I have just launched a new product called Funwalkers. They are humorous license plates for walkers, rollators and scooters. It’s my 5th entrepreneurial venture and the one I am most excited about. It’s a side hustle right now, but I plan to scale it.
Funwalkers has two intentions:
- making people smile
- encouraging seniors to make more use of their walkers by removing the stigma and embarrassment often associated with them.
I was inspired to create Funwalkers.com when my 94 year-old friend fell, broke her hip and had to use a walker. Like my 89 year-old dad, who needs a walker, she was frustrated and embarrassed by her lack of independent mobility.
The walker was a visible sign of her fragility. She didn’t want to be seen in public with it, and insisted she “would never take her walker to the ballet or the opera.”
Now she’s running around town with a license plate that says “Act My Age? Why?” and handing out my business cards to all the people who ask her about it. Matter of fact, her photo is on my Funwalkers business cards. She asked me for “I Brake for Animals” too.
Funwalkers are available with 30+ fun sayings and they can be customized. So far, our most popular ones are “Yes it was a skydiving accident,” and “I brake for animals.” They attach in seconds to handlebars of walkers, rollators and scooters.
Scary Facts
Seniors are precisely who experts say are most in need of walkers to prevent falls that are the leading cause of injury, hospitalization and death for people over 65 according to the CDC. As an aging boomer, that scares the crap out of me :)
Funwalkers Goals
What also is exciting to me, besides seeing an idea take physical form, and seeing people enjoy Funwalkers, is that for the first time I am not the product. Now I have to do all the things I’ve done for my clients for the last many years. Challenging indeed. But also exciting and fun.
Once Funwalkers is established online, and gets some press, I plan to scale it up. Please stay tuned :)
Previous Ventures
Previous entrepreneurial ventures include B.L. Ochman Public Relations, which I grew into one of the 10 largest independent PR firms in the U.S.; whatsnextonline.com, my current digital consultancy which has been serving major brands since 1995; Pawfun.com which was not a commercial success, but was a lot of fun; and Maximum-Plus.com which placed a bad bet on Google+.
B.L. Ochman is a uniquely experienced digital pioneer who has been helping blue chip brands incorporate social media into their marketing strategy since 1996. She publishes What’s Next Blog, co-hosts and produces the award-winning Beyond Social Media Show podcast and contributes to AdAge DigitalNext. On Twitter, she’s @whatsnext and @Funwalkers_BL. Her newest venture is Funwalkers.com – humorous license plates for walkers, rollators and scooters.
