Meet Dad Entrepreneur Scott Ertl, Founder, Bouncy Bands
“Start or join a Mastermind group in your area to stay focused on weekly, monthly, and yearly goals. Having their accountability and support is invaluable. They can share ideas, suggestions, and offer feedback when needed. The more diverse the group, the better.”
What does your business offer?
Bouncy Bands allow students to release their extra energy, anxiety, stress, and boredom when they are in class without distracting others. Teachers are amazed how students can pay attention better, get more work done, and stay calmer when taking tests.
What was your AHA moment?
Had the idea and just went for it
How has PR and Marketing helped your business?
Helping teachers use DonorsChoose.org to get funded has been very helpful. I provide a sample 1-page application that they can copy and paste for their own campaign. Over 1,400 teachers have been successful in getting funded through DonorsChoose so far!
What’s your greatest success to date?
Bouncy Bands were just named as the #1 Shark Tank Hopeful on Forbes—how cool is that?! Getting on the show would be cooler! 🙂
What’s been challenging and how did you overcome it?
Learning about manufacturing and marketing
Asking plenty of questions, especially “What are my options?”
What steps are you taking to achieve your goals?
Trade shows, press releases, phone calls, emails, blog reviews, and Facebook posts
What are your best tips on managing family and business?
My wife is amazing! We continue to struggle in balancing the work-family responsibilities, but we have hired help when needed.
What are your favorite tools and resources?
The guys in my MasterMind group are very helpful to bounce off ideas every week, along with the Shark Tank Entrepreneurs Facebook group!
If you could wave a magic wand right now, what would you wish for?
Good question. Hmmm. I wish that I could afford to provide one free sample Bouncy Band for every teacher in the world to let their students try it out. They would see its benefits and then order more. After thinking about this idea, I will consider starting a loaner program where teachers can pay the shipping to borrow a Bouncy Band for a week. Thanks for the thought provoking question to inspire me to come up with an idea! 🙂
Where can readers go to learn more about you and your business?
http://BouncyBands.com
