Safe Stuffing

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  Safe Stuffing Prototype

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  Safe Stuffing Logo

Inspiration

One of our team members, Lauren Benoit, had to rush her dog to the hospital last year for an emergency surgery after her dog ate the cotton stuffing inside his toy, which caused severe intenstinal blockage that nearly led to her dog’s death. We knew that there had to be a better way to eliminate the need for expensive medical procedures for fatal bowel obstructions caused by cotton stuffing, so we decided to create a dog toy product with digestible stuffing inside.

What it does

Safe Stuffing creates dog toys with stuffing inside that, when consumed, would be able to dissolve in stomach acid. This will prevent the dog from getting severe intestinal blockage.

How I built it

The outer layer of the dog toy is reinforced with double-stitched seams, which is the industry standard for tougher dog toys. The inner layer of stuffing is made from materials that are dissolvable in the dog’s stomach acid.

Challenges I ran into

The biggest challenge we ran into was that it took a lot of research to determine what the inner layer of stuffing would be composed of that would be digestible and pet-safe. We also took a lot of time consulting mentors to create realistic financials for our business plan. We took a lot of time calculating potential sales projections and profit margins.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I am proud that we have a very solid business plan with an idea that fills market white-space. Our team worked very hard to ensure that the financials were accurate and that we were able to bring our pitch together nicely over this three-day competition.

What I learned

We learned how to calculate profit/loss and profit margins. We also learned the ways in which we could incorporate technology into the business, such as utilizing search engine optimization and developing a website, to help market our unique product.

What's next for Safe Stuffing

We would like to work more on this business plan and it’s financials so we can actually start this company over the summer. We thing this is a very viable business with potential to be successful, and we are very passionate about this product.