Stephanie Boone and her business partner Laura Alter pitched their business Wondercide on Shark Tank in March 2016. Wondercide is a line of safe, organic bug repellent for pets, people and property. They valued the company at $16.6 million and made a deal with investor Lori Greiner: $500,000 for 3 percent equity and a 50-cent royalty on every unit sold until Greiner got her money back.
Some of that $500,000 will be used to hire a salesperson. That’s right, the $16 million company never had a dedicated salesperson on staff. 100 percent of growth has been organic. Building retail accounts is a big part of Wondercide’s strategy. As Alter explains: “When a consumer finds out that he or she has a bug problem, they’re not really excited about having to wait a couple of days for an internet order to arrive. A local retail outlet is important. That’s why retail is the next piece of expansion for us. We need to make sure our products are available as quickly as possible to as many people as possible.” Wondercide is now available in 646 retail stores across the country.
