After he conducted studies in college, he said he was convinced that most people would never put their toothbrushes in their mouths if they know half of what invisible germs live on the brushes such as those associated with toilets. That's when he dream of creating a solution blossomed.

Years later, he invented a product called the Germ Terminator that steam-cleans toothbrushes and kills 99.9 percent of all germs harboring on them. He completed the patent process and received the Food and Drug Administration approval that OKs the Germ Terminator as a medical device, which was required because toothbrushes are FDA regulated.

It might seem as though the hard part is over for this entrepreneur and father of five, but he still has much work ahead of him.

For starters, he still is trying to persuade retailers to stock Germ Terminators and consumers to buy them.

"The biggest challenge is changing the habits of people," Song said.

Song said he is passionate about inventing but reluctant to be the outgoing salesman that touts his product to the masses.

"Retail chains like to deal with big chains like Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson," he said. "It's difficult for a small business to get its product into the retail stores. There's limited shelf space and that is taken up by the large conglomerates."

Song received his first big break when the Germ Terminator was selected for the Home Shopping Network last year. About 10,000 Germ Terminators sold through the shopping show. An additional 290,000 toothbrush sanitizers sold through the Internet and direct sales.

"Marketing is a complex, expensive phase of selling a product, selling a dream," Song said. "With any product or service, in order to make it successful, you have to have a passion for what you're doing. That passion gets you through the hardships of making payroll."

Successful businesses are a result of being prepared, not having luck, said Anna Siefert, operations manager of the Nevada Microenterprise Initiative and the Women's Business Center in Las Vegas. Siefert counsels new and expanding small businesses.

"They need to do research and do the business plan completely," she said. "The more research they do lessens their failure rate."

She said there is no formula to how much risk entrepreneurs should or shouldn't take. It's a matter of how prepared they are and how well they define their niche, she said.

"Look at your competition and the market trend and see what your competition is weak at," she said.

There are good and bad ideas, she added.

"Something you know is a good idea," Siefert said. "A bad idea is when you see somebody making money and you think you can do it, too. That means you have no expertise or experience."

In other news

Las Vegas-based Arcata Associates Inc. recently was named the 2004 minority contractor of the year by the NASA Dryden Research Center. The company performs engineering, operations, maintenance, information technology and support services for flight projects.

Michelle Swafford covers health care and small business for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached by e-mail at swafford@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-2326.