As you may know we will be holding our first Business Plan Competition Finals this Friday, April 13th, at 1:30pm in SGMH 1502 (details). There will be some great prizes given away like an iPad and a Xbox 360. But the real draw should be the presentations that our finalists will be giving. To whet your whistle here is a sneak peak into one of our finalists’ business:

For many home owners, the garage or basement is known as the “man cave” or hang out spot. Water heaters are commonly found in this area which can be a bit of an eye sore. Tank Skinz offers covers with several designs to wrap around the ugly water heater and transform the appearance of the garage. There will be many different covers available for customers to choose from such as various soda brands, beers, sports teams, and seasonal designs.Instead of looking at a rusty water heater every time someone pulls into their garage, they can imagine looking at a huge can of Coke. When the guys come over to watch Monday Night Football in the garage, a life-size can of Coors Light will be the center of attention. The option for customers to design and customize their own water heater cover will also be available at TankSkinz.com.

A patent is currently pending and this will ensure that no one can steal or mimic the idea for at least the first 20 years once the patent is approved, and will deter others from attempting to steal the idea while the patent is pending. To assure the safety of our name, Tank Skinz™ has been locally trademarked and will be nationally trademarked shortly. The domain names TankSkinz.com and TankSkinz.net are already secured.

Shawn Way, creator of Tank Skinz™ is also currently co-owner of Way Enterprises, LLC and has some experience with start-up businesses. He is a senior at Cal State Fullerton where he is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Entrepreneurship. He has been in the construction industry for six years and is very familiar with the home improvement industry.

This is one of those ideas that, when you see it, you slap yourself on the head and wonder “why didn’t I think of that?” On top of that it is a great idea and we wish him all the best during the Finals and afterwards as well.