
????For its first three years, the pillow was sold exclusively at Brookstone but can now be found in stores like JC Penney and Kohl's.
????O'Connell himself uses a Sona Pillow, but only sleeps five hours a night. "But those five hours are five quality hours," he said. |
睡眠計
????產品：睡眠計
????總部：喬治亞州亞特蘭大
????當從安睡中被叫醒時，李?洛里的妻子常常氣急敗壞。但是有一天她在凌晨兩點中醒來，并和洛里進行了一場非常愉快的談話，這讓洛里奇怪不已。洛里敦厚地說，他的妻子有時簡直就是“潑婦”。
????這件事發生在1999年，那一年洛里38歲，這件事讓洛里開始思考人們的睡眠機制，以及什么時候是叫醒他們的最佳時機。他花了幾年的時間研究這個想法，然后發明了一款小裝置，可以用來分析睡眠數據。
????這款小機器的原型產品是一款在沃爾瑪只賣8美元的手表，沃里稱“它看起來就像垃圾”。不過他對它進行了改進，然后在2005年創辦了創新睡眠解決方案有限責任公司（Innovation Sleep Solutions LLC），該公司銷售的產品就是“睡眠計”，它是一款輕型手表，可以監控并儲存佩戴者睡眠習慣的信息。
????每天早上，用戶可以把數據上傳到電腦中，然后定位出夜間休息最充分的時刻。一旦他們知道了這個信息，他們就可以調整自己的習慣，以獲得更好的睡眠。這款手表還可以當鬧鐘使用，利用鬧鈴或振動，在睡眠周期的最佳時機將用戶叫醒。這樣會減輕用戶醒來時的無力感，讓他們覺得更加精力充沛。
????人們對這款手表的興趣十分強烈。現在，創新睡眠解決方案有限責任公司的年收入已達300萬美元。 |
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Sleeptracker
????The product: Sleeptracker
????Headquarters: Atlanta, Ga.
????Lee Loree's wife is not the nicest woman when she is roused from a restful sleep, which is why Loree was surprised when she woke up one morning at 2 a.m. and had the most pleasant conversation with him. She can be "an ornery cuss," he said good-naturedly.
????The incident, which occurred in 1999 got Lee, 38, thinking about how people sleep and the best times to wake them up. He spent several years researching his idea and came up with a gadget that could analyze sleep data.
????His prototype was a gutted $8 watch from Walmart, which according to Loree ''looked like trash." But he improved it and started Innovation Sleep Solutions LLC in 2005, which sells the Sleeptracker, a lightweight watch that monitors and stores information on the wearer's sleep habits.
????Every morning, users upload that data to their computers and can pinpoint their most restful moments during the night. Once they know this, they can modify their habits for better sleep. The watch also can be programmed to wake up users with an alarm, or vibration, at the best time in their sleep cycles. This way they wake up less groggy and more refreshed.
????Interest in the watch is strong. Currently, Innovation Sleep Solutions has annual revenues of $3 million. |
睡眠電話
????產品：睡眠電話
????總部：賓西法尼亞州貝爾豐特
????2007年，一位名叫賴維欣（音譯）的家庭醫師遭受失眠的困擾，尤其是在她接完急診回家之后，更是難以入睡。“即便我很累了，我也不能吃安眠藥，因為如果再有急診電話打進來，我必須聽得見。所以我的精神總是得不到放松。”她說。最終，有人推薦她通過耳機聽一些舒緩的音樂來催眠。
????但是耳機讓人很不舒服。后來她的丈夫把耳機的兩個揚聲器用布包了起來，然后把它們嵌入一個發帶中。“當我們想出這個點子以后，我們意識到，它也許能幫助許多人入睡，甚至包括我的一些服用安眠藥的病人。”賴維欣說。
????從那時起，賴維欣和她的丈夫詹森自己掏了大約10000美元的資金，制造出了一個原始樣品，然后建立了他們自己的公司——聲音睡眠有限責任公司（AcousticSheep, LLC）。2009年，他們與賓州小企業發展中心開始了合作。這是正確的一步。該公司2010年的銷售額達到了60萬美元，而且今年的銷量預期為100萬美元。
????“我認為人們已經開始意識到睡眠的重要性了，”賴維欣說：“此前人們只知道工作、工作、工作，不過我想，現在人們已經開始意識到，對于整體的生活方式來說，睡得好是非常重要的。”
????譯者：樸成奎 |
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SleepPhones
????The product: SleepPhones
????Headquarters: Bellefonte, Pa.
????In 2007, Wei-Shin Lai, a family physician, was having trouble sleeping, especially after she came back home from emergency calls."I couldn't take a sleeping pill because I needed to be aware for the next call and even though I was tired, I couldn't relax my mind," she said. Eventually, someone recommended she listen to soothing music on headphones.
????But the headphones were uncomfortable. That is until her husband covered both speakers in cloth and then inserted them into a headband. "Once we came upon that idea, we realized it might help a lot of people sleep, including some of my patients who take sleeping pills," said Lai.
????From there, Lai and her husband, Jason, spent about $10,000 of their own money creating a prototype and launching their company, AcousticSheep, LLC. In 2009, they worked with the Penn State Small Business Development Center on their business model. It was a good move. Sales in 2010 were about $600,000 and projections for this year are expected to be $1 million.
????"I think people are starting to realize just how important sleep is," said Lai. "Previously it was work-work-work, but I think people are starting to realize that to live a holistic lifestyle it's really important to sleep well." |
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