Sloom’s founder on building a mattress business from scratch

Rudo Kemp already knew the mattress business when he decided to start Sloom. He had worked in bed retail and later spent time at a foam factory. That experience showed him how mattresses moved through the industry, how companies made them and where customers struggled when choosing one. One problem stood out to Kemp. People could spend a few minutes lying on a mattress in a shop and still have no idea whether they would like it after sleeping on it for a few weeks. Kemp started Sloom in 2016 with a different approach. Instead of opening another mattress store, he decided to sell directly to customers.

Taking the mattress out of the shop

The idea sounds simple. Customers could order a mattress online and get it delivered to their homes instead of visiting a store and testing several beds. But that raised another question: how do you sell a mattress that people haven’t tried? Sloom gave customers time to test the mattress at home. The company compresses its mattresses into boxes for delivery and gives customers a trial period before they decide whether to keep them. (Sloom) That changed how customers could make the decision. Instead of spending a few minutes testing a mattress in a showroom, they could sleep on it in their own bedroom.

Getting the business off the ground

The customer was only one part of the problem. Kemp also needed manufacturers willing to work with a new business. A startup doesn’t have the purchasing power of a large retailer, which can make it harder to attract suppliers. Kemp’s previous experience helped here. He had worked with foam and spent time on the manufacturing side of the industry. He understood the product and had a better idea of what it would take to make the mattresses. That knowledge gave him a starting point, but Sloom still had to build the business around it.

Changing the mattress too

Sloom didn’t only change how customers bought mattresses. The company also changed the product. The Sloom Original mattress lets customers choose between soft, medium and firm settings by rearranging its internal layers. (Sloom) That tackles another problem with buying a mattress. You might think you prefer a firm mattress when you buy it, then realise after a few nights that it doesn’t feel right. Sloom gives customers some room to change the feel without buying another mattress.

Convincing customers was part of the job

Selling mattresses online meant asking customers to trust a process they weren’t used to. There was no salesperson standing next to the bed explaining the differences between models. Customers didn’t have to visit a showroom before making a purchase. Instead, the mattress arrived at their door in a box. Sloom therefore had to make the online buying process simple enough for customers to give it a try. The home trial helped with that.

What Kemp saw in the industry

The idea behind Sloom wasn’t complicated. Kemp knew the industry. He had seen customers struggle with the buying process and decided to try something different. The harder part came afterwards. He had to find manufacturers, develop the product, get customers comfortable with buying a mattress online and convince them that they didn’t need a showroom to make the decision. That is the more interesting part of Sloom’s story. The company didn’t invent a completely new product. It looked at an established market and changed some of the things customers had come to accept. For entrepreneurs, there is something useful in that approach. Sometimes the opportunity isn’t in creating something nobody has seen before. It can come from looking closely at an industry you already understand and asking why people still do things the same way.