Articles and Featured News

StepNpull convinced one of the Sharks to invest in the company’s bright future.

StepNpull appeared on ABC's “Shark Tank” April 2.

StepNpull CEO Mike Sewell was invited to pitch the company to potential investors on the hit ABC reality show “Shark Tank.” StepNpull was featured on the April 2 episode.

"Shark Tank” is a reality show that gives entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their companies and ideas to a group of “Sharks,” described by ABC as “tough, self-made, multimillionaire and billionaire tycoons,” in the hope of convincing one or more of them to partner and turn dreams into million-dollar realities.

Our dream is to expand our operations to meet the exploding demand for our hands-free, foot-operated door openers. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses and organizations around the world have flooded us with orders. This demand isn’t going to slow anytime soon, especially after we introduce a national TV audience to our germ-fighting product.

Today Show Features StepNpull as part of their Retail Reimagined News

Though many people did their holiday shopping online last year, retailers and malls introduced new safety measures to give in-person shoppers peace of mind including StepNpull hands-free door opener.

StepNpull in the Press

Featured by many, trusted by thousands.

ABC WISN12

New normal: Opening bathroom doors without using your hands - May 2020

WAUWATOSA, Wis. — On Friday, Gov. Tony Evers issued guidelines for businesses to prepare to reopen and still keep their customers as safe as possible. Among those guidelines included ways public restroom doors could be made “touch free.”

"Doors to multi-stall restrooms should be able to be opened and closed without touching handles if feasible. Consider adding a foot pull to the door if one is not already in place. Place a trash can by the door if the door cannot be opened without touching the handle, so restroom users can cover the handle with a paper towel and easily dispose of it afterward," the guidelines said.

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Biz 417

How StepNpull Sales Boomed in Recent Months - September 2020

How StepNpull discovers the opportunity, develops the big idea and then navigates the business to business market.

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StepNpull is Opening Doors to a New Business - September 2016

How StepNpull discovers the opportunity, develops the big idea and then navigates the business to business market.

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CBS Ozarks First (KOLR 10)

Local company’s product becomes popular during COVID-19 pandemic

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – During the COVID-19 crisis, one Springfield-based company is making it possible to open a door, hands-free.

It’s called StepNPull. It’s a product that allows you to open a door with your foot.

Company President Michael Sewell says the product was made in 2007 to help eliminate the spread of germs. StepNPull has become very popular during the pandemic. “We‘ve seen a significant increase in sales starting the very first part of March of this year. In fact, a 40 to 50-time increase in sales almost overnight.”

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Dow Jones & Co.

10 businesses profiting off your germaphobia - April 2014

Whenever something really scares Americans, someone usually finds a way to profit off that fear. Our growing germaphobia is no different.

Four in five Americans agree that people shake hands less often than they did 25 years ago, and two in five say they’ve personally hesitated to press the flesh for fear of germs. That may help explain why last year, disinfectant manufacturers raked in more than $679 million in sales, according to an IBISWorld report. “Over the past five years, growing consumer fears over the impact of pathogens, increasing health consciousness and hygiene awareness worldwide have spurred growth in demand for disinfectants,” the report found. And thanks in part to a rebounding economy, annual growth is expected to hit 3% a year through 2018, to $785.5 million.

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Missouri State University - The Standard

StepNPull creates hands-free hygiene - February 2017

Missouri State University’s Free Enterprise Center has installed new devices in its restrooms to help cut down on the spread of germs, expenses and garbage. The product, called StepNPull, is a foot-operated door opener that allows you to avoid the door handle by using your foot. Nick Simmonds, digital media manager for StepNPull, said that the product is expected to appear in more buildings on campus in the near future.

“(The product) is manufactured locally in the Ozarks, and our office is in the eFactory, which is a Missouri State building,” Simmonds, senior management major, said. “They do have StepNPull in the eFactory, but not everywhere on campus yet.”

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Springfield News-Leader

NASA orders Springfield company's device to go in its bathrooms - March 2018

A Springfield-based company recently added NASA to its list of customers, which already includes major companies such as Google, YouTube, Boeing, Walmart and Ford.

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Meet 5 local businesses thriving during the COVID-19 pandemic - April 2020

At some point in late February or early March, Mike Sewell said the national perception of his product turned from useful to essential. "In one month, we sold more than the entire time we were in business the last 13 years," Sewell said.

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These local men want to change the way you leave the bathroom - April 2015

The experience of using a commercial bathroom, Mike Sewell notes, has become increasingly touch-free. You wave your hand under the soap dispenser. You wave your hand under the faucet. Then you put your hands under the dryer, which automatically starts up, or make another wave under the paper towel dispenser. "As you finish drying your hands, you smile as you walk away knowing that you went from the toilet to the door without touching a single thing," Sewell said at a recent meeting of 1 Million Cups in Springfield. "Except there's one obstacle left that you have to overcome."

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Springfield Business Journal

Unprecedented Foothold - April 2020

2020 has proven to be the right product at the right time for StepNpull. “We sold more in March than what we sold the whole time we’ve been in business,” says StepNpull co-owner Mike Sewell. “It’s like a nuclear bomb has gone off in our business.”

StepNpull is a patented hands-free door opener, now in high demand amid the global spread of the coronavirus. The metal plate mounts perpendicular to the bottom of bathroom and interior doors – for users to step on and pull to open.

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NASA buys StepNpull door openers - April 2018

A Springfield-based company recently added NASA to its list of customers, which already includes major companies such as Google, YouTube, Boeing, Walmart and Ford.

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The eFactory

Missouri-Made Product on the Front Line in the Fight Against Coronavirus

Springfield-Based StepNpull Leads the Fight Against Coronavirus A Springfield-based company that aims to reduce the spread of germs and increase accessibly has seen interest and sales surge exponentially in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic.

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14

YEARS IN BUSINESS

50+

COUNTRIES

5000+

BUSINESS CUSTOMERS

450,000+

UNITS SOLD

Businesses We Serve

Whether the StepNpull is on the front door of a restaurant or the restrooms of an office building, our product eliminates a germ-spreading hotspot and keeps people safe. Some of our customers are McDonald’s, Google, Walmart and TJ Maxx, however the largest volume of customers are small businesses like law firms, office buildings, and retail locations.