Entrepreneurs saw marked successes in 2006

A handful of entrepreneurs in metro Danbury had big plans for their businesses this year. Here are three success stories

Newtown nasal spray company about to go national

Paul Carpenter is a bit ahead of his goals for this year to get his capsaicin-based nasal spray onto about 3,500 drug

and grocery stores shelves and see sales top $1 million. Sales are a little more than $1 million, but his Sinol nasal spray is in almost 8,000 stores, he's about to launch a $9 million national television, radio and print campaign, "and we just got accepted at CVS and, beginning in April, will be in their 6,100 stores."

With CVS as a customer, "we'll basically snowball throughout the whole country," Carpenter said. Next in his sights: Walgreens, Rite-Aid and Wal-Mart, among others. "Based on our projections for 2007, we're looking at sales of almost $8 million," growing to more than $20 million a year later - well ahead of projections earlier this year of $20 million in five years. "We're expecting to get into the $50 million range three to four years out."

Carpenter started his Sinol USA Inc. (www.sinolusa.com) in Newtown last year after developing the nasal spray, creating three different packages for the same spray - one for sinus sufferers, one for migraine sufferers, the last for people with allergies. But this year he cut that back to two products, one for headaches, the other for both sinus and allergy sufferers. "The retailers didn't want to take up the shelf space," he said. "It saves us money, too."

Carpenter said he and a small staff can run the business at $50 million from the Newtown office, vending out customer service programs, setting up order fulfillment through the Internet, and leaving production to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved packaging company in Pennsylvania, which can pump out 150,000 units a day.

The national advertising campaign begins the last week of January or early February, and includes $3.1 million for TV ads on national news networks, ESPN and popular game shows such as "Wheel of Fortune"; another $3 million for print advertising in Martha Stewart Living, Oprah and Family Circle, Golf Digest and USA Today; the rest on national radio networks.

While he was optimistic his nasal spray would be successful, his projections were a bit too conservative because he didn't anticipate that two investors from California would play an instrumental part in the growth of the company, he said. "I didn't know we would have guys with private jets stepping up to the plate with big checks."

Bethel overstock bookstore makes new customers' laws drop

When Steve Spranzman and Lou Lahood opened their One Book Too Many overstock bookstore in Bethel this past March, they were blown away by the sale of 1,000 books the first day. Business is still brisk, and the entrepreneurs' goal is to raise the visibility of their bookstore.

"Even though people drive by our store, they still don't know where we are," Spranzman said, despite the bookstore's location across from the Bethel Library with a 4 Library St. address. When customers do find the 1,200-square-foot store, "their jaws drop." One reason is that the more than 10,000 new books on the shelves sell for either $3 for softcovers or $4 for hardcovers - a 70 percent to 90 percent savings off the original retail price. The books come from the duo's online bookselling operation, also in Bethel. Spranzman and Lahood decided on the pricing structure to keep pricing and sales simple.

"Our average sale is more than $20," he said "That's one of the shocking statistics we found after doing an in-depth analysis after three quarters in business."

The bookstore (www.onebooktoomany.com) had a strong beginning after its initial opening, "slumped a little bit after that," but has been picking up again after Spranzman and Lahood began a direct mailing and advertising campaign. "The average transaction is a purchase of more than five books at once, which is phenomenal for our industry," Spranzman said. "We'll bring a whole truckload of books to the store each week, and they're gone, We only take a couple of damaged books with us."

Brookfield salon fulfilling immigrant's dream

"We're doing very good, thank you very much for asking," said Ella Samsonova, her sentence structure and cadence decorated with a Ukrainian accent. "We had our two-year anniversary open house after Thanksgiving with a lot of wine, Russian cookies, chocolates and free hot-stone massages."

Samsonova's Eurolux Salon and Day Spa in Brookfield (www.euroluxspa.com) has 5,000 customers in its database, a dozen employees and an upscale image among its growing clientele. "My clients already have a house, a husband, a career," she said. "After that, you start thinking about your health and welfare, and start investing money in beauty."

But, it's not just women looking for everything from hair styling to Russian sports massages to saunas that Eurolux offers. "Men are paying more attention to how they look," she said. "More than 20 percent of my clientele are men." In fact, the business is turning 'into a family affair, she said. "The wife brings the husband, then the wife stays home and the husband brings the kids for an express manicure."

Samsonova closed one of her Manhattan spas but continues another, and continues to plan for another salon in the region, probably combining the salon with a European beauty school. "I don't want to rent anymore," she said about her next venture, so she's looking, for a Location to buy for her salon and beauty school. "I'm looking for a good deal on some property. Whatever I do, I want to do it much bigger," she said.