Jaron Lodge’s sporting goods company Score NN’ has reached new heights since the young Valley entrepreneur was an AZ Inno Under 25 honoree in 2022.
Through his company, Lodge created an all-in-one backyard game, Skip NN’ Hole, which combines skipping stones with cornhole for use on land or in water. The product's various configurations allow for other games too, including "skeeball meets cornhole" and floating beer pong.
Skip NN’ Hole is sold in more than 400 stores across the nation, including Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), Big 5 Sporting Goods and Scheels. The company is now approaching $1 million in annual revenue, Lodge said.
“We’re trying to really expand our sales channels now,” Lodge said. “We did really well this year and our retailers did really well. We’re expecting that to continue, hopefully.”
Lodge’s idea for Skip NN' Hole was inspired by his love for the outdoors and skipping stones as a Cub Scout. His initial plan was to create an industry standard skipping stone for use in competitions and developed prototypes with the help of Guinness Book of Records stone skipping record-setter Kurt Steiner.
Lodge created cornhole boards as makeshift targets to test out his skipping stone prototypes and held an interactive pop-up shop on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe. He found that people were far more interested in playing the game he created and his idea for Skip NN’ Hole was born.
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Lodge participated in Venture Devils, a program by ASU’s J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute, and raised more than $30,000 through various pitch competitions. He launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2020 to get his idea for Skip NN’ Hole off the ground.
Lodge is looking to take Score NN’ Hole to the next level by expanding the company’s relationships with retailers.
“I feel like I'm just getting started. I’m still trying to achieve all these different metrics and turn it into a very profitable and successful business,” he said. " ... We already went nationwide with Scheels and they’re selling all of our game modes. So we’re just trying to go nationwide with more retail stores and get into Walmart and CVS.”
Lodge, who graduated from ASU in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in business entrepreneurship, said the most rewarding aspect of operating Score NN' Hole is the response from customers.
“What I'm doing here is very important, I think, because it's providing a lot of fun and memories for families,” he said. “It's very fulfilling to see all the people having fun with the games.”
