Two years ago, father of two Neal Hoffman and his son Jacob were doing some holiday shopping, when the little boy asked if they could get an "Elf on the Shelf." Hoffman jokingly replied "'Dude, we're Jewish. You can’t have an elf on a shelf; you can have a mensch on a bench.'"
The exchange was a prime example of what toy maker Hoffman describes as his interfaith family's annual "December Dilemma." (Hoffman is Jewish, wife Erin is Catholic and they are raising their sons Jewish.)
Hoffman -- who spent six years working at Hasbro -- mulled over the name and his imagination started to run wild. He came up with a backstory for his potential "Mensch on a Bench" idea, envisioning him as a kindly man who volunteered to watch over the oil in the temple for the eight days for the Maccabees. He couldn't stop thinking about his concept. He quickly wrote an accompanying book manuscript focused on the tale of Hanukkah to go along with the toy. It was Mensch on a Bench all day, every day.
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His wife encouraged him to pursue the idea. So, he trademarked the name which ended up being the first stroke of good luck in Hoffman's story. "Someone tried to trademark it three days later."
With the whole family on board, the Hoffmans took to Kickstarter in the spring of 2013 and raised over $22,000, selling out of their first run of 1,000 in 10 days. With this market validation, his vision became a reality.
Hoffman's Mensch on a Bench is named Mosche. Standing at a foot tall, he has a distinguished grey beard, a white prayer shawl, a black shirt and blue suit. Grinning from ear to ear, he holds a candle in his right hand. In Yiddish, Mensch means a person with dignity and integrity, essentially a good egg.
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In little over a year, this toy went from a Kickstarter project to a major hit this holiday season. In 2014, more than 50,000 were made and are being sold in major retailers like Bed, Bath and Beyond, Barnes and Noble and Target. Hoffman attributes the word of mouth and social media promotion to the brand's success.
"I love being on social media, I respond to every single tweet, every single comment," he says. "Every one of my customers becomes a public advocate."
Besides connecting with customers, Hoffman also turned to friends and former colleagues for help – asking them to pitch in on everything from packaging to PR.
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"It is the most personal thing to me. That's what I love being about an entrepreneur, there are no days of the week anymore," he says. "I don't dread Sunday nights anymore, the way I did when I was working an office job…its Mensch time 24/7, and I love it."