Building A Better Mousetrap

One of the keys to successful entrepreneurship is figuring out
how to build a better mousetrap. It’s not so much about inventing
something new or different but just doing it in a new or
different or better way. The impetus for this kind of ingenuity
and creativity is finding a novel way to exploit a known market,
but how do you (a) do that exactly and (b) convince people who
already have an established purchasing preference that they ought
to dump their old habit and switch to your product? 


Meet Erin White Landry and Ben Nguyen.


Erin White Landry is a microbiologist and owner of Thomas
Therapeutics, a Baton Rouge based brand of all-natural, skincare
products designed to help those with sensitive skin conditions.
Erin founded the company in 2016, after years of frustration
dealing with eczema, a condition both she and her sister suffer
from. Through trial and error, she has learned to use herbs,
teas, essential oils and other plant-derived ingredients to make
gentle soaps, body butters, moisturizers, toners, cleansers and
bath salts. But Erin isn’t just an entrepreneur. Thomas
Therapeutics is a black-owned small business and over the past
year, Erin has created a growing online community for Black women
to talk about wellness, trauma, financial literacy and mental
health.


Ben Nguyen is owner of Louisiana Revival Apparel, a Baton
Rouge-based startup that specializes in print on demand services.
The company’s model is a little different from your typical
screen printing company. In this better mousetrap model, 
customers with existing online stores can integrate directly with
its system, allowing La Revival Apparel to print and ship
directly to their customers without ever having to carry any
inventory themselves. LRA does all the work while its customers
focus on marketing and advertising their products. Ben founded
the company when he was just 18 years old when he was a senior in
high school. Today, he is a 21-year-old junior at LSU majoring in
ISDS and though his company headquarters is located in LSU’s
Innovation Park, he has built the business entirely by himself.


And there you go, or in this case "geaux" - two examples of Baton
Rouge entrepreneurs building a better mousetrap, and by all
accounts succeeding.


You can see photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at our website.
Here's more lunchtime conversation with imaginative Baton Rouge
entrepreneurs working in the healthcare space.


 


See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.