Tightrope: Entrepreneur's story shows how to build a business

— -- A couple of weeks ago I listed a few things entrepreneurs can do improve their business in the New Year. It's always a pleasure to meet someone whose personal story shows the value of working hard toward such success. Robb McMahan is that someone.

In 2002 Robb's wife Lisa, an enthusiastic cook, prepared one of her signature Thanksgiving Day dinners. Like many kitchen floors, the McMahans' floor was beautiful to look at but uncomfortable to stand on for any length of time. By the time dinner was ready, Lisa's legs and lower back hurt so much she hardly enjoyed the meal. They agreed that a solution had to be found.

Robb and Lisa went in search of a kitchen mat she could stand on while preparing meals to help her avoid fatigue or discomfort. Much to their surprise they found many floor mats, but none that would really address Lisa's needs.

Robb, whose professional life as an engineer had seen him through the development of many things from notebook computers to wheelchairs, decided he could solve the problem himself. Thinking of Lisa and their kitchen as a model he felt that the ideal anti-fatigue kitchen mat had to be comfortable, durable and attractive. After many late nights and hundreds of prototypes Robb finally hit paydirt, which led him into the anti-fatigue mat business. His first mats went on sale in 2005. He had addressed an important ingredient for entrepreneurial success: Create meaningful solutions to improve the lives of others.

He knew that if his wife had needed an anti-fatigue mat, there had to be many folks out there who suffered while standing in the kitchen for long periods of time. Thus GelPro.com was born

With limited financial resources to work with, Robb turned to the Internet to help him build an infrastructure to reach his market. Once he built his website he started reaching out in every possible direction to build his company. To reach his market he used Search Engine Optimization, Google paper clicks, and blogs.

The thing that really pushed Robb's business into the mainstream was the relationship he developed with a media buying agency that let him buy advertisements in major magazines at a low price. This arrangement increased traffic and sales to his website.

Like every entrepreneur who relentlessly works at bringing his business to the masses, Robb kept pushing for his own success. Doors started to open and his product grew in popularity. He received a Gourmet Gold Award in the textiles category at the 2006 Gourmet Housewares Show in Las Vegas and favorable notice from Martha Stewart and TV's Barefoot Contessa. And, the mats are sold across the country by retailers. This shows another entrepreneurial ingredient for success: Put as much time promoting and marketing your product as you do in production.

GelPro was called to my attention by Marge, a neighbor who bought her mat through the website after seeing it advertised in her favorite food magazine. She says it allowed her to return to the thing she loves, cooking, without suffering from backaches. After experiencing a mat myself I am grateful for that conversation with Marge.

When I spoke with Robb I learned that he is currently working on the production of a larger product that he calls a salon mat. I have a feeling that he hears the groans of discomfort of standing for long hours from hair dressers. This is another ingredient in business success: Expand your products and or services in order to reach a broader market.

I often meet people who want to come up with a business that's new and different. Folks like Robb can serve as an inspiration and a reminder to use your skills to come up with something that's needed.

During an enjoyable conversation with Robb he briefly spoke about the importance of developing a business via a website when financial resources are limited. Perhaps Robb will agree to revisit us and share more tips and techniques to expanding a business via a website.

Gladys Edmunds' Entrepreneurial Tightrope column appears Wednesdays. Click here for an index of her columns. As a single, teen-age mom, Gladys made money doing laundry, cooking dinners for taxi drivers and selling fire extinguishers and Bibles door-to-door. Today, Edmunds is founder of Edmunds Travel Consultants in Pittsburgh and author of There's No Business Like Your Own Business, a six-step guide to success published by Viking. Her website is www.gladysedmunds.com. You can e-mail her at gladys@gladysedmunds.com.