Inventing their way out of the slump
'Dragons' Den' is a nerve-racking experience, say partners Ronan Woods and Darren Louet-Feisser
Do you think you have an idea for the next great invention? If so, how do you go about designing, engineering and manufacturing it, never mind about presenting a prototype to potential investors?
That is what we do at Louet Woods Products Ltd. We help entrepreneurs and inventors bring products from initial concept to a finished product, branded, packaged and ready for market. We have experience developing products, sourcing manufacturing and setting up export distribution networks to bring products to market.
When we pitched on the Dragons' Den, we focused on areas that would interest the Dragons. With our expertise, we can bring any product that they invest in to market -- something that three of the Dragons, Sean Gallagher, Niall O'Farrell and Bobby Kerr, jointly invested in.
After the show, Bobby quickly introduced us to Adrian Keegan, of 'Kay-Lite' handbag light fame, and Niall also introduced us to a few of his investments that needed a bit of our R&D expertise. It's great that we can help them develop their ideas. We enjoy working with enthusiastic inventors.
Appearing on Dragons' Den is an experience that I will never forget. You could feel the adrenalin in the downstairs rehearsal room. Worse still, we had a wait of four hours before we made our pitch. I overdosed on coffee as I watched the others practise their pitches. No matter how many times you practise in front of the mirror, nothing prepares you for when you walk up those long stairs into that Den. It is cavernous. It looks fantastic on television but it is the most intimidating space I have ever been in.
I do a little bit of stand-up in various comedy clubs around the country. When you get up on stage, the crowd look at you and smirk 'So you think you're funny, well now is your time to prove it'. I think the stand-up did give me a little extra confidence. If you prepare your material and get over the first few lines, everything will just flow. If the crowd see your enthusiasm, then usually they'll warm to you.
After months of sleepless nights developing the idea, my partner Ronan Woods and I did a lot of work compressing it all down to a two-minute pitch.
Anybody can have a good idea but to be successful in the Den your idea needs to be developed and researched in business terms. We were lucky that we had the help of the Regional Development Centre in DKIT Dundalk. They put us on an intensive business development course for entrepreneurs and grilled my presentation. I also need to thank the Leitrim Enterprise Board because they helped finance our prototypes; and Michael Woods from Woods Ahern Mullen Solicitors for his fantastic advice.
Louet Woods Products Ltd www.SourcingProductDesign. com grew organically over the past year. I had been working as a freelance product designer and Ronan was a product engineer working in China and returned home to Ireland. Coming together, as a product design boutique, made sense as we can provide an R&D service to commercial entities or to individual entrepreneurs. We can create new products or re-invent existing ones, from initial concepts to supplying a finished product, branded, packaged and ready for market.
It's a new company, registered in January, but even in its early stages it was nominated by Louth County Enterprise Board for an award for 'Best Export Company'.
I'm an optimist and think that I can reinvent any product. Ronan is the engineer and pragmatist and often pulls back the reins. Every idea starts off as a sketch and has to be taken through the proper stages of design, market research, engineering, manufacturing and distribution before it can be the world's next best invention.
The fantastic thing about Dragons' Den is that it has got the country thinking about inventions and business ideas. As we struggle to cope with the downturn, it is an important platform for those of us looking to create new products, services and businesses.
For those of us who are blindly optimistic by nature, it can be very difficult to listen to all the bad news endlessly fed to us on the radio these days. Dragons' Den is our weekly fix of optimism as we watch a parade of business ideas from the barmy to the brilliant. I cannot explain adequately what a boost it has been to our self-confidence and I have no doubt it will be a huge boost to our business.
There are a great number of creative people out there inventing things and they now know where to come if they want to bring their idea through a prototype, to a product, and to market. So we look forward to welcoming you and your invention to Louet Woods Products Ltd, Carlingford, Co Louth.
