Sammy Lopez, a video editor for NASCAR and Nicole Lopez, a Dental Hygienist are two aspiring entrepreneurs who've created an innovative product called Ruff Bowl: A product for dog lovers, by dog lovers. 

Ruff Bowl is a plastic travel bowl that can be attached to a leash and used in two ways: as a poop-bag holder when it is clipped on to the leash and as a water bowl when detached from the leash.

Ruff Bowl will soon be available in the market, in the meanwhile Sammy and Nicole are working very hard to make sure that the product reaches the right people and are planning a very aggressive social media campaign. Sammy has taken out some time to share his experience of creating and launching their new and offbeat product, read further to learn what it takes to step into entrepreneurship:

Sammy, please introduce yourself to E-junkies.

My name is Sammy Lopez and I am a freelance video editor for NASCAR Media Group and SPEED. My wife is Nicole Lopez and she is a Dental Hygienist. I am originally from Cali, Colombia and my wife was born in Delaware but was raised in Charlotte. We met because we lived right across from each other. I had adopted Nelson a Boxer/Rhodesian Ridgeback and Nicole had a Yorkie named Charlie.

Tell us about your product 'Ruff Bowl'.

Ruff Bowl is the innovative and exceptionally creative way to have a travel water bowl while at the same time having a hands-free way of carrying your dog’s used poop bags. These two features are very handy when hiking, at the dog park and even just walking around the neighborhood. And the best part is that it conveniently clips onto most large retractable leashes. Its very light weight and totally integrates onto most large retractable leashes in the market.

How did you come up with Ruff Bowl? Tell us about its inspiration and your experience while developing it.

We were hiking in a state park and we forgot to bring the dogs their travel bowl so we had to proceed to pour the water into our hands and give it to them that way.  Its not that we are horrible dog owners but with the dogs you have to always remember to carry so many things and we forgot that one thing. That’s when we started thinking about how we could make a travel water bowl that was always handy and then we thought about our retractable leashes and it was the prefect place to attach it to so that’s how it started. Then we kept thinking of other things that are a challenge when you walk your dog such as what to do with the poop bag after you pick up after your dog. So we came up with the notch so that you can securely hold the poop bag and not have to carry it with your hands. Most travel dog bowls are not very portable and the others are just extra things you have to throw into a backpack or in your pocket and then after they have been used you have to put a wet bowl in your pocket or backpack. Ruff Bowl eliminates this.

Tell us about your experience in product designing.

My wife and I have zero experience in product design. So when we had the initial idea we also started thinking about how it could be done and began doing research on vacuum forming and made some very crude homemade prototypes that proved our idea worked and that it was going to be very useful for all dog owners. We then took our homemade prototypes to Enventys, a local company here in Charlotte and they helped us develop the design and make it production ready.

What are the challenges a small business owner is likely to face while launching his product?

I would say that our biggest challenge has been money. My wife and I are not wealthy and we are starting a family so our savings are at a premium and it’s EXTREMELY expensive to develop any product. The time spent on figuring everything out, patent lawyers, design company with the countless prototypes and finally the mold and plastic injection company. These are all very expensive but we have been able to spend a reasonable amount of money due to lots of research and doing some of the work ourselves like researching patents, doing our own patent drawings, making our own website and getting lots of quotes.

What are the tactics you've adapted to promote your product?

We are still trying to figure out which works the best but so far we have tried kickstarter, Facebook, twitter and as many websites and news outlets that will post our story.

Rate social media on the scale of 10 as a promotional tool.

It has to be a 10 for sure we just have not been able to utilize it to it's full potential yet but we are working on that :)

What's your take on E-commerce? How does it encourage a new entrepreneur and more product inventions?

It's a new world we are living in for sure. Entrepreneurs everywhere should be trying to make all their ideas come true because it has never been more accessible for an average person to create, develop and sell their ideas. I like that we as consumers and creators can make things that we know we need and would use but a big company would never take the risk to manufacture. In a way it gives individuals and creative communities the power to demand more from products and be innovative.

What's the next step for taking this project 'Ruff Bowl' a step ahead?

At the moment we are in the process of starting the mold making process which can be a bit lengthy and once Ruff Bowl is manufactured we plan on running a very aggressive social media campaign, take Ruff Bowl to trade shows and local pet shops in Charlotte and ultimately reach the buyers of the big retail stores.

Share anything you would like to convey to our readers.

It has been a long and tough ride at times but it's been so fun and rewarding to share Ruff Bowl with total strangers and hear how enthusiastic they are about it. It's awesome and we truly live in a great creative world.

Thanks for a wonderful interview Sammy, and we wish you all the success with Ruff Bowl. :)