How I Made Over $220M In Sales Creating Scrub Daddy | The Ground Up
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Published 2024-01-12
Aaron's entrepreneurial journey started when he was just a kid living in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. At 10 years old, he created his first invention: A rope and pulley system to turn his bedroom light on and off from his bed so he didn't have to get up and do it.
From there, Aaron kept his innovative side going by washing cars in the neighborhood. After graduating from Syracuse University in 1992 with a psychology degree, he told his family that he was going to open his own car washing business. His family was shocked and upset with his career path, to say the least.
But Aaron knew he could make it work. Not only by washing cars, but to start inventing new products. In 1994, he invented his first big product, which was a buffing pad for polishing cars.
In 1995, Aaron sold his car washing business and turned his focus to a new venture: Dedication To Detail, a buffing pad manufacturer. A few years after creating his business, he received polyester urethane foam from German manufacturer FoamPartner, which became a key part of Scrub Daddy's material now known as FlexTexture. However, the buffing pads he was selling with this foam at this time did not sell well and he was forced to stop selling it due to low sales in the market.
On September 3, 2008, Dedication To Detail was bought out by multi-national manufacturer 3M. Aaron's sponges ended up sitting at the back of the Detail factory for five years until March 2011 when they found a new life. That foam became the material of the sponge for the Scrub Daddy, which he pitched on Shark Tank in October 2012. As soon as the episode aired, Aaron's life changed forever.
Since then, the company moved their headquarters to Pennsauken, New Jersey in 2021. Their newest facility features a television studio, a warehouse, a koi pond, and a store for customers to buy their products.
Today, Scrub Daddy has made over $220 million in sales for 2023. But, Aaron said his sponge empire is just getting started.
00:00 – This Is Scrub Daddy
00:30 – Meet The Scrub Daddy
01:24 – The Sponge Dynasty
02:22 – Aaron’s First Invention
03:07 – An Early Entrepreneur
04:05 – Creating The Buffing Pad
04:42 – Finding The Right Material & Securing A Patent
05:57 – Starting Dedication to Detail
07:07 – The New Life Of A Sponge
09:02 – Building A Company
10:12 – Spotting A Knock Off
10:22 – Pitching To His First Customers
10:39 – Leveraging The Press
10:57 – Scrub Daddy’s QVC Debut
12:07 – Feeling Inspired By Shark Tank
12:49 – The Road To Shark Tank
13:07 – Perfecting The Pitch
13:54 – Preparing To Swim With Sharks
14:25 – An Unexpected Change
14:49 – Robert Herjavec’s Herald For Retail
15:16 – Mark Cuban’s Cut And Run
15:26 – Withdrawing Mr. Wonderful
16:13 – Lori Greiner See’s A Gain
17:11 – Aaron’s Vindication
17:53 – A Deal for Scrub Daddy
18:07 – Reaching New Heights
18:46 – Aaron's Partnership With Lori
19:51 – Scrub Daddy Moves To Pennsauken
20:11 – Aaron's Business Vision
20:59 - Keeping Sustainability In Their Sights
22:12 - One Thing Aaron Would Change
22:42 - Scrub Daddy's Future
23:13 - The Krause's Family Lesson
24:19 - What Aaron's Learned
24:39 - Outro
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All Comments (21)
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Thank you, Fortune, for sharing our story! We're just getting started ;)
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He seems like such a great guy on top of everything.
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the scrub daddy chain is cold af
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Aaron's journey from washing cars to making millions with Scrub Daddy proves that innovation can come from the most unexpected places! 💡💰
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The rise of the Scrub Daddy has been incredible so I love getting to know the background story of this innovative company, makes me appreciate their products even more!
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What a wholesome, genuine guy. It feels like something from a different timeline. I don't know him, but I feel so proud of him lol
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The part at the end with his mother made me cry. You’re doing amazing Aaron, thank you for your awesome products!
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This man is the COOLEST human being to exist I swear 😂 there needs to be a book about him
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I love this for him. He seems like such a nice guy, and I never thought someone being excited about a sponge would make me excited about a sponge lol
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All the problems you go through become a huge part of the success you achieve.
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Listening to this while doing my dishes with a scrub daddy is such an experience. I’m so glad you make an orange Daddy as it’s my favorite color and makes me look forward to doing dishes as weird as that sounds😂. Aaron to you and the whole company I love your products I wish I could buy more!
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I thought the scrub daddy was a scam, just another sponge, but it really is amazing and doesn't smell. Lasts almost a year, costs next to nothing and makes my life easier. It literally is an amazing product and he really deserves to be a millionaire
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This whole business is a textbook example of inventions and entrepreneurship. I teach Spanish and at some point O teach a business module, and Scrub Daddy is a perfect case study to analyze and review. Its a teachers wet dream when it comes to lesson planning
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I love this!! I didn’t realize how much work and dedication was put into the scrub daddy! I remember seeing it on shark tank too!!
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I live in europe, austria and I went to the drug store today and I was so happy to see scrub daddy on the shelves! Finally they are expanding to Europe. I have been waiting for this for so long! I bought 2
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I’m a simple gal, if I see any video about Mr.Aaron Krause talking about his unwavering passion for Scrub Daddy, I click 🙂↕️
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I hate washing dishes so much, but when I tried the scrub daddy it truely helped me clean my apt.
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It must be an insane feeling owning the biggest sponge company in the world. Aaron has really made an impact with his product. Godspeed, for the journy of Scrub Daddy continues forward!
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Some people have it, some don’t. This guy is a genius! very creative and love the energy! GO DADDY!!
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This story has left such a smile on my face, well done Aaron. I’m a big fan from Australia 🇦🇺 use many of your products!! They are truly the best!!
