Plugfones successfully taps underserved earplug market
Shaun Knudsen packs Plugfones for shipping, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at their office and warehouse in Mapleton. SPENSER HEAPS, Daily Herald
A selection of Plugfones models photographed Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at the company's office and warehouse in Mapleton. SPENSER HEAPS, Daily Herald
Shaun Knudsen poses for a photo, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at the Plugfones office and warehouse in Mapleton. SPENSER HEAPS, Daily Herald
The popular Plugfones Contractor photographed Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at the company's office and warehouse in Mapleton. SPENSER HEAPS, Daily Herald
The upcoming Plugfones Liberate with Bluetooth photographed Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at the company's office and warehouse in Mapleton. SPENSER HEAPS, Daily Herald
Product shot of a construction worker using the new Plugfones Liberate, Bluetooth-enabled earplugs that play music.
Sometimes, the simplest and most obvious ideas are the ones begging to be brought to market.
So it was with Plugfones, originally a pain point for one man — but as he searched for the solution, he found the problem had not fully been solved yet. So, casting aside the do-it-yourself ideas floating across the internet, he was one of the first to make a truly viable product. The market responded uproariously, and he built a business.
In 2007, Shaun Knudsen was a prosperous realtor in St. George. But when the economy tanked in 2008, Knudsen scrambled for something, anything, to support his family. He found work in a window glass foundry, pushing plate glass through a blast furnace 12 hours a day. Because of the factory clamor, he was required to wear noise-reducing earplugs the entire shift.
Frankly, it was boring to work surrounded by silence all day long. He craved music or the ability to listen to an audiobook. So he looked around for earplugs that squashed the ambient environmental noise while pumping in music or words. But in looking for that type of product to buy, he only found forums and factory worker groups, all asking for the same thing.
So he decided to make his own noise-reducing earplugs with earbud abilities. Keeping sound out, but allowing music in the ear, is a bit of a conflicting notion, but using off-the-shelf components he rigged up some earplugs that had the ability to pipe in music. Days sweating in the heat of the furnace were no longer quite so boring.
Of course, his co-workers noticed them and asked to purchase a pair. From there, word started getting around so quickly that Knudsen, in addition to his full days at the factory, spent his evenings and weekends assembling his invention with his two teenage sons’ help.
In those early years Knudsen sourced the materials they needed from raw wire and speaker manufacturers. Orders through his website started taking off, so he had to source in bulk — a bit of a stumbling block, because he didn’t have the large chunk of funds to make that first purchase. He opted to limit his own meals for an entire month, and save the money he would have spent eating to purchase the first round of bulk materials.
In 2012, he was at a family outing with his cousin Tyler Knudsen. One of the events was loud, prompting a discussion of Shaun Knudsen’s earplug business. Shaun asked Tyler, who has many years of marketing experience, for help. Tyler Knudsen started selling the earplugs on Amazon and eBay, and sales soon tripled.
Shaun moved his family up to Utah County to add Tyler as a helping hand, and by May 2013, Shaun and Tyler Knudsen were running Plugfones full time from their warehouse in Mapleton.
The first generation of Plugfones was wired, requiring plug-in to a smartphone or other audio system. And users loved them.
“We had guys that would tell us their Plugfones were so comfortable, they’d wear them for their entire 10-hour shift with no problem,” Tyler Knudsen said.
Another added benefit of Plugfones is that because it blocks out ambient noise that regular earbuds don’t, users can listen to their music at a lower, safer volume.
“We all find ourselves in loud environmental noise areas — even walking down the street listening to music. The louder ambient noise causes us to turn our volume up louder than we should. But with Plugfones you don’t have to,” Tyler Knudsen said.
While their first Plugfones product was a hit, users still wanted more. Because their target market is construction and factory workers — those who move around constantly in their physical jobs — customers also asked for a Bluetooth option.
This spring, after a year of research, designing and prototyping, the Knudsens launched a Kickstarter campaign March 29 for their Plugfones Liberate, hoping to raise $35,000 for manufacturing costs. By the time their campaign ended May 13, they’d raised $427,248. They had such momentum, they are still taking Plugfones Liberate orders through Indiegogo.
The Plugfones Liberate, two earplug earbuds wired to a small Bluetooth receiver that sits on the back of the neck, keeps the entire product completely out of the way of hard hats, work overalls, even helmets — for the burgeoning motocross and active sportswear market segment that is discovering the Plugfones line.
“Our customers are typically moving around a lot or sweating, so there are no wires to stick to your skin or get in the way. And the earplugs don’t fall out, even with highly strenuous activity,” Tyler Knudsen said.
Lately, the Knudsens have it pretty strenuous themselves. Shipments of the Plugfones Liberate will go out by the end of June, and later this summer they will move to their newly constructed, larger headquarters in Springville.
In September 2015, the Knudsens were approached by Menards, the third-largest home improvement chain store in the nation. Just 15 minutes after their initial presentation, the Knudsens already had huge orders to supply Menards locations.
For Shaun Knudsen, gone are those early days of semi-starvation just to get his business going. Now the company employs a small handful of people, and has been able to reach out and offer local community members much-needed, well-paying positions.
“To go from barely making ends meet to doing well enough that we can help other people, and mentor others in their business, well, it’s just fulfilling,” Tyler Knudsen said.
“And our teens have been relieved of their sweatshop duties,” he joked.
