Success requires more than just an idea. Passion also comes into the equation, and few passions are as emotionally charged as those that reduce toddler tantrums, time away from your family, and unnecessary expenses. That’s why former Raytheon employee, Lindsay Fairman, has found success through her startup, FairTech Labs, after she took a shot at entrepreneurship.

“After our first child, it was so challenging to keep track of all the household and grocery products we needed in our home,” said Fair­man. “I didn’t want to just make lists. I wanted a solution that did the work for me.”

Shelf Scouter (www.shelfscouter.com), the new web and mobile app from FairTech Labs, helps families track the products they have, know what they need, and determine the most convenient way to purchase them. The app even connects with Amazon and Walmart to show you if your large and heavy products are available for ordering online. By using Shelf Scouter, shoppers can plan better, cut out those emergency trips to the store, and stop wasting time in the aisle.

“I wanted to try something new,” Fairman said. “I decided to give it a try, and I left Raytheon to set up my business. Not knowing how to get started, one day my hairdresser said, ‘I have someone you need to talk to.’ It was a mentor with coolBLUE at Innovation Park. He sent me to Ben Franklin Technology Partners, and I was thrilled to be able to lean on their resources.”

Fairman credits the staff and programs available at Innovation Park with helping her through the startup maze. “Without the Innovation Park team I would still be sitting in my office at home not knowing how to get started. I’m an engineer who has learned a lot about business.”

Fairman is thankful for the flexibility that Innovation Park offers. “I had my second child in the middle of building Shelf Scouter. Life happens,” she says. “Work and life don’t always go together smoothly. There is no 12-week maternity leave in a startup,” said Fairman.

With 60 years of combined engineering expe­rience in her staff, Fairman and her team are focusing on the customers and end users. “We have a great dynamic in our office with four women working together to succeed.”