On Building And Manufacturing An Air Quality Product [Producing 500 Units/Month]

Published: May 18th, 2022
Naresh Juneja
Founder, BreathifyUSA
1
Founders
1
Employees
BreathifyUSA
from Ada, OK, USA
started December 2020
1
Founders
1
Employees
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I am Naresh Juneja, the Co-founder, and Engineer for our startup called BreathifyUSA.

We are building Air Purifiers that are high quality and affordable for everyone - households, schools, hospitals, and businesses. Globally, this market is growing at nearly 16%.

The idea to launch this company and product came when we saw the severe supply chain issues caused by the pandemic, and the dire need for everyone to keep indoor air clean which is anyway a pervasive issue in the US. Per EPA, indoor air quality is 2-5 times worse than outdoors.

We wanted to solve this everyday problem with a simple solution, and are doing just that. Our air purifier is made in the USA, with 3D printing technology, and with minimal sourcing dependence on other countries.

breathifyusa

What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

The idea to launch the company and the product came during the pandemic as we witnessed the severe supply chain issues and how hobbyists and citizens used all available resources to meet the demand for masks and other products needed by hospitals and citizens.

Being an engineer with over 30+ years of experience, I realized early that 3D printing technology had the potential to become a major player in mainstream manufacturing over the next 3 to 5 years.

We started by looking at putting together a plant for Ventilators but found that regulatory hurdles would not allow us to complete something in a reasonable time. Air quality was an issue and Air Purifiers would do the job of keeping indoor Air Quality at acceptable levels. That was our moment and combined with a FAB lab with 3D printers was an opportunity that I didn't want to miss.

My wife had a full-time job that allowed me to launch into this project.

The local community came out in full support and became our first line for testing and building ideas for an MVP, price, functionality, and the design which emerged. Since the initial work, the local community have been the cheerleaders and customers for our product and given us valuable feedback to have a production-ready product in 15 months.

Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.

June 2020, I launched on this journey. The first 6 months were spent learning Designing tools like Solid Works and Fusion 360. I also started working on understanding the basics of 3D Printing.

We got our first 3D printer in September 2020. The company was established in December 2020.

A good team, founders or mentors is required to launch a company or become an entrepreneur, we cannot successfully finish this journey as a one-man show.

By June 2021, we had established the basic design of the product and also put together a printed prototype built over a period of 72 hours. Very coarse but it worked.

Then started the journey of refining the design and improving the production process. The design has to be esthetically pleasing and functional, portable hence weight was important, Emissions are a big problem associated with current Air Purifiers. We decided not to use any glues or Chemicals. Noise levels had to be around 50Db for a product of that capability.

By December 2021, we had a complete MVP.

As we designed the Air Purifier, I was working in parallel with my mentors in getting a machine built that was capable of providing the speed and finesse required to deliver a professional product. This journey involved collaboration with manufacturers, designers and innovators all across the country to establish the parameters for a machine that would deliver beyond what was being currently sold in the market.

I was lucky to have found mentors who believed in my product and worked tirelessly with me to get me a machine to build the Air purifiers in a reasonable time and build production capability to 500 units a month.

A very important part of an entrepreneur's journey is to have the finances and to keep his burn rate manageable. In our case we had the savings and support of family to keep this development on track and reach a logical end.

Describe the process of launching the business.

We are at pre-launch in 2022. We hope to ship out our first products to our customers starting April 20, 2022. This involved a three-pronged approach to be carried out concurrently.

  1. Putting together a complete production and assembly process.
  2. A complete fulfillment and return process
  3. A website that would be our door to the world as also the eCommerce gateway/marketing front.

With some help and due diligence and discussions, we selected Thryv as our marketing partner for the launch.. We are now ready for business and to open to the world. We have a fully functional website, social media presence, shopping cart and secure payment processing to allow customers to interact with us through multiple channels.

The biggest lesson learned is that all entrepreneurs should be ready to ask for help. I have been blessed to find mentors who have made this journey possible and be able to bring this product to market in less than 15 months.

Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?

In my view, we have had multiple launches. The first launch was with a group of dedicated personnel from our local technology center who helped us develop the product and an MVP.

A launch with some actual business users who gave us raving reviews and the units have been working at these places 24/7 for the last 6 months.

Launch with the local chapter of Rotary Club. That went a little dull probably because my storytelling skills are below average.

What we learned as a new product in a crowded market, the product warranty played an important role.

Customer interaction and educating the customer why Air Quality was singly the most important point got us the most traction.

I am thankful to the personnel at PTC who helped us get to the MVP, Arbuckle Coffee, and Iorga Pediatrics to be our first clients and test the machine, friends, and family who stood by us and gave us invaluable feedback to refine the design, work on the sound levels and many other aspects to build a machine that would make America and Americans proud.

My single focus is our social media story which is about educating people about indoor air quality and how Air Purifiers can become more than just another gadget. The customizability and personalization of our units makes them collectables.

How are you doing today and what does the future look like?

As of April 2022, we are firing on all cylinders with our first production unit ready to go to market, tested and ready to deliver its best clean at a price that would be attractive to all.

Our market partnerships and messaging is being delivered through many channels to create awareness about the product.

With our partnership with Thryv, we have been able to create awareness and spread the word about BreathifyUSA on;

  1. Social Media

  2. Email campaign

  3. Local events

We are working on starting a podcast on how Air quality affects our lives. We are building strategic industry partnerships with companies that align with our goal of educating people on the benefits of a healthy air.

We have at least 4 more products in the hopper and have the capability to deliver 500 units per month which we own in the US.

We aim to deliver 200 units by July 2022 and over 700 units by the end of the year.

Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

The most important thing I have learnt is to ask for help and learn how to value that help.

Build partnerships and develop capability, specially the technical expertise which goes with any hardware product. All the other skills are available at a price but the process of innovation is invaluable and has to be the starting point to this journey.

A good team, founders or mentors is required to launch a company or become an entrepreneur, we cannot successfully finish this journey as a one-man show.

Last but not the least. Show gratitude for people and organizations that participated directly or indirectly to facilitate this journey.

Give it forward.

What platform/tools do you use for your business?

The technology stack at BreathifyUSA is composed of :

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

My main sources of information have been lectures at Y-combinator and the StitchCrew at Oklahoma City.

The founder of Segment has been my inspiration.

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?

My advice would be to join the Startup School at Y-combinator as the first step.

The other step every founder needs to take is to look for help in their local community. That is one thing without which I would have no story to share today.

Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?

We hope to be hiring in Ada Oklahoma in the near future.

Where can we go to learn more?

All information about our company is available on our website.

If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!