Ron Cummings isn’t shy about saying he’s got bad skin. For the past 10 years, he’s turned his problems into a business.
Cummings, who had chicken pox at age 28 and dermatitis and sun damage in his 30s, owns Amino-Genesis LLC, a maker of skin serums, creams and cleansers with amino acids.
AminoGenesis makes seven products selling for $24 to $89. They’re made at a Los Angeles laboratory and stored at the company’s 8,000-square-foot Irvine headquarters.
The products are sold at beauty supply stores and day spas in the U.S., Japan, Canada and Australia.
AminoGenesis has sold more than $30 million worth of products since starting in 1999, Cummings said.
Rivals are big and numerous. They include Est & #233;e Lauder Cos. in New York, Carson-based Dermalogica Inc. and Salt Lake City’s Klein-Becker USA, which markets under the brand StriVectin-SD.
It all started in 1996 when a friend referred Cummings to a skin cream by T. Joseph Lin, a scientist who has worked in cosmetics.
Cummings said he tried the cream but was skeptical until he noticed his face looked healthier after a few months.
“People actually thought I did laser surgery,” he said.
Cummings said he saw he could build a business around the skin cream and started developing products with Lin.
The first skin cream came out in 1999. Cummings started selling the cream out of a vending cart at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. He sold four jars on the first day. Getting buyers was hard, he said.
“I was basically starting at the lowest level of credibility,” Cummings said. “My cart was right outside the cosmetic counters of Robinsons-May. People would walk over to me and say, ‘If your product works, how come it’s not in there?'”
These days, customers are calling Cummings, thanks to infomercials.
He started airing infomercials after the products gained a celebrity following. Soap stars Kristian Alfonso and Ren & #233;e Jones of “Days of Our Lives” and deejay Rick Dees started using the products before they became spokespeople, Cummings said.
The goal is to get AminoGenesis in big cosmetic sellers such as Sephora and department stores. For now, Cummings said he’s focused on building up the brand. AminoGenesis plans to air 60-second commercials on national TV starting this month, he said.
Little Chefs
Cooking is for kids at Le Petit Cookery Inc.
The Irvine company throws kids’ cooking parties and sells children’s cooking outfits, tools and food kits via kidsaprons.com.
At in-home parties, Le Petit Cookery teaches kids how to make chicken potpie, cakes and pizza. It provides ingredients, utensils and outfits. For a group of eight kids, it’s $300.
Le Petit Cookery works with companies to produce chef hats, aprons, jackets, pants, oven mitts, cake pans and cookie cutters. It also buys children’s cookbooks and food kits, like its marshmallow making kit.
The company employs five people. In stores, it competes with Camarillo-based Professional Appearances Inc., which also sells children’s chef uniforms.
Helane Cohen started the business in 2001 after her mother died. She decided to leave the technology business and focus on two things she’s always been passionate about: kids and cooking.
At the time, the “foodie” trend was kicking in with the Food Network gaining popularity. Cohen saw there weren’t any local food and cooking companies catering to kids and wanted to find a way to get into the business.
Starting the company was tough and costly, Cohen said. The fees that came with making and buying inventory were high. She had a hard time finding the money and the time to market her business.
She declined to say what Le Petit Cookery’s revenue is.
To grow, Cohen said she’s focused on attracting corporate clients and hopes to expand sales through stores.
Geek and Proud
Stuart Manley is a self-proclaimed geek.
“I’m always working on something,” he said. “If I didn’t have to sleep, I’d be working.”
Some of his ideas: a solar-powered wireless modem and a driverless taxi that uses a global positioning system.
On the weekend, you’ll find him sketching modem designs. They’re for his startup Manley Solutions Inc. in Laguna Hills.
Manley Solutions is a technology consulting company with a handful of businesses. The company counts $2.5 million in sales after starting last year. It’s made $1.4 million in profit, Manley said.
The company has a manufacturing arm called Manley Machines where engineers design modems and video cameras for wireless networks.
Police departments use the gear in cars to send pictures back to a computer at the station. Garbage collectors also use the cameras to photograph large items left that require a fee to be picked up. Vending machine makers can send a message via the modem to change the price of an item inside the machine.
“The applications can almost go anywhere,” Manley said. “That’s the niche I’ve found.”
The company also recycles mobile devices such as cell phones and personal digital assistants through a partnership with Full Circle Wireless. The devices are either refurbished and resold, or stripped for parts.
Manley makes money off of his warehouse space by using it as a West Coast distribution and drop shipment site for smaller cell phone and accessories makers. Workers there test cell phones, load software, connect the devices to a wireless network and then ship them out to retailers.
The company also offers wireless e-mail hosting and helps companies manage their wireless service by auditing bills.
Sarah Tolkoff contributed to this column.
