114: Take Your Dog on a Bike Ride with Michael Leon of Bike Tow Leash

Background on Michael Leon of Bike Tow Leash:

Michael Leon is Founder and President of BikeTowLeash & LEON Engineering, Inc. where he oversees all aspects including engineering, marketing, and mechanical. Being a service dog raiser and trainer of 10 service dogs that work for the disabled, Mike invented the 1-Running-Dog Bike Tow Leash—the only approved safe way to ride a bike, trike, mobility scooter or wheelchair while walking your dog(s). He has plans to further grow his business and license his product worldwide. Thus far, they have garnered much success, which can be attributed to Mike’s experience and application thereof.

Mike had an interest in mechanical engineering as he was very innovative, which prompted him to get his BA in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. He is affiliated with The American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Pet Products Association. He is devoted husband of Betsy Hatch Leon and proud father of Jessica and Samantha Leon.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[3:00] Mike Leon introduces himself as the president of Leon Engineering, Inc., which produces the Bike Tow Leash. Their goal is no matter the person’s abilities, their dogs would always have a walk or run.
[3:38] Mike used to work as an R&D Engineering Manager in a large multi-billion dollar company that specializes on airline equipment such as loaders and de-icers.
[6:38] Mike told the story of how he came up with the idea of the bike tow leash product.
[10:52] Mike explains how the Bike Tow Leash is safe to use even if the dog tries to lunge and pull away from the bike.
[12:23] The Bike Tow Leash can also teach the dog to properly walk side by side with the person or steer them where you want them to go.
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[15:01] Mike had to do several tweaks and changes to his product to simplify it and make it more comfortable for the dog and the owner.
[20:43] Mike sourced his materials locally when building his initial bike tow leash prototypes.
[23:41] Mike considers being laid off from his job as the lowest point in his career.
[25:31] He was very fortunate to have some family connections regarding patents and intellectual property. Mike explains more about patents and how it is very expensive to patent a product.
[30:39] In 2009, they started making some money from their product. They also started their own website to promote and sell the bike tow leash.
[32:19] Mike gave some important tips on how he learned to keep his business going and increase its revenue during the early stages.
[37:35] Mike gave a few more tips on how to bring production cost down. It involves working with each individual part and see if the functionality of these parts can be combined.
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[43:02] Getting the bike tow leash product on Amazon was beneficial for Mike.
[51:41] Mike emphasizes once again on the importance of keeping the overhead low.
[54:52] Mike tells about how he became wary of people offering tv ads and tv commercials for his product.
[59:21] Mike gave a last piece of advice for his fellow entrepreneurs. He tells the listeners to take it one day at a time and believe in their product.

Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖 📚 Favorite Book(s)? The Firm by John Grisham
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? iRobot Roomba
🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Microsoft Paint
💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Our website is 2009 vintage. I am hoping for a new website that reduces purchase friction and better educates customers.

Key Point from the Interview:

“It takes a tremendous amount of money to build a reputation, it takes even more to repair one.”

Resources Mentioned:

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