Every inventor has a thousand ideas. But it’s the rare one who has 350 of his ideas actually on the market.

Meet Zlatko Zadro, president of Zadro Products in Huntington Beach.

After careers selling large computers and refurbishing real estate, Zadro decided in 1983 to try marketing one of his inventions.

The result is an international company that makes 350 products, many of them patented. It has 40 employees in Huntington Beach and 800 in China. Many inventors can learn from Zadro’s practical approach that focuses on customer needs, not his own desires.

Start with a problem. The whole thing started when Zadro thought about the difficulty men had shaving in the shower. The hot water supposedly softened the skin and whiskers for a more comfortable shave, but men couldn’t see to shave because a regular mirror fogged up.

Zadro attached a thin tube behind the mirror, dispersing hot water to keep the mirror the same temperature as the air to avoid fogging.

He hired people to help with the design because he’s not an engineer, but he built the prototype himself in his garage.

Zadro started selling the mirrors whenever he spoke to college business classes and broke onto store shelves through the Los Angeles Gift Show.

OC Register