The best way to build an online business is to identify a need or challenge in the market and then come up with a unique solution. The key is to find a problem that is significant enough to create a demand for the solution you create (and making sure your solution is fantastic.)
Steven Cooper has done just that with his company, Lavayoo.
You see, he’s a husband, father of six…and has seven sisters (he’s smack dab in the middle of the family order.) He’s seen pretty much all of them them using heating pads, treating them as though they were their best friends. And I gotta say—I love a good heating pad, too. There’s nothing like a warm heating pad to ease aches and pains, or even to get you warm on a cold evening. That’s why there are so many of us with stacks of microwaveable heating bags in our closets and drawers.
Solving a Stinky Problem
The downside of most microwaveable bags, however, becomes evident pretty quickly: they begin to smell. Full of things like rice, flaxseed or wheat—and frequently scented with essential oils or other fragrances—they can develop a not-so-nice aroma.
So Steven began to research to see what other options were available and found a product in Austria that used sand in heating pads instead of rice or other materials. And as someone who studied geology and loves rocks, he saw the perfect opportunity for him to start an online business.
How to Build an Online Business the Right Way
The idea of using sand in a heating pad required him to spend time determining the kind of sand that would be best. He recognized immediately that just any sand wouldn’t work so he began to test different kinds of sand for the heating pads he wanted to create. Steven finally decided on lava sand, but much different than the kind you can get at landscape supply companies. And fortunately, it's available in Utah, where Steven lives.
This part is VERY important: mining sand isn’t something you can just start doing one day. It requires you to have proper permits—and the process isn’t easy. Steven has been very careful about following the rules, which is something way too many entrepreneurs forget when they get excited about their products. This kind of venture is definitely something you can’t ask forgiveness later for!
Steven has also had to overcome the challenge of finding the right kind of fabric for the Lavayoo bags. Given the weight the sand in the bags and how fine it is, not just any fabric will work. He explored different kinds of options for nearly a year before he found one he thought would work…and found the solution in the last place he thought he would: the curtains hanging in his home! (Thanks Ikea!)
Solving Business Bottlenecks
Currently Lavayoo is run out of the Coopers’ home. A dump truck delivers sand, which has to be washed before it can be used. Initially, Steven was washing all of the sand, and he and his wife were sewing and closing all of the heating packs. He’s since hired teens in their neighborhood to help with the sand washing and sewing—with a young man who runs track having churned out thousands of them!
One of the things I really appreciate about Steven’s story is his focus on delegation. It’s one of the hardest things that entrepreneurs come up against—the balance of letting go of the tasks that someone else can do.
Because he also works full-time selling software and is busy as a husband and father, it’s critical for him to identify those things someone else can handle. As he puts it, he asks himself where he is the bottleneck and then comes up with a way to get things moving again. That’s led him to hire others to help with online advertising and email marketing.
Steven has so much good information and advice to share with entrepreneurs with all types of businesses. Here are just a few of the takeaways I had after my conversation with him.
Top 10 Takeaways
- Find a problem and fix it.
- What lights you up? That energy will help people fall in love with it too.
- Get the right permits (aka do things legally!)
- Build systems to hire out.
- Ask yourself where you’re the bottleneck or slowing your company down.
- Get scrappy.
- Add video to your communications to get people to pay attention.
- Use logic to grow your business.
- Plan your week out with your family.
- Focus on upsells and ways to get customers to buy from you over and over.
Additional Resources
Shop Lavayoo
- Website: Lavayoo.com
- Save 25% off your purchase when you enter ALISON25 at checkout (limited time offer)
Connect with Alison:
- On Facebook: @alisonjprince
- On Instagram: @alisonjprince
- Learn about the 0-$100K System and how you can launch and grow your own online business here.
- Join the Print Sprint here.
