How I Started an Online, Direct-to-Consumer Laboratory

Back in eighth grade, I was hit in the mouth with a baseball bat and needed extensive dental work; luckily my dad was a dentist and after my teeth were restored, he made me a custom mouthguard in his in-house lab to protect my teeth. I was fascinated by the process and throughout high school, I made myself several more versions in different colors or with various sports team logos. I also began making them for my teammates who would go to my father’s office for an impression; it became my side hustle and I did hundreds of them, always trying to perfect my technique.

Fast forward about 10 years to 2009: I had my IT degree but was getting burnt out working long hours and knew this wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. So, in my downtime, I began offering custom mouthguards once again, posting my services directly to consumers on online sports forums as well as eBay. Soon, entire teams were placing orders and I realized there really was a market for...