From Idea to Market in Six Months

By Mike Switzer

Published August 2, 2018 at 5:27 AM EDT

If you are a regular listener of this show, you have heard many of our state’s entrepreneurial stories. But I can’t remember one where a product went from an idea to reality as fast as the one created by our next guest.

Mike Switzer interviews Joe Ortiz, founder of Joe Cup, based in Blythewood, SC.

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Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

See stories by Mike Switzer