NH SBDC Client Story: Visible Assets
Client Name: John Stevens
Business Name: Visible Assets
Business Website: ru-bee.com/
Industry: Manufacturing
Location: Stratham, NH
SBDC Advisor's Name: Janie Wang
SBDC Client: 1.5 Years
Picture an excavator the size of your home…
Now, imagine this excavator is in charge of picking up thousands of tons of rock and moving it to a spot where it’ll soon be crushed. When one of these excavators gets a “loose tooth”, it can cause a ripple effect of issues. If the tooth falls out and gets mixed into the rocks, it can be nearly impossible to find, sending it along with the rocks waiting in the crushing queue. Unfortunately, the rock crushers aren’t made to stand up to the metal of these teeth and can break. Equipment repairs like these can cost millions of dollars. The entire project is slowed down as repairs are made and the costs pile up even faster than the rocks were!
This is one of the many problems that John Stevens solves with Visible Assets’ specialized magnetic-tracking technology, RuBee. It can sense these loose teeth before they become an issue, and in the rare case they do fall out, it finds them long before the rock crushers can!
A Physicist Turned Entrepreneur
John was no stranger to business when he founded Visible Assets 25 years ago. Having previously founded and operated four other successful technology-based companies, he saw a need for his cutting-edge technology and set out to fill it.
A Ph.D. professor and physicist turned entrepreneur, John knows how to surround himself with the best and most brilliant minds who can innovate and solve complex issues at a high level.
His business philosophy is “Do good. Solve problems. Make money. Honestly.”
In 2004, he founded Visible Assets, a Stratham, NH-headquartered manufacturer and exporter of a magnetic wireless technology designed for tracking and securing valuable assets in challenging environments (don’t worry, layman’s terms coming in a moment!).
RuBee offers a solution for tracking and securing assets where traditional technologies fail. It’s used in various sectors, including:
- Military and defense: in armories, tracking weapons and equipment, ensuring equipment is safely functioning, and more
- Industrial: Managing inventory and assets in places where there’s heavy machinery and/or metal structures
- Security: Protecting sensitive areas by monitoring the movement of critical items
Saving millions of dollars and lives, it’s unlike anything that exists. It’s able to stand up to metal, water, and an array of other materials and conditions that can block wireless signals.
Despite being intrigued by complicated things, he didn’t realize just how complex the road ahead would be for him when he started Visible Assets. Facing long sales cycles, undergoing rigorous testing and scrutiny, navigating the world of exports, and competitors who aren’t shy about making brazen claims, John knew he needed support to move his business forward and progress towards his goals.
“Just because you have a better mousetrap, doesn’t mean people run to you.” - John S.
Connections to Growth
John learned about the NH SBDC through a local business organization and was directed to reach out for support around his exporting issues. He quickly came to appreciate how the SBDC and his Advisor, Janie Wang, helped him find a way through every obstacle he was trying to overcome!
Janie has supported him in every way possible as she locates resources, connects him to the right individuals and helps him lay the foundation for exponential growth.
One of the most impactful programs he’s tapped into is the NH Small Business Matchmaker (December 2024). A collaboration between the Small Business Administration (SBA), APEX, and SBDC, the event is a meet and greet for federal agencies and prime contractors on a federal and state level, as well as small businesses like Visible Assets. Participants attend to network, build relationships, and gain access to opportunities they might otherwise not have. John, along with hundreds of other participants, walked away from the day with a smile on his face, several quality leads, and a sense of accomplishment. He’s fostering these leads in hopes of helping them fulfill their government contracts and needs.
Representing American innovation at its best, Visible Assets gained invaluable exposure at the event.
For entrepreneurs and innovators coming behind or alongside him, John offers the advice to, “Put your head down and don’t let anything get in your way. And, please, do it honestly!”
Janie helps him stay resilient through the many challenges he faces.
Future Goals
Visible Assets Inc. is an NH-based company with 25 employees who work across North America. Within the next two years, he’s working to grow his company to a milestone goal of $30 million dollars in revenue, with the long-term vision being to build it to over a $100 million company.
John is always striving to make the world a safer, more secure, and better place with Visible Assets' exceptional technological solutions.