StepNPull on ‘Shark Tank’: What is the cost, who are the founders and is it really effective during Covid-19?
Scared of Covid-19 and paranoid of germs? This product is just perfect for you. On ‘Shark Tank’ Season 12 Episode 19, an entrepreneur from Springfield, Missouri, shares his simple yet ingenious invention that helps prevent the spread of germs like Covid-19.
The StepNpull door opener is an easy-to-use, affordable tool to fight the spread of germs and viruses in public buildings. In an Instagram post, the three founders — Mike Sewell, Ron Ely and Kelly Coddington — even go on to claim: Since the onset of Covid-19 more than a year ago, the patented StepNPull hands-free door opener has gained national and international media coverage.
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What is StepNPull?
Have you ever heard of a foot-door opener? Perfect for public restrooms, StepNpull works on any latch-less commercial wood doors or metal doors. Manufactured for commercial use, it's ADA compliant, UL Certified, and available in various stylish finishes.
The official website says, “When you invest in making your exterior, interior, and restroom doors touch-free, you're ensuring customers have a touchless, germ-free door handle when entering or exiting your establishment. Simply step and pull open doors. It’s that easy!”
The company officially launched in 2007 but can trace its roots to the early 1990s when Mike Sewell, Ron Ely and Kelly Coddington became co-workers at a telecommunications company. The trio became good friends and often talked about going into business together.
Who are the founders?
The idea first came to Mike Sewell when he noticed employees opening the door handle with paper towels to avoid touching the handle. He soon thought a foot-operated door opener would eliminate the problem of germs spreading through touching the door and would reduce paper towel waste. He then got in touch with Kelly Coddington to design and fabricate the first prototype. Ron Ely’s construction experience helped them determine where to place the device on a door and he created the name: StepNPull.
Mike Sewell | Inventor & President
The president of KRM Innovations, Inc and co-inventor of the StepNpull foot-operated door opener, Mike Sewell Mike retired from a 30-year career at Verizon Wireless in 2020 to focus exclusively on leading StepNpull. Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mike has led the company and his focus has thus shifted from day-to-day business operations to long-term initiatives such as recruiting key talent, expanding StepNpull’s product line, and implementing new processes.
Kelly Coddington | Inventor & VP of Innovation
Kelly drew upon his years of experience in fabrication, engineering, and “tinkering with things” to carve out the first StepNpulls. Like the company’s other co-founders, Kelly has spent his entire 30-year career in telecommunications while serving as a Vice President for StepNpull since 2007.
Ron Ely | Inventor & VP of Sales
Co-founder of StepNpull, Ron Ely serves as Vice President of Sales. He is also credited with creating the name of the product and company. In 2019, Ron retired from a 30-year telecommunications career to help StepNpull expand.
What is the cost and where to buy?
The ShipNPull product is available in a variety of colors — from silver, black, blue, copper to gray, red, pink and gold — at a price of $29.95. Did you know you can also get it customized? Yes, now you can add your logo and request a quote for the same on the official website.
Apart from that, you can also get accessories like Barrel Bolt Hardware, Cooper Keys, Door Plaques, Instructional Door Decals, ToeIn Cabinet Door Opener, SanitizingWipes and Wipes Plus. So what are you waiting for? Head over the buy it here.
Where is StepNPull now?
Who would have thought when the company launched in 2007 that StepNpull would someday be helping to protect the world from a global pandemic AND be featured on a hit reality TV show? Well, it’s happening.
For the first several years, StepNpull was a side business for the three owners. They took orders by phone and manufactured and shipped the foot-operated door openers from a garage. The company expanded with purchases from major corporations like Boeing, Coca-Cola, Facebook, Google, and Walmart. Lowe’s, Amazon and other retailers started selling the device. Next came international expansion with distribution partners established in The United Kingdom, Slovenia, Australia, Hong Kong, and South Africa.
Business exploded in 2020 when many turned to the StepNpull hands-free door opener as a way to protect the public from spreading germs by touching the same door handles. In just one month — March 2020 — the company sold more patented StepNpull door openers than they had previously in their history.
They soon got additional employees at its Springfield, Missouri headquarters as well as more international distributors and manufacturing capacity. On their official website, the founders wrote, “What hasn’t changed is the bond between StepNpull’s founders and their philosophy for being open and honest, working as a team, being patient, and treating people fairly.”
Who will steal the deal?
With the growing demand to stay safe from COVID-19, this product might appeal to most Sharks. We predict there will be a strong competition between Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary and Daymond John to steal the deal. Who ultimately takes it? Well, only time will tell.
‘Shark Tank’ Season 12 Episode 9 returned to ABC after the winter break on January 8, 2021, at 8 pm ET. Catch the latest episode featuring products like Phoozy, DynoSafe, Probiotic Maker and StepNPull on April 2, 2021, from 8 pm ET to 9 pm ET.
Missed an episode? Been wanting to catch up? Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu. Not just that, you can also watch old seasons and episodes on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes.