Student entrepreneurs rethink cooler crafting with Canvas Coolers

By Ryan, November 18, 2015

By Anne Davey // Opinion Editor

Canvas Coolers is a combination of a product and service that aims to revolutionize the way people think about “cooler crafting.” High Point University Senior’s Andrew Leonard and Brian Hagerty saw an opportunity and seized it. The two are serial businessmen, always looking for ways to improve their business skills, create a product or service and innovate.
Canvas Coolers aims to make cooler crafting a positive experience as opposed to a laborious task. According to Hagerty, the name “Canvas Cooler” was inspired by the idea of an artist being able to create a masterpiece on their canvas easily and on their own terms. They credit their start to a brilliant idea by Leonard and an instantaneous brand name by Hagerty. The project has been a joint creative venture since its inception and has grown rapidly since it began in the summer of 2014.
“Andrew sent a text out of the blue one day last summer saying, ‘I just came up with an incredible idea…’ and the rest is history. Within the same day, we created a collaborative document and laid the groundwork for our ready-to-paint cooler idea,” Hagerty, said. “Soon after, we purchased the domain www.canvascoolers.com and vowed that we would keep working until the product and the company were a reality.”
Canvas Coolers is currently only available to HPU students, selling and marketing exclusively on campus. While the co-founders were working to streamline production and take the business efforts seriously, they realized that achieving all of their goals for the serious final brand would be challenging. Unwilling to compromise, the launch of Canvas Coolers was pushed back several times. In the mean time, a similar company sprung up out of Kansas City—they were creating and shipping ready to paint coolers. Despite intital discouragement, Hagerty and Leonard forged ahead and launched Canvas Coolers exculisvely with HPU at the start of this school year.
The Campus Chronicle met with the founders to get some information on the process, future plans and success so far.
Q: How are you guys currently marketing your business? Facebook, twitter, etsy shop.
A: Part of our business model now and going forward is to spend as little as possible on marketing the company and product. We believe that if we are running our operation the best way, the Canvas Coolers should be able to market themselves. Right now we only utilize facebook and word of mouth for our business at HPU and it’s been picking up steam at an alarming rate.
Q: How much does the typical cooler cost when you sell it? How much time does it take for you to prep the coolers– what’s the process like?
A: The process to make these coolers is arduous and time consuming without a doubt. We find ourselves constantly saying, “Why do people keep making these things?!” The process starts with an initial deep sanding of the entire cooler, followed by a lighter sanding to smooth it out more. Then, some of the coolers require application of industrial-strength body filler (normally used for car repair) in order to make all surfaces smooth and perfect for painting. After that, the cooler is cleaned and painted with the best plastic primer we can buy. After the paint dries, one more very light sanding is applied so that the customers paint job adheres perfectly and permanently. There’s a lot that goes in to these coolers, and the results speak for themselves. We sell a variety of ready-to-paint coolers, and they can all be viewed along with their pricing at www.facebook.com/canvascoolers
Q: Canvas Coolers is taking off fast and the process is admittedly arduous, do you plan to employ any other students to help with the cooler prep process?
A: We’ve already been approached by eager students looking to help with the process, but for now we are keeping the process restricted to ourselves. We know what works best and we’re going to continue to operate that way and make sure everyone gets their coolers the way they deserve and in a rapid time frame.
Q: What does the future of Canvas Coolers look like?
A: We will continue to pursue the long-term goals we have for the company while simultaneously establishing our brand name.