In our brand spotlight, we feature Abound brands who are ready for retail. This week we sat down with Art Zelentsov, salesperson for Evapolar. Evapolar sells personal evaporative air coolers, is based in Cyprus, and has been in business for five years. Shop air coolers here.
Abound: Why did you decide to start this business?
Art: Our patented evaporative pad material technology has enabled us to make the most efficient and most compact evaporative air coolers on the market.
Abound: How did you make your first prototype? What changes have you made to your product since then?
Art: Our first prototype was made out of scraps and it worked wonderfully. Since then we created several designs, each with a purpose. We have the compact and ultra-portable evaCHILL that you can even take camping with you.
We have the most powerful model Wi-Fi connected evaSMART with smart home features such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant integration. And we also have the ‘best of both worlds’ model evaLIGHT that has a display with click wheel controls. More to come in the future.
Abound: How do you make your product? Yourself? A manufacturer? What’s your process like?
Art: We make all of the products ourselves. Evapolar has a factory in China that manufactures all of the parts to the highest quality and standards. We also have a separate supplier that is able to produce our special evaporative pad material. We call that material evaBreeze.
Abound: What’s your day to day like? Do you have any favorite and least favorite parts?
Art: Our office is a fun place. Apart from highly productive meetings, every Friday we get together for a cookout just to relax and start the weekend the right way. Almost everybody in the office has a cooler on the desk, so you could say it’s a pleasant atmosphere.
Abound: What was your initial investment? How did you get the money?
Art: Our company and brand got the start from two successful crowdfunding campaigns back in 2014 – 2015. Ever since then, we’ve been improving our products, raising the bar, and expanding the lineup.
Abound: Where was the first place you started selling your product?
Art: We started with Europe and Asia, then we expanded into the Americas, Australia, and Africa.
Abound: Where do you sell your product now?
Art: We sell our products globally.
Abound: Where would you love to sell your products in the future?
Art: Martian colonies. Hopefully Elon Musk will approve.
Abound: Do you have a favorite product? If so, which one?
Art: My favorite product is the evaLIGHT. I own two of them. It’s a great little cooler that combines both a large sized water tank and a compact form factor. Plus the RGB lighting looks just amazing. I use it in the summer to cool and in the winter to humidify the air.
Abound: What’s your marketing like? Is social media an important part of your business? If so, how?
Art: Yes, social media is a very important part of our success. Without influencers, crowdfunding, and reviews, Evapolar wouldn’t exist.
Abound: What are some of the most frustrating challenges and/or moments you’ve had with your business?
Art: The most frustrating part is to have our coolers compared to other similar coolers. A lot of companies try to copy our external design, however there are a few things they won’t be able to copy easily.
First is our build quality, and second is our patented evaporative pad material evaBreeze. This is a material consisting of inorganic basalt mineral compounds. There is no paper or cellulose used. This material offers great evaporative potential, prevents bacterial growth, and is completely biodegradable.
Abound: What are some of the greatest achievements and victories you’ve had with your business?
Art: The greatest achievement is the launch of the evaCHILL. It is a great device with amazing design that is so easy to take with you on a camping trip, plug into a USB power bank and enjoy a cool breeze inside a tent or even outside.
Abound: What advice do you have for people who want to sell a product?
Art: If you have a unique idea or a concept, don’t be afraid to put it out there. There might be a lot of people who will enjoy that idea and find it useful. Together you will be able to make that concept a reality. It might be all worth it.
Abound: Is there any business advice or quotes you’ve heard that you think about often?
Art: The most important quote for me personally in business and in life is by Don Quixote. It reads “Honesty is the best policy.” If you live by it, it pays off.
Abound: What’s your favorite thing about being a business owner?
Art: I am not the owner, but in this business it’s definitely the people you meet along the way.
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