Business Freshens Up Sports Gear Effectively

If you’ve ever been near someone who plays a sport after the game is over, then you know that smell of dirt and sweat that is all over them. As bad as it smells, the germs hiding within any padding and clothing can be the real problem.

By using a Fresh Gear machine, these important pieces of gear used can be sterilized in a way that makes them wearable as soon as they leave the machine. As you could imagine this is also something that would make a profitable business in the right location.

What is Fresh Gear and what does it do?

Fresh Gear is a powerfully effective dry cleaning machine. It uses natural ozone to destroy bacteria and remove nasty odors in protective sports gear like that worn in hockey, football and lacrosse.What makes the Fresh Gear process unique, is that it delivers high velocity ozone flow directly into the thick padding of the sports equipment, penetrating deeply into the dense fibers, killing bacteria in the most critical area, where the gear contacts the skin!

Does a great job on fire fighter gear and smoke damaged items. Takes as little as 20 minutes and there are no consumables, just 2 cents of electricity!

What are some of the benefits that customers see from using these services to clean their gear?

• Sanitize: Kills harmful bacteria greatly reducing the risk of dangerous staph infections (MRSA), skin rash and respiratory illnesses (asthma, allergies).
• Odor removal: Leaves pleasant scent and reduces regrowth rate of bacteria.
• Convenient: 20 minute process means you can get it done while you wait and wear the gear right after.
• Affordable: Fresh Gear services are priced so that you can afford to clean your gear regularly throughout the season.

When did you launch Fresh Gear? How long have you been offering it as a business opportunity?

We launched in 2005. Almost immediately we realized that the real revenue opportunity was in offering the cleaning services. More profitable than manufacturing and selling the machines even! We still place our own machines in key locations for the services revenue. It’s too profitable to pass up.

What made you want to expand this into an opportunity for others? What comes with the purchase of a Fresh Gear machine?

Even really great machines are trivial if they don’t solve a problem or meet a need. We could see that demand was high and growing for people to sanitize their sports gear and we can really identify with people everywhere who want to start and own their own businesses. So many people just don’t know how to get started. We knew that we have to make it as easy as possible. So instead of just selling them a machine and wishing them success, we began to make available the things that people were telling us they could use.

Such as:

• Startup Kit
  Business, Sales, Marketing Documents, Biz Cards, Brochures, Ad Designs, Best Practices Guides, Fresh Gear email address, Website locator exposure
• Ongoing Support
  Online training videos, Online resource access, Sales & marketing consultation, Website creation and hosting (optional), Remote machine monitoring (optional)
• Fresh Gear Brand Exposure
  Search Engine Optimization, Online Classifieds, Web site links, Online Ads,Trade shows

Did you have any previous experiences that you were able to apply when you started your business?

I drew from the great experiences that I enjoyed over 20 years in highly technical and business management roles with companies like Xerox and Sun Microsystems. I tried to ensure that each position that I pursued in the corporate world would help me get closer to the eventual goal of owning my own company. Problem solving and ensuring customer satisfaction are skills that are very useful in every company!

If you could go back in time and change any mistakes, would you? What have you learned from them?

Sure I would. However, I do feel strongly that adversity reveals character. You should take stock of what is revealed. Only then can you improve. I don’t mind making mistakes. I can’t stand repeating the same ones over and over again!

Not everyone grows up wanting to be an entrepreneur. What made you decide to go that route?

I gave up a very lucrative career in the corporate world because I wanted to take this great technology idea and translate it into a great business. I really had a passion for building a business that would apply the principles that I held dear to me. Principles that many appreciate but abandon when the going gets tough. The basic one being, “treat people the way you want to be treated.” It’s enacted in all of our products, services and business dealings.

Was there ever someone that helped inspire you to get where you are today? What was it about that person or the advice you received that motivated you?

I love to learn what makes people tick. So I take lessons from conversations with everyone. The support that I have received from my wife Jo Ann has been priceless. Her encouragement to “go for it”, even while she had to put her own anxieties aside, have given me the confidence to act on ideas whether they turn out to be successful or not. You can’t buy that kind of support! I take inspiration from people who work hard for others, are selfless, don’t take “no” for an answer.

Why should someone consider your business opportunity over any of the other opportunities available today? What kind of person do you feel would best fit into this business style?

Demand is high for Fresh Gear services. Timing is great, we are only at the beginning of a rapidly growing market. Profit margins are ridiculously high. Startup costs are less than $14,000. You get the freedom of making your own business decisions combined with the business support of a turn-key operation.

Fresh Gear appeals equally to the people looking to start their own business that they can grow and eventually make their full time job or serious entrepreneurs that are looking for high profit, high income opportunities with a little more time and capital invested. It helps if you like sports and working with customers.

Do you have any advice for those that might be interested in taking the next step and starting up a Fresh Gear business?

Talk to people who you feel would be your potential customers: athletes, parents, schools, teams, leagues, fire fighters, fire restoration companies, etc. and ask them if this service would appeal to them and what they would pay for it. You will be accomplishing your markert research and building demand at the same time.

Contact us and we’ll put some information in your hands to get you started!

« Previous Post

Next Post »