How I did it: Sleeping on the job
The key to building a better mattress business: wake up an old product.
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| Michael Rothbard, Sleep Studio |
- NAME: Michael Rothbard
- AGE: 45
- BUSINESS: Sleep Studio, a manufacturer of foam beds and accessories, New York City
- STARTED: 2006
- START-UP COSTS: $150,000
- ANNUAL REVENUE: $10 Million
HOW I GOT THE IDEA: My family was in the foam-manufacturing business, so I grew up in the industry.
But I'd been out of it for a while - more than a decade - when a friend called to tell me that someone we knew had just sold a foam-mattress business to a private equity firm for $300 million.
My jaw dropped. No investor could understand the industry as well as I did. I knew there'd be room for innovation in the market.
MY CHALLENGE: Bedding is a fashion industry; consumers are always desperate for a better night's sleep. So you have to keep introducing new products.
And I was sure I could make something that would move the category forward. But what?
HOW I OVERCAME IT: I looked at Web sites where consumers shared complaints about their mattresses: They got too hot, they smelled or they took 24 hours to expand to full size because of the way they were packaged.
I started working with a chemist, and we came up with a product that allows air to circulate five times faster. We were lucky enough to pick up a few regional chains early on.
And we've done well online. Our next step is to persuade the big national chains to stock our line.
ADVICE TO OTHERS: No matter how much history you have in an industry, you have to study it before you try to innovate. Intuition alone isn't enough.
Need help with your business? Submit your questions to the editors of Fortune Small Business, Money Magazine's sister publication, and to other small business owners at cnnmoney.com/askfsb. 
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