Amplify Your Business Bladeflex

For Episode 190 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Derek Nolt, the founder, and CEO of Bladeflex. Bladeflex is an upper-body rehabilitation device. Muscles can adapt to the direction in which the force is applied, which is why the resistance on the Bladeflex divide is built right in. Bladeflex helps the shoulders, back, and neck area adapts to better form. The beauty of Bladeflex comes from its ability to be used wherever and whenever you need it, whether that’s at home, in the office, or anywhere you might need that extra support. To learn more, visit Bladeflex’s website at https://bladeflex.com/    00:00 - Intro 00:50 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know? 03:37 - Tell me a little bit about Bladeflex. What are you guys doing over there? 04:33 - Did the development of this device come from problems that you, yourself, were having with your shoulders and neck? 06:24 - Who is your target audience? 08:56 - How long have you been in development and commercializing the product? 09:50 - What is your go-to-market strategy? 11:09 - What are some of the challenges you see going forward with the growth of Bladeflex? 12:26 - From a manufacturing standpoint, is this product manufactured offshore and then imported, or is it manufactured here? 13:20 - How have you been handling the supply chain management issues that many companies have been facing recently? 14:27 - What percentage of your sales would be direct to consumers vs through retail from physiotherapists, massage therapists, or other distributors? 15:21 - When you were making the decision of selling through retail outlets vs direct to consumer, why did you choose to go more into direct to consumer vs traditional distribution channels? 16:35 - Have you been in any of the accelerators within the startup community? What kind of support have you received through the community? 18:20 - If you could write a letter to your past self, from before you started Bladeflex, what would that letter say? 19:46 - How do you know when to add another product to the SKU? 22:01 - What inspired you to take the leap of faith and create this product and business? 23:45 - Outro