Entrepreneur

The Urge to work for myself

"I grew up in a working-class poor family, and you know what? Being poor actually motivated me. Right from the start, I had to work hard to make a living. If I wanted something, I pretty much had to buy it myself. I remember collecting empty soda bottles from the alleys just to get those 2 or 3 cent deposits. I would turn that money into penny candy and play 5 cent pinball games. In the fall, I would rake my neighbors' leaves, shovel their snow in the winter, and cut their grass in the spring and summer. The money I earned from those odd jobs went towards buying a new Schwinn Stingray bicycle for $60 and a used minibike for $85. Whatever was left, I spent on movies, miniature golf, and pocket change.

We also had some crafty schemes to make money. We figured out a trick to unlatch newspaper boxes without paying, so we could take the papers and sell them on street corners to earn some extra cash. I even worked on a newspaper delivery truck for about a week, waking up at 5 am, and only got paid 5 dollars. But we didn't stop there. One of our most enterprising ideas was to borrow free movies from the library and charge the kids in our neighborhood to watch them. My buddy Tony, who was quite the artist, designed some awesome flyers that we distributed to the neighborhood kids' doorsteps. We made a big batch of lemonade and a vat of popcorn, which we sold in little brown bags. We charged 15 cents for admission, 5 cents for popcorn, and another 5 cents for a cup of lemonade.

Oh, and when it was cub scout fundraising season, I was the champ. I sold more candy outside the department store, Famous Barr, than they did inside, so they kept chasing me away. It was all about that hustle!"

The first actual business I started was a mobile VJ service in 1985 called Times Square. I borrowed 5k from my mom and bought a Kloss Novabeam video projector, beta videotape machines and a sound system. I did this after I left the cruise ship, Clipper Cruise Lines, while laid off from the railroad and not in school. I worked a few parties, a wedding and several bars in St. Louis. It was a novel concept but the unavailability of music videos, the sheer size of the projector and case and the reliability of the videotape machines proved too much to overcome. The railroad called again after 2.5 years so I packed up and moved to Popular Bluff where I rented the projector out to a bar and then a restaurant before deciding to return to school.

TIMES SQUARE

Spaloo was perhaps the biggest success of my entrepreneurial career, while also the biggest disappointment. It all started when I was doing a video shoot in Japan and got some first-hand experience with the bidet toilet seats at our swanky hotel. It took a few times, but after that, I was hooked on the idea of bringing the message and the product to the U.S. There started over 15 years of work on a company with import sales, private-labeling, marketing, and nationwide distribution via online sales.

SPALOO, INC.

I have to admit, start ups are not easy. Possibly, like Spaloo, my ideas seem a little outside the box (or era) but I am convinced that no matter how many wireless products are out there, people will always need their back up wired predecessors, and therein is the brainchild of "Wind-ez," a little device with a hinge that stays connected to your wired earbuds and helps to wrap them up and keep them neat when they are not in use. Upsized, they can be used on corded window blinds and larger audio and electrical cables.

I'm excited to share some impactful news! We've brought on board an exceptional mechanical engineer, Greg Goeckel, through Upwork. Greg is not only revamping but completely reimagining our concept. Instead of focusing on holding earbuds, he's taking it to the next level by designing a revolutionary solution to organize and manage charging cables.

Greg's expertise and fresh perspective are going to transform the way we handle our cables. With his innovative approach, we'll be able to streamline the charging experience and eliminate the frustration of tangled cords. This is a game-changer that will revolutionize how we interact with our devices.

Stay tuned for updates on Greg's groundbreaking work as he crafts a cutting-edge solution that will enhance our daily lives and make cable management a breeze. This is just the beginning of an exciting journey, and we can't wait to unveil the remarkable results.

WIND-EZ, INC.

Some Spaloo Highlights

Here's a copy of the original website from 2004 or 2005. Unfortunately the search engines weren't registering "Flash" sites so we didn't get any credit in the rankings. It also took a long time to load. Just a tad ahead of the curve on this one but it was fun to make and yes that's my wifes voice on the animation. I worked with an Indian company through Guru.com putting it together.

The second video is my greatest video accomplishment to date. Put together with limited resources and yes that is my wife Kate playing the part of the Nun.

One of our greatest PR successes was being featured in the Sunday Washington Post Magazine.

May of 2008

Making It

Falls Church entrepreneurs believe fortune is Just a few flushes away By Elizabeth Chang Sunday, May 13, 2007; W04 Bruce and Kate Santhuff might be the only couple in the country who would be happy to see one of their careers wind up in the toilet -- a "shower toilet," that is. Bruce first encountered such a fixture in his hotel bathroom during a 2001 business trip to Japan, where they are quite prevalent. A mixture of a toilet and a bidet, it sported a hightech seat equipped with two water nozzles and a dryer, negating the need for paper. "When I saw it, I laughed," Bruce says. But "after using it for three days, I became a believer. It was just a better way to do it." Now Bruce, who works as an independent television sound technician, is so serious about "hands-free" toileting that he and Kate, a part-time educational consultant and teacher, have brought their version of the product to market in the United States. The Santhuffs, who live in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County with their son and daughter, found a manufacturer in Taiwan and a warehouse and distributor in Washington state. They coined and trademarked the name "Spaloo," set up a Web site and ordered a container of 400 seats. Since late 2005, they have sold half, at about $335 apiece.

Once they sell the first shipment, they'll break even on their more than $100,000 investment, which came from a house sale and home equity loan. Here's how it works: The heated Spaloo seat ("We get a lot of people who say it's worth the money just for the heated seat," Bruce says) fits on virtually any toilet, but requires a nearby electrical outlet. A user presses a button on the control panel to pick a "feminine wash" or a "family wash" (water temperature and pressure are adjustable), then presses another button for the warm-air dryer. The Santhuffs have seats in every bathroom of their house, and even daughter Alexandra, 7, has gotten into the act, penning promotional jingles (one goes, in part: "Spaloo, Spaloo, it's so great for you/Spaloo, Spaloo, you will love it, too!"). Their relatively flexible work hours and the fact that both children are in school have helped them handle the extra Spaloo work, Kate says. "I like having different things to manage at one time," she adds. "It's certainly not a boring existence." After exploring markets from luxury hotels to senior centers -- and learning along the way that high-tech toilet seats alarm folks with dementia -- the Santhuffs have been especially intrigued by Spaloo's potential among people who are disabled, for whom it offers ease, control and privacy. Some proceeds from their sales go to provide seats for disabled U.S. troops. The Santhuffs aren't alone in thinking the United States is the next market for high-tech toilets: Giant manufacturers such as Toto, which has sold 17 million such seats elsewhere, are targeting Americans. But Bruce is convinced the more affordable Spaloo will take off. "It's going to happen, absolutely," he says. "I want to do this full time. It's such a great product."