"This is way out of my expertise, but you go for it and it's a heck of a challenge," said Kays, who formerly made his living redoing house fronts with mahogany and ash doors. "If there's a mistake, I've made it."

After getting a chilly reception from retailers as a single-item vendor, Kays trudged to a trade show, where he met Christine Moss, a mom from Troy, Mich. — who had invented a bowl with plastic fins that keeps food from falling out if the bowl takes a spill — and discussed teaming up.

Moss brought on Tempe, Ariz., mom Denise Marshall, who previously had contacted her to compare notes as small-business owners.

The three joined forces as Made for Mom LLC, whose pitch is baby products under $10 — made for moms, by moms.

Kays said the idea for his Drink Deputy strap was hatched with a friend who was a grandmother, while Moss and Marshall were stay-at-home moms who decided to patent a product they couldn't find in stores.

Under Made for Mom's setup, the three pitch the company's products in their respective regions.

If Moss finds a retailer interested in the Drink Deputy, she'll notify Kays, and vice versa. Then Kays, for example, sells that amount of his product to their limited-liability company, which sells it to the retailer and forwards the money to Kays.

"Each of our individual companies sells to Made for Mom for the exact price that we'll get from the retailer," said Moss, a mother of two whose product, the Snack Trap, has been featured on Dr. Phil McGraw's talk show and the CBS Morning Show.

"We sell to the company, and it goes through Made for Mom, so it has the privilege of the Made for Mom brand name."

Marshall's product is the Mac and Cool, a self-cooling dish for hot foods.

The three outsource the manufacturing of their products. Moss and Marshall then ship the products to the retailers themselves while Kays ships directly from the manufacturer.

Moss has moved more than 100,000 products in the past year, while Kays and Marshall report about 5,000 and 2,000 respectively.

Kays said 10 to 12 other vendors around the country have taken notice of the arrangement and contacted him about adding their products to the Made for Mom line. Kays said the company hopes to expand in the near future.

There are benefits with numbers, said Marshall.

"One of us can be working to get into one chain of stores and another can be working on another one. It's kind of like having two other people helping to sell your product with you."

Retaining licenses also leaves the flexibility of branching out. Kays' Drink Deputy is sold in 18 states overall, but he is pitching variations of the product designed for travelers and for hunters.

His inspiration?

After handing out samples of the Drink Deputy at a trade show, he noticed while waiting in an airport that people had tied the product to their luggage to carry water bottles.