It will Consume You!

I was at an inventor’s meeting recently. I ran into one of the success stories—the guys who “made it”—have a product widely available on the market and appear to be profitable. Always excited to learn from those further down the road from me, I asked his advice on whether to mass produce. That’s the step we have in front of us. I appreciate honesty but even this may have been more honesty than I was prepared for…

“It (the business) will eat you up. You’ll be on the phone at 1:00 AM working, and then for the rest of the day. And you’ll be trying to make pay-roll every single week. And all I wanted to do was make things. And the large stores will order 20,000 and then change their mind. And then an order will be stuck at the harbor when there’s a Longshoreman Strike. And you’ll miss the main selling season. And you’ll be expected to pay for orders that a big store sends back to you. And you’ll wish you licensed your product. Why would you start a business?!”

Or as my wise nephew said, “those who succeed at start-ups, eat nails for breakfast.” I feel like I’m eating my nails for breakfast. And it’s OK. It’s what I signed up for. I’m in the right place. Let’s keep moving forward. Like our motto, slow, steady, forward.

Would You Like to Have One of the Original Two Minute Turtle Timer that Speed People Up By Slowing Them Down?

Invent Boston designed 10 versions of Two Minute Turtle Timer prototypes til we landed on the one that met our needs for design, function and price. We made 1350 Two Minute Turtle Timers. We sold 1200. We’re excited to be coming to the end of the bunch with just 30 left. We’ve done all we can making them by hand. It’s time to find support—investors—to mass produce and overseas.

Thanks to the creative customers of the Turtle Timers we have new interval timer problem solvers—Time-out Turtle, Therapy Turtle, Talking Turtle and Toilet Training Turtle. How about the Five Minute Frog for…showers?

Would you like to be a supporter of the original Two Minute Turtle Timer? We would love you to join us—receive an email, ask a local store to carry the Time-Out Turtle, find a preschool to test it out and help make daily tasks for parents and kids, easier.

How to Teach Kids a Healthy Habit Using 2 Minutes?

Learning a new habit can be daunting. But doing anything for just 2 minutes, is possible at any age. The Two Minute Turtle Timer makes starting new habits happen for even the youngest kids.

Need to get kids to brush their teeth? Bring the Two Minute Turtle Timer to the bathroom mirror. No need to borrow their parent’s phone or worry about getting screens wet or kids’ distracted by the screen at bedtime. The Toothbrushing Turtle Timer holds the children’s attention, without a screen.

Two Minute Turtle is a 2 minute toothbrush timer

Need to keep kids on the potty longer? Hand them the Two Minute Turtle Timer while they are sitting to keep them there 2 minutes longer (press again for longer!).

Need kids to take a quiet minute? Give them the Two Minute Turtle Timer to sit or be still.

Need to teach kids a foreign language? Use the Turtle Timer to keep time while they speak without stopping for 2 minutes, in a foreign language.

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Two Minute Turtle Timer Used for Verb Drills to Learn a Foreign Language

I Need My Two Minute Turtle

Fiona is an experienced French and Spanish high school teacher. She, like foreign language teachers everywhere, get students to speak when they prefer not to, and when they are not comfortable speaking in a foreign language. “I forgot to bring my Two Minute Turtle with me to school and I was lost!” Fiona uses the Two Minute Turtle Timer to get the students to do verb races and speak til the 2 minute timer stops.

Learning to Speak a Foreign Language with a Two Minute Timer

“I was lost when I forgot to bring my Two Minute Turtle Timer to class”

— Fiona, Modern Foreign Language teacher from MA

The Two Minute Turtle Timer is a helpful tool in language class to show kids how much time is left. And it’s not the teacher but the turtle that’s telling them so you, the teacher, can push the button, sit back and listen until the Victory Lap. Let the turtle do the time telling and you do the teaching.

Enjoy vacation. Eat dessert!

Do you and your kids like dessert?  Of course we do!    Even the healthy French, where this sweet treat was made, enjoy their patisseries.  And we say yes to dessert, especially on vacation.  One way to enjoy dessert is keep those healthy habits.  Take the Two Minute Turtle timer to vacation to keep brushing teeth even after a night of treats on vacation.   This Summer take your Two Minute Turtle timer along and enjoy the pastries!   You'll brush well enough so the dessert will not hurt!