Meet Simon Sassoon, founder of 99POINT9
I’ve had quite the journey to where I am now.
I started out selling encyclopaedias door-to-door for two years until my uncle Vidal (Sassoon) moved me to Los Angeles to learn the family business of hair care/lifestyle products.
I sold shampoo in San Diego for a year and after smashing sales records was promptly told that Vidal had just sold the business to Procter and Gamble! He advised me to ‘do my own thing’ and pursue the thing I loved. For me, that was music; I loved singing R&B and was a classical pianist since the age of 5.
It was an amazing time. I formed an R&B band with Corey Dee Williams – son of the Star Wars actor Billy Dee Williams. I then went on to be signed by Motown Records. We recorded our debut album only to see it shelved when Motown was sold.
I loved my time in music but wanted to express myself creatively. My journey led me to become an entrepreneur and exercise the other side of my brain.
This had humble beginnings selling ‘ice tubes’ (a bracelet and necklace combination that, when worn, literally cooled people down) on Venice Beach in California. This morphed into a cool, beachy jewellery line that eventually sold to many department stores across America and some high-profile international boutiques and department stores.
My tastes became more refined and this led to my eponymous collection of sterling silver watches which I sold to 600 craft galleries across America. I drove all over the US every year for three years between March and November – visiting all the stores where my watches were sold. 54,000 road miles a year, 600 stops, 600 trunk shows….this taught me a lot about “different strokes for different folks!” and perseverance.
What inspired you to launch 99POINT9 and what is the end goal?
It was 2005. I lived in Manhattan with my then girlfriend. When we went out to restaurants, she had a strange habit of coming back from the restroom with a paper towel in her hand. After witnessing this numerous times I finally asked what was this all about?
She said, she COULDN'T touch the door handle on the toilet on the way out. Literally that night, I had a dream where I was standing in the restroom looking at a device on the door above the handle, I saw the device spraying the handle and the following morning the seed of the product was sown.
Having observed her fear, I immediately decided the solution I’d conceived would help many people with a similar abhorrence to unclean door handles. I concluded that if my device prevented even one person getting sick through cross-contamination, then it was a job well done.
How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?
Our industry is full of ‘me-too’ products. I like to think at 99point9, we think of creative ways to solve hygiene problems in a way that nobody has thought of before.
The copycats are in this industry just to make money. I believe that public hygiene requires more ambition than that. It requires a sense of responsibility to the public space, a sense of creating something beneficial for public health. One must do one's bit in life where it's not just about the financial gain, but more about the genuine passion to help.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?
If you grow too slowly, you are sunk. If you grow too quickly, problems can ensue. You must work at a manageable pace and don't think you can take on the world before you are ready.
Secondly, it's all about the product. Work hard to create the best product you can. The rest will (hopefully) take care of itself.
With all the success stories around entrepreneurship and how innovative people have to be to take the leap. How do you think you’ve innovated your sector and why?
I was struck by an inspiration that literally changed my life's path. I think true innovation is recognised in any sector, but in my sector (being somewhat bereft of imagination), my inventions have struck a chord and we’ve been supported by both large and small companies.
Do you have a morning routine or ritual to get your day started on the right foot?
I work out on my Bowflex Max Trainer for 45 minutes and then work the weights for an hour and 15.
What plans do you have for ‘your business’ over the next two years?
With new products in the pipeline, I would like to think 99point9 will be a company known for innovative hygienic solutions that benefit both facility owners and occupiers.
Any new product launches we should know about?
We have an exciting new device we hope to bring to market in Q1 2021. It's one of those products that elicits the phrase "now why didn't I think of that?”
What’s the single most important decision that you made, that contributed to your business?
To take my invention and turn into reality - through design and prototyping.
How do you believe the evolution of tech will affect your industry over the next 10 years?
Technology will affect all industries, albeit my industry is rather stuck in its ways and typically slow to adopt new technologies.
However, e-commerce is starting to affect even the way the ‘old guard’ think, so it is feasible to assume the hygiene business could see a rapid move to a new paradigm.
Is word of mouth working to your advantage?
I have based all my businesses on word of mouth. Product endorsement by users is the best tool to market a product.
