Name of your website?Cover Bonanza
Your name?
Joe McKean
Your Location (city, etc)
Mercer Island
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Cover Bonanza offers a wide selection of protective storage covers and outdoor accessories. Brand name products include Stearns boat covers, Classic Accessories RV covers, Trout Unlimited fishing gear, QuadGear ATV covers and accessories, MotoGear motorcycle covers, and Veranda patio furniture covers.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
The love of the outdoor lifestyle and the need for quality covers to protect expensive investments such as boats and RVs.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
CoverBonanza.com is our first and only we site and we launched it in May of 2004.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Our goal was, and is, to offer the widest selection of quality protective covers and our first thought was Cover Bonanza. Luckily the domain was available and here we are over three years later.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
Cover Bonanza was founded by a group of outdoor enthusiasts in Seattle, Washington. Therefore, we know the lifestyle and know what our customers want from their covers and gear, opposed to just retailer that sells stuff. We always put quality FIRST and then we do everything we can to offer it at the best prices!
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Our goal is to continuing what we're doing and making more friends across the country in the process.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Since we're an online business we don't have the overhead of a traditional retail store, which has greatly benefited our investment of time and money in our quest for success.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
Honestly, we wouldn't change a thing. We believe success is about more than money alone. To us (and our customers/friends) success is a lifestyle that you don't find inside of an office.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Yes, since we have a skilled group of team members and the infrastructure we are able to quickly adapt to any level of growth in the future.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Surprisingly, not enough to mention. We knew fully well what we were getting into and we have lots of contacts in the outdoor and tech industry to help us along when the need arises.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Finding more quality products to offer our customers. Our standards are Very High and we refuse to sell anything unless we would buy it and use it ourselves. And quite frankly a lot of the other stuff out there just isn't up to par.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Word of mouth. We believe in genuinely making every customer a friend and this has paid off more than all of our paid marketing combined. When all's said and done it's all about people. Not pop up ads.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It really hasn't. We kind of expected there would be a lot of work involved and there's enough of us to share the load.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
I've personally been in charge of all operations since September 2005 and as things stand we established a solid enough base that we can pretty much sustain anything. Again, we've made a lot of friends out there and we make sure we take good care of them. Like anything else, life is a two way street.
What brands do you offer?
Brand name products we offer include Stearns boat covers, Classic Accessories RV covers, Trout Unlimited fishing gear, QuadGear ATV covers and accessories, MotoGear motorcycle covers, Veranda patio furniture covers and more.
What is your website address?
Cover Bonanza
