P43: No One Believed Him at First, but Now his Unique Idea is Paying Off (🔐 A Continuation of EP 208 🔓)
Video & Audio of Our Call:
Background:
In the first part of the interview with Paul Rathnam, we had to cut short the interview at the middle of his story because he had helicopter training to attend to. Now he’s back and ready to continue his story, which will focus mostly on the early beginnings of ModPools and the challenges he faced during this time. If you want to know more about Paul’s background, his childhood, and entrepreneurial journey, you can check out Episode 208: Making a BiG Splash in the Backyard Pool Industry… by using Shipping Containers!
Paul is the business owner of ModPools, which is patented in North America to provide Swimming Pools/Hot Tubs made from Shipping Containers. ModPools allow easy control in temperature, jets, and lighting directly from your smartphone and are custom built to order available in a variety of sizes including 12-foot, 20-foot and 40-foot pools. He also runs ModPro, which specializes in custom modification of shipping containers to fit the client’s needs.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
- [1:33] The first year of ModPro, which was in 2011, was very stressful and challenging for Paul and his wife.
- [4:46] ModPro started making money on its third year and Paul also began paying himself a modest wage.
- [5:26] Paul talks about the early growth of his first business, ModPro, and the huge turning point in its third year.
- [9:03] There are some important things that Paul wished he had done differently when starting his business.
- [13:00] Focusing on better customer relations is another key factor that helped ModPro grow in its early years.
- [16:17] After 2013, the company’s growth became better and continuous.
- [18:52] In 2016, there was a big fork in the road for Paul and his business, which was brought about by the big dip in the price of oil.
- [21:10] The idea of ModPools came about when Paul and his family were vacationing in Palm Springs.
- [23:33] No one thought that building a pool out of a shipping container was a good idea and everyone wanted Paul to pursue the shipping container house.
- [30:57] Paul describes the design of his swimming pool built from a shipping container.
- [37:23] In 2017, Paul entered a trade show at the last minute to showcase his new swimming pool idea to the public.
- [43:30] Paul was shocked and he never expected that his ModPools would reach this height of success.
- [45:39] Manufacturing, pricing, and other critical issues came up, which became very challenging for Paul to produce his ModPools.
- [54:55] ModPools has a specific payment structure that customers follow to avoid certain issues.
- [58:20] Paul sees a lot of potential for growth and innovation with his ModPools.
Key Point from the Interview:
- “I found your podcast at a bit of a low note in this story. It was a humbling experience I was going through and I just like grabbed on to it and I downloaded every episode that I could. I think you had like 30 at that time, or 20 or something. And so I’ve been a faithful listener ever since because you’ve got that no bullshit approach.”
Resources Mentioned:
- Email: [email protected]
- LinkedIn: Paul Rathnam
- Instagram: @modpools_official
- Facebook: @modpools
- ModPools.com
- ModPro.ca
- Viral Videos Help ModPools Go Global
- Shipping Container Pool Called ModPools Sets Up in Minutes
- Want a Modern Pool? Check out Modpool
Secret Resources:
