A common irritant in one’s daily life is socks. While it might not be your first thought for what irritates you, many people dislike it when their socks fall down, do not provide support, cause blisters, make your feet hot, or maybe worst of all, the irritating seam that goes across the toe of socks that never seems to be in the right place at the right time.
As it turns out, in 2013, David Heath and Randy Goldberg were irritated enough with these problems that they started a company called Bombas. Heath and Goldberg were regular consumers, knowing nothing about the in’s and out’s of the sock industry, but what they did know was their own pain points. They set out to achieve two goals: design the best sock in the history of feet, and give a pair of socks to a homeless shelter with every purchase. By targeting their own pain points, they developed unique socks.
The socks are all contoured to either a left or right foot. The ankle socks have a blister tab, calf-length socks have “stay-up technology” that actually works, and their no-show socks use stay-put heel grips and contour seam construction to stay where they are supposed to. All of the styles incorporate the company’s now signature honeycomb across the mid-foot to provide addition support, a y-stitched heel to cup the heel of your foot, and a reinforced foot-bed to be longer lasting and more supportive. Health and Goldberg now have several different styles and lines of socks including dress socks, compression socks, wool socks, quarter socks, and athletic socks, as well as the standard crew, ankle, and knee high socks.
To Heath and Goldberg’s second goal, they realized that the number one most requested item from homeless shelters was socks, due to the necessity that they be new. They developed a one-for-one business model and now for ever pair of socks you buy, they donate a brand new pair to a homeless shelter in need.
In 2014, Heath and Goldberg took Bombas to Shark Tank. They were successful in getting a deal with Daymon John, and officially launch the company. Heath and Goldberg hoped to give away one million socks by 2025 but in fact, they met that goal in only two and a half years, and a mere six months later, they had given away two million pairs. At the time this post was written, according to the live counter on the Bombas website, they have donated 27,811,296 pairs of socks.
Bombas is an example of two regular guys, seeing a pain in their own lives and finding a way to solve it. Not only have they created what are arguably the best socks in history, but they have also found a way to make a huge impact in the lives of many people who are in need of an item most of us take for granted: socks.
It is so interesting how someone can take something that is already invented and improve it. Putting your own twist on a product that no one else could think of is truly impressive. Using their own problems to create a business out of it.
I think that this product is a great example of finding where the pain is and providing a solution. As entrepreneurs we should we be constantly looking for Pain because that is where the most success will be found.
I’ve never thought much about it, but socks really can be irritating. It’s awesome that these two ordinary guys pinpointed a common problem, found a way to solve it, and not only improve the lives of their customers and themselves, but also help people in need.