Novak & Co.
Address:
3926 Mobile Ave.
Web site:
www.steamshowers4less.com
At a glance:
Novak & Co. sells computerized steam showers online. The steam showers detoxify the body, rejuvenate the user and benefit patients with asthma, owner and President Dave Novak said. The showers offer FM stereos, CD connections and iPod transmitters. Features include rainfall showerheads and acupuncture water jets. Some of the models combine Whirlpool tubs with the showers.
Employees:
Novak and his wife are partners in the company. One or two employees handle the shipping from the company’s Fort Wayne warehouse.
Annual revenue:
$1 million to $1.2 million gross sales a year.
How old is the company:
Novak started the company on a part-time basis in 2004 while he was the art director at WISE-TV, Channel 33.
Biggest accomplishment in the past 12 months:
Novak & Co. opened its own 10,000-square-foot warehouse on Mobile Avenue last year. The warehouse includes a small showroom. Novak previously used third-party warehouses in Elkhart, California and Illinois to distribute the showers. Novak, who started the company from his house, where he continues to work, but the warehouse allowed the company to limit its costs.
“I kind of just evolved as far as I could and got as far as I could on what I had available to me,” he said.
What are the key challenges facing your business or industry:
Competition for online sales is fierce.
“When you deal with online pretty much anyone can get in the game to a point. And so you’ll get competitors from all over the country doing the same thing and you’re trying to advertise in the same places and things like that. The challenge is how to differentiate yourself from the rest. We’ve done that by getting unique products.”
When many of its competitors sold only white units, Novak & Co. stocked black showers to capture another market niche. Novak said the company also manufactures shower iPod transmitters to stand out.
“We always try to be one step ahead like that with a new feature or new aspect.”
What are your growth projections for the next five
years:
Novak would like to open a local storefront.
“I think we are looking to expand in a retail situation.” Novak also wants to hire additional employees.
What’s one thing about your business that people may not be aware of:
“The way it started and the way it’s run.” Novak and his wife started the company with a $2,000 investment. Novak sold steam shower products worth $340,000 on eBay during his first three months in business. Novak, now 27, was also working full time for WISE then.
“It’s pretty amazing what you can do online if you have the right techniques and the right tools,” he said.
Novak began his Internet business so he could spend more time at home with his family. Novak said he also wanted something to fall back on in case WISE employees were laid off after Granite Broadcasting Corp. acquired the station. Granite eliminated 57 jobs, including Novak’s, after it bought the station in March 2005.
Sharing his experience:
Novak is scheduled to start selling an online video series about his experience called “The eBay Millionaire Secret” next month. The series will be available at
www.thinkbigg.com
.
Source: Dave Novak, owner/president.
Compiled by Jenni Glenn of The Journal Gazette
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