The easiest mess to clean up is the one you prevent from the start. Meet Lindsey Laurain from EZPZ

In 2014, Lindsey Laurain was inspired by a conversation with her husband to find a product that would make mealtime with her small kids a lot less messy — and a lot more fun. Soon after, she quit her corporate job and created EZPZ Happy Mats, a line of colorful, practical mats that double as both placemats and plates.

Lindsey was recently one of our top 10 finalists in Small Business Big Game, so we reached out to learn more about her journey as a small business owner and what she's learned along the way!

Name: Lindsey Laurain

Business: EZPZ Happy Mats

Started: August 2014

Tell us a little more about how you came up with the idea for EZPZ placemats. Who or what inspired you to create your product?

The idea for our EZPZ Happy Mats was born purely out of mealtime frustration. 

My husband and I have three little boys — three-year-old identical twins and a five-year-old — and one night at dinner my husband got so frustrated because every plate or bowl was on the floor. He said, "Someone needs to invent something they can't toss or throw!"

I started looking online for a product that could solve this problem the very next day. But I quickly realized that nothing really existed — everything out there on the market just didn't work.

I came home and said to him, "I'm going to start my own company and I'm going to make this product." 

I made up my mind and never looked back!

What was the initial development process like? How did you land on the Happy Mat?

At first, I started experimenting with just a piece of paper and a bowl taped to it. I knew I had to somehow combine a bowl and a placemat, but I wasn't quite sure how to go about it.

I also got my hands on a book that outlined all of the steps for how to start your own business, including how to look for materials and how to check the market to see if your idea already exists. The author recommended ordering these tiny plastic balls you can craft plastic items out of, so within a week I ordered some and started experimenting.

I melted down the plastic and put a bowl inside — it literally looked like this janky bowl inside of a placemat, but it was one piece!

After that, I met with a local manufacturer I found online and I asked him for his advice on using silicone to create my prototypes. Through him, I met another man in Colorado who was able to make me our very first silicone prototype. 

Our prototype mat immediately suctioned, and we started freaking out because it actually worked — my kid was eating cereal out of it and nothing was on the floor!

In August of 2014 we launched our Kickstarter campaign and raised over $72,000 from our community that helped us get off the ground and begin manufacturing inventory that we could then begin selling at scale. 

Although the Kickstarter campaign helped a lot, my husband and I have invested a lot of our own savings into the business as well. It's definitely been risky — and we have been surprised by how much money it actually takes to launch and run a business — but it's also been extremely rewarding and humbling, especially when you have a product that is truly making a difference in people's lives. 

What are some of the big challenges you've come across while building your business?

If I had a magic wand and could change something, it would be to make the logistical stuff easier.

When you're shipping 40 or 50-foot containers, that's thousands of mats. And when you have folks internationally who are interested in your product, that's a lot to keep track of!

It's hard to make sure everything goes out on time, on schedule and without any flaws. You have to quality check everything to make sure there aren't any bad batches.

A magic wand would definitely make the logistics of dealing with international customers a lot easier!

What has been the biggest surprise so far in running your own business?

For me, the biggest surprise is how many people it really takes to successfully run a business.

I was previously an athlete, so the idea of working together as a team has always made sense to me. I've created a similar culture at EZPZ. I'm one of eight on our team and each person has a defined role, whether it's shipping and operations or creative.

Initially, I didn't realize how much goes into running a business from a creative standpoint or a photography standpoint or even when it comes to getting a warehouse and understanding the shipping logistics. I've had to learn a lot about how to stay on top of all that stuff.

Luckily, my strengths are my organizational skills and my drive. I have a great team behind me that makes it all happen, including my husband, my mom and my family. That's definitely been the biggest surprise — it takes a lot of us!

What is the most rewarding part about having your own business?

My favorite part of owning a business is that we're making a difference in people's lives. That's what drives me every day.

We created this business because we have three messy boys, but it turns out our product is helping many more people than we could have ever imagined. So many opportunities have surfaced recently from the special needs community and we've heard heartwarming stories from blind folks and both kids and adults with cerebral palsy who find our product helpful.

Where do you see EZPZ five years from now?

We've built out a five-year plan and our main goal is to continue revolutionizing the industry. We want everyone to say "Go get your mat!" instead of "Go get your plate!" when it's time to eat. Eventually, we want to sell the company once we're further down the road.

Right now we're just eight people and everyone on the team has been with me since the very beginning when I stuck a bowl on a piece of paper. We're all invested in the company and we work together until midnight if we have to.

We're laying the foundation of our company and creating systems so that — in five years — we can scale everything correctly and turn over the operation if and when we do sell.

Our focus is not only on creating a product that works, but creating a product that is thoughtfully designed, easy to use and makes feeding fun for both kids and adults.