Profile of Success: More than Military Might

On the b-to-b side, Acton says product sourcing has been a challenge. “We need to locate new product that our customers want, but we’re dealing with [supplier] companies that have never dealt with us before.” Many of the new homeland security products it sells come, not surprisingly, from Israel.

Selling products such as gas masks and kits to set up a saferoom against bioterrorism presents promotional challenges as well. “These products are expensive, and they have a lot of specifications that need to be spelled out,” he says. Those issues are complicated by a need for creative sensitivity in copywriting and displaying products. Acton says many marketers were trading on fear after Sept. 11. “We don’t want to do that,” he says.