ITEM 1.
BUSINESS
Trutankless Inc. was incorporated in the state of Nevada on March 7, 2008. The Company is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and currently operates through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bollente, Inc., a Nevada corporation incorporated on December 3, 2009.
Trutankless is involved in sales, marketing, research and development of a high quality, whole-house, smart electric tankless water heater that is more energy efficient than conventional products. Management anticipates the Company's trutankless water heater, with Wi-Fi capability and trutankless' proprietary apps offered in the iOS and Android store, will augment existing products in the hope automation space.
Overview of Potential Markets and Summary of Marketing Plan
Management intends to focus on the United States residential market initially. For decades Americans have used only tank type water heaters. For most homes, the units hold an average of 40 to 80 gallons of water in a storage tank, are gas or electric fueled and consume excessive energy to keep water hot continuously. In fact, water heaters expend up to 25% of the total energy used by a typical household representing the second largest use of energy in most homes. Depending on household usage, approximately 25 - 50% of the heat created is lost through the walls of the tank and connecting pipes.
There are other problems inherent with traditional tank water heaters:
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Due to the high temperatures and corrosive aspects of water, a typical water heater has a lifespan of 10.7 years.
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Unless replaced beforehand, more than two thirds of water heaters eventually corrode and leak or burst, often resulting in extensive and costly water and mold related damage.
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Due to the large size and other installation requirements often result in the units being installed in garages and utility rooms on the opposite side of the home from the bathroom fixtures. Because of this, an estimated 10,000 gallons of water per household goes down the drain while users wait on the water to get hot at the faucet.
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Traditional tank water heaters take up to 6 to 9 square feet of floor space, which can be especially valuable in multi-family or commercial applications.
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To reduce operating costs, many people adjust the temperature on their water heaters down. Unfortunately, lower temperatures increase the possibility of unhealthy, waterborne bacteria growth.
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To increase water heating capacity, many people will adjust the temperature of their water heaters up. In addition to using more energy, this practice can be dangerous by posing a greater risk of scalding.
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Tankless water heaters are becoming increasingly popular in America because they:
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Produce a continuous, unlimited supply of hot water
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Expend only the energy needed to heat the water used with no
standby
energy loss
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Can last more than twice as long as tank heaters
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Are small and require very little space.
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Are not conducive to bacterial growth
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Are considered very
green
by green conscious builders and consumers.
Electric tankless water heaters have additional benefits over gas powered models because they can be installed almost anywhere in a home (closets, attics, utility rooms, etc.) where hot water is needed which improves flexibility of floor plan design for builders, architects, and remodelers. In addition, gas tankless water heaters may not be suitable for many applications due to challenges with adequate fuel supply, the need for exhaust vents with specific requirements, and other code-related requirements. In spite of these issues, gas tankless water heaters have enjoyed significant growth in North America because of the efficiency and performance they provide.
Home Automation Overview
Key trends in the home automation space, which is estimated to reach $46.22 Billion worldwide by 2025, have been driven by consumers desire for efficiency and lifestyle improvements. Companies like Nest have helped to introduce the Internet of Things to appliances with a direct impact on how users interact with traditional household appliances and have the ability to reduce energy usage. The trend towards integration with voice assistants is also on the rise with key industry leaders like Alexa and Google Assistant playing larger roles in the home automation industry. Insurance and utility companies have joined this trend by partnering with home automation manufacturers by leveraging different devices to build insurance products including discounts and rebates. While home security and safety monitoring are expected to continue to dominate the overall market, management anticipates energy management and HVAC controls and monitors will be one of the fastest growing markets in the U.S. which accounts for 36% of global demand.
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Trutankless replaces an archaic technology which is second to HVAC in home energy consumption, and combined with Wi-Fi capabilities, the system can not only save energy it has the ability to inform users and property owners of energy use, water use, and potential issues like leaks or other failures in the plumbing system. Management plans to roll out additional technologies in the future that can integrate with the Company's trutankless smart apps. Currently, the product has the ability to notify homeowners in the event of water flow while the system is set in away mode. Leak detection, leak damage mitigation, and hot water recirculation for instant hot water at the point of use are becoming major trends in the home automation space. Management believes new products can be introduced into its growing wholesale network to augment trutankless' momentum and harness growing trends to a fresh audience of plumbing and other home service professionals.
Homebuilders and plumbing companies have begun selling homes with more technology integrations. Lennar Homes for example, the nation's largest homebuilder, just recently announced the world's first Wi-Fi Certified communities and employs Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. Trutankless has also been introduced into Lennar communities, and management expects that trutankless products will share Wi-Fi Certification as well as integration with Alexa's voice command capabilities, among other improvements to its existing technology platform.
Tankless Industry Overview
The U.S. gas tankless, whole-house, water heater market is dominated by five brands; Noritz, Rinnai, Takagi, Aqua Star by Bosch and Rheem by Paloma. The U.S. electric tankless water heater market is dominated by four companies; Stiebel-Eltron, Rheem (Eemax/EcoSmart), Seisco by Microtherm, Inc., and Power Star by Bosch. Until just a few years ago, there were only a few tankless water heater manufacturers with a presence in the United States, but that is changing. Now, several Japanese and European manufacturers have begun marketing products in the United States, and since 2003, gas tankless products have experienced dramatic growth. Electric tankless systems have not experienced comparable growth due to several factors, primarily product performance, capacity, product quality and electrical power supply and installation issues.
Manufacturers of tank heaters have a competitive advantage due largely to their product categories long established use, name recognition, established distribution and brand position in the marketplace. Many plumbers and other building industry professionals were opposed to changing brands or to tankless systems because many tankless water heaters have been poorly designed in the past. As a result there is a perception among some contractors that these water heaters are more complicated and generally less dependable than traditional tank heaters. This perception is often passed along to consumers when making buying decisions or inquiring about switching to a tankless water heater. In recent years however, the industry has experienced a contraction in sales of products and services for new building projects. Consequently, higher ticket, higher margin products, such as tankless and solar water heating systems have become a primary growth driver for many plumbers and companies who had traditionally avoided emerging technologies.
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While we believe that our products will have superior performance, such as endless hot water, superior longevity, greater efficiency and lower life-cycle costs than traditional tank water heaters, the Companys success will depend to a large degree on the successful conversion of traditional water heater buyers to tankless water heater buyers. The acquisition price of tankless water heaters (both gas and electric) is greater than traditional tank water heaters, but the overall cost of ownership will be less than that of traditional tank technologies under typical circumstances. Although the publics awareness of tankless systems has not been strong historically, sales growth in the sector is suggestive of increasing awareness.
Our marketing and promotion plans have been developed to increase the awareness of the Companys brand as the preferred option to traditional tank systems. Trutankless intends to position itself and its brand to capitalize on the paradigm shift to green-conscious living and development.
Trutankless® Products
We manufacture and distribute trutankless® water heaters, a line of new, high-quality, highly efficient electric tankless water heaters. Our trutankless® water heaters are engineered to outperform and outlast both its tank and tankless predecessors in energy efficiency, output, and durability. It provides endless hot water on demand for a whole household and it also integrates with home automation systems.
We have several features and design innovations which are new to the electric tankless water heater market that we believe will give our products a sustainable competitive advantage over our rivals in the market.
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Our trutankless® water heaters are available through wholesale plumbing distributors, including Ferguson, Hajoca, WinSupply locations, Morrison Supply, and several regional distributors. A partial listing of wholesalers may be found on our website (www.trutankless.com).
Our trutankless® water heaters are designed to provide an endless hot water supply because they are designed to heat water as it flows through the system. We believe that our products are capable of higher temperature rise than competitive units at given flow rates because of its improved design and greater efficiency. Our trutankless® water heaters can save energy and reduce operating costs compared to tank systems because unlike tanks, if there is no hot water demand, no energy is being used. In addition, we intend to improve life-cycle costs with an improved design conceived not only to increase efficiency, but also the longevity of our products versus competitive units. Generally, a typical tank water heater lasts about 9 years, whereas gas tankless systems may last longer, but requires more routine maintenance. Our product line is designed to last longer than tank water heaters without any routine maintenance required under most conditions.
We created a custom heat exchanger for our trutankless® product line that utilizes our patented technology to heat water as it flows through the system, which means customers need not worry about running out of hot water. We believe weve selected the best materials available and a collection of exclusive design elements and features to maximize capacity, minimize energy use, and provide a truly maintenance free experience.
Our trutankless® water heaters were officially launched in the first quarter of 2014 and is sold throughout the wholesale plumbing distribution channel. We began generating revenue in the first quarter of 2014. As of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, we generated $238,912 in revenue. As of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, we generated $265,504 in revenue. As of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, we generated $429,582 in revenue. As of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, we generated $695,857 in revenue. As of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, we generated $1,537,958 in revenue.
In July of 2014, we launched a customizable online control panel for our trutankless® line of smart electric water heaters. From the dashboard, residential and commercial users can obtain real-time status reports, adjust unit temperature settings, view up to three years of water usage data, and change notification settings from anywhere in the world, using a computer or web-enabled smart device at
www.home.mytankless.com.
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Additionally, service professionals can also use the www.pro.trutankless.com dashboard to monitor system status on every unit they install, allowing them to proactively contact their customers if a service or warranty appointment is needed.
Our primary markets, Florida, Texas, Arizona, and the rest of the Sunbelt region are centers of growth in the U.S. construction industry with green building at an all-time high, and an unprecedented appliance replacement cycle. We intend to take advantage of these powerful macro-economic trends.
Home.trutankless.com is available as a service to consumers of trutankless® water heaters. We have applications available for download from the Google Play and Apple iOS stores, which like the online control panels, allows monitoring and control of the tankless systems.
Industry Recognition and Awards
Trutankless® received the Best of IBS 2014 Award for Best Home Technology Product from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) at that years International Builders Show (IBS) in Las Vegas. The IBS is produced by NAHB and is the largest annual light construction show in the world - featuring more than 1,100 exhibitors and attracting 75,000 attendees including high level decision makers from some of the largest homebuilders in the world as well as plumbing and HVAC professionals from top outfits in major markets.
Trutankless® received the Governor's Award of Merit for Energy and Technology Innovation for the trutankless line of electric tankless heaters at Arizona Forward's 2014 Environmental Excellence Awards.
Trutankless® received Kitchen and Bath Business Magazines 2014 K*BB Product Innovators Award Judges Choice Product.
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In 2015, Trutankless was named in Buildings Magazines 2015 listing of Money Savings Products in the Energy Saving Measures category and received a Special Mention in the Architizer A+ Awards.
That same year, Appliance Design Magazine named Trutankless among the winners of their annual Excellence in Design Award, and the editors of Green Builder Magazine named Trutankless as one of their picks as Hot Product.
Consumer Reports Magazine featured Trutankless in its Top 5 Remodeling Trends for 2016, and leading home improvement website, houzz.com, honored the company with 4 consecutive Best of Houzz honors from 2014 through 2018.
Customers and Markets
We sell our products to plumbing wholesale distributors and dealers.
Approximately 81% of our sales in 2018, 90% of our sales in 2017, 96.1% of our sales in 2016, 98.3% of our sales in 2015 and 93.5% of our sales in 2014 were to wholesale plumbing equipment distributors for commercial and residential applications. We rely on commissioned manufacturers representatives to market our product lines. Additionally, our products are sold to independent dealers throughout the United States.
Manufacturing and Logistics
Our principal supplier is Sinbon Electronics, a contract manufacturer and engineering company based in Taiwan with manufacturing facilities in China, Taiwan, in the U.S., and other global locations. Sinbon handles procurement and supply chain management. We have a Manufacturing Services Agreement establishing our pricing and payment terms, warranty, shipping, and delivery terms. We are also negotiating our engineering agreement with Sinbon, which is ongoing and currently being re-negotiated.
Finished products are generally shipped Free on Board (FOB) Shanghai via ocean freight and are warehoused at Associated Global Systems located in Phoenix, Arizona. Merchandise is typically shipped using common carriers or freight companies which are selected at the time of shipment based on order volume and the best available rates.
Intellectual Property & Proprietary Rights
We regard substantial elements of our brands and underlying intellectual property as proprietary and attempt to protect them by relying on trademark, service mark and trade secret laws, restrictions on disclosure and transferring title and other methods.
Our plans are to actively pursue patent and trademark protection for all of newly developed products, both domestically and abroad. We have novel and proprietary technologies related to our product line and the central focus of our patent counsel has been successfully building a defensible portfolio of patent claims which have been granted.
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To date, we have filed and received a United States federal trademark registration for trutankless® and our logo design with the help of our outside marketing and branding experts and have acquired several unique domain registrations reflective of our online marketing strategy (www.Trutankless.com). During the year ended December 31, 2013, our patent agent filed a provisional patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office with the US Patent and Trademark Office with 37 claims based on our prototype design. Upon completion of our engineered prototype, we filed additional patents with additional claims. We have been able to obtain a formal patent for our tankless water heater with a total of 34 individual and dependent claims. We will continue to protect our intellectual property through confidentiality agreements with vendors and consultants and trade secret protocols employed by employees, consultants, and contractors.
Growth Strategy
Trutankless product launched in the first quarter of 2014 and is sold through the wholesale plumbing distribution channel. Gas tankless manufacturers support of this sales channel was critical in their ability to quickly capture appreciable market share in the $3.6 billion replacement market. No electric tankless has been available solely through wholesale distributors which have welcomed the arrival of trutankless. Trutankless sales and service training programs geared towards plumbers and contractors are the primary focal point of the Companys sales strategy. Trutankless is employing several outside manufacturers rep agencies to quickly scale sales and educate distributors, plumbers, builders, and contractors.
The Company is also leveraging online marketing strategies and social media. By continually building an immersive and educational web experience at www.trutankless.com. Trutankless is efficiently building brand awareness among consumers. Launch efforts are focused in Arizona, Texas, and the Southeast which accounts for over 1,000,000 electric water heater shipments annually. Licensing and co-branding opportunities are being assessed, since strategic partnerships would eliminate the channel conflicts that have historically obstructed previous electric tankless entries in the marketplace. Electric tankless category competitors have traditionally been unable to obtain partnership household brand names because of generally poor manufacturing quality and product support. In the future we may pursue co-branding opportunities to accelerate sales of Trutankless products through retail channels.
In addition, we have determined that as part of our growth strategy, we will seek to partner with or acquire entities operating in various fields, with a bias towards green and "clean-tech" sectors. Our management has experience in marketing, product launches, business development strategies, and certain other areas specific to the success of growth companies. We will operate with a view towards identifying acquisition candidates as we seek the rights to provide the market with products and services geared toward environmental responsibility, innovative technology in the plumbing industry, and home automation technology.
We have identified several agents who are well suited to provide consulting to high-growth technology and consumer products companies. We are currently negotiating with several agents possessing technical expertise related to planning, structuring, and capitalizing growth companies in the green and "clean-tech" sectors who will be tasked with creating additional revenues and assist the Company with our own planning, structure, and capitalization.
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We have identified several entities that fit one or more of our criteria. We are focused on adding value to these companies and acquiring either the entity or its business, maintaining and growing that business, and hiring and utilizing existing management where appropriate. We have begun the design of a website which we believe will help us attract relationships with possible acquisition targets.
Margin Expansion
Cost reduction measures, including outsourcing of key components and certain quality control testing protocols, are currently being undertaken on an expedited basis to rapidly reduce costs and improve manufacturing scalability. Such reductions are expected to take place in stages over the next three quarters and are likely to result in gross sales margins approaching 50% or more, which is far higher than other commodity-heavy technologies, and companies in the sector with mature technologies.
Market Outlook
Trutankless entered the market in front of the largest water heater replacement cycle ever at a time when homeowners are seeking ways to reduce their carbon footprint without sacrificing comfort. Additionally, statistics have shown a trend towards electric water heating in new construction markets. Florida, Texas, and Arizona, and areas where electric water heaters dominate the market, have been epicenters of the residential new construction strength in the US. In the new construction market, builders are increasingly marketing green features and trutankless fit well along with other energy saving innovations.
In commercial markets, projects with a green designation like LEED or EnergyStar recently became the majority. We feel that our commercial line of trutankless products are well suited to thousands of customers in the retail, quick serve and fast casual restaurants, hair salons, education. In addition to residential new construction and replacement markets, we feel the commercial applications for which our products are appropriate represent a large portion of the commercial water heater market.
Additionally, the Federal Government mandated that standard electric water heaters over 55 gallons may not be sold (started in April 2015), effectively forcing the market to use alternative technologies like tankless water heaters.
Investment Analysis
Trutankless has entered the market with a disruptive product that has enjoyed significant trend towards tankless water heating to displace gas tankless water heaters thus far. As a result of the market share growth of gas tankless, we believe TKLS is poised to produce exceptional results in the significant electric water heating market. Management has plans to significantly reduce the cost of goods sold and develop other innovations to supplement existing offerings which will be sold through the existing sales channels and reps which to help ensure sustainable growth over the next 3-5 years.
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Recent Developments
On March 21, 2017, we announced our exclusive partnership with Mr. Rooter®.
On April 4, 2017, we announced that our trutankless line of smart electric tankless water heaters is the exclusive water heating solution for luxury communities built by the award -winning Arizona home builder Cullum Homes.
On April 11, 2017, we announced that our trutankless line of smart water heaters has been chosen for both a retrofit project and new construction of townhomes at Friendship Village, a retirement community touted as senior living for the at heart, located in Tempe, Arizona.
In June 2017, we announced that we have signed a manufacturing agreement with SINBON Electronics, a leading solution provider of electronic component integration design and manufacturing with a global presence in the U.S., Taiwan, China, Japan, the U.K., Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
In September 2017, we announced that our trutankless® line of electric water heaters has launched a nationwide distribution program with Ferguson, the largest distributor of commercial and residential plumbing supplies, and pipe, valves, and fittings (PVF) in the United States.
In March 2018, we announced our sales and installation expansion into the Florida water heating market, which is over 90% electric, with our trutankless® line of electric water heaters.
In April 2018, we announced record fourth quarter and full year 2017 results. The announcement included a record 61% increase in annual revenue compared to the prior year driven, in part, by a 133% increase in the fourth quarter over the prior period.
In May 2018, we announced that the Company had set a sales record for the first quarter of 2018, which was an all-time revenue record, and a fourth consecutive quarter of increasing gross margins.
In July 2018, we announced a corporate name change to Trutankless, Inc. from Bollente Companies, Inc., and began trading under the new ticker symbol TKLS.
In August 2018, we announced a sales increase of 200% in the first half of the year over the same period in the prior year. Growth was attributed to several factors, including strong demand for its trutankless line of smart water heaters amongst a growing number of the nations largest homebuilders, as well as the impact of improving velocity in channel sales.
In November 2018, we announced a sales increase of 190% for the nine months ending September 30 over the same period of 2017. Increased production and expanded wholesale customer base were credited as the primary factors for continuing sales expansion.
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In March 2019, we issued a corporate update, including the up-listing of the Company to the OTC Markets OTCQB tier and new patent claims granted for its proprietary home automation capabilities. The Company also revealed several new key relationships with new home construction leaders such as Lennar Homes, DR Horton, and Shea Homes, as well as with national plumbing companies like Service Experts, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, and RotoRooter.
Target Markets
The United States market for residential tank water heaters in 2010 was approximately 7.65 million units according to data released by the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). Almost 50% of those shipments were electric water heaters, and the company has found in comparing those statistics with government data, that over 90% of tank water heaters shipped in 2010 were intended for replacement installations.
Trutankless initially market its products to builders, remodelers and distributors in the southern and western U.S. These areas of the country have been selected because of generally higher ground water temperatures, which improves the effects of the performance and capacity of all brands of tankless water heaters. This area of the country also traditionally has the largest share of population growth and new housing starts, accounting for almost two-thirds of all housing starts in 2010, according to government data. Additionally, the southern U.S., and specifically the southeastern U.S., has the highest usage of electric water heaters.
Distribution Plan
Initially, we will be distributing our first product line throughout the southern and western U.S. using an existing network of plumbing and electrical wholesalers (distributors), manufacturers representatives and dealers. We believe that we will continue building existing partnerships with major companies in the building and plumbing industries to rapidly expand awareness of Trutankless and our products in the water heater market in the U.S and Canada.
Sales will continue to be pursued through the following channels:
1.
Regional and national plumbing and electrical wholesalers (also called distributors);
2.
Plumbers and electricians on a direct basis, in those areas where wholesalers have not yet been set up; and,
3.
Builders on a direct basis, in those areas where wholesalers & mechanical contractors have not yet been set up.
We will expand sales of the product further by marketing the product directly to consumers over the internet with a series of aggressive and ongoing marketing initiatives. We intend to market to industry professionals and end-users through more traditional marketing efforts as well, including print advertising, attendance of select national trade shows, and attendance of select regional consumer shows. We also expect Trutankless will be successful in providing education, training, and support to our sales and installer networks as part of our distribution and marketing efforts.
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We believe our products will be a differentiating factor for industry professionals and builders as they market to their customers. Additionally, our electric tankless products are expected to provide these professionals and their companies with a mechanism to increase revenue and improve gross margin as compared to more traditional water heating products.
Employees
We currently have six full-time employees, including our two officers, and two part-time employees. We expect to increase the number of employees to expand our sales and technical staff. We are using and will continue to use independent consultants and contractors to perform various professional services. We believe that this use of third-party service providers may enhance our ability to contain operating, general expenses and capital costs.
Available Information
Our periodic reports filed with the SEC, which include Form 10-K, Form 10-Q, Form 8-K and amendments thereto, may be accessed by the public free of charge from the SEC. Electronic copies of these reports can be accessed at the SECs website (http://www.sec.gov). Copies of these reports may also be obtained, free of charge, upon written request to: Trutankless Inc., 15720 N. Greenway Hayden Loop, Suite 2, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260, Attn: Corporate Secretary. The public may read or obtain copies of these reports from the SEC at the SECs Public Reference Room at 450 Fifth N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549 (1-800-SEC-0330).
ITEM 1A.
RISK FACTORS
If we are unable to attract and retain key personnel, our business could be harmed.
If any of our key employees were to leave, we could face substantial difficulty in hiring qualified successors and could experience a loss in productivity while any successor obtains the necessary training and experience. Our employment relationships are generally at-will. We cannot assure that one or more key employees will not leave in the future. We intend to continue to hire additional highly qualified personnel, but may not be able to attract, assimilate or retain qualified personnel in the future. Any failure to attract, integrate, motivate and retain these employees could harm our business.
We are subject to significant competition from large, well-funded companies.
The industry we compete in is characterized by intense competition and rapid and significant technological advancements. Many companies are working in a number of areas similar to our primary field of interest to develop new products; some of which may be similar and/or competitive to our products.
Most of the companies with which we compete have substantially greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution and other resources than us. If a competitor enters the tankless water heater industry and establishes a greater market share in the direct-selling channel, our business and operating results will be adversely affected.
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Our auditors have substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Additionally, our auditors report reflects that the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern is dependent upon our ability to raise additional capital from the sale of common stock and, ultimately, the achievement of significant operating revenues.
Our financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. Our auditors report reflects that the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern is dependent upon our ability to raise additional capital from the sale of common stock and, ultimately, the achievement of significant operating revenues. If we are unable to continue as a going concern, stockholders will lose their investment. We will be required to seek additional capital to fund future growth and expansion. No assurance can be given that such financing will be available or, if available, that it will be on commercially favorable terms. Moreover, favorable financing may be dilutive to investors.
We will require additional financing in order to implement our business plan. In the event we are unable to acquire additional financing, we may not be able to implement our business plan resulting in a loss of revenues and ultimately the loss of your investment.
Due to our very recent start-up nature, we will have to incur the costs of product development, import expenses, advertising, in addition to hiring new employees and commencing additional marketing activities for product sales and distribution. To fully implement our business plan we will require substantial additional funding.
We will need to raise additional funds to expand our operations. We plan to raise additional funds through private placements, registered offerings, debt financing or other sources to maintain and expand our operations. Adequate funds for this purpose on terms favorable to us may not be available, and if available, on terms significantly more adverse to us than are manageable. Without new funding, we may be only partially successful or completely unsuccessful in implementing our business plan, and our stockholders may lose part or all of their investment.
Our internal controls may be inadequate, which could cause our financial reporting to be unreliable and lead to misinformation being disseminated to the public.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. As defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f), internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the principal executive and principal financial officer and effected by the board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and procedures that: (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company;
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(ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company, and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the Companys assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
We have two individuals performing the functions of all officers and directors. Mr. Orr, our CEO, and Mr. Stebbins, our president, have developed our internal control procedures and are responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance with those procedures. As a result, our internal controls may be inadequate or ineffective, which could cause our financial reporting to be unreliable and lead to misinformation being disseminated to the public. Investors relying upon this misinformation may make an uninformed investment decision.
We depend on certain key employees, and believe the loss of any of them would have a material adverse effect on our business.
We will be dependent on the continued services of our management team, as well as our outside consultants. While we have no assurance that our current management will produce successful operations, the loss of such personnel could have an adverse effect on meeting our production and financial performance objectives. We have no assurance that we will not lose the services of these or other key personnel and may not be able to timely replace any personnel if we do lose their services.
Our ability to attract qualified sales and marketing personnel is critical to our future success, and any inability to attract such personnel could harm our business.
Our future success may also depend on our ability to attract and retain additional qualified design and sales and marketing personnel. We face competition for these individuals and may not be able to attract or retain these employees, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND TECHNOLOGY
If we fail to secure or protect our intellectual property rights, our products and competitors may be able to use our designs, each of which could harm our reputation, reduce our revenues and increase our costs.
We will rely on intellectual property laws to protect our proprietary rights with respect to our trademarks and pending patent. We are susceptible to injury from patent infringement, which may harm our reputation for producing high-quality products or force us to incur additional expense in enforcing our rights. It is difficult and expensive to detect and prevent patent infringement. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property, some may attempt to violate our intellectual property rights by using our trademarks and imitating our products, which could potentially harm our brand, reputation and financial condition.
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We may face significant expenses and liability in connection with the protection of our intellectual property rights. Infringement claims and lawsuits likely would be expensive to resolve and would require substantial management time and resources. Any adverse determination in litigation could subject us to the loss of our rights to a particular trademark, which could prevent us from manufacturing, selling or using certain aspects of our products or could subject us to substantial liability, any of which would harm our results of operations. Aside from infringement claims against us, if we fail to secure or protect our intellectual property rights, our competitors may be able to use our designs. If we are unable to successfully protect our intellectual property rights or resolve any conflicts, our results of operations may be harmed.
Our reliance on intellectual property and other proprietary information subjects us to the risk that these key ingredients of our business could be copied by competitors.
Our success depends, in significant part, on the proprietary nature of our technology. If a competitor is able to reproduce or otherwise capitalize on our technology, despite the safeguards we have in place, it may be difficult, expensive or impossible for us to obtain necessary legal protection. In addition to patent protection of intellectual property rights, we consider elements of our product designs and processes to be proprietary and confidential. We rely upon employee, consultant and vendor non-disclosure agreements and contractual provisions and a system of internal safeguards to protect our proprietary information. However, any of our registered or unregistered intellectual property rights may be challenged or exploited by others in the industry, which might harm our operating results.
RISKS RELATING TO OUR COMMON STOCK
Because our common stock could remain under $5.00 per share, it could continue to be deemed a low-priced Penny stock, an investment in our common stock should be considered high risk and subject to marketability restrictions.
Since our common stock is currently under $5.00 per share, it is considered a penny stock, as defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Securities Exchange Act, it will be more difficult for investors to liquidate their investment even if and when a market develops for the common stock. If the trading price of the common stock stays below $5.00 per share, trading in the common stock is subject to the penny stock rules of the Securities Exchange Act specified in rules 15g-1 through 15g-10. Those rules require broker-dealers, before effecting transactions in any penny stock, to:
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Deliver to the customer, and obtain a written receipt for, a disclosure document;
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Disclose certain price information about the stock;
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Disclose the amount of compensation received by the broker-dealer or any associated person of the broker-dealer;
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Send monthly statements to customers with market and price information about the penny stock; and
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In some circumstances, approve the purchaser
s account under certain standards and deliver written statements to the customer with information specified in the rules.
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Consequently, the penny stock rules may restrict the ability or willingness of broker-dealers to accept the common stock for deposit into an account or, if accepted for deposit, to sell the common stock and these restrictions may affect the ability of holders to sell their common stock in the secondary market and the price at which such holders can sell any such securities. These additional procedures could also limit our ability to raise additional capital in the future.
FINRA sales practice requirements may also limit a stockholder's ability to buy and sell our stock.
In addition to the penny stock rules described above, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has adopted rules that require that in recommending an investment to a customer, a broker-dealer must have reasonable grounds for believing that the investment is suitable for that customer. Prior to recommending speculative low priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer's financial status, tax status, investment objectives and other information. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA believes that there is a high probability that speculative low priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. The FINRA requirements make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that their customers buy our common stock, which may limit your ability to buy and sell our stock and have an adverse effect on the market for our shares.
ITEM 1B.