HARP'S FUNNELLE 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of self-employed women has increased by a factor of three over males during the last decade. They are now the fastest growing portion of the small business market increasing at a 6.9 percent annual rate from 1977 to 1982. In the same period male-owned companies only grew at a 3.7% rate.

Many women say they have to work much (some say three to five times) harder than men to achieve the same status. They also tell me that fortunately, it isn't that difficult. At any rate they are a new force to be reckoned with.

By starting their own business they eliminate many of the frustrations of being low on the totem pole of corporate life.

And they do think differently. What man would have the guts to come out with the new product now being marketed by Lore (pronounced Laurie) Harp. What's a Lore Harp you ask? Well in 1976 she founded Vector Graphics Inc. She had just $6,000, no experience and took on a computer board that her husband-at-the-time had created but couldn't sell himself. In six years she turned it into a $36 million company. Sales shot up to $2 million a month. Then a board room battle like no other resulted in her leaving the company. It is reported she sold her 12 percent interest for an undisclosed sum. Two years later the now male dominated once-thriving company filed for bankruptcy.

Now as she puts it she has gone "from high tech to high touch". And, with a sanitary product that no male could envisage. If you think men are having a hard time in an age of Women's Lib wait till they hear this. Are you ready.

Lore Harp wants women to stand up while urinating! Before you laugh at a product that might eliminate a considerable major difference between men and women, let me tell you that she did this after conducting extensive research. She hired one of America's most respected product forecast companies Burke Marketing Services of Cincinnati. They do work for Proctor and Gamble and General Mills just to drop a few names.

Remember too that as women exceed 50 percent of the work force they travel more and use washrooms more. Some they find do not have the level of cleanliness these women set for their own powder rooms. Remember too, in an age of spreading veneral diseases, AIDS, etc. psychological discomfort can be as stressing a matter as the physical.

The new feminine hygienic product is called Funelle. Like the huge controversy that erupted in 1936 when Tampax hit the market Funelle will probably get its share of static. But in time it too will probably be accepted as part of these rapidly changing times. I say good luck to her. It's something I would never have thought of. Scott Paper where were you? More information: Lore Harp, Aplex Corp., San Mateo, Calif.

Phone: (415) 341-8198.

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