Child's Play

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Everybody likes to see young people succeed in business, but lately things have begun to get out of hand. We are not just talking about high-tech whiz kids, either. Consider Nathalie Goulet of Leval, Quebec, who came up with her first mass-market consumer product at the ripe old age of 10.

It seems that, three years ago, Nathalie got tired of brushing her teeth the same boring way. She thought it might be fun to mix the toothpaste with water and put the concoction into an empty pump dispenser for liquid soap. When she had trouble pumping the stuff out, she took the problem to her father, who happens to be an ad man. He liked the idea so much that he founded a company, Certalab International, to develop and market the product, which came to be known as pressdent.

Today, Pressdent is sold in Canada and the Caribbean and parts of the United States. The liquid paste version comes in two flavors, bubblegum and mint. In addition, the company has recently brought out mint and cinnamon-flavored gels. All four contain fluoride, and carry the Canadian Dental Association approval. But the real genius of Pressdent lies in its pump dispenser which eliminates the problem of missing toothpaste caps and reduces the amount of toothpaste waste.

As for Nathalie, she is no longer active in the company. Her parents decided that, at age 12, she was too young to lead the life of a high-flying entrepreneur. She still uses Pressdent, however. It gives her better checkups, she says. And, besides it's more fun.

Then there is the Kai Skin Care Corp. of Oak Park, Ill., which may be the first company ever to grow out of a bad case of acne. In this instance, the acne belonged to Jeffrey Kai Sorenson, who -- at the age of 15 -- found himself dropping most of his allowance on cosmetics. "I got to be a crazy man," says Sorenson, who is now 18. "I was spending as much as $60 in one store alone."

To save money, he began ordering the ingredients directly from the manufacturers, then mixing them up himself. His concoctions, he says, were as good as anything available in stores, and a lot cheaper. It occurred to him that he might have the makings of a viable business.

With the help of a friend, Aaron Bell, he started running consumer tests in the halls of Oak Park High, finally hitting on a set of formulas that seemed just right. Retailers were not impressed, howeverFor the next two years, Sorenson carted his cosmetics from store to store, looking in vain for someone willing to carry the Kai line of shampoos, skin cleansers, and colognes. Meanwhile, he kept his company afloat by mowing lawns and doing yard work in the community.

Finally, last June -- as Sorenson and his two partners were preparing to graduate from Oak Park High -- Marshall Field & Co. of Chicago agreed to test-market Kai cosmetics in its State Street department store. Since then, Sorenson has located a mixer and bottler in Oklahoma to prepare 1,000 bottles for the big launch, now scheduled for Father's Day 1984. He has also begun looking for investors to help finance future production.

In September, the company suffered a minor setback when two-thirds of its management team went off to college. Sorenson, however, is sticking with the company. "I think we're going to make it," he says.