U.S. Consumers’ Private Restrooms
At present, there are approximately 133 million households in the United States Considering that roughly 11.5% of U.S. residents live in poverty, in terms of households above the poverty line, we arrive at an estimate of 117,705,000 U.S. households above the poverty line. Unlike many other markets, pretty much every human being in the United States (and elsewhere) needs some form of backside cleaning after defecating. Nonetheless, it seems unrealistic to expect those experiencing poverty to spend money on a somewhat premium bathroom product like the Restroom Wizard.
The result is an enormous market of over 117 million American households with both the means and the motivation to use the Restroom Wizard!
The result is an enormous market of over 117 million American households with both the means and the motivation to use the Restroom Wizard!
The “DUDE Wipes” Phenomenon
“In less than a decade”, Inc. magazine reported this past May, “the DUDE Wipes brand has grown from an entrepreneurial long-shot idea in college via Sean Riley’s apartment into a lucrative black sheep in the flushable wipes industry–a world dominated by consumer product companies collectively worth over half a trillion dollars, like Kimberly-Clark, S.C. Johnson, and Procter & Gamble.”
Not unlike Jason Adams, Mr. Riley and his college buddies got into the habit of using baby wipes and noticed how much quicker and cleaner the backside-cleaning process was relative to regular toilet paper.
The Inc. article continues, “Sean realized a glaring gap in the market: adult men, specifically those his age, weren’t using flushable wipes because the product was never designed or marketed to them.” So, designing and marketing a brand of flushable wipes expressly for mostly young American men (i.e., those who often refer to each other as “dude”) is precisely what Mr. Riley and his friends did.
In the process, they grew from a eureka moment in a shared apartment to over $140 million in annual sales. Yet, relative to the wider population, those who use DUDE Wipes still represent only one moderately sized segment of the American market.
Firstly, why would flushable adult wipes be less useful for post-infancy boys and girls, adolescents, middle aged and older men, women of all ages and all the other categories that the explicitly “Dude”-centered brand purposely excludes?
Mr. Adams contends correctly that flushable wipes are not only for babies and young men but for people of all ages and genders – i.e., the babies’ mothers, the young men’s uncles and aunts, etc. That is why the Restroom Wizard is not branded for any specific gender or age group.
Secondly, a key constraint on DUDE Wipes use is ready availability: “Bass fishing's funniest man and DUDE Wipes lover, Gerald Swindle, has been wiping with DUDE Wipes for a decade and says he never leaves home without them.” So reads a recent press release from DUDE Wipes.
Naturally, since DUDE Wipes or any sort of flushable wipes are not found “out there”, the avid user must always take some along. This, of course, is problematic, especially for the typical Dude Wipes user. After all, how many men have a handbag in which to carry around wipes?
The current sleeker design of the Restroom Wizard is likely to be well-received by consumers seeking greater comfort and cleanliness in their private bathrooms without taking up too much space. Moreover, since the air freshener component is wholly optional, consumers may use the product without having to replace any odor control system that they may already have in place.
“In less than a decade”, Inc. magazine reported this past May, “the DUDE Wipes brand has grown from an entrepreneurial long-shot idea in college via Sean Riley’s apartment into a lucrative black sheep in the flushable wipes industry–a world dominated by consumer product companies collectively worth over half a trillion dollars, like Kimberly-Clark, S.C. Johnson, and Procter & Gamble.”
Not unlike Jason Adams, Mr. Riley and his college buddies got into the habit of using baby wipes and noticed how much quicker and cleaner the backside-cleaning process was relative to regular toilet paper.
The Inc. article continues, “Sean realized a glaring gap in the market: adult men, specifically those his age, weren’t using flushable wipes because the product was never designed or marketed to them.” So, designing and marketing a brand of flushable wipes expressly for mostly young American men (i.e., those who often refer to each other as “dude”) is precisely what Mr. Riley and his friends did.
In the process, they grew from a eureka moment in a shared apartment to over $140 million in annual sales. Yet, relative to the wider population, those who use DUDE Wipes still represent only one moderately sized segment of the American market.
Firstly, why would flushable adult wipes be less useful for post-infancy boys and girls, adolescents, middle aged and older men, women of all ages and all the other categories that the explicitly “Dude”-centered brand purposely excludes?
Mr. Adams contends correctly that flushable wipes are not only for babies and young men but for people of all ages and genders – i.e., the babies’ mothers, the young men’s uncles and aunts, etc. That is why the Restroom Wizard is not branded for any specific gender or age group.
Secondly, a key constraint on DUDE Wipes use is ready availability: “Bass fishing's funniest man and DUDE Wipes lover, Gerald Swindle, has been wiping with DUDE Wipes for a decade and says he never leaves home without them.” So reads a recent press release from DUDE Wipes.
Naturally, since DUDE Wipes or any sort of flushable wipes are not found “out there”, the avid user must always take some along. This, of course, is problematic, especially for the typical Dude Wipes user. After all, how many men have a handbag in which to carry around wipes?
The current sleeker design of the Restroom Wizard is likely to be well-received by consumers seeking greater comfort and cleanliness in their private bathrooms without taking up too much space. Moreover, since the air freshener component is wholly optional, consumers may use the product without having to replace any odor control system that they may already have in place.
U.S. Commercial Toilet Market
In terms of retail establishments that are generally expected to provide restrooms to patrons, we calculate, according to the most currently available data sources, that there over 950,000 of them across the country. For example, Barnes & Noble locations were included but independent bookstores were not as, unlike the former, the latter often do not provide restrooms to patrons. For the same reason, gas stations were excluded as, even when they do provide restrooms, the facilities tend to be barely a half-step up from portable toilets in terms of cleanliness and amenities. As such, these are generally not businesses that are incentivized to provide “extras” like the Restroom Wizard in their bathrooms.
Another type of business that generally is incentivized to make the bathroom experience as pleasant as possible is commercial property management, particularly on the higher-end of the office rental spectrum. There are approximately 5.9 million commercial buildings in the United States. Even if we assume that only the top third or so of those buildings would be sufficiently motivated to provide the best amenities to their tenants, that amounts to roughly 2 million buildings, each of which houses multiple floors, typically at least two bathrooms (for men and women) on each floor and often two or more stalls per bathroom.
So, adding an estimate of 2,000,000 to the 950,000 other applicable U.S. private businesses, one arrives at a total of nearly THREE MILLION American commercial enterprises that possess a strong incentive to maximize the comfort of their bathroom experience. And what better way to do so than with product that enhances the cleanliness of the entire toilet-using experience with flushable wipes? (Not to mention the optional natural air freshening add-on component.) Especially with its current sleek and more compact design, the Restroom Wizard now makes much less of a footprint in a commercial restroom but still delivers ALL of the same customer benefits and conveniences!
Another type of business that generally is incentivized to make the bathroom experience as pleasant as possible is commercial property management, particularly on the higher-end of the office rental spectrum. There are approximately 5.9 million commercial buildings in the United States. Even if we assume that only the top third or so of those buildings would be sufficiently motivated to provide the best amenities to their tenants, that amounts to roughly 2 million buildings, each of which houses multiple floors, typically at least two bathrooms (for men and women) on each floor and often two or more stalls per bathroom.
So, adding an estimate of 2,000,000 to the 950,000 other applicable U.S. private businesses, one arrives at a total of nearly THREE MILLION American commercial enterprises that possess a strong incentive to maximize the comfort of their bathroom experience. And what better way to do so than with product that enhances the cleanliness of the entire toilet-using experience with flushable wipes? (Not to mention the optional natural air freshening add-on component.) Especially with its current sleek and more compact design, the Restroom Wizard now makes much less of a footprint in a commercial restroom but still delivers ALL of the same customer benefits and conveniences!
U.S. Public Toilet Stall Market
The British bathroom supply company QS Supplies, published its latest “Public Toilet Index” in August of 2021. The index reveals and ranks the availability of public toilets in each country around the world as measured by the number of such toilets per 100,000 people. The United States ranked relatively low on the index, with only 8 public toilets for each 100,000 people. Nonetheless, with a total population of approximately 333,000,000, that amounts to over 26,000 public toilets in the United States. So, the U.S. public/government sector is not an insignificant market and it’s one with a strong incentive to provide a comfortable bathroom experience to citizens/voters.
The British bathroom supply company QS Supplies, published its latest “Public Toilet Index” in August of 2021. The index reveals and ranks the availability of public toilets in each country around the world as measured by the number of such toilets per 100,000 people. The United States ranked relatively low on the index, with only 8 public toilets for each 100,000 people. Nonetheless, with a total population of approximately 333,000,000, that amounts to over 26,000 public toilets in the United States. So, the U.S. public/government sector is not an insignificant market and it’s one with a strong incentive to provide a comfortable bathroom experience to citizens/voters.