What It's About
A brother latches on to an idea to help with Type 1 Diabetes management.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
Find a problem that people want a solution for. Ask your dream customer probing questions and learn what they really want. And then don’t spend too much time thinking about it, take action! When you’re moving forward, you learn and grow and things will fall into place.
Fun Fact
Some 1.25 million Americans are living with T1D, including about 200,000 youth (less than 20 years old) and more than 1 million adults (20 years old and older).
Notes from Chris
Episode 992
Many Type 1 Diabetics need to wear glucose monitors in order to keep track of their blood sugar levels throughout the day. This is critical, because those levels are impacted by everything they eat and every activity they do. While necessary, the monitors can be hard to keep on, especially for people who like to be physically active. Isaac Parkinson’s brother was one of those people. After being diagnosed with Type 1 in 2013, he struggled with adjusting to his 24-hour a day monitor. It tended to become detached when he did things like swim, work out at the gym, or even just shower. Diabetes is already tough to manage and having to restrict regular activities made life even harder. Furthermore, there is no cure, so dealing with the required equipment is a life-long endeavor. Wanting to do something to help his brother and other people in the same position, Isaac hit on a sticky idea: adhesive patches that protect the monitors during all kinds of intense activities. In fact, when he started telling people about his idea, he quickly learned that there were more Type 1 Diabetics among his family and friends than he realized. So in 2017, Isaac started Skin Grip, a brand that makes patches to help keep glucose monitors in place. The patches are made of waterproof, non-latex, medical-grade adhesive materials that will last more than ten days even when the wearer swims, works out, and showers… just what his brother needed. Within two years, Isaac’s business had begun offering five different products for insulin pumps and glucose monitors used by diabetics. He had started it for $2,000— and the company is consistently hitting $23,000 in sales every month. He regularly gets messages from happy customers and dozens of glowing reviews thanking him and Skin Grip for helping them carry on with their everyday lives and activities with one less thing to worry about. This wasn’t his first side hustle: Isaac had tried flipping liquidated goods on eBay, making wedding videos, and even selling baby toothbrushes. But Skin Grip is the idea that really stuck.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- theskingrip.com: See how Isaac's product is helping people with T1D live active lifestyles at the Sking Grip website.
- Jiu-Jitsu Instructor Pins Down Mobile Workout Tool: An unconventional workout tool becomes a hit on Kickstarter, then goes on to earn $20,000 a month for its creator.
- Mental Health Counselor Creates Coping Skills for Kids: A Licensed Mental Health Counselor brings in an additional $1,100/month creating digital products to help kids deal with stress, anxiety, and anger in healthy and productive ways.
- Aussie Couple Logs Six Figures Selling Wellness Diaries: An account manager and her partner develop a self-care diary to help others prioritize health and well-being.
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